Vetting and adding captions

Overview

Captions are automatically created by ASR (automatic speech recognition) on all videos but there is a process required to vet and deploy them.

Below is an outline of the process of importing the ASR captions into a video using the editor, so you can edit them.

It is worth noting that Machine-generated captions are not the same as human transcription, so they must be reviewed and edited to ensure they are 100% accurate.

Additionally. ASR captions are not available in the editor immediately after a video has been uploaded and processed. The target completion times for the captions are as follows but often happen much sooner:

  • Target completion time for videos one hour or shorter: 8 hours
  • Target completion time for videos over an hour: One day

You can disable auto-generated captioning on select Panopto folders.  To do this:

Navigate to the folder

Click on the Folder Settings cog in the top right

Folder Settings cogIn the pop-up menu, select Settings in the right-hand menu

Settings panel

Underneath the Captions heading, select None from the drop-down menu. Exit the pop-up menu.

Auto-generated captions will now be applied to all new recordings in the folder.

NOTE: Auto-generated captions will be generated, and need to be removed, for any video not created in the folder where the settings were changed.

Adding captions caters to different learning preferences and learning styles offering narration in text for those who prefer reading to listening, or students who may take advantage of both. The Panopto search facility also searches the captions and provides individual results from the captions. The search facility also searches the spoken word.

Captions break down spoken language barriers.

Make sure the microphone is on
Speakers often forget to turn the microphone on which results in complete loss of content.

Make sure the microphone is unobstructed
Speakers using a lapel mic may inadvertently obstruct the microphone through interaction with fabric on their clothes. Clip the microphone on properly and check the position when possible.

Speak loudly when away from the microphone
When a lapel mic is not possible, remember to stay near the podium microphone.  Ignoring this means ignoring everyone who will watch the video later.

Repeat questions
Microphones are sometimes unable to pick up questions asked by the audience.  Therefore, it is important to regularly repeat questions.

Enunciate technical terms clearly
It is important to enunciate clearly at all times, but particularly when covering highly technical terms or jargon.