Digital Learning

Overview 

This guide provides ways you can create a video and outlines some software options to submit a video. If you are submitting video as part of an assessment you will probably be asked to use Panopto, there is a linked guide here for Submitting a video assessment with Panopto.

If you are studying online, specific guidance for submitting video and audio content should be available through the Falmouth Learn platform.

Contents

• Creating a video
• Compressing a video
• Uploading a video
• Further Support

Creating a video

When shooting, pay attention to: 

1. Direction of light. 
2. Background noise.

There are many ways to make a video – for example, shooting with a movie camera then editing in Adobe Premier, or making a screen recording with voiceover using Quicktime Player. Those are excellent methods if you know how. 

Below are three easy ways to make a video that you may not be aware of.

Method	Notes
Microsoft Stream for SharePoint Screen recording. Record your screen with a voiceover and video inset.	Saves the video to your OneDrive. 15 minutes max length. Can suffer poor quality of audio if your internet connection is slow. You MUST check and edit access permissions to make sure only the people you need to access the video can view it. Instructions on how to edit access permissions in OneDrive.
Mobile phone camera Record directly into OneDrive via your camera.	Shoot a video on your phone and upload it to your OneDrive. You MUST check and edit access permissions to make sure only the people you need to access the video can view it. Instructions on how to edit access permissions in OneDrive.
Recording a Microsoft Teams meeting with yourself. Record a Teams meeting in which you are the only participant.	Go to the Calendar in Teams, click “Meet now”, start recording the meeting, then perform or start sharing your screen to present. The recording uploads directly to your OneDrive. Can suffer poor quality video or audio if your internet upload speed is slow. You MUST check and edit access permissions to make sure only the people you need to access the video can view it. Instructions on how to edit access permissions in OneDrive.

Compressing a video

In the event you are submitting a video for assessment that requires compressing, make sure you leave enough time to submit your work, don't leave it to deadline day.

The Scenario

This scenario is only relevant if you have been asked to submit your work outside of Panopto, it assumes you have shot and edited your video and now need to upload it to the Learning Space. If you are using Panopto to submit a video view the linked guide below.

• You have your video and have edited to around 5 minutes long, it’s in MP4 format and it’s 900MB. 
• It’s the day before the deadline. 
• This is small enough to be uploaded directly to the Assignment link in Learning Space. 
• But you’re at home and that could take hours. 

• IF YOU CAN COME ON CAMPUS. then do so and upload over the campus network. 
• IF YOU HAVE UNLIMITED DATA on your phone, you might tether your laptop to your phone, as upload speeds via 4G are likely to be 10 times faster than via home internet.
• OTHERWISE, make your life easier by reducing the file size. 

Handbrake

A good, free tool for reducing the size of videos is Handbrake. Download it from https://handbrake.fr, install it then use it to make a smaller file size.  

View the guide on using Handbrake to reduce file size. You will need to try different settings and check the output to make sure the quality is still reasonable.

DO NOT WAIT UNTIL DEADLINE DAY to learn how to use Handbrake.

Other Tools

There are many other tools for manipulating videos, including Adobe Premier, in which you can adjust output settings that reduce the file size when exporting.  

Uploading a video

There are many ways to upload a video a few options are outlined below. If you are submitting video as part of an assessment you will probably be asked to use the first option listed here, Panopto, there is a linked guide here for Submitting a video assessment with Panopto, always check the submission guidance provided when submitting for assessment.
 

Method	Notes
Panopto Upload your video to Panopto, then submit its URL to the Assignment link.	Create or upload your video/audio to your Panopto My Folder. Set sharing permissions and submit the URL link.  For further information and a step-by-step walkthrough view the Submitting a video assessment with Panopto guide.
OneDrive linked video file Upload your video to Microsoft OneDrive, make your lecturers owners of it, then submit its URL to the Assignment link.	You can upload any video format, but check it works in situ before submitting. Uploading from home could take hours and hours, but OneDrive is unlikely to time you out.  Before uploading, you may wish to convert your video to a lower quality so it uploads faster.  You must wait and make sure the video has uploaded OK.  You MUST check and edit access permissions to make sure only the people you need to access the video can view it. Instructions on how to edit access permissions in OneDrive.
Video file Submit an MP4 file directly to the Assignment link.	This is a good route IF YOU LEARN HOW TO OPTIMISE THE FILE, balancing size vs quality.  MP4 is the best file format to use.  The upload limit is 500MB.  Uploading from home could take hours and hours if your file is 400MB or more.  The Learning Space server could time you out and you’d have to start again.  A 5-minute video shot on a phone in 4K will be almost 2GB, but probably only needs be 200MB or so to be reasonable viewing quality.
YouTube Upload your video to Youtube, set its visibility to unlisted, then submit its URL to the Assignment link.	Not as good as using your OneDrive, as it’s not hosted on a University system.  Uploading from home could take hours and hours, but YouTube is unlikely to time you out.  Before uploading, you may wish to convert your video to a lower quality so it uploads faster.  You must wait and make sure the video has uploaded OK.  You must set the visibility to “Unlisted”.
Vimeo Upload your video to Vimeo, password protect it, submit its URL and the password to the Assignment link.	Not a particularly good way of submitting.  It’s not hosted on a University system. There is a 500MB weekly upload limit – that may scupper you! You should set a password to access the video so that it’s not open to the world. Before uploading, you may wish to convert your video to a lower quality so it uploads faster. You must wait and make sure the video has uploaded OK

Further Support 

For general queries about the Learning Space, students should first contact their module leader or personal tutor. For any other comments or issues within this guide, please contact the Digital Learning Team via dlsupport@falmouth.ac.uk. Alternatively, please refer to the numerous help guides found on our Knowledge Base.

View the Accessibility Statement for all of our support guides.