Canvas video recording tool does not save

[kjohn113]

I have had an increasing number of students over the past couple of semesters report that when they use the Canvas video recording tool within the rich text editor to create videos as part of an assignment, the video does not save. It hangs up with the spinning "processing" icon. Even after clearing cache and cookies and rebooting, they report that this does not solve it. Is there some broader problem with this tool?

[carolyn_lyons · Accepted solution]

Hi @kjohn113 sorry to hear that your students are having trouble with videos not processing using the RCE media tool. Looking through the Known Issues and support tickets, I am not seeing widespread reporting of the behavior you described. Wondering how long the videos are that the students are uploading (and how large the files.) The How do I record media using the Rich Content Editor? guide advises not recording videos longer than 15 minutes, but in my experience, even shorter is better. As it outlines "Longer media recordings require more time to render and may be interrupted without a stable internet connection."

Two thoughts on how to best proceed. One would be to suggest the students record their videos using a different tool (like Zoom or screen capture) and then upload the file, rather than recording directly in the RCE. That way if the file upload gets interrupted, they don't lose their recording and can attempt again. Secondly, it doesn't sound as if your school uses a media tool, but you may want to consider the possibility of requesting access to a tool like Canvas Studio (see What is Canvas Studio? for more information), which would provide a deeper integration and access to a more sophisticated recording interface.

I hope that helps to provide a few suggestions! 

[kjohn113]

Greetings, 

Thank you for the solution suggestion.  They are certainly viable, if not necessarily desirable options. Not only have my students reported difficulties with the recorder, the problem has been happening quite a bit to ME as well, when I try to make short feedback videos to student work in the Speedgrader.  The students are typically making videos of 1-5 minutes and my feedback videos are usually no longer than a minute and a half, so length shouldn't be an issue.  Yet many of my feedback videos fail, regardless of browser, and students report having to create videos on their phones and upload them, which gets the job done but is less desirable because of the lack of a thumbnail image from the video.  

The screen recorder and Zoom solutions work, but the BIG drawback with using some other tool for my feedback videos is that it at least quadruples the time I spend on each little video, which becomes significant with multiple courses. Having the students do it that way would work, but with the problem I mentioned about not having the "community building" effect of thumbnail images of students.

I just wish the tool we have worked consistently rather than having to resort to a 'work-around'.

Thanks again! I may well be sending students to Zoom soon!

Keith