The following list of support articles have been created to help you use the different features of the Podcast system.
Automatic lecture recordings
All lecture podcasts for your enrolled courses can be accessed on the Podcast Video Portal at:
There are instruction in this support article.
The opt-out page checks which units are scheduled in the timetable for your staff ID – so you are able to see which of your units will be recorded by the podcasting system. Please note this link will only work for members of staff.
You can use this page to manage upcoming and recorded events for your courses, you can:
- Opt-out of having specific events recorded
- Choose to hold recordings for editing/review before they are published
- Opt back in to recordings if you have previously opted-out
- Recall published podcasts in order to edit them
The following page shows how to set your recording preferences.
The opt-out page can be accessed at:
You can use the Opt-out page to manage your upcoming and recorded events, including:
- Opt-out of having specific events recorded
- Choose to hold recordings for editing/review before they are published
- Opt back in to recordings if you have previously opted-out
- Recall podcasts which have already been published in order to edit them
The following page shows how to set your recording preferences.
Some podcast-enabled locations have an automated tracking camera installed which allows video camera footage of lectures to be recorded alongside, or instead of, the projector output.
Staff will need to opt-in to using the camera, as by default only the projector output is recorded.
See this page for further information.
If podcasts are opted-out but there are DASS students on the course who require podcasts as part of their support plan, lectures will still be recorded and published but only be visible to to staff and DASS-students on the course.
If podcasts are not held for editing/review – they will automatically publish once they have finished processing. This can be relatively quick in most cases, however sometimes there can be a delay, and they can take up to 24 hours to publish.
If, after 24 hours, a podcast you expect to see still isn’t available, contact the Support Centre for help.
If you wish to have podcasts recorded but only made available at a specific time, for example at the end of the semester, you can do this by choosing to hold the podcasts for editing/review before publishing on your Opt-out page.
This means you will receive a link when the podcasts are ready for editing and they will remain in the editor until you published them. Note that if there are DASS students on the course who require podcasts, the unedited podcasts are published automatically 24 hours after the lecture took place, so they will be visible to staff and DASS-students only.
You can either download and re-upload the podcasts to the course to remove the permission restrictions, or you can embed the existing podcasts into your Blackboard page in order to allow all students to view them. The steps for both options are detailed below.
Embedding podcasts in Blackboard to remove the DASS restriction
- Click the small ‘i’ icon beneath the podcasts to see the embed code and then highlight and copy this code.
- Paste this code into the HTML of the page in Blackboard within which you want the podcast to appear. Note the video will then appear in that page as part of the content, so students will not need to go elsewhere to view it, an example is shown in the image below. This will mean that all students on that course can now see the podcasts.
Re-uploading podcasts to remove the DASS restriction
- Download the opted-out podcasts from the Video Portal using the download button beneath each video.
- Upload each podcast back into your course using the My Videos upload page. See the ‘How to upload videos’ section further down this page for help.
- You can remove the original (now duplicated) podcasts from your course by visiting your Opt-out page and clicking the Remove button next to the appropriate lectures in the Recorded Events section.
If you need any further help, you should raise a support ticket.
If you want to be able to edit podcasts before they are published to students, you need to select this option on the opt-out page:
Select the events you want to edit before they are published and choose the “Hold for editing” option.
Full details of how to use the opt-out page are included in the following support article:
You can go to the Opt-out page at any time to check and update your recording preferences for the units you are associated with in the timetable.
Please note that the podcasting system schedules recordings based on information from the timetabling system – so it is important that the data in the timetable is accurate and complete. The podcasting system cannot make changes to the timetable.
If you find that some details are incorrect, you should contact your local School or Faculty timetabling team to get this information updated.
If you are unsure who to contact, please submit a support ticket to the Support Centre.
To download a podcast onto your machine, you can press the download button beanth the video window when viewing a podcast on the Video Portal. The behaviour of this button can vary between different browsers/operating systems – sometimes it may download the MP4 file directly, whereas others it may open the video in a new tab.
If the video opens and plays in a browser tab rather than downloading, you can either right-click on it and choose “Save video as…” or if there is a download button on the controls, press that to save the video.
Further details can be found in this support article.
Sometimes you may wish to provide students access to a podcast from another year or course which you teach. To do this, follow these steps:
- Log into the Video Portal and locate the podcast you would like to move.
- To the bottom right of the podcast video, click on the ‘Download’ button and download the podcast onto your computer – it will save as an MP4 file. Note that some browsers may show the video in the browser window, rather than download it when the button is pressed – in this case, you should be able to right-click on the video that is shown and click “Save as” to download the MP4 file.
- Go to the My Videos tab in the Video Portal and upload your podcasts directly into the areas that you have access to. This may include Faculty, School and individual course units. Follow the instructions on the page to upload a podcast and be sure to select the correct area to upload to. See the How to upload videos FAQ further down this page for more instructions on uploading.
- That’s it! Once the video has been processed, you will receive an email informing you.
The video below takes you through the above steps.
If you experience any problems or need further support, please contact Podcast Support.
This video goes through the process of using the Podcast Video Editor to remove sections of video from the recording
View the support article for using the Video Editor by clicking here: How to edit a podcast recording.
If you need any help, you should raise a support ticket.
The podcasting system can detect a correctly displayed QR code which allows the recording to be paused. Click on the image to the right to download the QR code (if the image displays in the browser rather than downloads, right-click on it and choose “save as”).
In non-video camera locations – when the QR code is used, the system automatically pauses the recording for as long as the QR code is displayed and resumes once it is no longer shown. Note that using the QR code to pause recordings will also remove content for any DASS students on the course and should only be used when appropriate, for example when there is a break during a lecture, or before the lecture begins.
In video camera locations – only if the video camera is used – rather than pausing the actual recording in real-time, when the QR code is displayed its timings are stored in an edit file, which is then used to remove those sections when the recording is being processed. The original, unedited recording is stored by the system so if it is recalled for editing – the full, unedited version will be available to edit.
Questions & Answers
Where do I get the QR code?
Click on the image of the code above to download the it – if the image displays in the browser rather than downloads to your device, right-click on it and choose “save as”.
What size should the QR code be?
At least 15% of the width of the slide, an example is shown in the image and template below.
Download a Powerpoint template example
Will the QR code edit out all content?
The QR code takes 1/30th of a second to be recognised and a brief flash of the content may be seen. In order to edit out an entire section of a lecture you may wish to have a QR code slide before as well as on sensitive content.
Can I use any QR code?
No, you must use the provided QR code.
Can I position the QR code anywhere?
Yes, but we recommend not placing it directly at the very edge of the slide as some projectors crop the edges and this can prevent the QR code from being detected.
Can I distort, animate or cover the QR code?
No, doing any of the above will limit the ability of the system to recognise the QR code.
Does the QR code work with document cameras (visualisers)?
Yes, however it is more difficult to assess minimum width as the zoom level of document cameras can be changed.
Does the QR code work with the video cameras?
Yes however, as mentioned above, it does not pause the recording, it creates edit points which are used to edit out sections when the recording is processed. The QR code would need to be shown on the projector or visualiser.
The podcasting system can detect a correctly displayed QR code which allows the recording to be stopped early, as long as certain conditions are met:
- The Stop QR code can only be used within the last 30 minutes of the scheduled lecture time
i.e. If the lecture is one hour long, the code will only work if shown after 30 minutes have passed, if it is shown before this point – it will be ignored by the system. - The Stop QR code must be displayed continuously for 10 seconds
If the Stop QR code is shown on the projector for 10 seconds, the system automatically ends the recording at that point. An email is then sent to all staff associated with that course informing them that the podcast recording was ended early.
This feature may be useful when a lecture has ended earlier than the allocated time in order to ensure nothing further is recorded. Click on the image to the right to download it (if the image displays rather than downloads, right-click on it and choose “save as”).
Questions & Answers
Where do I get the QR code?
Click on the image of the code above to download the it – if the image displays in the browser rather than downloads to your device, right-click on it and choose “save as”.
What size should the QR code be?
At least 15% of the width of the slide, an example is shown in the image and template below.
Download a Powerpoint template example
Can I resume the recording after using the Stop QR code?
No, it is not possible to resume a recording after it has ended.
Can I use any QR code?
No, you must use the provided QR code.
Can I position the QR code anywhere?
Yes, but we recommend not placing it directly at the very edge of the slide as some projectors crop the edges and this can prevent the QR code from being detected.
Can I distort, animate or cover the QR code?
No, doing any of the above will limit the ability of the system to recognise the QR code.
Does the QR code work with document cameras (visualisers)?
Yes, however it is more difficult to assess minimum width as the zoom level of document cameras can be changed.
Does the QR code work with the video cameras?
Yes, the QR code would need to be shown on the projector or visualiser.
Who will receive an email when the Stop QR code is used successfully?
All staff members associated with the course unit in the timetable (i.e. those that receive the opt-out email) will be informed.
Charts showing the number of times a podcast or series of podcasts have been viewed can be found by clicking the 
on a video or series page, as highlighted in the images below.
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This will reveal a dropdown displaying a chart called ‘User Views’, which shows the number of podcast views over time, by date.
At the series level, this chart shows the views for all of the podcasts in that series. At the individual podcast level, the views are only in relation to that particular podcast.
You may adjust the date range for the statistics by using the sliders below the main chart. Hovering the mouse pointer over the chart will show number of views on any particular day.
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This support article shows how to view podcast analytics data.
The podcast system synchronises with the timetable to receive updates on scheduled events and courses. These updates can include changes to dates, times or locations for lectures, or DASS students being added or removed.
Whenever a change is detected to a course which is scheduled to record for podcasting – the system automatically sends an email to all staff associated with that course in the timetable. This is to prompt staff members to check their recording preferences using the opt-out link sent in the email.
If you make a recording preference and then receive the opt-out email again – your previous preference will still be applied (the exception to this is in the case that previous events are completely removed from the timetable and then re-added as new).
Please note that where multiple staff are linked to a course unit; any one of those staff members can set a recording prefernce at any time and the system will always use the last decision made. This means that when a staff member chooses a recording preference for one event – that choice will override any previous choices.
The podcast system is able to record interactions with the screen (i.e. highlighting and magnification) made using the Logitech wireless presentation.
The following support article details how to install the software and enable magnification.
Manually scheduled/uploaded videos
To schedule other types of events (such as meeting or workshops) please use the scheduling tool linked below. If the event is linked to a course module it will automatically be made available to students on the course.
Staff are able to upload their own video content to their relevant Faculty/School or teaching courses within the Podcast Video Portal.Videos uploaded to specific courses will appear alongside any podcasts which are already recorded by the lecture capture system, meaning students can access all of the video resources for that course in one place.
The video tutorial below takes you through the steps for uploading a video to the portal.
See this support article for written instructions.
If you need any help, you should raise a support ticket.
The video tutorial below takes you through the steps for editing the metadata of a video, deleting it or downloading it to your local machine.
Subtitles
You must be logged into the Video Portal in order to request subtitles for any media content. Simply click on the options button beneath the video window, select the Request subtitles option and complete the steps.
Please note, it can take up to 24 hours for subtitles to become available for a video due to the different services involved and you will not receive a notification – the subtitle icon will simply appear on the player controls when they are ready.
More information can be found on the Subtitles page.
You can view subtitles for any media on the Video Portal by clicking the subtitles icon on the player control bar, as explained on the Subtitles page.
Using podcasts in Blackboard/web pages
Videso can be embedded into Blackboard course pages to allow students to view them without having to leave the Blackboard environment. Note that this method can be useful for providing access to podcasts/videos that students are unable to view on the Video Portal (for example, podcasts from last years course).
The video guide below takes you through the steps of embedding videos in a Blackboard course.
A support article can also be found here.
The simplest way to link to podcasts is simply to include a link to the Video Portal lectures page – https://video.manchester.ac.uk/lectures.
When students login to this page, it shows a list of all the podcasts for the courses that they are enrolled on, so they can choose the appropriate course from the list and view the podcasts.
The second option is to include a direct link to your course series on the Video Portal, which means you should first go to the Video Portal, find your course and then copy and paste the URL into Blackboard. The direct link to your course podcasts will look something like this: https://video.manchester.ac.uk/lectures/9511d5bc-1393-4cb2-8a67-56005cfe817b/ (example URL).
Recording your own podcasts
Please note – the version of Techsmith Relay running at the University is no longer supported or upgraded by Techsmith and there may come a time when it will no longer work (although it will continue to function until that time).
Voicethread software is available as an alternative to Relay (detailed in the section below)although it is only accessible from within Blackboard, but it offers more functionality.
Techsmith Relay is software which allows you to record content from your own device screen (including presentations, browsers windows, etc), audio (with a connected microphone) and even video (via a connected webcam). There is also a mobile app available which allows video recordings to be made on a mobile device (iOS, Android or Windows are supported).
Recordings are automatically uploaded to the Podcast Video Portal and are visible to all staff and students of the University by default, but can be moved to a different area to change viewing permissions.
Using Techsmith Relay
See this support article for how to use Techsmith Relay.
Techsmith Fuse App (mobile recording)
See this support article for help on using the Techsmith Fuse App.
VoiceThread is software which allows users to upload media files (such as slides, images, videos), annotate them and share them with students on the course. It also allows students to engage with content – so they are able to add comments, or post replies.
When used as a substitute for Techsmith Relay, the main difference is that the content created will only be visible to students within the Blackboard course; they will not see it on the Video Portal.
Using VoiceThread to record a presentation
- Log into your Blackboard course unit and create/access the content area where the presentation should be published
- Select VoiceThread from the ‘build content’ or ‘course tools’ area and provide a name.
- Click on the newly-created content link to access the tool – you should then see an option to create a new VoiceThread.
- You have a number of options for adding media to the VoiceThread – if you are using presentation slides, you can upload them here. The software will turn the individual slides into separate images, which you can then annotate, for example, by recording audio/video to accompany them. This is done by adding comments, which can be in the format of text, audio or video.
Further information on using the additional features of VoiceThread will be available from Humanities elearning team.
How to report a problem
To get in touch with us, please raise a ticket via the Support Centre.
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