About Panopto recording and webcasting

Pearl-2 supports scheduled events, recurring events, and unscheduled multiple source ad hoc recordings and webcasts. Each Pearl-2 channel is treated as a separate video source that Panopto users can select when scheduling an event in Panopto.

Scheduled events start and end automatically. No manual intervention is required. After the event ends, recorded files automatically upload to the event owner's folder in Panopto. Back up recordings for each channel are also saved locally on Pearl-2.

If the network connection or the CMS goes down during an event, Pearl-2 continues to record locally and uploads the recording when network connectivity resumes.

You can start and stop events earlier than the scheduled time, as well as pause an event using either the Admin panel or the touch screen on Pearl-2, as well as create ad hoc events.

Starting or stopping a scheduled VOD event before the scheduled start or stop time does not change the event into an ad hoc event.

Using multiple Pearl-2 channels is how you get multiple views for a Panopto event. Each channel is treated as a separate video source. Using the Admin panel, Pearl-2 administrators can configure up to up to six channels on Pearl-2 for multiple source recordings and up to four separate channels for webcasts.

For example, if you have a main camera and a presentation laptop that you want to capture as a multiple source recording, you'd create two channels on Pearl-2: one for the main camera and another one for the presentation laptop. To learn how to create a channel or to use the Auto channels, see Channel configuration.

For ad hoc events, the default name of the multi-view file includes the date and start time of the event. For example: 2019-07-15 08:00. A more intuitive name can be entered when the ad hoc event is created.

Pearl-2 administrators can:

Pearl-2 administrators and operators can use the Admin panel to:

To use the touchscreen on Pearl-2 to start, stop, pause, and create events, see CMS event controls using the touch screen.

Encoding settings

Default Panopto encoding settings are applied automatically to the channel when Panopto is enabled, which override the existing encoding settings. If you manually change the encoding settings using the Admin panel after Panopto is enabled, the settings revert back to the default Panopto settings when a scheduled or ad hoc event starts.

You can change the channel resolution in Panopto when creating a new scheduled or recurring session. Pearl-2 also supports Panopto device templates so you can quickly set up your Pearl-2 remote recorder when you create a new event.

Important considerations:

  • Pearl-2 must be registered with Panopto to record and stream Panopto events, see Enable CMS and register with Panopto.
  • Do not schedule recordings that are longer than the capacity of Pearl-2 to store the recording on the local drive.
  • You can configure up to up to six channels on Pearl-2 for multiple source recordings and up to four separate channels for webcasts.
  • If you choose more than four Pearl-2 channels for a webcast in Panopto, then Panopto arbitrarily chooses a maximum of four channels to webcast.
  • The maximum allowed bitrate for webcasts in Panopto is 2.5 Mbps, regardless of what bitrate is actually set for the target resolution of the remote recorder in Panopto. For example, when creating a scheduled webcasting event in Panopto, if you set the target resolution to a quality of 1920 x 1080 60 fps Bitrate: 4000 kbps, Pearl-2 streams the event at the maximum bitrate of 2500 kbps.
  • Scheduled events have priority over ad hoc events. If an ad hoc event is still in progress when it's time to start a scheduled event, the ad hoc event is stopped and the scheduled event starts.
  • Scheduled VOD events automatically start recording locally on Pearl-2 even If the network is down or Panopto is unavailable. After the session ends, the locally recorded files upload automatically to your folder in Panopto when the network link to Panopto is re-established.
  • Scheduled webcasting events do not start if Pearl-2's connection to the CMS is not available.
  • If the network connection is lost during a file upload to Panopto, the transfer automatically restarts when the network connection re-establishes.
  • If Pearl-2 loses power while a scheduled event is being recorded, the recording stops. If Pearl-2 is powered back on before the scheduled end time for the event, recording of the scheduled event restarts automatically and a second set of files are created. When the event ends, both sets of files are uploaded to Panopto.
  • If Pearl-2 was unavailable on the network or powered down and misses a scheduled event, the status of that event appears as Skipped on the Events page in the Admin panel.
  • Do not use the Single Touch recording control, AFU, or configure recording file size, type and other channel recording settings when CMS is enabled on Pearl-2.
  • For ad hoc events, Pearl-2 ignores a user's presets that are set in Panopto. As a result, ad hoc recordings automatically upload to the user's default folder as originally assigned by Panopto.
  • Channel encoding settings you make on Pearl-2 are overridden by the default encoding settings the system uses to record to Panopto.
  • To monitor a channel during an event, you can display the Channel view on Pearl-2's touch screen, see Channel monitoring using the touch screen or monitor channels using the Admin panel. You can also monitor channels directly on the Events screen using the touch screen, see View scheduled CMS events and history. It's also possible to see a live preview of the channels and the audio level from the remote recorder page in Panopto.
  • For multiple-source Panopto events that are manually stopped or have ended, if you use the Admin panel to delete a locally saved recording for any channel on Pearl-2 that hasn't yet uploaded to Panopto as part of the multiple-source event, that event remains in the In Progress state indefinitely in Panopto.

For Panopto VOD events, if you manually stop a scheduled VOD event before the scheduled end time when Pearl-2 doesn't have network connectivity, Pearl-2 uploads the completed event's recording when network connectivity resumes. However, Panopto does not recognize that the event has ended. The event remains in the In Progress state in Panopto and you must wait until the original event's scheduled end time before creating a new event using that Pearl-2.