Video guides migrating from Vimeo to Canvas Studio by July 31st

[Renee_Carney]

Were you aware that Instructure provides a video hosting and collaboration solution, Canvas Studio? We weren’t sure, so we thought we better ask before we share some exciting news - 

All video guides will be migrating from Vimeo

to Canvas Studio by July 31st.

Why are video guides migrating to Canvas Studio?

We’d be remiss if we did not start this section by expressing how grateful we are to Vimeo for the 12-year partnership that made it possible to provide you with a top-shelf video viewing experience. Vimeo is a great tool with great people! 

The Instructure Community video guides are moving to Canvas Studio so we can showcase what an awesome tool Studio is and save a little money along the way. 

How will this migration impact my: 

Community Experience?

You may notice video pages looking a little more crisp and on brand. However, there will be no difference in the way you can search and discover videos or view them directly in the Community. 

Course Experience?

Courses with embedded videos or videos linked via Vimeo URL will be impacted by this migration. We encourage you to prioritize updating embedded videos to their new Canvas Studio URL and linked videos to their new Community page URL by July 31, 2023.

Admins, if your institution utilizes domain restrictions on your network, it would be advantageous to check that *.instructuremedia.com is on the allow list.

Bookmarked Links?

You can leverage the Canvas Video Links spreadsheet to update your bookmarks.

What other changes are planned for video guides?

When the Community Team kicked off this project, we wanted to better understand how you all access and leverage guide videos.  Here’s what we uncovered for 2022: 

• 4.9 million video views 
• 1.4 million unique viewers
• 21 years of time spent watching video guides
• 1.4 million videos watched to completion
• On average 60% of a video is watched
• The majority of videos are viewed from a desktop and accessed via Instructure Community

Strategy Evolution

The 4.9 million views demonstrate the value of video, however, the 1.4 million videos watched to completion along with the average 60% view duration tells us we may need to evolve our strategy. In the past, we’ve taken the approach of 3-5 minute videos with multiple concepts. Your clicks and views, along with video media trends, encourage us to shorten our videos and keep them specific to a single concept or task.  We also believe there is value in connecting the video guide to the written guide by embedding the video at the top - providing multi-modalities of learning in one resource. 

There are a lot of new trends and ideas that we expect to surface with growing research and development in AI (artificial intelligence). We’ve already identified one tool (Guidde) that we will be exploring to increase the efficiency in our video production.

Archiving

Increasing the efficiency of our video updates and production is important, as there are currently 90 video guides for Canvas alone. Eight video guides would need to be updated each month in order for every video to be updated within a calendar year, and this doesn’t even factor in the impact of releases and videos for other Instructure products.  At eight hours per video production, you can see how it quickly becomes a single person’s full time job just to maintain video guides.

While we look to AI and shortened, single-concept videos - we call them shorts - we need a plan that brings the number of videos to a more manageable number. We’re starting by identifying the 50 most important Canvas video guides to be maintained, based on total views and the complexity of a concept. The remaining 40 Canvas video guides will be archived throughout the following year. This archive will not occur all at once; it will be based on when a video becomes outdated. Once a video that is identified for archive becomes outdated, it will receive a banner which labels it outdated. The official archive date, which will be roughly 30 days following the banner, will be provided. Some archived videos may be replaced by a short. We will do our best to redirect those archived URLs to newly-created shorts to assist with preventing broken links. 

We are excited to learn more about Canvas Studio through this project, and we hope you are too!

[LMacaulay]

Thank you for this update. It would be VERY helpful if the embed code for Studio was included on the Community page rather than having to find and reference the spreadsheet you have included with this post. We often don't need all of the content on the Community page and only want to embed the video itself in training we provide.  Please consider adding this functionality.

[KristinL]

Hi @LMacaulay - Thank you for sharing this feedback. The Community Team explored the embedding options today, and we think we have a good solution available. We were able to make an Embed This Video button available on each video page. We hope this helps with your process!

[LMacaulay]

Thanks for this, but I wasn't clear in my earlier request. We need to be able to embed the video OUTSIDE of Canvas. We use an intranet site via Google Sites for training content. Yes, we can embed the whole page, but the thumbnail isn't helpful/descriptive that is included with that and we often don't want all of the extra content on the community page. Is there a possibility that Studio videos could be set for access outside of Canvas so embeds can work elsewhere? Or could the thumbnail for the whole page actually show the title of the video like the Studio embed does?

[KristinL]

@LMacaulay - Thank you for the follow-up!

According to our documentation, the embed should work anywhere. We're updating our button so this is the case. After trying it out in your course, please let us know if you're able to get the content to display correctly in your courses.

[Nancy_Webb_CCSF]

Thanks so much @KristinL for being amazingly quickly responsive to this request about embedding videos!  I can see that is generic embed code that should work anywhere.

Question:  What happens when the video is updated?  Is it possible to keep the same URL for the video, or will it need updating? 

[Sylvia_Ami]

When you decided on the 50 most important videos, partly based on number of views, this eliminates any new videos. For example, I didn't see the video RCE Icon Maker in the video migration list. I just looked in the Rich Content Editor video for all users and the Icon Maker tools isn't mentioned. Do you know if there are plans to keep the Icon Maker video or update the existing RCE video?

[crafte]

Hi @KristinL  - how can we add a timestamp to the embed code? We have a couple of videos we would like to start further into the video. We do not have Canvas Studio and will need to add the timestamp to the embed code.

[KristinL]

Hi @crafte - That's a great question. Unfortunately, that's not a feature that is available as we embed these new videos. One of the Canvas Studio guides explains this in more context.

[SummerSAMcLain]

Will captions for the migrated videos be available in Spanish? I believe at least some of the Vimeo videos had the Spanish caption option and I really need that for a couple of my courses.

[juliejohnson]

Question: I just happened to stumble on this blog post today. I was researching something else in the Canvas Guides and saw the banner. This is the first I'm hearing about the video migration. We use embedded Vimeo videos in the Canvas training module imported into all our courses via a template. Now we have to figure out how to update thousands of Fall 23 courses that will now have broken links. Was this communicated elsewhere more broadly, and we all missed it? We never received any direct communication about this impactful change. @Renee_Carney 

[Renee_Carney]

Hi @juliejohnson 

We knew this would impact courses for back to school season, which is why we wanted to give schools and internal teams as much notice as possible.  There is a sheet provided with complete URL mapping to assist in the process of updating links. I'm glad you saw this communication now and I hope the resources make the transition smooth.  

Please reach out if we can be of help. 

[milesl]

We've made the "Growing with Canvas" course available to instructors for self-enrollment.

Are there any plans to update that course and replace the vimeo embeds with studio embeds?

[KristinL]

@milesl - The Learning Services team completed the update on Friday. The changes have been made available in Commons for all customers.

[elilov]

Hi, a problem that we have encountered is that the new Canvas Studio links do not have oEmbed functionality that Vimeo had, which makes it harder to use those links with our CMS. Is it possible to add oEmbed functionality to Canvas Studio?

[KristinL]

Hi @elilov - There is an embed option for Studio content, though it is not oEmbed! Here's an example:  Inbox Overview (All Users)

Would the Embed this video option from that page meet your needs? 

We'll be sure to share your question about oEmbed with the Canvas Studio team.

[JosephDunfee]

I am a new instructor, and am in the process of learning Canvas.  In general, I was concerned about how much of my school's content was being hosted by places like Vimeo and YouTube.  Both of those have a history of removing users if they disagree with the video hosting site's own political views.

This made me concerned that the video host could cause a great deal of disruption if an instructor had created content there, and it was removed.  So, I am glad to see that Canvas has the ability to host video itself. 

Of course, links to content created by others will always be subject to change, or being taken down, regardless of if it is video or a web page.   Can anyone suggest a strategy for making such content as robust as possible?  I realize we shouldn't copy their content without permission.  But perhaps asking permission to create a copy that hosted within Canvas is an option. Any other ideas?

[carolann]

It appears the new Studio videos do not have captions available in Spanish like the Vimeo videos have.  Are their Spanish videos available?

[paulamiranda]

This was asked previously there hasn't been a response: If a video is updated, will it be reflected in the embedded versions? This would be helpful for our knowledge management practices. Thanks.

[NicoletteStaley]

@Nancy_Webb_CCSF  and @paulamiranda When a video is updated, the plan is to retain the same URL and to simply replace the media, but that functionality is not currently available in Studio. For the time being, we are not planing to update any of the video guides, and will be creating short-form videos that reflect updates.

@Sylvia_Ami The videos that are contained in the "top 50" and and those to eventually be archived are all considered Canvas Guide videos.  The Icon Make video is a release screencast.  Those videos are typically archived after some time.  This is because by that time the official documentation should be updated to reflect the release by that time.

With the transition to short-form videos that we are making, it is highly likely that a Canvas Short on the RCE Icon Maker will be published before the release screencast on the feature is archived.

@carolann and @SummerSAMcLain Any video guides that had non-English in Vimeo have those foreign language subtitles in Studio at this point.  Not all video guides had subtitles in other languages in Vimeo which may be why you are seeing videos without Spanish subtitles available.

[SummerSAMcLain]

EDIT: The one I was talking about seems to have been updated since my last message.

@Nica - Were the video guides that had non-English in Vimeo just recently updated in Studio with those captions? I was referring to a video that DID have Spanish captions in Vimeo and now DOES NOT in Studio. 

Thanks

[NicoletteStaley]

@SummerSAMcLain The Spanish captions were added to the videos in Studio after they were migrated.  If there is a video that currently lacks Spanish subtitles and you believe it had them when it was in Vimeo, can you let me know which?  It is always possible that something got missed in the migration process.

[dbrace]

@Renee_Carney, are any of the videos themselves being updated with the migration from Vimeo to Studio?

I am asking because there are videos that are not as current as they could/should be for those that are looking at using newer functionality.

For example,New Quizzes Overview (Instructors) does not have the "Build" button in the lower-right when creating or editing a New Quiz and the updated RCE is missing.

These may seem like simple differences but I work with faculty that have anxiety when even the slightest set of directions or visuals are different.

[Renee_Carney]

Great question @dbrace, and thank you for asking. 

Videos were not updated as part of the migration, as our focus was on moving videos, updating all links, and ensuring minimal to no URL breakage as we all enter into the back to school season. 

That being said, our migration did move a little quicker than we expected and we have started into the 2nd phase of this project, which is changing strategy from long multi-topic videos to short single topic videos.  This strategy shift will allow us to update video content more quickly in the future. 

We'll post an update soon so you can see what those look like. 

[NicoletteStaley]

@dbrace Hopefully we will have updated videos on using New Quizzes soon, but in the meantime, can I recommend that you consider sharing Release Screencast: 2023-05-20 New Quizzes Rich Content Editor in New Quizzes with your instructors for the time being.  It isn't as polished as an official video guide will be, but the content and interface reflect current New Quizzes.

[Susan27]

I'm also stumbling upon this change by accident and am disappointed that this was not communicated in a proactive manner. Did anyone use an API script to change the URL's that they can share? 

Changing the longer videos to shorts is a great idea. I would love it if the outdated longer videos are automatically redirected to the relevant new short. Can you include updates on when a video becomes outdated or a new short is published in the release/deploy notes? Or do you already have a communication plan on how to keep us informed about it? It would be a pain to have to keep checking this page. 

[TJohnson2024]

Hello. Are everyone using this Instucture community from the same college? Or are everyone from different colleges? 

[TJohnson2024]

Hello. Are everyone using this Instucture community from the same college? Or are everyone from different colleges? 

[Nancy_Webb_CCSF]

@TJohnson2024 , this community is for all Canvas (and other Instructure products) users around the world, not just one college.  Lots of great information here, and a community of users that will answer your questions.  Welcome!

What we won't know is something specific to your college.

[jason_cfeideas]

How long will the videos remain on Vimeo? Trying to get a sense of how urgent it is to migrate on our side.

[Renee_Carney]

@jason_cfeideas 
We left the videos up through August so not to disrupt peak season for so many schools. Ideally, URLs have already been updated, but having a past life as an eLearning Admin, I know ideal and reality don't always align 😍. We have a bit more wiggle room for URLs persisting, but we do plan on taking Vimeo completely offline before the end of Sept. 

[HeatherPfau]

The Release Screencast: 2022-03-19 Rich Content Editor Equation Editor Update that was on Vimeo is not available through this website or through the spreadsheet.  

https://vimeo.com/689066561 

I found a website with a Release Screencast: 2022-03-19 Rich Content Editor Equation Editor Update video, but the page does not contain an "embed video" link. Instead, it contains an "embed this guide" link. When I press the "embed this link" button and paste the embed code into the Canvas editor window, there is nothing that pastes. I was able to embed other Canvas help videos successfully, but not this resource.

https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Canvas-New-Feature-Screencast/Release-Screencast-2022-03-19-Rich-...

I used to embed this video in my online math class discussion boards every quarter to help students learn how to write math in a way that makes it accessible for visually impaired students.

Do you plan to provide a working "embed video" link for this video soon?

Note: 

I also found the information sheet for instructors with the "embed this guide" link at the bottom of the page, which just copies the URL of the website. I have found that students understand and appreciate the tutorial videos more.

https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Instructor-Guide/How-do-I-use-the-Math-Editor-in-the-Rich-Content...

[james_trueman]

Hi @Renee_Carney - I used the embed code for the video on this Groups Overview page and am getting the following error in our SharePoint Staff Intranet service - any ideas why that is please?

Many thanks

[Renee_Carney]

@james_trueman 

When you open the link to the video that you provided, did you click the "embed this video" in the top right and use the new embed code to update your video? 

[james_trueman]

Hi @Renee_Carney 

Yes, that's the workflow I used (and belt and braces). 'Embed this Video > Copy Code'

Which gave me this code - when I clicked 'Copy Code'

<div style="overflow: hidden;"><iframe src="https://community.instructuremedia.com/embed/b7cb56a1-ce60-4d1d-894c-986f34684e3c" width="560px" height="320px" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="video-page-iframe" allow="autoplay *" title="312 - Groups Overview (Instructors)"></iframe></div>

And when I pasted the above code into this message - I received this error message (not sure if that is relevant?):

[nathanatkinson]

Hi @james_trueman the "Cannot convert blob" error you're seeing here in the Community is because we prevent most users from using what our platform refers to as "advanced" HTML properties in messages and replies, so you don't have elevated permission needed to embed that code here.

As far as the "Because of its privacy settings..." error, that one is interesting because it appears that is typically connected to Vimeo videos, which shouldn't be showing anymore as you're using the embed code for a Studio video. I also found several articles online stating that it may be related to browser extensions or anti-virus/security software installed on your computer that are blocking embedded content from some domains from loading properly. Unfortunately I can't help you troubleshoot every possible scenario that might be blocking it, but if you have another computer and/or browser to test this with to see if it's an issue with a SharePoint setting or something on your computer or browser, that would be my best guess to resolve the issue.

[james_trueman]

@nathanatkinson Thanks for your reply. I checked on a variety of devices etc. and found the same issue. So I rechecked the embed - and was surprised to still see the vimeo code. I re-copied / re-inserted the Studio embed code and got this message:

"Embedding content from this website isn't allowed, but your admin can change this setting. They will need to add 'community.instructuremedia.com' to the list of sites that are allowed."

Not sure how I missed it - it was pretty obvious!. I assume it reverted to the Vimeo code when it rejected the Studio embed first time around?

I'll have to check with our guys about the block on community.instructuremedia.com.

p.s. just played around - SharePoint doesn't 'always' show the error message - which is how I missed it 🙄

[nathanatkinson]

@james_trueman oh that's great news! So strange that it was reverting back but I'm glad you figured it out. Hopefully you can get that domain unblocked soon and get those videos embedded and working again. Let us know if you have any further issues or questions.

[james_trueman]

Cheers @nathanatkinson - a quiet word with the relevant helpful admin has us back up and running. Thanks for your help - your reply prompted me to dig deeper and discover that my embed updates hadn't taken 😁 

[TorranceColeman]

I must agree with you.You must search deeper and find answers to questions

[MandyBrookins]

Are the videos in the Growing with Canvas course still connected to the vimeo links? I'm getting a message on each video that says Sorry, due to privacy settings this video cannot be played here. 

Thanks