9.2.2. Create a Video#

Your videos can contain whatever content you want to include in the course. The following resources can help you to create good video content that is based on extensive experimental research in student learning.

When you create video files, keep the following guidelines in mind.

9.2.2.1. General Guidelines#

  • Videos should be as short as possible. Learners are more likely to finish watching videos that are no more than 5-10 minutes long.

  • Each video file that you upload must be less than 5GB in size.

  • Each video should follow established file naming conventions and video compression specifications.

  • The video player supports videos in .mp4, .mov, .mpeg, .webm, and .ogg format. However, to help make sure all standard browsers can play your video, we strongly recommend that you use the .mp4 format.

  • We strongly recommend that you create copies of your videos in the following resolutions. When multiple resolutions are available, the video player automatically plays the best video for each learner’s device and internet connection.

    • 1080p

    • 720p

    • Mobile 360p

9.2.2.2. File Naming Conventions#

To facilitate identifying and tracking video files, we strongly recommend that organizations define and use a naming convention for all video files in all courses. At a minimum, your naming convention should include these elements.

  • A course identifier.

  • The year of the initial course run.

  • A revision or version number.

For example, you might use the following naming convention.

{course number}_{year}_{section}_{subsection}_{unit}_{version}.{type}

This convention might yield the following file name.

SPU27_2015_S1_SS3_U4_v2.mp4

Additionally, when you name your video files, we recommend that you follow these guidelines.

  • Make sure that each video file in your organization has a unique name.

  • Include only alphanumeric characters and underscores in video file names.

  • Make sure that the video file name contains no special characters, such as ç, å, or ó.

  • Do not use periods except for the period before the file name extension (for example, .mp4).

9.2.2.3. Video Compression Specifications#

The following video compression specifications are strongly recommended, but not required.

Codec

H.264 .mp4

Resolution & Frame Rate

1920x1080, progressive, 29.97 fps

Note

Typically, you export at the same frame rate that was used when you created the media file. For example, if you create the file in a country that uses the PAL system, you export at 25 fps instead of the NTSC standard of 29.97 fps.

Aspect

1.0

Bit Rate

VBR, 2 pass

Target VBR

5 mbps

Max VBR

6 mbps

Audio

AAC 44.1 / 192 kbps