More on video assignments

Site: Flinders Learning Online
Topic: FLO Student Support
Book: More on video assignments
Printed by: Guest user
Date: Wednesday, 4 October 2023, 12:03 AM

1. Editing video in My Media

Once you've uploaded a video to My Media, whether you created it via the Desktop Recorder or recorded it on another device like a phone, there's some use some basic editing tools you can use to trim and cut out sections of the video before you submit it to your assignment. 

You can use it to do things like:

  • trim the start and end of the video: useful to edit out the bits where you started and ended the video recording.
  • split the video into multiple clips, each of which you can then trim & edit: useful for editing out bloopers in the middle of your recording
  • add fade in & fade out to the start and end of clips:  to create smooth transitions between different sections or where you've chopped out bits of the recording


How to edit

  1. In My Media, find the video you uploaded and click it's title to to open it.
  2. Under the video, click the Actions drop-down menu then Launch Editor. 
  3. You'll see this interface, where you can edit the video as needed. 
    • The top right section is the video player, where you can watch the video and preview any changes you make as you edit.
    • The bottom section is the video editing track. Here you can click and drag the timeline marker to the right spot in the video, and use things like the split tool (scissors icon), set in tool (brackets icons), delete tool (bin icon) and fade in/out tools to make the edits you need. 

Video Editor interface

For tips on using the Video Editor tools, you might like to watch this video: 


4. When you've finished editing,  click Save, then OK on the final prompt. 

Save button highlighted

5. Once you've edited and saved your changes, you can submit the video to your assignment by embedding the link in the online text submission box. Refer to the submission instructions and videos on the main video assignments page






2. Submit your video using file upload


Before you start planning and filming your video, it’s really important to find out what the submission method is for your assignment, because this might impact how you record and edit your video. 
 

There are two possible ways your topic teaching team may have configured the assignment: upload and embed via My Media, or direct file upload. The preferred option is to use the MyMedia embedded link. 

Submission method
 What the submission section looks like
What you need to know
File submission directly to the assignment 

Video submission by file upload


Is your video very large or the wrong file type for submission?  Use these compression/conversion instructions for Mac and PC.


This method uses the standard file submission tool in FLO. 

Accepted file types are generally limited to .mp4, .flv, .mov, .avi 

There is likely to be a file size limit on your upload. Check your assignment details, but generally the limit will be between 50 – 200 mb. This means you need to produce quite a low-resolution video, so: 

  • If you’re filming footage on your phone or tablet, don’t film in super high definition – you'll struggle to keep the file size manageable 

  • If you edit your footage in a video editing software, when you export it, configure your settings to minimise the file size  

  • If your video is still larger than the file size limit, you might need to compress it before submitting 


File submission method

To submit a video file directly into your assignment, just follow our regular Assignment Submission instructions.  There are a couple of things to watch out for when submitting a video file, including file size limits and file types, so use our checklist to ensure you submit your video assignments successfully in FLO.



3. Tips for successful video assignment file submission

Tips for successful video assignment file submission

If your topic teaching team have configured the assignment to require file submission (i.e. not the via My Media & embed method explained here), you should follow the steps below to make sure you're able to submit the video successfully. be sure to allow plenty of time to do these steps before the submission deadline for your assignment!

small tickMake sure you have used an accepted file extension

Make sure that your video is saved with an accepted file format, ie. .mp4 or .mov. You can check the accepted file formats when you open the file submission page (refer to image below).
If your video is the wrong file type, you can convert it. To convert your file, please refer to the ‘Converting or compressing video files’ for PC or Mac pages.

small tickMake sure your file size is not too large

You can check the maximum file size allowed when you open the file submission page (refer to image below).
Tip: If your file size is too big, you can try compressing it. To compress or convert your file, please refer to the ‘Converting or compressing video files’ for PC or Mac pages.



check maximum file size and accepted file formats

 

4. Submit your video using file upload

Before you start planning and filming your video, it’s really important to find out what the submission method is for your assignment, because this might impact how you record and edit your video.  

There are two possible ways your topic teaching team may have configured the assignment: upload and embed via My Media, or direct file upload.  

Submission method
 What the submission section looks like
What you need to know
File submission directly to the assignment 

Video submission by file upload


Is your video very large or the wrong file type for submission?  Use these compression/conversion instructions for Mac and PC.


This method uses the standard file submission tool in FLO. 

Accepted file types are generally limited to .mp4, .flv, .mov, .avi 

There is likely to be a file size limit on your upload. Check your assignment details, but generally the limit will be between 50 – 200 mb. This means you need to produce quite a low-resolution video, so: 

  • If you’re filming footage on your phone or tablet, don’t film in super high definition – you'll struggle to keep the file size manageable 

  • If you edit your footage in a video editing software, when you export it, configure your settings to minimise the file size  

  • If your video is still larger than the file size limit, you might need to compress it before submitting 


File submission method

To submit a video file directly into your assignment, just follow our regular Assignment Submission instructions.  There are a couple of things to watch out for when submitting a video file, including file size limits and file types, so use our checklist to ensure you submit your video assignments successfully in FLO.




5. How to compress or convert a video file. Instructions for Windows PC


If your video assignment won’t upload to FLO, you can download a copy of Handbrake (http://handbrake.fr/downloads.php) to compress and covert you video into a smaller MP4 video file. Handbrake is free to use.

Once you have the software installed on your computer follow these instructions to convert/compress your file:

PC handbreak instructions

1. Open Handbrake and click on the Source button. A new window will open - click on the File button and find your video file. Select the video and click Open.

2. Next you need to set where the finished video will be saved. Click on the Browse button, choose a location and a file name, then press the Save button.

3. Under Output Settings: - change the Container to MP4 - click the Web Optimized box

4. Change the Anamorphic setting to None

5. If you shot your video in high definition, tick the Keep Aspect Ratio box and reduce the Height to 720. This number is the video’s resolution and you can make this lower if the you need to make the file size even smaller.

6. Click Start. Handbrake will process your video (if your video is long, this may take a
little while). When it is done, you can upload the new video to FLO.



6. How to compress or convert a video file. Instructions for Mac

If your video assignment won’t upload to FLO, you can download a copy of Handbrake (http://handbrake.fr/downloads.php) to compress and covert you video into a smaller MP4 video file. Handbrake is free to use.

Once you have the software installed on your computer follow these instructions to convert/compress your file:


Using handbreak on a mac



1. Open Handbrake and click on the Source button. A new window will open - click on the File button and find your video file.
Select the video and click Open.


2. Next you need to set where the finished video will be saved. Click on the Browse button, choose a location and a file name, then press the Save button.

3. Under Output Settings: - change the Container to MP4 - click the Web Optimized box

4. Change the Anamorphic setting to Off

5. If you shot your video in high definition, tick the Keep Aspect Ratio box and reduce the Height to 720. This number is the video’s resolution and you can make this lower if the you need to make the file size even smaller.

6. Click Start. Handbrake will process your video (if your video is long, this may take a little while). When it is done, you can upload the new video to FLO