LSE Centre for Learning Technology have been investigating various options for recording lecture audio and video over the past couple of years (with support from the Audio Visual and Technical Services units). This has ranged from simple audio recording with a voice recorder to full automated recording of all lecture audio and visuals displayed through a data projector.
One option we have looked at is the use of a digital video recorder (DVR) to capture audio from the lecture theatre PA system along with video output from the visualiser. During the 2005-2006 session we have been using a Kiss DP558 DVR, which is has a web schedule function and FTP server for download of the resulting video files. This has proved to be a bit ‘flakey’ and the post-production required to present and stream the lecture has been fairly tedious. But it has however been very useful as a proof of concept experiment.
So we were happy to find a solution in January 2006 called Anystream Apreso, which is essentially a software solution that captures 3 different inputs simultaneously (VGA projector, composite video and audio) and packages them into a web based presentation. The new system should eventually allow us to schedule the recording of lectures in LSE’s main lecture theatres without any intervention or production effort required between us setting a schedule for the term and the lectures appearing online – either on the wider web or through the current LSE VLE (WebCT). The system also allows lecture audio to automatically be published as ‘podcasts’ for playing on portable audio players such as the Apple iPod. We also already have a platform that can publish any lecture series recorded with a standard voice recorder as a podcast.
We are now working with the LSE Audio Visual unit to acquire the Apreso licences, the hardware (capture PCs and content management servers) and work on finding a solution to some fairly substantial technical barriers in one of the main LSE lecture theatres.
Further progress will be reported here of course!
Kris.
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Hi Kris,
very interesting blog – we are also thinking of getting Apreso at the Institute of Child Health, and have had a system on trial recently. Very nice setup and favourable response from viewers but have not had a chance to compare with other systems yet. Have you looked at others systems?
Cheers,
Paul Winyard
ICH Tutor and MSc Director
I believe that Apreso is currently the only system designed to capture and process lectures without any intervention required (apart from setting the recording programme of course). There is a system called Lectopia, http://lectopia.uwa.edu.au, that does much the same thing, but when I enquired in May it wasn’t yet available to non-Australian institutions.
Before looking at Apreso we’ve tested using a DVR (Kiss DP-558) which we’ve set up to record video being displayed by the video projector. The main intention was to record what was being written on the visualiser (document camera). The DP558 is a unit intended for the consumer market, but it happened to have an ethernet port and a web interface for setting the recording timer, so it could be remotely managed.
The problems were that it wasn’t entirely stable until we applied an unofficial firmware update(!) written by an enthusiast and that we still needed to process the resulting MPEG video files into something streamable. This means that it isn’t at all scalable. It did however only cost 500gbp which is a fraction of that needed for one Apreso enabled lecture theatre.
Have you set up a video camera to record the lecturer? Have you set this to view a wide angle or close up? Is there any value in a wide angle shot of the front of the lecture room, especially when displayed in a small window?
Cheers,
Kris.
Hi,
I would be very interested in understanding the ‘production’ issues that have arisen when recording lectures; camera usage, audio recording (especially recording questions or comments from the students), lecturer training etc. I am a contract PM evaluating the feasability of broadcasting classes for a large second level school in Dublin, Ireland. I may be emailed at david@buschcattigan.com with any comments / suggestion that you may have.
Thanks
David
Hi!
I’ve been using it for my EC202 lectures and I find it useful (I still prefer those recoded on the VHS in my 1st year)
I was wondering does the software package include video podcast/video file dl? Cuz i would love to be able to watch on my ipod on the way to lse (I could do that with the old wmv files)
Also I noticed that the EC202 isn’t being recorded any more. Is there a reason for that?
Hi sk,
Thanks for your feedback, always good to get some thoughts and ideas – do you think the lectures are watchable on a small iPod screen? Did you watch the video of the lecturer or the recording of the screen? I always thought it would be a bit small for reading visualiser text etc.
Recording to VHS was always very labour intensive – the new system has allowed us to scale up and record all lectures in certain rooms – but there’s currently no documented Apreso option for downloading of video, only audio. I guess this may change in future versions. How did you download the video previously as our lecture video has generally always been streamed (with 1 or 2 exceptions)? Which course(s) – MA100 or ST102 perhaps? Have you used stream capture software?
EC202 isn’t being recorded this term as one of the lecture venues has changed to U8, which we are only just kitting out with Apreso. Also, the lecturer has changed and we didn’t receive permission to record in the Hong Kong theatre. It’s still relatively early days and still a pilot – so understandable that not everyone is sure they want to be recorded. We’re still looking into how students use the recordings so any feedback on how and when you use them is great – you’d like to use your iPod, but how and when do you currently use them?
Thanks,
Kris.
[…] Just a quick note to say that the LSE video lectures service provided by the Centre for Learning Technology and IT Services, managed to make the top three in the UCISA Award for Excellence competition with a highly commended award. As previously mentioned on this blog, the back end to the service is provided by Apreso. We’ve so far found the system extremely useful and have had plenty of very positive feedback from both students and staff, including some very welcome recognition from the LSE Students Union. […]
I think you should take a look a http://www.encodedmedia.com . This is a UK based developer that has a superb solution for capturing content, editing it and then making it available in an on line library.
You might also want to check out Apple Podcast Producer, which is integrated in Mac OS X Server 10.5. http://www.apple.com/server/macosx/features/podcasts.html
It does everything from capturing audio, video or screen, to compressing for the different delivery platforms, posting the video on a blog, sending emails to the audience and updating RSS.