Firstly you will need to go to www.sheffield.ac.uk/cics/myecho/form and complete the Registration Form and return this to myecho@sheffield.ac.uk Once we have received the Registration Form you will be able to log in to https://uecho.shef.ac.uk:8443/ess/download/listdownloads.html using your MUSE credentials. Recording Before you Record Check your microphone is it picking up sounds, what levels are you getting. The most important part of the recording will always be the audio. Ideally you will want the bar to be showing here in the yellow section. In the green it will be too quiet and in the red it will be too distorted. Select your inputs, these can t be changed once you have started so make sure you have all the inputs you need. MyEcho allows for 3 different inputs, one of these Must be audio. The other two can include webcam, screen display or other video inputs. Built in microphones will often give an echoey or tinny sound so it may be best to use a USB or line in mic. You may want to contact audio-visual@sheffield.ac.uk or your local technicians to borrow this equipment Make sure people know that although this is screen capture software it is not advisable to use it to capture videos played on screen as they will appear jumpy due to a lower framerate. Here you can see the capture settings. Generally the higher the quality the better it will look but the larger it will be and the longer it will take to process. High Quality will also
make webcams into a wider screen format so can appear squashed on smaller screened devices. Generally Medium quality will work well if just giving a presentation. Before you start a recording you can also set the title, you can change this at multiple points after the recording has ended so don t consider it a requirement. It is possible to set Personal Capture to automatically publish your recordings after the recording has been stopped. If you choose this option it will ask you to choose your publishing options before you start. This is useful for technicians setting up machines for others to use. I will discuss these publishing option later. Once you are happy to start recording you will be given a 5 second countdown after which the application will minimise and the recording will start. Recording must be at least 20 seconds long otherwise they will be rejected. The maximum time is 4 hours for a personal capture.
Recording Once the recording has start it will show this icon on the taskbar. If you right click on this you can pause or stop recording. You can also use the Keyboard commands. Alt+F5 for Pause and Alt+F6 for Stop. You can also open the software and use the button commands as shown here. After you have Recorded. Once your recorded has ended you will see it here beneath the input options, here you can view the details of the recorded and also choose to Publish, Edit or Delete. Publishing will send the recording to the Echo server, this also for it to be Viewed, shared and edited further. The Edit button will allow you to open the Personal Capture editor, this allows or basic top and tailing as well as cuts. This is very broad tool and is best used just for removing large sections rather than fine cuts. More details edits are best made on the Echo Online System which I will talk about later. The delete button will permanently delete an Echo from your Personal Capture Library, if you have published it will remain available online.
Publishing Options After selecting the Publish option you will see this screen. Here you can change the Title, define a Course area for the recording to go to and choose the Output Settings. If you haven t already you will be asked to sign in here. The Course is important as it is the area in which your recording can be viewed, this can be changed later on the Echo Online. Output is probably the most important part of this process, this will define the quality of the final recording. Although there are many options for different circumstances there are usually only two you will use. Display Only.Optimized for detailed PowerPoint presentations - this is the best for Display and Audio recordings, this assures the best quality for PowerPoint slides and is the option most likely to be used by Lecturers. Display/Video. Optimized for quality/full motion video - this is the best option for recordings that include a video input such as a video of the Lecturer or a video of a demonstration given during a talk. Note if you have a recording with Display and Video and choose a Product Group with Display Only you will lose the video, the same is true for the Audio Only Output option. Once you have chosen your settings it will revert to the home screen and show you a Publish progress bar. The time taken here is dependent on the size and quality of the recording but should only take a view seconds. Note You will need to be on the University network to publish. If you are off campus you will need to use a VPN connection as it will not be able to access the Echo Server.
After you Have Published Echo Online The time taken for a recording to be published is dependent on the size and quality. Choosing a higher quality Output in the publishing options will also have an effect. Once the Echo has been published you will receive an email such as the one above, these will contain a link to the EchoCenter which will contain all of the Echoes kept in a Section. You can use this to share the Echo with others. If you want to make some changes then you will need to go to http://uecho.shef.ac.uk:8080/ess and sign in with your MUSE details. Once you have signed in you will be able to see Echoes that you have created or that have been uploaded to sections you are an Instructor on. Clicking on the Blue Name will open the information panel. The information panel shows all of the details about that Echo, this includes links for the EchoCenter and the individual EchoPlayer. Here you can also download Podcast and Vodcast version if you selected that option in the Output Settings.
At the bottom of the information panel you will see these options. Generally you will only be using Edit or Edit Media. Edit allows you to change the basic information such as the Title, presenter and section in which the recording is held. Edit Media will allow you to open the Echo Presentation Editor for detailed cuts. Editing Editing via Personal Capture on Windows Personal Capture allows for some basic editing functions such as cut and top and tail. Generally you will only use this for getting rid of larger sections such as if the recording started early.
Firstly click on the edit icon next to the Echo you want to edit. This will open the Personal Capture Editor. This also allows you to listen to a playback of your Echo At either end you will see these grey sliders, moving these will top and tail the recording. You should also be able to see these white marker, you will use these to make cuts. Make a cut by separating the white markers. The lighter area in between is the section that will be cut. After you have selected the area you will need to click the Make Cut button in order to turn this into a temporary edit. After you made a temporary cut you can click apply edits. This will make the changes permanent and means that there is no way to go back and recovery the original media so make sure you are done.
If you change your mind you can restore all cut sections and changes by clicking clear cuts. This is not an option if you have chosen to Apply Edits. If you want to restore only one cut you can do this by double clicking in the cut area. If you want cancel all the changes and return to the home screen click Cancel/Home Editing Online/ Via ESS Firstly the Echo will need to be published, either via Personal Capture or automatically via Classroom Capture of the Scheduled boxes. You will then need to log into the ESS https://uecho.shef.ac.uk:8443/ess Use your MUSE details when prompted. You can only access the ESS if you have are an instructor on a course. As discussed earlier choose the Edit Media button at the bottom of the information panel.
As before you will see two sliders at either end that can be used to top and tail the Echo You will also see the Yellow Markers that can be used to make cuts. Again, separating the markers will highlight an area to be cut Once you have selected the area you would like to cut click on the scissors icon. Once you have made your cut it will be listed here, you can Restore cut sections from here. Unlike Personal Capture editing on the ESS allows you to define the cut by second. Clicking Edit in this box will allow you to change the start and end time of the cut. Editing on the ESS also allows for Preview mode, this allow you to see what the Echo will look like with the cut sections removed from playback. This can be helpful for refining cuts so that words are not missed.
Once you are confident in the edits you have made you can click Save. This will save the changes that you have made but, unlike Personal Capture, you can come back and change or restore these edits within 60 days of the Echo being published. You can also choose to create a new version by clicking Save New, when saving as new you can also choose to place this new Echo in a different area such as moving it from your own Personal Capture area into a Module area that has automatic publishing to MOLE.
Best Practice Guide Check your microphones and webcams before the lecture, some may have issues with volume or background noise that you didn t expect. Get to know the Keyboard shortcuts. Use Alt+F5 to pause and Alt+F6 to stop on a Windows Machine. Remember that when using a built in or directional mic it is likely that student questions or debates will not be picked up. Remember to choose the right group for publishing. Using a Display only group for a recording with display and video will cause the video part to be lost. Remember to check the Make Available box when publishing or your echo will not be available to view after processing. Although you can make edits on the Personal Capture Software it may be best to do fine edits on the ESS after publishing. When editing on the ESS always remember to save as new so that you keep a copy of the original recording. Remember that you can only edit Echoes for 60 days after publishing.