Tips for Recording Meetings

When recording a meeting, consider the shelf life of the recorded session:

• Time- and date-stamp your presentation so people know when it was created
• Avoid references to current events if discussing timeless topics
• Provide links to more frequently updated references
• Provide pointers for accessing potential updates or explain where to find material that may be released subsequent to your presentation
• Whatever is seen is not necessarily recorded (Make some practice recordings to see which elements are captured and which are not).

Remember:

• Turn off ringer on phone
• Close email and messaging clients to prevent audio/video interruptions
• Share the correct monitor in dual monitor situations

For the cleanest recorded view:

• Select “Hide The Presenter Only Area”
• Check “Enable Full Screen Toggle for Participants”
• Enter Full Screen view
• Un-sync the presentation and display the side bar to allow access to the Notes tab.

Don't forget to select “Record Meeting!”
(Some tips contributed by Kenneth Layng.)

Accessing Report Data for a Specific Recording

It is possible to access report data on a single recording that resides on the Adobe Connect server, but to do so the recording has to be moved out of the meeting folder and into a separate folder. Only users with Meeting Creator licenses can move recordings.

Preparing to Move the Recording

When preparing to move a recording to a different folder, first, be sure the person who created the meeting room is still listed as a Host in the Participant List for the meeting room. (For more information on accessing the Participant List see Editing Participants).

Next, note the name of the meeting room and the name of the recording you want to move. You actually need the name, not the URL. If you are not the person who created the meeting room, give this information to the Meeting Creator when you contact him/her about moving your recording. Moving the recording to another folder won't change the URL.

Access the Content Folder
Now, the Meeting Creator needs to access his/her content folder by clicking the "Content" tab in the dark gray menu bar at the top of the screen in the Adobe Connect Central Web Interface (http://breeze.psu.edu). This is where you will be putting the recording so you will need to create a folder where the recording files can be stored.

[inline:ContentTab.gif]
Content Tab

Create a New Folder to House Recordings

1. Within the Content folder, click the white "New Folder" button.

   [inline:NewFolderButton.gif]
   New Folder Button

2. Give the folder a descriptive name. For example, the folder name could describe the owner and the contents ("Mary Public Recordings”). Special characters such as apostrophes shouldn't be a problem, but avoid them if possible.

   [inline:NewFolder.gif]
   New Folder Button

3. Click "Save." You should see the message "This folder is empty." appear below the gray bar.

Move the Recording

1. Next, select the recording and move it to this folder. To do this, click the "Meetings" tab in the dark gray menu bar at the top of the screen.

   [inline:MeetingsTab.gif]
   New Folder Button

2. Find the name of the meeting containing the recording that needs to be moved, and click the name.
3. In the row of links that starts with "Meeting Information," click the link for "Recordings."

   [inline:RecordingsLink.gif]
   Recordings Link

4. In the list, find the name of the recording to be moved and click the checkbox to the left of the name. Then, click the white "Move to Folder" button.

   [inline:MoveToFolderButton.gif]
   Select the recording and click the Move To Folder button

5. On the next screen, it says "Item(s) to Move." Click the folder where you want to place the recording.
6. Then, click the white "Move" button at the bottom of the screen.

   [inline:MoveButton.gif]
   Select the folder and click the Move button

   You should get the message that "The following items were moved successfully:" Click the OK button.

Set Permissions on the Recording
Finally, you need to set the permissions for the recording(s) that you have just moved. Access can be restricted or open to the general public.

1. Click the "Content" button in the light gray menu bar at the top of the screen.
2. Then, click the folder where you have placed the recording(s). You should see the file(s) you just moved.
3. Click the name of the file for which you want to set permissions.
4. In the menu just above the gray bar, click the "Set Permissions" link.
5. Click the white "Customize" button.
6. On the next screen, where it says "Allow public viewing:" select "Yes" if you want everyone with the URL to be able to view the recording. Select "No" if you want to restrict viewing to just those listed in the "Current Permissions" list. If you are restricting viewing, customize the list by adding or deleting users from the "Current Permissions" list.

To View Report Data
After moving the meeting to a separate folder, to view the report data,

1. Click the "Content" tab in the dark gray menu bar at the top of the screen,
2. click the name of the folder where you put the recording, and
3. click the name of the recording.
4. In the "Content Information" menu bar, click the "Reports" link.

You can choose to view the recording data summary (default), as well as by slide, by question, and by answer.

Edit or Download Recordings

One of Adobe Connect Pro 7 newest features is the ease in which you can edit and distribute recordings.

Editing Meeting Recordings
You can use the built-in editor to remove sections of the recording. This is useful if the recording contains periods of silence or unnecessary information. Only meeting room Hosts and Meeting Room Creators can edit recordings associated with that room.

Following are some tips for editing recordings:

• To edit a meeting recording that has been moved to the Content library, you must have Meeting Room Creator rights for the room. (If you created the meeting you have these rights by default.) A meeting Host can only edit meetings that have not been moved and are still associated with the meeting.
• After editing a recording, the last edited version is saved and includes all information from earlier editing sessions. The link used to deploy your recording does not change after editing. Users given the link and rights to access the recording see the most recent version saved, including any edits that were made.
• Multiple users can open a recording in edit mode at the same time and no warning is displayed that the recording is already being edited by another user. However, after one user saves their changes, others that may be editing the recording at the same time receive an error when they try to save their changes.

Edit a Recorded Meeting - Online

Editing a recording is useful if the recording contains sections of silence or unnecessary information that you want to remove before making the recording available.

1. Meeting Creator only - From the Acrobat Connect Pro Central home page, click Meetings and then click the name of the meeting that includes the recording. Go to Step 2.
   Meeting Creator or Host - Login to the Meeting Room using the URL. In the meeting room menu go to Meeting>Manage Meeting Information. This will open the Meeting Information Menu in your computer system default browser window with the listing of the recordings. *Note: The browser may be hidden behind other open applications that are running. Go to Step 2.

2. Click the "Recordings" link at the end of the Meeting Information menu bar to view the list of recordings for the meeting room.

[inline:recordinglink.jpg]
Recordings Link

3. Click Edit next to the recording that you want to edit.

[inline:selectedit.jpg]
Selecting Edit for a Recording

4. Watch the recording to search for places that require editing or drag the progress line in the Playing bar to a specific location in the recording.
5. Use the selection markers to specify the areas of the recording you want to remove.

[inline:selectcrop.jpg]
Selecting an Area and Crop

6. Click Crop. By clicking on Crop, you will prevent unwanted portions of the recording from being seen by skipping over them when viewed. They are still on the server and any cropped section can be restored by selecting the cropped section and clicking on the Undo button.
7. Repeat Steps 5 and 6 to select and crop out multiple sections.
8. (Optional) Click on the View Advanced Options button to search for specific information within the recording file or filter by event type.

[inline:advancedoptions.jpg]
Selecting the Advanced Options Button

9. Click on the Save button when your are finished marking sections for removal from your recording. The edited recording will begin playing immediately after being saved.

[inline:committosave.jpg]
Saving Your Edits

10. (Optional) Click on the Revert to Original button to restore the recording to its original state before the edits.

[inline:reverttooriginal.jpg]
Revert to Original Recording

About Offline Recordings

If you have a meeting recording and want people who do not have access to an Acrobat Connect Pro server to view the recording, you can create an offline version. The offline recording is saved as a single FLV file.
Following are some tips for offline recordings:

• Set your screen resolution high enough to include all activities that occurred in the original meeting. Adobe recommends setting resolution to 1024 x 768.
• Leave the recording controls toolbar minimized. If this toolbar is in view, it is also recorded.
• Avoid network or system intensive activities such as installing software or downloading files during the recording process.
• Disable your screen saver and monitor power settings before proceeding.
• Creating an offline recording takes approximately the same amount of time as the duration of the original meeting recording.
• You can minimize the offline recording window or view other windows on top of it while creating your offline recording without interfering with the contents of your recording.
• Ensure that you have the Acrobat Connect Add-in installed before starting an offline recording. (You can check if you have the Add-in installed by entering a meeting and seeing if you are prompted to install the Add-in.)
• The finished FLV file can be viewed in a FLV player (such as Adobe® Media Player), placed on a CD, placed on a server that can play FLV files to users, embedded into a presentation, e-mailed to users to play within their own local FLV player, or uploaded to the Acrobat Connect Pro Content library.
• Use the Pause/Resume button to temporarily stop creation of the offline recording as necessary. This can be useful if you must download a large file and do not want to strain system resources or if you must attend a live meeting. When you click Resume, the recording continues from where it was paused. The finished recording is one continuous file regardless of how many times you paused and resumed recording.
• The Stop and Save button ends the creation of a recording. This is useful if you only want to record a portion of a meeting or virtual classroom, for example, the first ten minutes. Also, use the Stop and Save button to break a long meeting session into smaller recordings. For example, if you have a two-hour meeting session, you can create four half-hour recordings. You would start the recording and after 30 minutes click Stop and Save. Then, if you click Start New again, you resume

Create an Offline Recording
The meeting recording begins playing, which starts the creation of the offline archive.
Each time you make the control bar visible, it will be visible within the final recording. Show the control bar as infrequently as possible and keep the control bar in its minimized state.

To make Offline Recordings do the following:

1. Meeting Creator only - From the Acrobat Connect Pro Central home page, click Meetings and then click the name of the meeting that includes the recording. Go to Step 2.
   Meeting Creator or Host - Login to the Meeting Room using the URL. In the meeting room menu go to Meeting>Manage Meeting Information. This will open the Meeting Information Menu in your browser window with the listing of the recordings. Go to Step 2.
2. Click the "Recordings" link at the end of the Meeting Information menu bar to view the list of recordings for the meeting room.

[inline:recordinglink.jpg]
Recordings Link

3. Next to the specific recording you want to use, click Make Offline.

[inline:makeofflinerecordinglink.jpg]
Select Make Offline

4. In the Offline Recorder, specify a location for the finished FLV file. (If Help text appears, click Proceed with Offline Recording.)

[inline:saveofflinelocation.jpg]
Select location to save Offline Recording

5. If the controls are not visible, click Show toolbar

[inline:opentoolbar.jpg]
Open the Toolbar

6. Use the Start New, Stop and Save, and Pause/Resume controls as necessary during the recording process.

[inline:stopstartpause.jpg]
Start New, Stop and Save, and Pause/Resume Controls

7. When the recording process finishes, a confirmation message appears. If necessary, close the offline recorder window by clicking close. (If the window is in its minimized state, the window closes automatically.)

[inline:confirmation.jpg]
Confirmation Window

8. (Optional) To find the finished FLV file, use Windows Explorer to navigate to the location you selected in step 4.

   Note: Playing the offline recording requires using the Adobe Media Player that can be downloaded from the following website: http://get.adobe.com/amp/?promoid=DJDZD

   Always use caution when downloading movies or files from untrusted sites as they may contain viruses or other unwanted content.

   Additional information on how to edit .FLV recordings that have been download can be obtained by visiting the Digital Commons Penn State web pages at http://digitalcommons.psu.edu/

Posting Downloaded Recording in iTunesU
Downloaded recordings can be distributed in a number of ways. One way you might want to consider is through iTunes U. Recordings download as an FLV files, so they will need to be converted to MOV before being uploaded to iTunes U. Converters can be found by Googling "convert FLV to MOV." For example, http://www.flv-converter.com/flv-to-mov.htm.

Information about obtaining an iTunes U course at Penn State is available at http://podcasts.psu.edu/. Faculty will need to complete the form at http://podcasts.psu.edu/showsetup.

Setting Access Permissions for Recordings

Access to recordings depends on the access settings for the meeting room in which the recording was made and on the individual settings for each recording. The default access setting for a recording that resides in the same folder as the meeting from which it was recorded is the meeting room setting.

Note: RSS feed is not available for Adobe Connect recordings.

By default, recording access is the same as the meeting room access. If access to the meeting room is limited to just the participants listed on the Participant List, then those are also the only users who will be able to access the recording. For more information about meeting room access settings see Creating New Meetings.

Changing Meeting Room Access
Recording access can be set by either changing the meeting room access or just a selected recording. Only meeting room Hosts and Meeting Room Creators can change the access to a meeting room and any recordings associated with that room.

To change the access of a recording:

1. Enter the Meeting room for which access is to be changed.
2. Under the "Meeting" menu select "Manage Meeting Information." This will open the Web interface in your browser.

   [inline:ManageInfo.gif]
   Manage Meeting Information

3. Click the "Edit Information" link in the Meeting Information menu bar.

   [inline:EditInfo.gif]
   Edit Information Link

4. In the “Access:” section select the level of access for the meeting room and associated recordings.

   [inline:AccessSettings.gif]
   Meeting Room Access Settings

5. Click the “Save” button at the bottom of the screen.
6. If you select “Only registered users may enter the room (guest access is blocked)” or “only registered users and accepted guests may enter the room,” continue to edit the meeting room settings by selecting “Edit Participants” from the Meeting Information menu bar and enter the names of users to whom you wish to grant access to the meeting room as well as to the recordings for that meeting room.

   [inline:EditParts.gif]
   Edit Participants Link

Changing Recording Access without Changing Meeting Room Access

To change the access permissions for selected recordings associated with a meeting room without changing the meeting room access do the following:

1. Enter the Meeting room for the desired recording.
2. Under the "Meeting" menu select "Manage Meeting Information." This will open the Web interface in your browser.
3. Click the "Recordings" link at the end of the Meeting Information menu bar to view the list of recordings for the meeting room.
4. Select the desired recording by clicking the checkbox to the left of the recording name.
5. Select either the “Make Public” button or the “Make Private” button located just above the column headings.
6. If you select to make the recording private, continue editing the meeting room information by selecting “Edit Participants” from the “Meeting Information” menu bar and add the names of users to whom you wish to grant access.

More Information
For more information about recording meetings, see pages 47-50 of the "Adobe Connect Pro User Guide - Complete Help" as either LiveDocs or in a downloadable (PDF) format at http://help.adobe.com/en_US/AcrobatConnectPro/7.0/connectpro_7_help.pdf

Showing PowerPoint Notes During a Recorded Meeting

Showing PowerPoint Notes during a Recorded Meeting
The ability to allow Attendees to view PowerPoint Notes in a presentation displayed in the Share pod is another feature available in an Adobe Connect meeting room. This option may be particularly helpful when recording class sessions and large meetings.

1. First, create the PowerPoint presentation that will be used in the Adobe Connect meeting.
2. Next, type or paste the text of the script into the note section for each slide.
3. Save your PowerPoint (.ppt) file in a folder on your computer.
4. Open the meeting and, in the Share pod, select Documents >> Select from My Computer. Select the name of the presentation, and then select Open. The PowerPoint will be uploaded to the Share Pod.

To allow users to display the notes while viewing the recording do the following:

1. Click the "Show/hide sidebar" button (located next to the navigation arrows in the lower left hand corner of the Share pod) to have the sidebar appear. If needed, expand the Share pod so that you can see the outline and notes tabs.
2. Un-sync the presentation by making sure that the "sync" button is in the up position. It should be light gray, not dark.

   When the Presentation is delivered with the Sync button engaged (button is dark gray),

   • the Presenter will be able to see the PowerPoint notes
   • the Participants will not be able to see the notes
   • the notes will not be visible in the recording.
   • the Presenter will control the presentation of the slides for everyone in the meeting room

   When the Presentation is delivered with the Sync button NOT engaged (button is light gray),

   • the Presenter will be able to see the PowerPoint notes
   • the Participants will also be able to see the notes
   • the notes will be visible in the recording.
   • the Presenter will NOT control the presentation of the slides for everyone in the meeting room. Each individual Attendee will control which slide is displayed for themselves
3. Select "Record Meeting..." from the Meeting Menu.
4. Give the presentation and stop the recording when you are finished.

Once the configuration is set and the meeting has been recorded, the notes tab will be available in the recording. The recording can be paused at any point, and the PowerPoint/Presenter file is still accessible - both to freely navigate and to scroll the notes tab. It works independently of the rest of the recording. The end users can view the PowerPoint file within the recording at their leisure.

Note: In a live meeting, when the presentation is "un-synced," each meeting attendee will need to advance slides for themselves to view the presentation. The Presenter's actions WILL NOT be displayed for everyone in the meeting room. Therefore, it is NOT recommended to "un-sync" the Share pod when recording a meeting with live Attendees.

A better alternative is to record your presentation in Presenter, post the file to the Web, and distribute that link instead of putting the presentation in Adobe Connect.