Capture Software 5.0 Guide

IMPORTANT NOTE

This is an archived guide for ePresence Capture 5.0. For our latest version,  please see the ePresence Capture 6.0 guide.

Installation

1. Download and install your copy of the software. Mac and Windows installation should be straightforward. On Linux, you will need to read our  Linux Capture installation instructions.
2. Run the Capture software. The first dialog that is displayed requires you to enter your server URL and enter your username and password.

Using Capture

The welcome screen provides 3 options:

1. Webcast: Stream and record a live presentation. This requires high-speed internet connectivity to the ePresence Server.
2. Record: Records a presentation offline
3. Publish: Publish a previously recorded presentation for on-demand access.

Webcasting Live

Click Webcast button and choose one of the pre-scheduled events or Click the + button and fill in the new webcast event form. The template field allows you to choose the most appropriate layout for the event. Click Start Webcast to proceed.

Once the Capture interface loads, you should be able to see a preview feed from your camera on the left side of the window and several options for presenting. If your video doesn't appear, click Options, switch to the Encoding tab and select your video and audio sources.

To start your webcast, click on the Start button under your video frame.

Rich Media

Uploading PowerPoint?

To upload a PowerPoint? file, click on the "Add Media" button. To control the advancement of the slides, either use the thumbnail bar at the bottom of the screen, or click on the slide to navigate forward. You can also click on the "full screen" button, which will allow you to control the slides using the arrow keys and the space bar.

Screen Sharing

You can also share your desktop or the desktop of a presenter (using VGA2USB). Please note that the VGA2USB option requires the  VGA2USB grabber device to be connected and installed. In this mode, no action is required by the webcast operator. The software will automatically detect changes and send them appropriately.

In case of manual control click on Power Point frame or use the thumbnail bar to advance the slides. Automated Screen or VGA capture doesn't require any action on your end. The software detects screen changes and performs the capture automatically.

There is an experimental option to stream the local desktop or VGA source as a Flash video. In order to enable this mode please open the Options window and navigate to Sharing tab.

If you choose to do so please note that this mode significantly increase the performance requirements on your end as well as bandwidth requirements on both your and your users' end. Please do sufficient testing of this mode before using it for production. Sharing via Flash video on a machine with inadequate resources can cause problems in the recorded video stream.

Publishing an on-demand presentation

Whether you Webcast live or just record your presentation to publish it on the Web later, the Flash movie, Slide or Desctop images are stored locally on your computer's hard drive. This makes the production more reliable allowing you to capture successfully even if the connection fails. The prosess of uploading your presentation for on-demand access is called publishing. In order to publish your presentation click Publish button on the Welcome screen.

Select the recording from the listbox above, specify the target server folder, UI template and make sure the Title and presenter's name are correct. Click Publish button and wait until the process is complete. Navigate to your ePresence server website in a browser, find the presentation and try to play it to ensure it's published correctly. Please play it for at least 5 seconds to ensure that the presentation video thumbnail is captured correctly.