A Partnership of Services
In order to take advantage of the streaming service at UNCG, you first need to complete some initial steps. Record and/or create the media as the opening task. Depending on the format of the audio and video, you may need to find a resource that provides the necessary equipment. The University Teaching and Learning Center can lend out recording materials to complete the first phase. If you already possess "finished" material, you can proceed to the capturing and editing stages.
Typically, your media will have to be captured or "digitized" and then edited. For example, if faculty or staff wanted to shoot portions of a lecture on VHS, Electronic Resources and Electronic Learning can provide capturing equipment. Once you produce your media in a digital format, you may only want to keep certain portions of the lecture to stream. Varying grades of editing software also exist to refine any additional authoring of your material.
Finally, you should put in a "Streaming Request" with Information Technology Services to have your digital media compressed and eventually streamed. A compression consultant uses specialized software to "squeeze" the media into a reasonable file size that can be accessed without delay. The software finds the best ratio between image quality and image information. Given that media files (especially video) carry a great deal of information, the file sizes can be hundreds of megabytes. In order to provide a smooth, continuous stream to the viewer, we send the media through a compression process. The end result is a near-instantaneous transmission of dependable, clear media.