Audio

What are IOU’s minimum standards regarding audio?

In order to publish your course, each of your course videos must contain an audio track that plays from both speakers (left and right channels). Additionally, IOU requires that the quality of the audio is not distracting students. Text to speech software is not allowed; students want to hear directly from you as an instructor to build trust.

What microphone should I use to record my course?

Most microphones are capable of producing audio that meets IOU’s minimum standards. Listed below are some common microphones that IOU instructors have used to produce their courses:

Please note that it’s not required that you use these microphones. There are many other options that will produce audio that’s acceptable for your IOU course. If you have any question about whether your equipment will suffice, IOU Team is happy to review a Test Video from you, which you can submit before you start filming the content of your course. Submission email: [email protected]

What are IOU’s recommended audio settings when recording/exporting files?

When exporting video files in your video editing software, IOU recommends that you select MP3 or AAC as your audio codec. Our video upload process supports many audio codecs, but selecting MP3 or AAC provides the most seamless upload experience.

Video

What are IOU’s minimum standards around video quality?

In order to publish your course, you must have at least 30 minutes of video content in your course. Additionally, IOU requires that video content is HD quality, with a resolution of at least 720p.

What kind of camera should I use to record my course?

If you’re filming video for your course, here are several different types of cameras that have been used to record published IOU courses:

  • Your Mobile Phone (iPhone 4 models and above /  High resolution mobile camera)
  • Your iPad (iPad 2 models and above)
  • Webcams
  • HD Flip cameras
  • Go Pro cameras
  • Most DSLR cameras

If you have a camera already, check your system preferences or do a quick internet search to check that your camera can shoot in 720 HD or higher. Simply search for the name of the product and the resolution it shoots. If it can shoot in 720p HD or higher, it will produce video that meets our video quality standards.

If you have any questions about your video quality, our Test Video service can provide personalized assistance and feedback before you start working on our course. Please send us a demo at [email protected] at this email address.

While you are making your course you may use your face & screen recording booths or just screen recording (Google meet screen recording quality is not good try some external software). But if you show your face in the lecture video try to use a plain background that makes the video presentation professional.

What software do I need to produce videos for my course?

If you’re making screencast recordings for your course, or if you’re looking for a tool to edit and export your videos, here is a list of tools that instructors have used to produce published IOU courses:

  • PC or Mac
    • Camtasia, Screenr, Snagit
  • Mac only
    • Quicktime, iMovie, Screenflow
  • PC only
    • CamStudio, Microsoft Expression

What are the required/recommended export settings for video files (codec settings and video file types)?

When using video editing software you’ll need to export your recordings to a video file. IOU strives to support as many video and audio settings and codecs, but for the most seamless upload experience, we recommend these settings:

Quality: Best (if available)
Codec: H.264, HEVC, ProRes
Resolution: 1920×1080 or better
Minimum Resolution: 1280×720 (*Resolutions below this are rejected)
Aspect Ratio: 16:9
Picture Orientation: Landscape (not Portrait)
Framerate: 25 to 60 fps (*Currently all outputs are resampled to 30 fps)

Bitrate Recommendations:

H.264

  • 1920×1080 @ 10 Mb/s
  • 1280×720 @ 5 Mb/s

HEVC

  • 1920×1080 @ 6 Mb/s
  • 1280×720 @ 3 Mb/s

ProRes

  • Automatic

Audio Track: Required (*If no audio track is found, video is rejected)
Audio Codec: AAC (256 kb/s or better) or PCM
Audio Channels: 2 (Stereo)
Multimedia Container: MP4 or MOV
Maximum File Size: 4 GB
Maximum Duration: 4 Hours
Using the site uploader you can upload files as large as 1.5 GB