Guidelines for publishing videos for UniversitySite

Applies To

• UniversitySite Cloud
• Behind the Firewall Installations

Intended Audience

• System administrators

Background

From time to time we get asked about best practice for inserting a video into an eLearning authoring tool such as Captivate.  This article is focused on general guidelines for the video itself rather than details exporting a SCORM package from an authoring tool.

Recommendations

• Use MP4 files instead of WMV or FLV or anything else.  Why?  Browsers have the ability to start playing an MP4 while it is still being downloaded instead of waiting for the entire MP4 to download provided the MP4 has been published for progressive download.  
• Make sure the total bit rate of the MP4 your inserting into our eLearning is less than 6 mbps aka 6000 kbps.  Experiment with lowering the bit rate as much as possible.  Each video is different and will have different bit rate requirements in order to provide adequate video quality.  Keep lowering the bit rate until the video quality is unacceptable and then use the lowest acceptable bit rate.  This will help to ensure your users have the best playback experience, minimize delays and stuttering, and avoid clogging your network with video traffic.  
  
  Check the resolution of your video and then use this table to determine the maximum recommended bit rate and then adjust your bit rate as low as possible:

Read about this on YouTube: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2853702?hl=en

Right-click on your MP4 in Windows Explorer and mode note of the total bit rate.  17,190 kbps in this case is WAY to high: