- Frequently Asked Questions
Q:
Should we just submit every new class recording?
A: Definitely no. Class Library videos should be replaced only after an amount of time has passed since the last recording that it may be outdated,
or the previous recording is missing some information that the new recording provides,
or the old recording has inaccuracies that the new recording fixes,
or the last recording is of noticeably inferior quality,
or any other good reason. It's left to the discretion of the submitter or instructor whether a class warrants a new video or not.
There is a
separate thread to post recorded classes that are not specifically meant to replace existing videos in the Class Library channel. These are for those instructors who wouldn't mind having the latest-and-greatest version of their class made available, but don't need to have it fully replace the video just yet.
Q:
How long should we wait before replacing a class recording to consider the old one outdated?
A: That is left to your discretion. Some classes can probably last for a year or two and still be quite relevant, but some should probably be replaced every 6 months (or fewer!) just to keep them fresh and meaningful. A good example of the latter would be the "Introduction to EVE University" class, especially when E-UNI has a major new project, service, or policy change.
Q:
Why not just replace all classes as they are recorded, to keep it simple?
A: The final videos are not just a static image/slide with audio attached. Because of this, it takes some time and effort to process each recording.
Q:
Then why not just make them quick and easy static images, and save some time and work?
A: Feedback from students has shown a strong appreciation for the visual enhancement and it looks a bit more professional in quality. Besides, we really shouldn't need to replace class recordings so often that it overworks the curator(s).
Q:
Do we need to process the audio, e.g. remove any long silences and such?
A: No, but it is recommended. The curator will not be doing this and the final video may be noticeably better if this is done, depending upon if there were a lot of long silences or other extraneous items. But it is not required. We would rather have a good, unedited class available than no class at all because the submitter was unable or unwilling to process it.
Q:
Why do we need to update the wiki ourselves after the class is published?
A: Because the submitter will know much more about the class than the curator. Thus, the submitter will know how to properly describe the class in the wiki, and what additional information should be posted with it, e.g. links to a slideshow or other supplemental material. (We can't expect our curators to listen to every single submitted class in full.)
Q:
How do you record a class?
Q:
How do you process an audio recording?
A: See the UniWiki article on
Class Recordings. More detailed instructions that include Class Library specific information will be posted at a later date. We may even make a class out of it.
Q:
Can we submit recorded video?
A: Yep, you certainly may do so now. Balancing the submitting file size with a decent video quality will be left up to you. It is also usually possible for me to rip the video off YouTube, if you've already published it there. Hoewver, Google has been more diligent lately about shutting down publishers of ripping sites and software, so making an original file available for me to download is preferable.
The video quality should be reasonably good, but there's no strict definition and it doesn't have to look like a professional production. So as long as you can work within these requirements, then we are certainly happy to publish
full videos as well.
Q:
Can we still get downloadable audio/MP3 files?
A: Many students like to download the audio from recorded classes for offline listening on audio devices. To do this, services such as
ListenToYouTube may be used to extract and download the audio with standard MP3 encoding.