Deep Dive into Connect Pro Recordings (Part 1)

Connect Pro has a unique way to create recordings of live session. When played-back they maintain the interactivity of the Flash content, and index the layout changes and any content created in the meeting. Connect Pro recording viewers can download files made available for download during the actual meeting in the same way a meeting participant would have done; viewers can look at an index of the recording and even search on any words that appears on the chat pod, the note pod or in any presentation uploaded in the share pod.

In part 1 of this tutorial we go behind the scene to understand how Connect Pro recordings work. In part 2 we will look at some tips to modify the recordings.

Understanding how Connect Pro recordings work.

the structure of a recording

A Connect Pro meeting is comprised of multiple pods: chat pod, attendee list pod, share pod, etc... Each pod is rendered in the meeting as a separate Flash movie file or flv. When a meeting is recorded, each pod is recorded separately in its own flv file on the server. Connect Pro then creates a master time line that synchronizes all the flv from the different pod. As a result, a Connect Pro recording is a file structure comprised of a master time line and multiple flv files. To play back a recording, a Connect Pro server is required in order to play all the flvs along the master timeline. This is the reason why by default, Connect Pro recording play back only works when connected to a server.

editable and offline recordings

In Connect 7, we introduced the possibility to edit recordings and to take them offline.

The editing functionality enables users to cut entire portions of a meeting, whether at the beginning, the middle or the end. Users simply insert cursors at the start and end point of the portion they want to cut. Behind the scene Connect Pro insert exit and re-entry points on the master timeline for the portion of the meeting to be cut. But none of the content in the flv is actually being cut. This is why users can always revert back to the original recording.

For off-line recording, users need to replay on the meeting on their desktop in the Connect Pro meeting add-in. At the end of the replay they have a single flat Flash video file of the entire meeting. During the process the meeting add-in screen capture the recording and writes it to a single flv. Offline recordings lose all interactivity and searchability.

audio and video encoding

When encoding audio (VoIP) or video (Webcam, Screen sharing), Connect Pro leverages the codecs provided by the Flash Player. For audio, it uses codec that appeared with Flash 6 called Nellymoser; Flash player 10 introduced a new audio codec called Speex that Connect Pro will leverage in a future version. For video, it uses 2 codecs: Soreson Sparks or On2 VP6.

Exporting / Importing Connect Pro recordings

export

You can retrieve all the files from a Connect Pro recording using the following steps:

1) You need to ensure you are an account administrator of have full right on the recording.

2) Find the URL of the recording you want to extract.

3) Add /output/recording.zip?download=zip at the end of the recording URL.

4) Save the zip file on your desktop

screen share vs presentation upload

When presenting information in a meeting, meeting presenters have 2 choices: either to screen share or to upload content. When recording screen sharing, Connect Pro creates a single movie of the screen sharing session that will get extracted as part of the recording download. When recording a presentation that has been uploaded, Connect Pro records only a reference to the content library when the content is uploaded and a timeline of the interactions with the content (ie slide change, animations, etc...). When extracting a recording content will not be downloaded.

import

You can re-import the recording to a Connect Pro server by simply creating a new content item and uploading the entire zip file.

Exploring a recording archive

Before exploring an archive you should install the Adobe Media Player in order to play flv.

When opening the zip file from your recording archive you find 2 file types: .flv and .xml. Flv files are the actual recorded content; hey are the voice, video and data stream of the meeting. Xml files are the index of the content used for searching.

During playback, the first file that is look for by the application is mainstream.flv : it is the master timeline for the recording. That master timeline then refer to other pods: ftchat.flv for the chat pod, ftcontent for the share pod, ftvoice for VoIP, ftstage for webcam, etc... In many meeting rooms you might have multiple chat or share pod in multiple layout. To keep track of them each flv is versioned. For example ftchat5.flv or ftcontent9.flv.

All the flv referred by mainstream.flv are all data streams. In the case of voice, webcam or screenshare, these data stream flvs refer to another children flv that will be the actual voice or video stream. The voice and video flv are recognizable because their file name will contain an underscore. For example ftcontent9_10.flv. You can play these flvs in the Adobe Media Player.

In the case the recording of the voice was done via the integration of an audio conferencing service, the audio file will appear as an mp3 file in the archive.

In Part 1 of this tutorial, you have learned the basic principles of how recordings are created in Connect Pro, how to export or import the file structure of a recording and how to analyze the different files that make up a recording. In Part 2, we will look at how to modify a recording.