Blackboard is one of the leading technology platforms for educational institutions. While Blackboard doesn’t accept sidecar caption files, you can still use Rev’s services to easily provide accurate captions for your audience.
Method 1: Link
This method is available for users with access to Blackboard’s ‘Recording Converter’ feature, available to users of Blackboard Collaborate version 11 or higher. For other users, please see Method 2.
Step 1: Log in to Blackboard and convert your video
Log into your Blackboard Collaborate Session Administration System. On the top bar, click the my recordings option. Then, under the MP4 (video) column, click convert. Blackboard will send an e-mail notification when the conversion is complete. It may take up to twice as long as the length of the original recording to convert, so feel free to work on other things while it’s converting.
Step 2: Get the URL Link for the MP4 File
Once your file is converted, go back to your Blackboard Collaborate Session Administration System. Click Utilities on the top bar. Then, under session management, click meetings. On the left side of the screen, click on Meeting Session and then click accept.
Click on the box to the left of the session that you plan to caption. Then click the rooms button and select the room that was recorded by clicking the box on the left. Click the recording button in the taskbar, then the playback button. Right-click on Video (MP4) format and click copy link location. This will store the URL for your video in your clipboard.
Step 3: Navigate to Rev.com
In a new tab or window, navigate to Rev.com. On the top bar, click on the services tab and then select captions. Click the big red button that says get started.
Step 4: Create Your Caption Order
The site prompts you to select the source of your video. Since we’re uploading a file from a public web address, you’ll choose the center option, Share a link to a public web address. Click the red button that says paste a URL.
Step 5: Paste URL
A screen will pop up for you to paste URLs to public videos. Paste the URL you copied from Blackboard into the field.
Multiple videos? No problem! Make sure you hit the enter button and paste each URL on a separate line. You may upload up to five gigabytes worth of files at a time.
You’ll want to download your captions in a format compatible with your video editing software.
Downloaded the wrong format? No worries, you can download the correct format from your Rev dashboard at any time!
For help placing your order, click HERE.
Step 6: Embed your captions in your video with video editing software
Rev provides a sidecar file of captions that can be embedded into your video using multiple video editing software suites. We can’t provide instructions on all of them, but here are some helpful starting points
Step 7: Export as M4V movie
Export your captioned movie as an M4V file and save to your hard drive.
Step 8: Upload video to Blackboard.
At this point, you can upload the video to your Blackboard account exactly as you would any other video, but with embedded captions! You can also upload it to YouTube, Vimeo, or several other video platforms in the M4V format.
Method 2: Download
Step 1: Log in to Blackboard and download your video
Log into your Blackboard Collaborate Session Administration System. On the top bar, click the my recordings option. Then, under the MP4 (video) column, click play. The video will begin to play in Blackboard’s embedded video player. Simply click the download button to download the MP4 file to your computer.
Step 2: Navigate to Rev.com
In a new tab or window, navigate to Rev.com. On the top bar, click on the services tab and then select captions. Click the big red button that says get started.
Step 3: Create Your Caption Order
The site prompts you to select the source of your video. Since we’re uploading a video from your computer, you’ll choose the far left option, upload files from your computer. Click the red button that says upload files.
Step 4: Choose Files Screen
On the choose file screen, you’ll have several options for uploading a video, listed to the left. Since we’re uploading the file from your computer, your option is preselected for you. At this point, you can either click the red choose files button and select the files from your computer, or simply drag and drop the files from your computer into the window.
Select the video or videos you just downloaded from Blackboard. Multiple videos? No problem! Make sure you hit the enter button and paste each URL on a separate line. You may upload up to five gigabytes worth of files at a time.
You’ll want to download your captions in a format compatible with your video editing software.
Downloaded the wrong format? No worries, you can download the correct format from your Rev dashboard at any time!
Step 6: Embed your captions in your video with video editing software
Rev provides a sidecar file of captions that can be embedded into your video using multiple video editing software suites. We can’t provide instructions on all of them, but here are some helpful starting points
Step 7 : Export as M4V movie
Export your captioned movie as an M4V file and save to your hard drive.
Step 8: Upload video to Blackboard.
At this point, you can upload the video to your Blackboard account exactly as you would any other video, but with embedded captions! You can also upload it to YouTube, Vimeo, or several other video platforms in the M4V format.
