[ARCHIVED] Is it possible to download a media submission?

[lsickler]

Students created video projects and submitted them to a Canvas assignment.  I would like to download and save some of the submissions to my computer, but can't find a way to do so.  Is this possible?

[rgode · Accepted solution]

I would like to see this as well.  I'd like to use this for Spanish AP practice audio piece.  For the real thing, we will need to download the student's audio recordings and burn them to a CD to send to the AP Board for grading.

Ricky

[cesbrandt · Accepted solution]

There is and there isn't.

When you play a media file in the SpeedGrader it is embedded in the page using a VIDEO tag without disabling download. This means that videos and audio can be downloaded by right-clicking on the player (while it's playing). On the menu, you'll have an option to "Save video as..." that will allow you to download the media file to your computer. Note: Don't let the name of the option fool you, it will allow you to save audio files as audio files, it's just the way in which it was embedded that causes the labeling.

I've only confirmed this works with MP4 (video) and MP3 (audio) uploads, but it does work in IE11, Chrome, and Firefox. For some reason, the Record Media option refuses to work on my computer in any browser. :S

If anyone could test the record media options, that'd be great. I would assume, though, that it'd have the same functionality.

If you're looking to do a bulk download, that would require use of the API to retrieve multiple submissions, then scripting to archive them together, and finally initialize the download. It's doable, but it's a bit heavy on the client browser to implement. I'd highly recommend sticking to individual downloads.

[kblack]

Not that I'm aware of, and I haven't seen a work-around mentioned in the Community.   @kona ​ earlier answered a similar question from a student:  Downloading Media Comments from Professor and there is a fairly recent Feature Idea that  @Renee_Carney ​ from Instructure contributed to here:  .  Maybe (and I have not tried this myself) try some third-party browser plug-ins that (in theory) allow downloading from streaming media outlets such as YouTube or similar services and see if they work in Canvas.

[rgode · Accepted solution]

I would like to see this as well.  I'd like to use this for Spanish AP practice audio piece.  For the real thing, we will need to download the student's audio recordings and burn them to a CD to send to the AP Board for grading.

Ricky

[cesbrandt · Accepted solution]

There is and there isn't.

When you play a media file in the SpeedGrader it is embedded in the page using a VIDEO tag without disabling download. This means that videos and audio can be downloaded by right-clicking on the player (while it's playing). On the menu, you'll have an option to "Save video as..." that will allow you to download the media file to your computer. Note: Don't let the name of the option fool you, it will allow you to save audio files as audio files, it's just the way in which it was embedded that causes the labeling.

I've only confirmed this works with MP4 (video) and MP3 (audio) uploads, but it does work in IE11, Chrome, and Firefox. For some reason, the Record Media option refuses to work on my computer in any browser. :S

If anyone could test the record media options, that'd be great. I would assume, though, that it'd have the same functionality.

If you're looking to do a bulk download, that would require use of the API to retrieve multiple submissions, then scripting to archive them together, and finally initialize the download. It's doable, but it's a bit heavy on the client browser to implement. I'd highly recommend sticking to individual downloads.

[rgode]

THANK YOU FOR THIS!!!!  It works perfectly!  Now if I could help you... In our district the Record Media option refuses to work on our campuses, but works fine on the same computer at admin.  So that tells me that our firewall is blocking something that the record media option needs (I get a "Connection error. Please try again later")  Maybe your firewall is blocking something that the Record Media needs?

I made a little video that shows that the microphone is working and I've allowed everything in adobe flash, yet I still get the connection error.  As soon as I took the laptop back to my office in admin the record media option worked flawlessly.  I didn't even restart my laptop.  https://goo.gl/photos/73dA19pLD13kCYRw9

[cesbrandt]

Thanks for the suggestion, however that's not the issue I'm getting. It keeps cycling to the prompt asking me to allow it to use the microphone/camera and I do have administrative rights, so that shouldn't be causing such problems. It blame the use of Flash when most major browsers no longer support it. Regardless, it's not a major concern for me as I have no normal need to use the functionality.

I'm glad everything works fine for you when saving the files, though.

[orra5]

Thank you! This is exactly what I needed to know today.

[hillofbeans]

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

[clarkbra]

That worked. Thanks!

[bengaynor · Accepted solution]

I know this is an old post, but I have found a workaround to share with future searchers. There's a Chrome extension called Chrome Audio Capture. You hit a "record" button and let the audio play, and then hit a button when the audio finishes to stop and download the recording. It's time consuming since the audio has to play all the way through, but it's not recording from the computer's mic, so you can keep working. I had one student out of 40 submit a media recording (there were other options), so if it's only a selection of student work that I want to save for posterity, it's worth my time. I was not able to right-click and save the audio despite my best efforts.

[rsharma]

bengaynor THANK YOU!!!!