Hi.
I've just tried out SW6. It seems quite good to me but it lacks one thing.

We (at the Technical University of Liberec, Czech Republic) are currently looking for a lecture recording solution. Your software seems to be one of the best i've found so far (regarding total solution cost). The sad fact is that most of the lectors bring along their own notebook to a class and just connect it to the auditorium projector via a VGA cable. If such lectures should be recorded, it would mean that all the lectors would have to have SW6 software installed on their notebooks - which is neither practical nor always possible (what if they use Linux?). Another problem is that the auditorium has its own sound system (microphone and speakers) and the lector would have to plug the output of this system into his notebook as well (and tweak around the sound recording options).

So my question (and possibly a suggestion for application improvement) is:
Would it be possible to add a choice to use another video source interface (like that for the presentation video in SW6 settings) instead of the built-in screen grabber? Then it would be possible to record the whole lecture by capturing the VGA signal, sound and camera output thru special grabber cards (soundcard, video grabber and VGA grabber cards) installed on a computer other than the lector's one (i mean some dedicated computer in the auditorium running all the necessary programs and Windows XP).

Hello Martel,
Thank you for your post and suggestions.

The screenwatch recording "codec" is very well suited towards long format, or 1-2 hour lecture recording, because it only captures any deltas, or changes going to the screen.

This can give you a very small file footprint on longer recordings and make it possible to implement on a university wide basis.

There are cards that capture a VGA signal and convert it into a series of images. The resulting file size is quite large, or the quality of the capture is low on a basis of bandwidth compared to quality. ScreenWatch can record video of the presenter as well as full resolution (with full quality), around 50mb per hour of recorded content. (Of course this depends alot on some of the content recorded)

I think a simple solution to what you want, would be to make use of VNC, which is free desktop sharing software. It is easy to install on an instructor notebook (does not require a reboot), and all you need to do is to attach to the instructor's notebook and record the output as it is displaying on the computer recording with ScreenWatch. (http://www.realvnc.com)

VNC works with Linux, Windows and Macintosh systems and works very will with ScreenWatch.

About the sound issue. If the professor had some audio that they needed captured from their PC, this means that they must plug into something.

Some of our users have put in "array" microphones that capture both the student questions as well as the instructor.

I appreciate your input and we have been asked this before and will continue to evaluate these cards and other solutions as they come available.

Best Regards,
Brian Meyerpeter

Well, thanks...
I've been using VNC myself for some time but I hadn't realized it could be used instead of a VGA grabber for remote desktop capture.

But another thing... The auditorium has a tabletop camera which some lectors use. They simply switch the projector source on Crestron (control panel) from "PC" to "Camera" and back when they're done. Without grabbing the VGA signal right before it goes into the projector, you can't possibly record the camera content, VNC won't help.

And regarding the "deltas"... Even in the VGA-grabbed images, you may do some delta calculations and record only differences (although you must do the calculations yourself, not just simply ask the OS for invalidated regions of Windows screen and cursor movement).

Hi Martel,

Thank you for your reply.

I think they are turning that vga into a video file which in my opinion, will result in a file too large to stream to the network challanged.... The output of those systems look so good when you are on the university LAN, but once you step off, you must set the capture rate down on them to produce a file that will stream. Setting the capture rate down on them produces a file that takes effort to view, which will tire a viewers eyes... Especially for many many hours of lecture.

This of course doesn't matter when you are just displaying powerpoint and the images are more static. But starting to work math or physics problems and things start to get jumpy and bumpy. Capturing deltas of screen drawing or application use makes the viewing experience very smooth and effortless to watch as well as bandwidth efficient.

About your desktop camera. There is a simple switch box made by SIMA for about $30 USD that can switch between the camera showing the presenter and the camera on the podium in the case where an instructor wanted to show the desktop camera as well as their computer desktop.

You would route the camera feed (of the presenter) as well as the desktop feed, into the switch and then the output of the switch would go into your video encoder card.

The other solutions for recording classrooms are thousands of dollars more than a ScreenWatch based solution. I firmly believe that organizations can build a recording system with off the shelf technology, rather than pay $15,0000 or more USD or a proprietary solution.

Conceptually, if recording a lecture is a good thing, then you should record most lectures. If you look at the problem of recording most lectures that happen at a university, then you may find that the $15K per classroom just for the recorder is not a scalable solution.

There is a convenience to the vga encoder cards, but I believe the end result will not get you to where you need to go at the end of the day. I believe, with some planning, process and structure, the same or better can be achieved on building a solution that is both scalable (defined as can be used and implemented in many classrooms), as well as portable (can be taken outside the classroom).

Many professors would rather recording their lectures on their laptops in their office or at home. (At least I have found this to be true in the states)...


With all of that said, we do plan to introduce a plugin architecture for recording systems. Our first target may be VNC support, or perhaps one of the cards. We just don't have it on our schedule, but it is in the product plans. We feel that our publishing system gives universities alot of options for all kinds of content.

Thanks much again for your reply,

Brian

Thanks for your suggestions.
You made the point about hardware solutions that cost $15,000+. Right now, we are considering many possibilities of lecture recording (videoconference endpoints + IP VCR / dedicated hardware like that from Sonic Foundry and some software solutions). I'm not a decission-maker (DM) in this, just a person who will present all the possibilities + their pros and cons to the actual DM.
All i can say is that DM is likely to favor the solution that wouldn't require lectors to do anything more than they would usually do during their lecture (as if no recording was going on).