Uploading and converting video training material

Introduction

Videos are the main frontier of e-learning. This is a major trend that should be considered within an e-learning context, as people are generally more engaged when watching a video than when following a slideshow. Also, videos are often used for compliance training. Through videos, you can also show how to complete specific tasks and procedures.

In your platform, you can either upload a video training material into a course or into the central repository, or you can embed a linked video from the Internet as training material. This article outlines how to upload a video file into courses.

Requirements and limitations

• The supported file types for videos are 3GP, AVI, FLV, MP4, WMV, MPEG-2, MOV, and MP3.
• The maximum file size for uploaded videos is 1024 MB, but this limit can be further limited by network or browser restrictions.
• Videos must have a constant frame rate with a minimum of 3 Frames Per Second (FPS). Please note that videos with variable frame rates are not supported.

Uploading video files in courses

Begin by logging into the platform and accessing the course for which you would like to upload a video. Reach the Navigation menu > Content and delivery (folder icon) > Courses. On the Courses page, find the course in the list and click on its description to access the course area, then move to the Training material tab.

Once in this tab, press the Add training material button, then select Video from the dropdown menu. On the upload page, select the option to upload a file, then select the Upload file button to choose your file. Refer to the platform system requirements page for further details on the supported file types and the maximum file size.

Add a title and description, then decide if you want users to be able to move through the video by dragging the playhead. Please note that if you enable this option, users can jump and skip part of the videos, which will mark the material as complete despite the fact that parts of the video were not viewed. Next, select whether or not you want to allow learners to change the speed of the video in the video player or not.

Accessibility hint: Consider allowing users to move through the video by dragging the item in the playhead and changing the playback speed. Some users may not be able to complete a task on the first try; the possibiliy to review a piece of content (or part of it) can be crucial to the effectiveness of the learning process. Learn more about accessibility for training materials.

Once your video is finished uploading, you can move to the Additional Info tab. Add a short description for your video and select a thumbnail for it. You can choose from pre-loaded thumbnails, or upload your own.

You can also add tags to your training material to improve its searchability in your platform’s global search. If the auto-tagging feature is enabled in your platform, some tags may be automatically generated based on the content of your training material, as understood by your platform using artificial intelligence. Auto-tagging relies on the platform’s ability to extract text or generate a transcript. See the complete list of supported content types for text extraction and transcript generation. You can edit or remove tags at any time, with a limit of 15 tags per training material and of 32 characters per tag.

Finally, add subtitles to your video, if necessary. Switch to the Subtitles tab and upload your VTT file that includes the subtitles you want to add, then select the language of the subtitles from the dropdown menu.

Please note! Subtitles must be in VTT format (opens in a new tab) with UTF-8 encoding/charset. Encoding Tips for UTF-8 in the Docebo Community (opens in a new tab).

Upload one file for each language you want to include. Then, mark one language as the fallback language. When you've completed each tab, press Save changes. The video is now being uploaded and converted properly into your platform. It will automatically be optimized by the system.

Once the upload is complete, the video will be available on the course's Training materials page. To check the final outcome, switch to the learner view using the corresponding button at the top of the Training materials page.

Please note! You may notice a red check next to your video training material after the upload has completed. This red check indicates that the platform is still converting your video. The red check will eventually update to a green check once the conversion has completed.

Technical specifications

Once a video file is uploaded, the system will automatically convert it into MP4 and HLS formats with the following specifications:

Depending on the resolution of the video you upload, the platform may not guarantee it is converted into all the formats listed in the table. The higher the resolution of the source video, the more HLS formats are made available. The conversion to MP4 format is always guaranteed.

Delivery

Videos are delivered to the final users via Amazon CDN (Content Delivery Network), which means that the content is served via the closest available data center to that user. This allows faster loading time and the ability to increase the number of concurrent supported users. Docebo delivers videos using HLS streaming and encoding technology, which allows videos to be delivered to you in a more efficient and secure way. HLS technology supports adaptive resolution while delivering the video (the resolution of the served video will change based on the available bandwidth).

Video training material completion

Video training materials are marked as completed for learners using the following criteria:

• When the video reaches 15 seconds before the end marker if the video is longer than 150 seconds.
• When the video reaches 90% of completion from the start marker if the video is shorter than 150 seconds.

Tips and tricks

On modern browsers, the video is served directly with best-in-class technology such as HTML5; this applies to IE11, Firefox, Chrome, and Safari. For a legacy browser, the system will automatically fall back on a Flash player.

Special consideration is needed for Firefox because it relies on the Operating System to play mp4 videos, which will work perfectly in the following conditions officially specified by Mozilla (opens in a new tab):

• Platform Min. Firefox version
• Windows Vista 22.0
• Linux 26.0 (relies on GStreamer codecs being installed)