Tips on recording your videos with various tools available to you.
Please note: Once you have created your video you will need to follow a specific workflow of submitting videos to YuJa and then inserting them into your submission point which is explained clearly in the guide How to submit a video to a Blackboard assessment.
Recording with PowerPoint
Microsoft guide: How to make a PowerPoint with audio narration.
When it comes to exporting your presentation into a video file format for submission, it is important to make a decision about the output settings. By default, PowerPoint video files are produced in HD and could produce very large files that you will find difficult to submit.
PowerPoint does have additional settings that will make the file-size smaller, so do use these when you’re exporting your video.
Turn your PowerPoint into a video (Microsoft 365):
- Click File on the menu
- Select Export
- Select Create a Video (this option is not available in the iPad PowerPoint app – you may could a PC in the library for this action)
- You will see a dropdown menu that says the video will render in Full HD (1080p), change this to HD (720p) or Standard (480p)
- For longer videos (15+ minutes) select Standard (480p) but if you render in HD (720p) for any video length and the file size is over 200MB consider doing it again in Standard (480p) to get a smaller video size.
Microsoft guide: Turn your presentations into a video.
Recording with your mobile phone or tablet device
If recording with your own device camera, you will have a variety of different settings depending on the device that you are using. Apple & Android devices will typically have settings you can change before you start recording, which will let you record at different resolutions, with the typical standard being Full HD (1080p) and other options to raise or lower that. Select a lower resolution (720p or 480p) before you start recording.
You can:
- YuJa guide: Record and upload videos directly using the YuJa Video App.
- Or transfer the video to your computer by using OneDrive or Email and then upload to YuJa.
Be careful using your mobile device or phone to record they can produce different types of video file format that YuJa may not accept.
Top Tips when uploading video files to YuJa
- Try to keep the file-size as small as you can without losing quality. Bigger file sizes will take longer to upload.
- Submit early when your assignment is video-based, do not risk running out the clock and leave yourself time to render again to a smaller file size if you need to.
- YuJa accepts many different file types, check your assignment brief to see if a specific file type has been specified.
YuJa supported file types: wmv, .asf, .flv, .f4v, .f4a, .avi, .mp3, .mpg, .mpeg, .mps, .ps, .mp2, .m2v, .m2a,.ts, .tsv, .tsa, .mts, .m2ts, .tod, .mp4, .m4a, .m4v, .3gp, .mov, .mts (AVCHD), Flash video, .webm, .mxf, .dv., .docx, .pdf., .srt, .vtt, .txt, .csv, .xlsx, .pptx, .psd. – check up-to-date list on the YuJa guide file type list.
Guide last updated on December 2, 2022