Add Captions to Panopto (ASR and Verbit)

ASR captions are generated for all-new recordings that are added to a folder. Please note that machine-generated captions will not be as accurate as human transcription and therefore it is recommended these are revised and edited before being made available to students. Due to this, the following text will be automatically added to the beginning of all Panopto recordings and play for 5 seconds:

The video captioning displayed here is not 100% accurate – please cross-reference against the primary sources (i.e. lecture slides and any accompanying notes) and contact the lecturer if you have queries.

Availability

• For recordings one hour or shorter, captions will be available after 8 hours or sooner. 
• For recordings over an hour, captions will available after 24 hours or sooner. 

Once the captions have been processed, a CC Icon will appear next to the recording when viewed in the folder.

Editing ASR Captions

Users who wish to edit captions on a recording must have creator access to the relevant folder. 

Once captions have been successfully processed, you can edit their text by the following the instructions on how to edit on the Panopto Support page.

Captioning for existing recordings

Captions are generated at the time a recording is uploaded. For older recordings the captioning quality will have a lower accuracy than newer recordings due to improvements in ASR technology.

Please follow these instructions to add ASR captions to a Panopto recording:

1. Navigate to the recording that you wish to add captions to and open the Panopto Editor by hovering over the recording and selecting Edit. 
2. Select Captions from the left-hand menu, and then select the Import captions drop-down menu. Select Captions from the left-hand menu, and then select the Import captions drop-down menu.
3. If no captions currently exist, you can request ASR captions for this recording by selecting Import automatic captions. 
4. Once the captions have been requested, you will receive an estimate for the time taken to process. Select Apply in the top right-hand corner to save your changes and then allow time for the captions to process. 

It is recommended captions are revised and edited before being made available to students. 

The Import automatic captions option was made available by Panopto on 17/12/2016. Any sessions recorded before that date will need to have captions processed by Panopto support. Please raise a request with the Service Desk via ASK if this is required.

Further assistance on providing captions

Please see the Imperial College guidance on providing descriptive captions for your recordings.

Verbit offers a transcription service that provides 99% accurate captioning for Panopto recordings. The cost for Verbit captioning is met by the department that owns the content.

Captioning is enabled for an individual Panopto folder (or module folder if created through Banner) on request, affecting all new content that is recorded or added into that folder. For each new recording that is added to the folder, please allow up to 48 hours for the captions to be completed. When completed, a CC icon will be displayed next to the recording.

How to request for new content

This process is intended for Panopto folders that will have new content recorded or added into them. If you have existing content that needs to have Verbit captions added, please see the Requesting for existing content section below.

To request captioning for a Panopto folder, please raise a request via the Service Desk, providing the following information:

• The Panopto Folder ID – this can be found by selecting the Folder settings cog and selecting Manage

• The approximate number of hours to be captioned

• The Cost Centre to Cross Charge to, from your department

• An end date for the transcription service. Recordings will cease to have  Verbit captions after this date, however, ASR captions will be provided to new content.

Existing content

Verbit Captions will be automatically generated for new content added to a Verbit activated folder. If you have existing content that you require Verbit to transcribe captions for, these will have existing ASR captions attached that will need to be removed manually by the content owner. Unfortunately, there is no batch process currently available to remove existing captions.

Once added to a Verbit activated folder, the captions will take up to 48 hours to transcribe. If you have not activated Verbit on a folder, please ensure that this is done before carrying out the below.

When ready, please complete the following steps to remove ASR and add Verbit captions to an existing recording:

1. Go to Panopto and log in with your Imperial College username and password. 
2. Locate the recording that you require Verbit captions added to.
3. Hover over the recording and select Settings and then Captions
4. Select Default to display the options available and then select Delete Captions from the menu. This action will delete your captions from the recording.
5. The recording can now be added to the appropriate Verbit folder. Select Overview and then select Edit next to the Folder field. Enter the new folder that the recording should be moved to and select Save.

Important: If you are producing a recording that contains sensitive content that should not be shared with a third party (i.e. Verbit) please contact the ICT Service Desk and we will make arrangements for your recording not to be captioned.  To meet Imperial accessibility standards, you will still need to provide captions for any recordings that are opted out; this can be done by adding Panopto ASR captions or manually adding your own.