Tutorials

How to Capture Lectures, Broadcast and Upload Them to an External Server

Capturing and sharing lectures and other education materials is a principal aspect of the distant learning strategy. Besides lecture recording for later reuse is an effective means in particular disciplines. These operations are performed by solutions that record and broadcast video and audio feed as well as upload this material to a server. A couple of simple steps will guide through necessary settings and operations. You will be able to record a lecture, broadcast it live to the interested audience and share it on the web for 24x7 access. In this example we use the Lecture Recorder device from Epiphan Systems.

lecture capture

Necessary equipment:

1. A digital camcorder on a tripod for shooting lectures.

2. A microphone.

3. Lecture Recorder.

4. A PC and 10/100/1000 Base-T Ethernet network access.

5. DVI and RJ45 cables.

Step 1. Connections and settings

Hook up a camcorder's HDMI port to Lecture Recorder’s DVI IN port using an adapter. Hook up a microphone to Lecture Recorder’s Audio IN port. Connect the device to network using an RJ-45 cable. Turn on Lecture Recorder and the camera. As soon as Lecture Recorder is connected to network, it is assigned an IP address. Now you should use the Network Discovery Utility to connect to the Web admin interface. This interface allows you to manage recording and make all necessary settings.

1. Download the Epiphan Network Discovery Utility to your computer from the manufacturer’s website and start this program.

lecture capture

2. Now select Search to find the device on the network. Its name and IP address are displayed in the Name and Address fields.

lecture capture

3. Start web browser and browse to the IP address of Lecture Recorder. Enter the user name "admin". No password is required.

capturing lectures

You have now access to Web admin interface and can perform recording. Video and audio settings can be configured in the Frame Grabber and Audio sections of the Web admin interface.

lecture capture

Step 2. Recording the lecture

Make sure the lecture has started, the camera and microphone are working properly. In the Web admin interface find the Archive section. All recorded files will be listed here. Use the Time limit field to define the duration of the record. Select the Recorder enabled checkbox to start recording and click Apply. Lecture Recorder now records synchronously both video and audio feed as the lecture is going on. If you need to stop the recording clear the checkbox and click Apply.

Lecture capture

While the lecture is being recorded you can preview the current recording. Click the Live View button in the Web admin Interface. You will see the preview of the lecture as it is being recorded.

Step 3. Uploading a lecture on server automatically

You can configure the system to automatically upload a lecture to an upload server. Lecture Recorder can upload each video file after it stops recording it or upload all recorded video files with various periodicities.

In the Web admin interface find the Automatic File Upload section. Define the server type and select Enable Automatic File Upload. Now set Remote Path to the path on the upload server. Then select Apply.

Lecture capture

Step 4. Broadcasting a lecture

It is possible to broadcast a lecture that is being recorded to remote viewers as soon as you have provided them an IP address of the broadcast and the credentials. To support larger number of viewers, especially when multiple clients are outside of the LAN, you may need to subscribe to Content Delivery Network (CDN). This service redistributes the stream for multiple viewers. Make sure all viewers know the broadcast’s IP address and credentials. They should start a web browser or a media player and use this address to immediately access the broadcast.