Lecture Capture System

What is the Lecture Capture System?

The Information Technology Services department at UIS provides two options for lecture capture systems to be used campus-wide - Camtasia Relay and Echo 360. Both systems allow you to record whatever is displayed on the computer screen along with your audio and video.

Camtasia Relay

Want a simple lecture capture tool? Want to record in your office? Want to easily create supplemental material for your course(s)? If you answered, Yes, Camtasia Relay is the tool for you.

Echo 360

Echo 360 automatically or manually captures, manages, and publishes class lectures while integrating with existing teaching technologies.

Echo 360 allows you to record a lecture along with whatever is displayed on the computer screen, thus providing your students with a powerful tool for review, to further supplement material covered in class, or to provide instruction that is entirely web-based. Students are able to fast-forward, rewind, or skip to particular segments. The captures can be viewed via an Internet browser, through iTunes, or downloaded to an MP3 player.

The Lecture Capture Process

At least 48-hours prior to the event, please contact Ian Fitzgerald at ifitz01s@uis.edu to schedule the capture. Please include the following details:

  • Name of Presenter
  • E-mail, if you would like a link to the captured session sent to you automatically once the session ends
  • Course ID, if applicable
  • Section, if applicable
  • Blackboard ID, if applicable
  • Event Title
  • Date of Event
  • Start Time
  • End Time
  • Room

The capture will begin and end automatically.

 

Viewing a Lecture Capture

A link for captured sessions will be emailed to you once the capture is completed. The captured session can then be viewed in a web browser.

Classroom Capture Viewing Window

A. A small video will appear here. Only this area of the classroom near the instructor station is captured on camera.

B. Scroll through the presentation to quickly 'fast-forward' to a particular segment.

C. Whatever is showing on your computer screen is displayed here – for example, a PowerPoint presentation, a website, or a software application.

 

Features

Start/Stop

Although Echo 360 can be scheduled for an entire semester within a single classroom, recording can also be initiated manually through a website.

Publishing Options

Lectures post automatically to course management systems —right on schedule, alongside other course materials, and ready for playback with high-or low-speed connections. Content delivery connections can be made to iTunes U, Blackboard, or Flash can used on a webpage.

 

Locations/Portability

There are currently three Echo 360 systems available for use on the UIS campus. Two are permanently located in BRK 141A and UHB 2025, and a third is available for delivery to any classroom on campus. Please contact Dennis Scheibe at dsche1@uis.edu to schedule delivery of an Echo 360 system.

 

Editing and Post Production

Our Echo 360 allows editing or post-production work on the captured data.

 

What to Wear: Do's and Don'ts

Clothing Do’s

  • Try to wear something that has a collar or lapel so that the microphone can easily be attached.
  • Try to wear solid colors that have little to no pattern in them. Colors such as blue, brown, yellow, some reds, and purple tend to come across well on camera.

Clothing Don’ts

  • Avoid wearing herringbone types of blazers or suit jackets. The camera does not like this pattern and it will cause jittering in the video and make it look like your jacket is moving.
  • Avoid wearing anything that has a very tight or intricate type of design or plaid. This causes the same problem as the herringbone.
  • Avoid wearing anything that has a design of a very narrow contrasting type of stripes. Same reason as above.
  • Do not wear a white shirt/blouse or blazer. The white bounces back the light and the lens has trouble compensating for this. This causes your shirt or blouse to "bloom" on camera and is not very flattering. If you are going to wear a white shirt or blouse, then please wear a suit jacket or blazer over it. This will help "tone down" the white and the camera should be okay.
  • Avoid wearing material that may be metallic or reflective. Again, a light issue causes it to reflect back towards the camera.
  • Avoid seasonal types of clothing in case your interview will be in a video that may be around for several years. You do not want to "date" the video or show that it was a certain time of the year. This will help keep the video generic in time.
  • The microphone picks up even the smallest sound. Avoid wearing accessories that might make noise while you are presenting, including watches that beep on the hour, bracelets with charms that may clang together, etc.

 

Lecture Capture Resources

Below is a list of articles concerning lecture capture, its benefits, how other higher education instutions are utilizing it, and more.

 

For more information on lecture capture, please contact Tulio Llosa or Kara McElwrath.

 

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