Re/Play FAQs

The University has invested in Re/Play to:

• respond to demand from students and academics.
• provide a consistent, centrally supported service which is available to all faculties.
• support international students and students with disabilities.
• give evidence that creative use of technology improves learning.

Schools must always obtain a signed External speaker recording release request form (Office document, 28kB) from guest lecturers or speakers before recording their lecture.

Locate the video and click on the title

1. Click Edit Details
2. Click Delivery and tick Audio Transcriptions (untick to turn transcriptions off)
3. Click Choose a Provider for Captioning
4. Click Select a Captioning Profile and choose Verbit ASR
5. Click Save at the bottom of the box.

Captions will take some time to be created; you should receive an email when they are ready. When the captions are ready, a “cc” icon will appear at the bottom of the Mediasite Player when the video is shared. Automatic captions are not 100% accurate, but captions can be edited. Look at the Mediasite Player features.

Try removing the captions, then adding them again:

1. Go to Edit Details on your presentation
2. Click the Delivery tab.
3. Untick the Audio Transcriptions box
4. Click Save
5. Return to the Delivery tab and add transcriptions again (see how to add captions)
6. Wait for the new captions to be generated (you should receive an automatic email when this is done)

Hopefully you will now be able to edit captions again

The University is not legally obliged to have 100% accurate captions, but it is important that students aren’t misled by inaccurate captions.

1. Locate your video, click the title and choose Edit Captions (if the option is not there, make sure captioning is turned on)
2. An edit page will appear. You can edit each of the captions on the left.
3. Rather than correcting every single mistake, concentrate on words/names/urls/terms that students will need to see accurately eg “Fyodor Dostoevsky” might have been captioned as “See a door goes to a ski”.
4. Note the tick boxes Track timeline while video plays and Autoplay video. Tick them and see if they are useful. On a slow network connection, they may be best turned off.
5. Make sure you click Save (at the top of the screen) often. The edits will update straight away.

For a more thorough edit, download the captions so you can use spell checks, search-and-replace etc.

Download captions:

1. Locate your video, click the title and choose Download to Computer
2. Choose Download Captions

The captions will download as a .dfxp text file. It can be edited in text-only editors like Windows Notepad or Notepad++ (available from the University Software Center). Or you can use a specific subtitle editor such as Subtitle Edit (free to install). Subtitle Edit lets you convert the caption file to plain text and also provides language translations.

Upload captions:

If you’ve downloaded captions to edit offline, you’ll need to upload them to your presentation again.

1. Locate your video, click the title and choose Edit Details
2. Click the Delivery tab
3. Tick Manually Upload an Audio Caption File
4. Click Select a File and browse to your .dfxp, .sami, .srt, .smi or .vtt caption file.
5. Click Save at the bottom of the screen.

• to the place in the course where you want to add the content. To add presentation(s) of your choice follow these Blackboard embedding instructions.
• add all Re/Play content from a Unit:

1. Click Build Content and then Mediasite - Link to collection.
2. Enter the Unit ID in the search box and click Search Collections.
3. Once on screen check the box to the left of the ID, add a title and description then clickSubmit.
4. On the next screen click OK.
5. As new Re/Play contents is created, it will be available via the item you’ve created.

In order to delete a recording from Re/Play, you will need to have ownership of the video, or have the rights given to you by the owner.

Note: if you delete a recording associated with a unit it will delete it for all units.

1. Log on to Blackboard and click on the My Re/Play tab.
2. Locate the recording you wish to delete.
3. Click on the recording title and then select Delete from the options at the top.
4. Click Delete Presentation on the warning dialogue. Your recording will move to the Administrator Recycle Bin. If you change your mind, contact the system administrator to retrieve it. The Recycle Bin will be emptied on a monthly basis.

1. Click on the recording you want to replace
2. Click Replace media on the top left of the video thumbnail to either upload a new file or record a new presentation
3. Follow the instructions to upload a new media file
4. Any embeds or links to the old recording will now point to the new one

Note: If you make another person the owner of a presentation you have created, you will no longer be able to edit it yourself or see it in your own My Re/Play area.

1. Click the My Re/Play menu in Blackboard
2. Click the video’s title
3. Click Edit Security
4. Enter the university user code (eg ab12345) for the new owner
5. Click Save

Mediasite may display a warning that you are not authorised, alongside one saying that the operation is a success. Return to your Home screen: if the video is no longer there, you can tell that the transfer of ownership was successful.

You will need to be an Instructor on both courses.

1. Locate the presentation you wish to add
2. Click on the presentation title and then select Edit Details from the options on the right hand side
3. Scroll down and click Add Module
4. Select the unit from the list or use the search box to find a unit code
5. When it displays (it may take a couple of search cycles) click it so it now appears above the Add Module button
6. Scroll up and click Save (top right of screen)

1. Locate the presentation you wish to update
2. There are four simple view permissions under ‘Who can view?’. If you need more specific permissions, read on:
3. Click on the title, scroll down and click Edit Security
4. Enter a person’s university code (eg ab12345) or unit code you wish to add. If you can’t see the search box, untick the box to the left of ‘Inherit permissions from parent folder’.
5. Individual user permissions: choose the role you wish them to have eg Editor or Viewer. Click on the name so it moves into the list above
6. Group permissions: select S@blackboard for students or P@blackboard for instructors then click save

You can perform basic edits inside using the Mediasite Editor:

1. Find the presentation
2. Click Edit Video
3. Find the area you want to remove
4. Click and drag the shaded area over the section to be removed
5. Click Cut Time

You can repeat the above with more sections if required.

If you make a mistake and cut in the wrong place either drag the cut area to the right location using the arrows or click on the white down arrow to delete.

Save Video to Current to overwrite the original (you will still be able to remove your edits later) or Save Video to New if you want to create a new copy with the edits made permanent. You can check the progress by clicking on Video Save Jobs.

You can do more complex editing by downloading a copy of the presentation, editing in Camtasia (http://www.bristol.ac.uk/digital-education/tools/camtasia/) or another video editor eg OpenShot, then replacing the current presentation with a new video file.

1. Click on your video’s thumbnail.
2. Click Edit Video in the right hand column.
3. At the bottom left of the left hand box, there is a filmstrip icon which displays “Convert video to audio-only stream” when you hover over it. Click this

Instructions for adding a quiz to Re/play presentations.

1. Locate the presentation and click on the title
2. Click Edit Details
3. Click Delivery and tick Vodcast
4. Click the box that says Select a Vodcast Project and choose all streams responsive
5. Click Save at the bottom of the screen
6. You will need to wait a while for the creation of the video file: Return to the Delivery tab periodically. Look in the Vodcast section: if it displays a URL ending in “.mp4” the video file is ready to download. Long or large presentations will take more time.
7. When the URL is displayed, download by clicking Download to Computer at the bottom right of the screen, then choose Download Vodcast. You can also cut and paste the URL into a browser.
8. Students can download the file by clicking the arrow icon at the bottom right of the Mediasite Player (see Mediasite Player features)

To disable downloads: Go to the Delivery tab again and untick Vodcast.

1. Locate the presentation and click on the title
2. Click Edit Details
3. Click Delivery and tick Podcast
4. Click the box that says ‘Select a Podcast Profile’ and choose one of the options: 32kbps will create the smallest file. 128kbps and above will be larger and is more suitable if there is music content.
5. Click Save at the bottom of the screen
6. You will need to wait a while for the creation of the audio file
7. Click Download to Computer at the bottom right of the screen and choose Download Podcast. If it is not there, wait for ten minutes and look again.
8. Students can download the file by clicking the arrow icon at the bottom right of the Mediasite Player (see Mediasite Player features.

To disable downloads: Go to the Delivery tab again and untick Podcast.

Yes. You can upload audio formats files like MP3 or WAV. Once uploaded you can edit them and also add images (Insert slide) at points you choose using the Mediasite Editor. Automatic captions can be turned on and the files can be set to be downloadable by students.

Clearing the browser cache can solve some problems (eg an old version of a presentation continuing to play after being replaced) and is worth trying first. Each browser uses a different technique:

• How to clear Chrome’s cache
• How to clear Firefox’s cache
• How to clear the Edge cache

Does your presentation have a quiz in? Currently (Feb 2021) presentations with quizzes can't be viewed full-screen in the embedded player. However, this problem can be worked around:

1. Use the Large embedding code snippet when you Share from My Mediasite and / or
2. add a “view full screen” link under the embedding code. In Blackboard set the link to open in a new window to avoid a warning screen about browser frames.

Students do not have a My Re/Play tab - they access recordings to lectures via Re/Play links in their Blackboard course. If a student can’t see these links, contact the DEO helpdesk.

How to add the link:

1. Open the course and ensure that Edit Mode is on.
2. Click the + at the top of the course menu.
3. Click Tool link.
4. Fill in the fields as follows: Name: Re/Play. Type - Mediasite Automatically provisioned collection.
5. Select Available to users and click Submit.

Our Desktop Recorder installation guide may help you (this guide also covers Mosaic). Contact the DEO helpdesk if you are still experiencing problems. Desktop Recorder is not available for some older Mac systems - QuickTime is an alternative Mac screen capturing technique.

This may be because Windows screen scaling is set to something other than 100%. This video shows how to set screen scaling.

If you have waited more than an hour for the presentation to become available, something may have gone wrong with the upload (these instructions apply to Desktop Recorder 2):

1. Open Desktop Recorder
2. Choose Manage
3. If you can see your presentation listed, tick its box and choose Upload Recordings from the button at the bottom left.

If the video is marked as private it will not be published to your course. Read about setting the availability of Re/Play recordings.

If only some students are having problems, there is probably a connection problem. They should try accessing the recording via the student desktop.

Other things to try:

• Try a different browser (Chrome or Edge are recommended)
• Try using an incognito/private window
• Clear the browser cache (see “How to clear the cache in a browser” in this section)
• Restart their device
• Use a wired connection network connection if possible
• Allow cookies in your browser (see How to turn on Re/Play cookies)
• Make the presentation available for download so that students with slow or unreliable connections can download a file to watch offline

How to turn on Re/Play cookies in Chrome

1. Open Chrome
2. At the top right, click the three dots icon and then Settings
3. Under Privacy and security click Site settings and then Cookies and site data
4. Next to Sites that can always use cookies, select Add
5. Type mediasite.bris.ac.uk in the box
6. Select Add

How to turn on cookies in Edge:

1. Open Edge
2. At the top right click the three dots icon
3. Select Settings, then Privacy, search and services
4. Under Cookies and site permission / Cookies and site data click Add next to Allow.
5. Type mediasite.bris.ac.uk in the box and click Add

• If you are a student and are having trouble playing a presentation please contact: service-desk@bristol.ac.uk
• Check that you have set permissions to allow playback (see item on permissions in General Re/Play tasks).
• If your presentation has only recently been created or uploaded, it may not yet have been processed. Long recordings and larger files take longer to process.
• Check your email: if Mediasite has been unable to turn a recording into a Re/Play presentation, you will receive a notification.

This can sometimes be fixed by re-encoding the audio in your original video file and then re-uploading the new version. See our guide on fixing movies that don’t play properly on Mediasite.

If you are using Powerpoint, audio recording drops out briefly when you advance to the next slide. You should stop talking when the slide advances.

If you are using Desktop Recorder or Mosaic on a Dell Laptop, audio cutouts are sometimes caused by a software driver error. You may be able to fix this with an update:

1. Install and run Dell Command Update from the Software Center (the Big-IP Edge Client VPN needs to be running) or Company Portal.
2. Click on the blue Check button, then wait
3. Click on the blue Install button
4. If you haven't done this before, it will probably restart your computer as part of the process; if it does, run it again make sure it has updated everything.

First, make sure the file extension is correct for the media type you are uploading (check the media type by opening the file in VLC Player and looking at Tools > Codec information). If the renamed file doesn't work, try re-encoding the audio in your video file and then re-uploading the new version. See our guide on fixing movies that won’t convert to Mediasite.

Sometimes a newly installed Mosaic will have all the menus in far-East characters. This can be fixed by installing the US Language Pack in Windows:

1. Go to Windows Settings > Time & Language > Language.
2. Add the English (United States) language pack and set it as the second language in the list of installed languages.

Or follow these change language pack instructions.

Mac users can download the Mediasite Desktop Recorder Mac version. The Desktop Recorder will not work with Apple Mac OS X 10.15 or newer; Mac users can instead use Quicktime to create a screen recording: Quicktime recording instructions (Word). Alternatively, you can also create a narrated presentation using PowerPoint (Word).

This is probably means your presentation hasn’t been set up to be downloadable. How to make a presentation downloadable as a video file, audio file or transcription.

A problem with the current software on our Re/play recorders means that some recordings are darker than they should be. This occurs intermittently and unpredictably. Our team is working with the manufacturer to fix this. If you have a similar lecture that would be suitable to replace it, contact the DEO helpdesk and we will add it to the current year catalogue.

Contact the DEO helpdesk if you can’t find a solution on this page.

Please email the Digital Education Office.

• Use the lapel microphone (if available – during COVID19 restrictions lapel mics are unavailable) for maximum recording quality (and better auto-captioning). A boundary microphone will also pick up the audio of the whole room. The recording will only capture what is shown on the main screen and your voice. If the lapel microphone can’t be used for any reason, please remain near the boundary microphone (see picture below).
• Recordings are scheduled to start and stop automatically. The red light will come on when recording begins. Recording will begin automatically at the time your lecture is due to start and stop five minutes before the scheduled end.
• The red light comes on a few seconds before the recording starts, so the pause button will not work straightaway.
• A short press of the red button will pause / restart the recording.
• Pressing for 5 seconds will end the recording completely.
• If your lecture is continuing past its scheduled end or you have ended the recording by mistake, you can start a new recording using the Ad Hoc app on the computer in the room. When you’ve finished, stop the recording by pressing the red button for 5 seconds.
• If another lecture is scheduled to be recorded after yours, you won’t be able to record over it.

You will receive an email when the recording is ready for you to edit and publish. If you do not do this, the recording will be automatically published, unedited, after two working days.

The cameras are in a fixed position on the ceiling in the back of the rooms, and shouldn’t be tampered with. The camera is usually set to capture the main chalkboard and anyone standing in front of it. There are markers to show the area that is captured by the camera.

In a few rooms the cameras have zoom presets to show a several fields of view. You can pick a field of view by using the touch-screen control panel on the lectern. The monitor will show what the camera will be recording. If your choice of zoom captures any students you should inform them and give them the option to sit elsewhere where they won’t be seen on camera.

Putting a collaborate session on Re/Play means you can edit out sections and add automatic captioning. First you’ll need to download the recording from Blackboard (You must be an Instructor on the course to do this):

1. Go to the area of the course where the Collaborate Sessions are listed
2. Click the ? icon  on the left of the black Sessions bar and choose Recordings
3. You may have to click Recent Recordings, click Recordings in a Range and enter a date range to find the recording you’re looking for.
4. Click … on the recording you want and click Download

You can now upload the video file to Mediasite. Simple edits like trimming and removing sections can be done using the online Mediasite editor after you upload (see the features of the Mediasite editor). If you need more complex edits or to add more material, you will need to use an editor eg Camtasia or OpenShot to create a new edited movie file prior to uploading. How to embed Re/Play videos in Blackboard.

Recordings are accessed via the My Re/Play tab in Blackboard (at the top of the screen). If you are the person named against that lecture in Syllabus Plus, you will be the recording’s owner, which means you will receive a notification when the recording is ready.

If there is no-one or multiple staff named in Syllabus Plus, the Unit Director will own the recording and receive notifications.

To locate a lecture, click My Re/Play in Blackboard (near the top of the screen) and open the shared folder for the unit (bottom of left navigation bar). Full instructions are available in our Re/Play Help area.

Recordings made prior to 15 February 2016 are not available in shared folders. If you need to edit them, contact their owner for editing permissions (instructions for doing this are available in our Re/Play Help area).

1. Find the presentation: if you are set up as the owner it should be in your My Mediasite folder.
2. Click the padlock symbol underneath the video thumbnail and it will change from private (locked padlock) to viewable unlocked padlock.

HDMI from Macs isn’t compatible with the Re/Play system. You can use a VGA adaptor to connect a Mac to the screen but it won’t carry the audio signal.

There could be several reasons:

1. If the room doesn’t have a camera installed (see our equipped rooms) and you didn’t plug in a computer with a presentation.
2. The screen resolution of the lecture room monitor was incorrectly set. The recording equipment will only pick up visuals if the resolution matches what’s on the sticker on the monitor.
3. If you were using the HDMI input with a Mac (Mac HDMI is not compatible with our equipment).
4. The Unit Director has requested an audio-only template.
5. A DVD was played, which wasn’t re-recorded because of copyright.

For lectures that do not have a named person or defined ownership of recordings, notifications go to the corresponding Unit Director (as named in SITS). Re/Play has been set to grant access to all academics on a shared unit without having to ask their Unit Directors for access. This doesn’t apply to recordings made before 15 February 2016.

Do not edit the unit code and make sure you keep the year suffix (eg ABCD12345_2015) at the beginning of the title. This will enable students and lecturers to search for the lecture, as well as running essential performance reports.

Use this opt-out form to cancel recording for a Unit. If you haven’t organised this in advance or you only want to cancel recording of one lecture, you can manually stop recording from the room by pressing the red button for five seconds (until the red light goes out).

Lectures taking place in equipped rooms will be recorded unless your unit is opted out of being recorded. If you want to record a lecture that’s been opted out of recording, use the opt-in form to let us know, with at least 48 hours notice or use the Ad Hoc app at the start of the lecture to create a recording.

The lecture recording process is automated. Recording will automatically start at the scheduled lecture start time and stop at five minutes before the scheduled end. For example, the recording of a one-hour lecture scheduled for 2pm will start at 2pm and end at 2.55pm. You will know recording has started when the red light is continuously on. You can pause, restart and stop recording using the button under the light. To check whether a recording is under way, you can use the Ad Hoc App to check the Recorder Status (log on to the room PC and click on the Adhoc recorder desktop shortcut). If you have a Re/Play technology issue, please contact the TLC Team on 0117 42 82222 (internal: 82222) or email the service desk

Only sessions classed as lectures (not seminars etc) in Syllabus Plus and part of a SITS unit (units with a code that has 4 letters and 5 digits) taking place in an equipped room are scheduled for recording. If your session meets these criteria and the red light does not come on, please follow these steps:

1. During the lecture, open the Ad Hoc app (illustrated instructions are available in the room’s folder). If Ad Hoc says the recording has started, please report a fault with the light to the service desk.
2. If the lecture is not already recording, use Ad Hoc to start a new recording.
3. If recording didn’t start automatically, contact your School Office to check whether your Syllabus Plus data is accurate. The recording schedule is driven by data in Syllabus Plus. If your lecture or unit code does not appear in Syllabus Plus, or if your session is not categorised as a lecture, it won’t be automatically recorded.

If it’s not in your My Mediasite folder, the following may help:

1. Are you the owner of the recording (ie are you either the only staff listed for this lecture in Syllabus Plus or the Unit Director) or are you enrolled as an Instructor on the corresponding Blackboard course? Please speak to your Unit Director or School Office to make sure you have been added correctly. If not, you will not receive a notification that the recording is ready, but as long as you are enrolled on the Blackboard course as an Instructor you can still view and edit the recording via My Re/Play (top right when logged in on Blackboard). If you have access to a lot of recordings, you can narrow them down by unit by clicking on the Shared Folders (bottom left in My Re/Play).
2. Was your lecture scheduled in an equipped room? Check the list of lecture theatres where Re/Play has been installed.
3. Has the title been changed? Lecture titles should always begin with the unit code and year eg ABCD12345_2021. This ensures the lecture can be found, and essential performance reports can be compiled.
4. Is your Syllabus Plus data accurate? The recording schedule is based on data in Syllabus Plus. If your lecture or unit code does not appear in Syllabus Plus, it won’t be recorded. Your timetabled information must also be correctly classified: only sessions identified as a Lecture will be recorded. Contact your School student administration team if you need to clarify or amend your teaching classifications.
5. Is your session part of a SITS unit? Currently, we are only able to support the recording of lectures within UoB SITS units (units with a code that has 4 letters and 5 digits) at this time. Alternatively, you can use Ad Hoc to record manually in lecture theatres, upload your own video files or use Desktop Recorder to record presentations on your computer. If you have a Re/Play technology issue, please contact IT Services on (0117) 42 82222 or email the service desk .
6. For recordings prior to 15 February 2016, you will need to ask your Unit Director to add you. Instructions are available our Re/Play Help area.
7. For any further issues with accessing your recordings email the Digital Education Office. Students should contact IT Services.

If you want no recording at all you’ll need to follow the opt-out process or manually stop recording during the lecture using Ad Hoc.

You are not expected to change your teaching style to use Re/Play. But Re/Play provides opportunities for new techniques in addition to traditional chalkboard teaching:

You can pre-record material using the Desktop Recorder or upload your own video and audio files for students to view either before or after the lecture. After the lecture you can make the lecture available to download, add automatic or manual captions, insert quizzes and edit out sections.

• If you have changed to an equipped room via the timetabling system (Syllabus Plus) no later than the two days before the lecture, the recording schedules will be refreshed and your recording should start automatically.
• If you have changed to an equipped room via the Web room booking system, or if you have made the change on the day of the lecture, you will need to use the Ad Hoc app in the room to make a recording.
• If some is using the room you are timetabled to be in they should stop the recording by pressing the red button for 5 seconds until the light goes off.
• Please make sure you check any recordings done in the original room unless you have arranged for the recording to be stopped as described above. If another taught unit used your original room, the recording will need to be assigned to it (instructions are available in our Re/Play Help area). If the recording is empty or contains unrelated content (eg a staff meeting), you must delete it.

If you have changed to a non-equipped room, your lecture won’t be recorded. You can make short recordings of relevant materials before or after using the Desktop Recorder. Full details for using the Desktop Recorder are available in our Re/Play Help area.

(During COVID19 restrictions, lapel microphones are unavailable.) Please ensure the microphone is switched to the ON position. The microphone must be secured close enough to your mouth for your voice to be recorded clearly. Make sure the microphone is not set to Mute. If the battery is depleted, use the spare battery available in the charger. If the spare battery is also depleted, porters normally have disposable batteries you can use. Illustrated instructions are available in our Re/Play Help area.

If the lapel microphone cannot be used for any reason, please remain near the boundary microphone (see picture below), as this will still capture your voice, though not as clearly. Make sure you correctly replace the microphone in the charger after your lecture so it can be used for the next recording.

You can only opt out of an entire unit being recorded, not just part of it. If you would like cancel recording of specific lectures you have the following options:

1. Manually stop the recording on the day(s) by pressing and holding the red button for 5 seconds until the light goes off.
2. Pause recording during a lecture with a short press of the red button. Press it again to restart recording.
3. Allow the recording to take place as scheduled then set it to Private inside My Re/Play. This has to be done after it has automatically been made Viewable, two working days after the lecture.
4. In My Re/Play, delete the lecture after it has been automatically added.

Only whole units can only be opted out of recording, and only by the named owner of the unit. If a student on the course has a disability need lectures will need to be recorded for them. If you are the only lecturer delivering a Unit ask your Head of School to support your request, then complete this Opt-Out Form. Email the service desk once this is agreed.

Staff lecturing on a recorded Unit wishing to opt their individual lectures out can manually stop the recording on the day by pressing the red button for five seconds (until the red light goes out).

The Ad Hoc app allows you to manually start recordings and is installed on a computer in each of the Re/Play equipped rooms. The app can be used to capture lectures that have not been scheduled to record or have failed to start. You can also use the Ad Hoc App to restart recordings which have been paused. All equipped rooms have a folder containing printed instructions.

1. Log on to the room computer and click on the desktop shortcut Re/Play Ad Hoc recorder
2. Once Recorder Status has been confirmed as Idle, click Let’s Start
3. Enter a title and give the recording a description if you wish
4. Select a duration (please ensure the duration is set to end 5 mins before the start of the next lecture)
5. Select whether you want to capture Audio and Slides (default) or Audio and Screencast (for faster moving content eg video). See a graphical comparison of the two (GIF, 420Kb)
6. Click Begin Recording
7. Press OK on the message and wait for the red light to come on to indicate the recording has started
8. Recorder Status will change to Recording and the red light recording light will illuminate

You can use the red button to pause, un-pause and stop (press for 5 seconds) the recording if you wish. Otherwise the recording will stop at the time you scheduled.

Note: If another lecture is already scheduled to start during that time, Ad Hoc can’t override it. If a lecture is scheduled to be recorded straight after your lecture, Ad Hoc will not allow your recording to overrun.

Box recorders automatically record lectures. The computers in lecture theatres have the Ad Hoc application installed. This allows lecturers to start recordings manually.

Desktop Recorder (and Mosaic) is an application that allows you to create Re/Play presentations on your computer in any location you like. These can be shared with students ahead of lectures, so the face-to-face sessions can be more interactive (often referred to as “flipping the classroom”) or to explain difficult topics in more detail.Full instructions for using the Desktop Recorder are available in our Re/Play Help area.

Re/Play does not change the University’s current copyright policy in relation to teaching and research material. However, feedback has raised several important questions about the level of awareness of the current policy. Checking the copyright status of third party material in your lecture slides is the individual’s responsibility. Ensuring that other people’s rights are respected is viewed as good academic practice and is what we would expect of others in relation to our own work.

If you have any concerns about materials within their presentation, you can press the red button in the lecture theatre to pause and restart the recording as necessary. Library Services, in conjunction with Digital Education Office, provide an audio presentation giving advice for academics about the use of third-party materials. Information is also available from our Policy and consent page. Further queries relating to copyright should be directed to your Subject Librarian. The Secretary’s Office provides useful information on the current legislation.

Yes. You must always obtain signed consent from guest lecturers or speakers before you record their lecture. This applies to non-honorary staff or those lecturers who have not signed the new Terms and Conditions for Honorary Staff. External speaker recording release request form (Office document, 28kB). It should be renewed annually if required.

You can edit the description, tags and title of a recording. Please DO NOT change the unit code and ensure that you keep the year suffix (eg ABCD12345_2015) at the beginning of the title. This will enable future searches for students and lecturers alike as well as running essential performance reports

Please see Access/Edit recording section of the Re/Play Help Organisation (you’ll need to login in to Blackboard first.)

If you need to capture moving content such as video or live annotation, or if mouse movements must be captured, you will need to use the Screencast and Audio template, which captures 30 frames per second.

By default, lectures are recorded with the low-framerate Slides and Audio template which is adequate for straightforward lectures and slideshows.

View examples of the different results you get with Slides and Audio vs Screencast templates.

The Recording Educational Activities Policy offers guidance on how Re/Play should be used. If you have a question about the policy, use the Re/Play Policy Support Request Form.

This is caused by incomplete or incorrect data in either Syllabus Plus or SITS.

• Re/Play recordings can only have one owner. This is the person who receives email notifications. For lecture recordings scheduled with Syllabus Plus, this is set in the Staff field.
• If there is only one member of staff named in Syllabus Plus, they will be the owner of the recording and will receive notifications by email.
• If the Staff field is empty or contains several names, the Unit Director will receive the email notifications instead. The Unit Director should forward these notifications to the relevant people.
• The scheduling system gets the Unit Director’s details from SITS. If the wrong person is named as Module Tutor in SITS, this could be the reason for receiving notifications in error.
• To get information in Syllabus Plus or SITS changed, contact your School administration team.

See I’m receiving email notifications about lectures I did not deliver.

This can happen if the lecturer(s) did not use the lapel microphone in a lecture theatre. Our list of equipped rooms indicates which lecture theatres have lapel mics; in these rooms it is recommended to use the lapel mic or, if this is not possible, stay in front of the boundary mic (see picture below).

(During COVID19 restrictions, lapel microphones are unavailable.)

If you used a lapel mic and the sound was still not recorded please email the service desk.

This may be because the recording is set to (lower bandwidth) Slides mode instead of Screencast. See comparison of screencast and slides mode. If so, nothing can be done about the recording but future lectures can be set to use a different template.

• If the majority of lectures on a unit require Screencast, you may wish to get the unit’s template changed. More about templates.
• To change the template for just one lecture, stop the recording at the beginning of the lecture (a long press of the red button) and use the Ad Hoc app to start a new one with your choice of template.

• The default template (Slides and Audio) does not capture laser and mouse pointers. If they are an integral part of your lecture and affect the majority of lectures on a unit, you may wish to switch templates to one with a higher frame rate. More about templates.
• For occasional lectures requiring a different template, you can stop the recording when it starts automatically by pressing the button and start a new one using the Ad Hoc app.
• If you need one recording to be switched to a faster frame rate, you can change the Player to Video Primary, which will display a higher frame rate (but lower resolution) version of the recording. Instructions are available in the Player sections of our Re/Play Help area.