Record Lecture with Panopto

Panopto is a video platform that allows you to record, edit, and share videos for your courses. This guide will help you set up your workspace, ensure sound quality, and go over the basics of the Panopto video platform.

Topics

STEP 1 — SETUP YOUR WORKSPACE

Choose a quiet, well-lit space, position your camera at eye level, and bounce a light of a white wall to soften harsh lighting.

LEARN MORE Recording Best Practices  Open in New Window

Standard Workspace showing a woman sitting at a desk with lamp and laptop.

Characteristics of a standard workspace:

  • Lighting is variable (too bright or too dim).
  • Camera is below or above eye level.

Results:

  • Dark shadows or blown out contrast.
  • Camera is looking up your nostrils... no one wants that.

Optimized for video recording shows woman sitting at desk with light bouncing off wall and camera at eye level.

Characteristics of workspace optimized for video:

  • Lighting is bright and comes from multiple angles including bouncing off white wall.
  • Camera is at eye level.

Results:

  • Lighting appears normal and doesn't draw attention to itself.
  • Camera angle appears normal and doesn't draw attention to itself.

Comparing two video outputs one well lit and positioned and the other dim with incorrect camera angle

STEP 2 — SOUND QUALITY

Microphones

If you can afford it, purchase a condenser desktop microphone to capture clear, high quality speech. Look for a USB microphone for easy plug-and-play compatibility with most computers.

AMAZON: Desktop Condenser USB Microphones  Open in New Window

Audio Help

Panopto offers Audio Normalization  Open in New Window which can automatically boost or soften the volume to match a target audio level, and will help even out the audio across the recording

Desktop microphone

STEP 3 — LOGIN TO CANVAS

CANVAS logo

Login to the course you're teaching in CANVAS to access Panopto's video recorder.

Keep Learning Idaho CANVAS: keeplearninguidaho.instructure.com  Open in New Window

If you need help logging in, please see our login help.

STEP 4 — RECORD & EDIT VIDEO

Access Panopto in CANVAS RichText Editor

Edit any CANVAS module page, assignment, discussion, or quiz. Click the Panopto button on the richtext editor to launch Panopto.

LEARN MORE How to Use Panopto with Canvas for Instructors  Open in New Window

Richtext editor with Panopto button circled.

Launch Panopto Capture

Click the Record tab and then Launch Capture to access the Panopto Video Recorder.

Panopto screen with Record and Launch Capture buttons circled.

Camera and Microphone Access

Click ALLOW on Panopto's request to use your Camera and Microphone.

Allow button circled on permission request window

Video Quality

Click Settings (Gear icon).

Under Recording Options, select HD (High Definition), or Ultra HD

NOTE: If your internet connection is slow, you may switch back to SD for faster performance.

You can also adjust your backgound, however, this was a BETA feature for Panopto at the time of this writing, and did not produce the highest quality results. We recommend using a green screen, a solid color wall behind you for better results.

Panopto settings screen with HD and gear button circled.

Select a Screen to Record

Click Screens and Apps to select which screen you'd like to record with your video lecture.

Panopto Screen selection option circled

Press Record

It's always a good idea to record a short test to see how you look and sound.

LEARN MORE Panopto Create Features  Open in New Window

Panopto record feature circled.

Finish or Edit?

When you're done recording, you can watch your video. If you're happy with it, close the video recording window to return to CANVAS with the option to insert your video.

If you'd like to trim your video, click Edit.

Close recorder to finish your video or click edit

Edit Video

Panopto is a non-destructive editor, meaning that it will trim your video, but never actually deletes anything. Rather it dynamically rebuilds the timeline.

Click and drag to select the sections of the timeline you want to trim off.

The left side of the video editor allows you to edit the auto-generated captions, manually add slides, create interactive quizzes and more.

Press Apply to finish editing.

LEARN MORE Panopto Edit Features  Open in New Window

Video editor trim and features highlighted. Click Apply to finish trimming video.

Insert Video

You can either Insert the video from the Record tab, or under Choose you can browse and select any video you have access to.

LEARN MORE How to Insert a Video Link into a Canvas Module  Open in New Window

Panopto video screen with Insert, record, and choose options circled.

Still need help? Submit a Support Request