Lecture Capture student guide

Echo has a number of features to support you in navigating and learning from video content. All of the controls and features are available at the bottom of the player. The Play controls are on the left-hand side of the player and additional functionality is available on the right-hand side of the player.

Recording inputs

Once you have selected a recording, you will be able to review sources captured during Lecture Capture. This can include a recording of the lecturer's audio, the lecturer's presentation (e.g. PowerPoint slides), a secondary video of the lecturer. Select a source and a full screen icon will display on the top right of the source. Select this option to prioritise a source. Other layout options are available from the ninth icon from the right of the bottom of the player.

Play and audio controls

The play and audio controls are located at the bottom left of the player.

• In the bottom left-hand corner is a play button, a triangular button that will allow you to start the recording and then a rewind and fast forward button, which will allow you to toggle backwards and forwards through the recording. 
• You can also use the progressing pink line that appears at the bottom of the recording and shows you how far you are into the video.  Simply select this and drag backwards and forwards to review a particular section. 
• Hovering over the audio icon, which is the fourth icon from the left at the bottom of the player, reveals the volume slider.

Playback speed

• The Echo player has speed control on playback. This enables you to move quickly through the parts of the content that you understand and to slow down to review new concepts. This feature is available the Playback speed button which is the sixth option on the bottom right of the player.

Bookmarks and notes

You can place bookmarks and time-stamped notes on the Lecture Capture recording as you are reviewing it.

1. Select the Bookmark icon which is the fifth icon on the bottom right of the player.
2. To review all bookmarks that you added to a recording and to add notes, select the Open Sidebar icon which is the last icon on the right. 
3. The Sidebar will open on the right. Select the Notes panel icon at the top of the panel to review your saved bookmarks.
4. If you have multiple bookmarks, select the bookmark to which you want to add a note.
5. Type into the Notes input field and select Add Note.

• The Echo Study Guide consolidates all your bookmarks and timestamped notes on each of the Lecture Capture recordings within a module and the notes can be downloaded. When you next review a recording, you can use the bookmarks and timestamps to jump to the section of the recording that you want to view again. To access your Study Guide, open the link to Lecture Capture from your Moodle module and select the STUDY GUIDE tab prior to opening a recording. 

Confusion Flag

Setting a Confusion Flag enables you to indicate to the Lecturer that you have found a scene in the recording confusing. Prior to using this feature, check with your Lecturer if they plan on reviewing Confusion Flags on recordings.

To mark a scene as confusing, select the Confusion Flag icon which is the sixth icon from the right of the player. The Lecturer can review scenes found confusing by students and provide additional context and information.

Related guidance

Lecture Capture recordings from 1st November 2021 will include an automatically generated interactive transcript that you can choose to display or hide as you are reviewing Lecture Capture recordings.

Open the transcript

We recommend that you access the transcript feature using a desktop or tablet device. The transcript feature does not work on the Echo360 mobile app and is difficult to navigate using a mobile browser.

To open the transcript, select the transcript icon at the bottom of the player. This is the second icon on the bottom right of the player and displays as a T in a bubble. Once you select this option, a panel will open on the right-hand side with the transcript for the audio. 

Use the Search input field in the Sidebar to search the Transcript for any key words  that you want to jump to in the recording. Once you find a particular word, select that specific area of text and the video will jump to match that TimeCode.

Download transcript

You can download the transcript by selecting the download transcript icon represented by a downward arrow in a cloud. A modal window will open. Select the TXT option to download the text of the transcript. 

To hide the Transcript, select the Close Sidebar option which is the last icon on the bottom right of the player.

Open Captions 

Select the Toggle Captions (CC) button to display the captions on the recording. This is the third option on the right at the bottom of the player

Customise Captions

1. To change the location, font size and contrast of the captions, select the Settings button, seventh option on the right at the bottom of the player. The Settings menu will open.
2. Select Subtitles/CC to reveal the options available.
3. Select your preferred options and select the Settings icon to close the menu.

To switch off captions on the recording, select the Toggle Captions (CC) button.

If captions are not available on the Lecture Capture recording, the CC button on the bottom right will be greyed out and a message will display that captions are currently unavailable for your content if you try to select this button.

The automated transcripts are considered a supplementary resource. You should not rely solely on the transcripts when reviewing your Lecture Capture recordings. You're advised to check the transcripts against the PowerPoint and readings to ensure you have a good understanding of the topic and the terminology used.  

If you require accurate transcripts as part of your reasonable adjustment, you should contact disability@city.ac.uk to discuss your requirements for quality transcripts. This will then result in human intervention to make corrections on the automated transcript. This usually substantially improves the accuracy of the transcripts, but the accuracy can still be impacted by terminology used, accent of the lecturer and audio quality of the recording.

Watch the Academic Skills team animation on top tips for Lecture Capture to help you to learn effectively from Lecture Capture and how to use it before, during and after a lecture.