Recording the video

The example above demonstrates a video that was recorded on a smart phone and embedded in this page using the "Embedded Media" widget. It was recorded with a Samsung Galaxy S but you could use an iPhone, iPad or any smart phone or tablet. Before uploading (or renaming) the video file, copy or transfer it to your computer.

Video format

To embed a video into your ePortfolio page i.e. have it display on your page, your video file should be an MP4 file. The iPad and most Android devices use this format for recording, but if recording on an iPhone you'll need to rename the file extension from .mov to .mp4. If your video recording device does not output mp4 files, refer to the section on converting your videos to different formats.

File size

The maximum upload limit to the ePortfolio is 256Mb, so you'll need to make sure your video is under that limit. You can keep the file size down by checking your camera settings and lowering the video resolution. If your camera is set to record video in 1280 x 720, drop it down to a lower resolution. At a lower resolution you should be able to record 5-10 minutes of video while keeping the file size under the limit. If you cannot get your file to within the allowable size, you could upload your video to YouTube or Vimeo and then embed the video using the External Media widget.

Embed the video into a page

Once you have created a page and copied your mp4 file from your mobile device to your computer, drag the "Embedded Media" widget on to the page into the position you want the video player to be displayed.

Next, upload your video file. It is important here to set the dimensions (width and height) of the embedded video player, otherwise it may not display correctly. Most videos these days are recorded in widescreen, so a width of 640 and height of 360 will give you a medium size player (approx. two thirds the width of your page), and for a smaller player like in the example video, use 400 x 225. If the video appears stretched, try the dimensions 640 x 480 or 400 x 300 instead.

Note that after saving it, you won't be able to see it in edit mode, but if you click the "Display Page" tab you should now be able to see it and play back your narration.

It didn't work! Now what?

There's no need to stress or panic, just work through the trouble shooting questions below to determine what course of action you should take.

Is your video file less than 256Mb (or 262,000Kb) in size?

• Yes - Good, go to next question.
• No - You'll need to re-encode it to a smaller size. See how.

Does the name of your video file end in .mp4?

• Yes - Good, go to next question.
• No - You'll need to convert it to an mp4 file. See how.

Is it taking more than an hour to upload?

• Yes - You could try uploading it from on campus or somewhere like your local public library where you will have a faster upload speed. You may also experience difficulties if you are attempting to upload video at a time when a lot of other students are doing the same - try giving it a go early in the morning or later in the evening.
• No - Good, go to next question.
• Don't know because I haven't waited an hour - be patient, keep waiting. You don't have to sit there watching it!

Has it successfully uploaded but only displays a black screen?

• Yes - Videos you add don't display in "edit mode", click the "Display Page" tab, and if it doesn't appear straight away, just give it a minute to load before starting to worry.
• No - Hmmm, if you're still having problems at this point, you should explore the alternative mentioned below.

What else can I do?

One good alternative to uploading your videos directly to the ePortfolio is to upload them to YouTube. The advantage of using YouTube is that you don't need to worry about the file size or format of the videos you upload, and you should find that your videos will upload faster. If you don't want your videos visible to everyone, YouTube has some privacy level settings that enable you to hide videos from YouTube's public listing (select the "unlisted" option when uploading, and not "private"). For more information, see the External Content help page.