Allow instructors to disable playback controls in media

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When embedding videos directly into Canvas (as opposed to using a player such as Vimeo or YouTube) there is no way to disable the playback controls.  We like to make sure that our students can't fast forward through videos or increase the speed so that they are watching it at high speed.  We feel that they can't absorb the content properly if they are fast forwarding the video or playing it at high speeds.  Vimeo and YouTube allow you to disable playback controls, but there is no way to do this on videos that have been uploaded directly into Canvas.

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Stef_retired
Instructure Alumni
Instructure Alumni
Status changed to: Archived

@MBRN 

Thanks for sharing this idea. Canvas does not have the ability to override or allow disabling of playback controls for videos that have been created in a third-party application and uploaded to Canvas.

We have some conversations underway here requesting enhancements to the Canvas media player specifically. Please add your support to:

Limit playback of uploaded media on quizzes

10 second rewind & fast fwd

Keyboard Controls for Canvas Studio Video Player

Please feel free to write a new request that requests the ability to override or disable playback controls specifically for video recorded directly in the Canvas media player as opposed to uploaded media.

Thanks!

MBRN
Community Member

Hi,

Thanks for the reply.  The idea of the feature request was to request that the feature be added to videos uploaded to Canvas (in MP4 format for example), not videos recorded directly into Canvas as we rarely use this option.  I understand that you don't currently have this ability which is why I submitted the feature request. I think it would be very helpful to have this option.  

For example, our instructor will record a lecture using a video camera setup (not directly into Canvas), they will then edit this lecture using video editing software and then upload the finished product into Canvas.  This isn't a third party video, per se, but rather one that we have created, edited, and uploaded from our own files.  We would love to have the ability to prevent students from fast forwarding through the video or speeding it up since this would reduce their ability to absorb all of the content.

The enhancements that you noted don't directly address what we are looking for, and your suggestion for a re-write is also not what we are looking for as a feature since we don't record directly into the Canvas media player.

Thanks!

Stef_retired
Instructure Alumni
Instructure Alumni

Hi, @MBRN , I apologize if my response was not clear. Canvas does not have the ability to change playback controls on third-party applications, only on our own: the ones we own, and over which we have developmental control, are Canvas Studio and the built-in media recorder that is part of the Rich Content Editor. If you're using a specific video provider for your recordings, you'll need to ask them to develop settings to disable playback controls on your behalf.

Thanks.

MBRN
Community Member

Hi,

Thanks - I do understand what you are saying.  We are NOT using a third party video provider. That's not what I'm talking about.  We are uploading an MP4 file into the Canvas media player.  We are using the Canvas media player to play the videos, not a third party video provider.  We use the "record/upload media" function and then upload the file that we have created using a video camera, NOT a third party application.  It is just a file on our computer that we upload to the Canvas Media Player - not an embedded video using a third party or one that we created using a third party.  The video is then played back by the student using the Canvas media player, not playing an embedded video through Vimeo or Youtube, for example.  It IS using the Canvas media player and the feature that I'm requesting is to add the ability to limit or disable playback controls on the CANVAS media player, not a third party application.  There is not a third party for me to request this feature from because it is a native Canvas application - the Canvas Media Player.

MBRN
Community Member

Again, I know that you don't have this ability in the Canvas Media Player currently.  If you did, I wouldn't have needed to submit a feature request 🙂

Stef_retired
Instructure Alumni
Instructure Alumni

Thanks! We have a full appreciation of the scenario, @MBRN . Although I suspect that the player controls are baked into the uploaded MP4 file, I've put the request in front of a team for review to see if this is something we could develop for external file uploads to the media player. I'll update this when they've completed their review.

MBRN
Community Member

I appreciate you forwarding it to the team.  I doubt that the player controls are baked into the uploaded MP4 file, because I can take that same MP4 file and upload it to Vimeo, for example, and change the playback controls in multiple different ways.  I'm sure that this coding can be added to the Canvas media player as well if Canvas so desires.  Thanks again! 

Stef_retired
Instructure Alumni
Instructure Alumni

@MBRN  Thanks for your patience. Upon review, the team has confirmed that Instructure Canvas will not be able to develop a set of instructor controls that would allow them to disable playback on videos that were created outside of Canvas. 

While the media player in the RCE is not directly analogous to Vimeo, Canvas Studio affords users the ability to continue to work with the media after uploading it. 

If you're a school using Canvas Studio, and you'd like us develop a new capability for that product, that's an idea we would be able to evaluate in this forum.

Thanks again.

autrefois
Community Member

Thank you to @MBRN for posting this question/feature request. @Stef_retired, I'm not sure if you or the development team are misunderstanding the question or misstating the answer to it.

It is completely possible to implement this feature from a technological standpoint. MP4's are a standard file type. This has nothing to do with the mp4 itself, but with how Canvas plays mp4s.

Canvas's player actively allows the user to change mp4 speeds. Having the controls on the player to do so is a design choice. There's nothing within an mp4 file itself, uploaded or recorded directly in Canvas, that does this — it's the player that allows, or doesn't allow, the user to change the speed that an mp4 file is played at.

Canvas's player can either • allow the user to change the speed (as it currently does) • not allow the user to change the speed (by removing that control from the interface), or • create a setting that would allow this to be set on a case-by-case basis, which is what @MBRN was requesting. 

When you say Canvas "will not be able to" develop this, it's not a technical limitation. The development team can choose to do or not do this, or they may not have the resources to do this, but there are a number of sites and services that allow enabling or disabling speed controls for mp4 files.

For those of us teaching foreign languages, this feature would be extremely useful. 

It would be helpful @Stef_retired if you or someone from Canvas could please reply to let us know whether the team is declining to implement this feature (they're choosing not to pursue this or don't have the resources to), or if they could consider implementing this feature request. Thank you very much for your time and consideration.