Course Staff Recording Guide

1. Confirm computer meets or exceeds baseline computer requirements for teaching online at Harvard Division of Continuing Education. 

  • Computer minimum specifications: Windows

    • 2GHz Intel Core™ Duo or faster processor, 8GB RAM

    • Windows 11 and higher

    • Up-to-date Web Browser: Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Edge

    

  • Computer minimum specifications: Macintosh

    • 2GHz Intel Core™ Duo or faster processor, 8GB RAM

    • macOS 14 and higher

    • Up-to-date Web Browser: Chrome, Firefox, Safari

  • 20 Mbs for upload and download is the recommended network speed. 5 Mbs for upload and download, is the network speed requirement.


2. Ensure you aware of and implement best practices:

  • Test your network speed ahead of your recording at speedof.me 

  • Use an ethernet cable if possible. Adapters may be needed. 

  • Open only the programs and tabs needed for the recording. 

  • Keep Zoom and your Browser of choice up to date. Chrome and Firefox recommended. 

  • If you have a second monitor, your video and audio quality may increase if you disconnect the cable from the device entirely before recording

  • A restart a day keeps IT away! Be sure to restart your device before recording.


3. Determine where you will record and set up accordingly.

Two light sources, evenly spaced, at about a 45° angle from you. Standard shaded-lamps diffuse light and lessen hard-shadows. The camera and lights should be as close to eye-level as possible. If camera is built-in, raise your laptop either with a stand or thick book(s). (Consider an external keyboard and mouse.) If camera is external, we recommend a small tripod.Center your face in the frame and be aware of your movement within. For clothing try muted or pastel / solid colors, avoid busy patterns and reflective material. Background should be simple- avoid things behind you going directly through head or body.


Illustrations of bad production scenarios. The Interrogation Chamber (direct overhead lighting). “My clothing does the talking for me.” (distracting clothing). The Anonymous Informant (backlighting). “You’ve got something on your… oh, nevermind.” (distracting background)




4. Log into Zoom at https://harvard.zoom.us/

  • Open the Zoom app on your desktop, make sure that it is up-to-date and enter your login credentials again.

  • On the https://harvard.zoom.us/ website go to the “Settings” tab.

  • Select the “Meeting” button and then the “In Meeting (Advanced)” tab.

  • Make sure “Meeting-HD Video Quality” is turned ON and “Full HD (1080P)”  is selected.

  • Be careful to reset your settings after recording to your preferred settings for class.

A.

B.

C.Setting is turned on. Sub setting Full HD (1080P) is selected. Description reads Activate higher quality video for host and participants. (This will use more bandwidth.)


5. Go to the “Recording” tab from the top of the page, replicate the settings below and select “Save” at the bottom of the checkboxes. 

Local Recording is off. Cloud recording is on. Record active speaker with shared screen is on. Record gallery view with shared screen is off. Record active speaker, gallery view and share screen separately is on. Active speaker view is on. Gallery view is off. Shared Screen is on. Record and audio only file is on. Save chat messages from the meeting/ webinar is on. Advanced cloud recordings. Add a timestamp is off. Display participant's names in the recording is off. Record thumbnails while sharing is off. Optimize the recording for 3rd party video editor is on. Audio transcript is on. Save panelist chat to the recording is on. Save button. Cancel button. speaker with shared screen is on. Record gallery view with shared screen is off. Record active speaker, gallery view and share screen separately is on. Active speaker view is on. Gallery view is off. Shared Screen is on. Record and audio only file is on. Save chat messages from the meeting/ webinar is on. Advanced cloud recordings. Add a timestamp is off. Display participant's names in the recording is off. Record thumbnails while sharing is off. Optimize the recording for 3rd party video editor is on. Audio transcript is on. Save panelist chat to the recording is on. Save button. Cancel button. Save Button


6.  If publishing in Gather through Canvas, be sure to record from your Class or Section meeting. There you will find the Camera on Paper icon to publish to Gather.

 Screenshot of Gather page from Canvas. In the first div table there are buttons for Published Recordings and Help & Tutorials. Below that is the Class event with the option to Join.

Otherwise, start an “Instant Meeting”, by selecting Host at https://harvard.zoom.us/ or the orange “New Meeting” button in the Zoom Client.

Join. Connect to a meeting in progress. Red circle around Host and Start a meeting now. Sign in. Create or manage your account with Harvard Key.

Circle around New meeting Button in the Zoom desktop app.

7. Open your “Preferences” / ”Settings” Panel in the Zoom Desktop App.

  • Select the small arrow next to the Camera icon. 

  • Select “Video Settings…” to open the “Preferences” / ”Settings” Panel.

Circle around Video Settings...


8. Select your “Preferences” / ”Settings”  in the Zoom Desktop App as shown below. If you are unable to see any of the settings listed, please go to https://harvard.zoom.us/ to turn on the correct Meeting Settings. Be aware that some may be hardware dependent and appear greyed out

Audio tab: 

  • Select “Test Mic and Test Speaker” to make sure your inputs and outputs are set correctly. If “Enable stereo” appears as an option, we recommend that you leave it unchecked as it may not convert from a Mono single source input properly. 

  • Adjust your input and output volumnes and devices accordingly. 

Speaker. EPOS ADAPT 1x5. Test Speaker. Output Volume set part way. Spatial Audio is off. Microphone. EPOS ADAPT 1x5. Test microphone. Input volume slider set. Image clips into next image. Automatically adjust microphone volume is off. Zoom background noise removal is selected and set to Auto. No other options are selected.

Audio tab (Advanced): 


Echo cancellation is set to Auto.


Video tab:

In the Video & Effects tab in the Zoom Desktop App, HD Video is on. Maintain original ratio is on. Mirror my video is off. Portrait lighting is on. Adjust for low light is set to manual and the slider is adjusted appropriately.

If you have a green screen for a virtual background, you can scroll down to enable this for improved quality. Auto framing may reduce video quality, instead try framing your face within center using the rule of thirds. 

The setting "I have a green screen" is on

Meetings & webinars tab:


Keep meeting controls visible is on. Others are off, but inconsequential. Meetings & webinars tab (Advanced): 

Advanced Video. Optimize outgoing video quality with de-noise is on. Use hardware acceleration for Sending video is on. All options are on in this window.


9. Select “Record to Cloud”. Make sure that it is NOT recording locally.

  • Leave a few seconds of silence at the beginning and end of your recording. 

  • Be prepared to record multiple takes. 

Record button from bottom toolbar.

10. The cloud recording will not process until you “End the Meeting”. 

You can view your recordings by going to https://harvard.zoom.us/recording. You should also receive an automated email once it is processed. If publishing in Gather, be sure to record from your Class or Section meeting. 


11. Have a great semester! 

You are welcome to reach out to webconference@dce.harvard.edu to review and/or offer personalized production related notes!


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