Overview

This article will teach you how to record using Panopto for Windows. Panopto for Windows allows users to record alone (with one computer), with a videographer (using a separate computer), or to live webcast their recording. In this article, the recording scenario is a single user (with one computer) presenting with different content (PowerPoint, Keynote, and/or screen capture) and using audio/video. To learn more about the most recently released version of Panopto for Windows, please visit our Release Notes.

Note: If you are using a Mac, please visit: How to Record with Panopto for Mac. If you are a Panopto Pro user, please review How to Create a Video Using Panopto Capture for Panopto Pro.

Prerequisites:

Panopto for Windows
Creator access to Panopto
Panopto Enterprise account

1. Installation and Setup

1.1. To install Panopto for Windows, please refer to the complete installation instructions: How to Download and Install Panopto for Windows. Please note: only Windows 7, 8.1, and 10 (32 and 64 bit) NET 4.7.2 and above are supported for Panopto versions 6.0+.

1.2. Once Panopto is installed, log in to Panopto, select the + Create button and then select Panopto for Windows (Figs. 1a and 1b).
User-added image Figure 1a
Figure 1b
1.3. Select Open Panopto to launch the recorder (Fig. 2). Note: You can also open the Recorder directly from your computer and login.

Figure 2

Note: You can also open the Recorder directly from your computer and login.

2. Introductory Tour

2.1. When you first log in to the recorder you will be prompted with three different tours that further explain all of the different areas of the recorder.

2.2. The first tour will go over the 3 steps to recording: (Fig. 3)

Step 1: Name your recording
Step 2: Choose your sources
Step 3: Start recording

Figure 3

2.3. The second tour will go over the Primary source settings: (Fig. 4)

Capture computer audio: Use this setting to capture audio from your PC applications
Audio volume: The color bar shows the volume of the audio being captured. Note: a user can use the slider to adjust the volume if the audio is too quiet or loud.

Figure 4

2.4. The third tour will go over the Secondary source settings: (Fig. 5)

Video resolution: Controls the size of the video that is captured.
Framerate: A higher number of frames per second (fps) captures results in a smoother motion.
Bitrate: Controls the file size of the resulting video. Note: larger files are able to capture more detail.

Figure 5

2.5. You can skip the tours and always go back and click on the blue info buttons, located next to Primary Sources, Session Settings, and to the far right of the Resolution toolbar to get the tours again (Fig. 6).

Figure 6

3. Folder and Session Name

3.1. Under Session Settings, select the drop-down arrow to select the folder where your recording will be saved (Fig. 7).

Figure 7

3.2. Users can name their video here under Session Settings. If unnamed by the user, Panopto will automatically assign the date and time the video was recorded as its name (Fig. 8).

Figure 8

4. Primary Input

4.1.  Primary Audio: Under Primary Sources, select the Audio drop-down menu. Select your preferred, connected microphone. For a successful recording, a primary audio source must be selected (Fig. 9).

Figure 9

4.2.  Volume bar: After selecting your audio source, test your audio volume by talking in a normal voice. As you talk, a few green bars should appear. If the green bars don't appear, or if the red and yellow bars are highlighted, adjust the volume by using the slider located to the right of the bars (Fig. 10).

Figure 10

4.3.  Primary Video Source: To record video of a presenter, select a primary video source from the Video drop-down menu (Fig. 11). Note: select None if you only want to record a presenter's audio.

Figure 11

4.4.  Quality Setting: There are three different quality settings available to help you record a high-quality video (Fig. 12). To learn more about capture resolutions for Windows, visit Learn about Panopto for Windows Capture Resolutions. Please note: When a user utilizes a higher resolution on a widescreen, Panopto will keep the same ratio but depending on the resolution, will downscale it until it is less than either 1920 or 1080.

Standard Quality:
Audio Only - 64 kbps
Primary Video Resolution - Up to 640x480
Primary Video and Audio - 600 kbps
Primary Video, Audio, and Secondary Video (640x480, 10 FPS, 340 kbps) - 1240 kbps

High Quality:
Audio Only - 128 kbps
Primary Video Resolution - Up to 1280x800 (typically 720p)
Primary Video and Audio - 1500 kbps
Primary Video, Audio, and Secondary Video (1024x768, 15 FPS, 1000 kbps) - 3031 kbps

Ultra Quality:

Audio Only - 128 kbps
Primary Video Resolution - 1920x1080 (typically 720p)
Primary Video and Audio - 2500 kbps

Secondary Video (1920x1080, 19 FPS, 1500 kbps) - 4664 kbps

Note: Higher resolutions (1080p) are available when using the custom quality options. Enable custom quality settings under Settings > Advanced Settings; then, select the desired options from the quality menu.

Figure 12

4.5. Custom Quality Setting: To control your own quality settings, visit How to Specify Custom Primary Stream Quality Settings Using Panopto for Windows.

5. Screen Capture, Additional Video, and PowerPoint

5.1. Screen Capture: After you have selected your video and audio inputs, you can choose to capture what is displayed on your screen. To preview your screen before recording, select the checkbox Enable screen capture preview (Fig. 13).

Figure 13

5.2. If you have more than one camera plugged into your computer, you can add an additional video source(s) under Secondary Sources (Fig. 14).

Figure 14

5.3. To adjust screen capture resolution, select the Resolution drop-down menu (Fig. 15). Note: If you select a smaller resolution, items on the screen will appear larger in the final recording.

Figure 15

5.4. You can also adjust the fps (frames per second) by dragging the sliders (Fig. 16). If there is a lot of movement on the screen, an fps of 15 is recommended. For showing a video during screen capture, an fps of 30 is recommended. Note: a secondary video may appear choppy without a high enough fps selected.

Figure 16

5.5. The kbps (kilobytes per second) will adjust automatically based on the settings for resolution and fps (Fig. 17).

Figure 17

5.6. Select Apply to save changes.

5.7. PowerPoint: A presenter may include a PowerPoint presentation by selecting Capture PowerPoint (Fig. 18a). Note: Panopto recommends using PowerPoint presentations under 5GB with standard fonts for best results. If the PowerPoint contains any motion on the slide, an embedded video in the slide, or someone annotating over the slide, then screen capture must be selected in order to capture that content. Your slides will not be recorded if presented via cloud or a mirrored/remote machine. Slides must be opened locally (i.e. on the machine with which you are presenting).

Figure 18a
5.7.a. Please note: If additional displays, such as monitors or projects, are made available, PowerPoint goes into Presenter mode automatically, and displays the presenter screen on one display and presentation on another. If your displays are in duplicate mode to begin with, PowerPoint will switch the displays into extend mode automatically; however, as the recorder allows a user to choose displays available at the time, and duplicate mode displays a single screen, this may result in recording the presenter screen instead of the presentation. As such, before starting the recording, you may need to switch to extend mode by selecting the Windows key and P (Win + P) and then select Extend. Then, select the screen that will be displaying the presentation for the recording.

5.8. You can also open a presentation from the recorder. Select the PowerPoint tab in the secondary sources viewer, then select Open a Presentation to launch PowerPoint (Fig. 19).

Figure 19

5.9. If you want to have the PowerPoint launch as soon as you select Record, select the checkbox Start presenting when recording starts, located in the PowerPoint tab on the Secondary Sources viewer screen (Fig. 20). Note: In order to properly record PowerPoint presentations, after you have launched PowerPoint, you must have it in full-screen presentation mode.

Figure 20

6. Starting, Stopping, and Pausing

6.1. You can now begin recording. Select the Record icon (Fig. 21). Once your recording has started, the Record icon will change into Stop and Pause (Fig. 22).

Figure 21

Figure 22

6.2. When you are done recording, select Stop. You will have the option to either upload the recording or delete it and start again.

6.3. To have a section of your recording automatically edited out, select Pause. When the recording is paused, Panopto will continue to record, but that section will be edited out of the final version. You can always get this content back by using the editor.

6.4. Hotkeys: You can use Panopto for Windows hotkeys to record, pause and stop, so you don't need to minimize the content you're recording to select the buttons.

Record: F8 Key
Pause: F9 Key
Stop: F10 Key

7. Recording Status

7.1. Once you have stopped recording, you will be taken to the Manage Recordings tab in the Recorder (Fig. 23).

Figure 23

7.2. Offline Recordings do not have a folder selected in Panopto, so they are only stored to your computer. You can select Upload to Server to select a folder and add the video to your library.

7.3. Currently Uploading Recordings will show the video that was just recorded and its upload status.

7.4. Uploaded Recordings will show previous recordings and their assigned folder. If you have access to the video in the library, you can open the video or settings using View, Edit, or Share. You can also continue recording to the same session by selecting Resume.

Note: if you need to make space on your computer, you can select Delete Local, as long as you no longer need the recording to be stored on your computer. If you delete a recording that has not yet been uploaded to the server, that recording will be lost.

8. Resume a Recording

8.1. If you were recording a session and stopped before you finished recording, you can resume it from within the Panopto recorder, as described in step 7.4., or from your Panopto site. On the Panopto site, locate the session you want to resume recording, hover over it, and select the Settings button, a cogwheel icon, that appears (Fig. 24).

Figure 24

8.2. In the Settings window that appears, on the Overview tab, scroll down to the Actions section and select Resume (Fig. 25). Note: You may be prompted by your browser to confirm that you would like the application to open before it will launch.

Figure 25

8.3. This will open the Panopto recorder, and you can resume recording the session. Your new recording will be added to the end of the old one. Note: Panopto recommends waiting five seconds after you select the Record button and trimming out those five seconds in the editor you are done recording, to create a faded transition rather than one that gives the appearance that the video has skipped.

9. Warnings

9.1. There are two different warnings that may appear while you are recording: low audio and low disk space. These notifications are to help you resolve the problem so you can go back to recording a high quality video. For example, if your audio isn't working properly, you will see a banner at the top of the recorder (Fig. 26) and a pop-up on the desktop (Fig.26).

Figure 26