How Do I Order and Edit Captions Through My Media in Canvas?

This tutorial will show you how to upload a video, order captions, and edit captions through My Media in Canvas. These captions are "machine-generated" with speech recognition technology. In other words, the captions are produced without input from a human transcriber. As a result, these captions are not completely accurate. You must edit the transcript in order for the video to be accessible.

In this tutorial, you will use the online caption editing tool available through the My Media in Canvas. Most transcripts require only minor adjustments and can be complete quickly. This process usually take twice as long as the length of the video (e.g. a 10 minute video would take 20 minutes to caption). However, the accuracy of the "machine-generated" captions can vary depending on:

  • the quality of the sound (inadequate volume and background noise will reduce accuracy)
  • the clarity of speech (speaking clearly and slowly will improve accuracy)
  • the number of discipline-specific terms (terminology will likely need to be corrected)

Before you begin this tutorial:

  • Your video must be less than 2GB in size
  • You must be enrolled in the course as a "Teacher"

When you complete this tutorial:

Uploading a Video: Step #1

  1. After logging in to Canvas, click the Account tab in Global Navigation.
  2. Select My Media.

Uploading a Video: Step #2

  1. Click on Add New drop-down menu.
  2. Select Media Upload.

Uploading a Video: Step #3

  1. Click the Choose a file to upload button.

Browse to the location on your computer where you have saved your media file and select the file.

Uploading a Video: Step #4

  1. When the "Upload Completed!" message is received, type the media title.

Uploading a Video: Step #5

  1. Review the terms and conditions and click on the "I agree to the above terms and conditions" checkbox.
  2. Click the Save button.
  3. When you receive the "Your changes have been saved." message, click Go To Media.

Requesting Captions: Step #6

A preview of your video will be visible in the window. If the preview displays the message "Error: No source video was found - Entry in process" DO NOT upload your media again. This message is expected. Your video is processing and will be available soon.

  1. Once your video is processed, click the Actions pull-down menu.
  2. Select Order Captions.

If you do not see Order Captions option, please wait until your video is processed. Once processed, the preview will displays a thumbnail of your video.

Requesting Captions: Step #7

  1. If necessary, select the Source Media Language. This is the language that is spoken in the video you are uploading.
  2. Click Order Captions.

Requesting Captions #8

  1. When you receive the "Thank you! Your caption request has been received" message, click OK. The message window will close and you'll return to the "Caption Request" tab.

Before moving to the next step, your captioning order will need to be completed. The order may take as much as twice the length of the media. For example, if the length of the media is 10 minutes, it could take about 20 minutes to process your captioning order request.

Requesting Captions: Step #9

If you have moved away from the "Caption Requests" tab, complete these steps to view your caption orders:

  1. Click the Actions pull-down menu.
  2. Select Caption Requests.

Requesting Captions: Step #10

When the captioning request is completed, you'll see "COMPLETE" under the Status column.

  1. Once the captioning request is completed, click the Edit button.

If you do not see the Edit button, your caption order is still in process. As a reminder, the order may take as much as twice the length of the media. For example, if the length of the media is 10 minutes, it could take about 20 minutes to process your captioning request.

Using the Caption Editing Tool: Overview

When checking your captions for quality and accuracy, there are several basic guidelines to consider:

  • Captions should be free from spelling and punctuation errors
  • Captions should be timed with the spoken audio
  • Captions should include a description of important non-verbal sounds or sound effects
  • If more than one speaker is present in the videos, captions should identify the speaker

In addition to this tutorial, Ceilo24 has created a training video for their Caption Editing Tool: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAMEvawJ5sk

Using the Caption Editing Tool: Time Editing Area

The Cielo24 Caption Editing Tool has three main areas. The most commonly used is the Time Editing Area located in the center section. This area contains the:

  1. Video preview - displays the video while you are performing edits to the transcript
  2. Progress bar - displays the minutes and seconds (time code) for that moment in the video playback
  3. Playback controls - allows you to control the playback of the video in the preview area (tools are described in order left to right)
    • Back button - jumps to the previous sentence
    • Rewind button - goes to the beginning of the current sentence
    • Play button - starts and pauses the playback
    • Forward button - jumps to the next sentence
  4. Text transcript editing area - displays the text transcript that will be visible as caption in the final video
  5. Start and end time for the display of the text transcript - displays the minutes and seconds (time code) for the start and end of the text transcript in the final video
  6. Save button - allows you to save your current edits, but the edits will not be added to the video until the Approve button is clicked
  7. Approve button - publishes the edited transcript to the final video

Using the Caption Editing Tool: Sentence Editing Area

The Sentence Editing Area, located in the left section of Cielo24 Caption Editing Tool shows:

  • each sentence in the transcript
  • each sentence is displayed within a box and each box will have a start and end time for the display of that sentence in the final video

When a sentence is selected in the Sentence Editing Area, it will also display in the Time Editing Area.

Correcting Captions: Step #11

The most common error in your transcript will be the lack of punctuation. When you correct the transcript and add a period, followed by a space, a new sentence will be created.

  1. Identify the location of missing punctuation and make the correction in the Time Editing Area.

 

Correcting Captions: Step #12

  1. Click out of the text editing box and your changes will appear in the Sentence Editing Area.
  2. Click the Forward button to jump to the next sentence.

Repeat this process until all punctuation and spelling corrections are completed.

Identifying Speakers: Step #13

If more than one speaker is present in the videos, be sure to identify the speaker in the captions.

  1. Select the sentence that corresponds to when a new speaker begins speaking
  2. Click the Assign Speaker pull-down menu.
  3. Select Add New Speaker.

Identifying Speakers: Step #14

  1. To assign a name to the new speaker, click the Speaker tab in the Help Area, which is in the right section of the tool.
  2. With the sentence that corresponds to the speaker selected, type the name of the speaker in the field.

Repeat Step #13 - Step #14 until all NEW speakers in the video are identified.

Identifying Speakers: Step #15

When the speaker changes, identify the speaker in the captions.

  1. Select the sentence that corresponds to when the speaker begins speaking
  2. Click the Assign Speaker pull-down menu.
  3. Select the correct speaker.

Repeat this process until all speakers in the video are identified.

Adding Sound Tags: Step #16

If the video contains additional sounds or sound effects, add sound tags to be displayed when the sound occurs.

  1. Select the sentence and then place your cursor at the point in the text that corresponds to when the sound occurs
  2. Type the appropriate sound tag
  3. For a list of common sound tags, click the Help tab
  4. View the list (with accompanying shortcuts) under the "Sound Tag Shortcut" area.

Repeat this process until all relevant sounds in your video are captioned.

Finalizing: Step #17

  1. When you have completed your corrections and additions, click Save.
  2. To finalize and display the captions on your video, click Approve.

Finalizing: Step #18

  1. When you receive the "Approve Job?" message, click the Approve button.

You'll receive a "Job approved" message. Close the browser tab to return to the Canvas window that displays your video within My Media.

Finalizing: Step #19

Once you've returned to the Canvas browser window that displays your video:

  1. Start the video (click Play button) and click the CC button on the player to view your captions.

Important Next Steps:

In order for your students to view the captioned video, you MUST embed the video into your Canvas course site using these instructions: http://cetl-uwm.screenstepslive.com/s/13190/m/49120/l/979241-how-do-i-embed-a-video-uploaded-captioned-in-my-media-in-canvas

You can embed the video in a Page or an Assignment. The choice of whether you add the video to an Assignment or a Page depends on your needs. While both method will allow you to assign a due date, the Assignment due date will be visible to students in:

  • the Course Summary under Course Syllabus
  • the "Coming Up" reminders on the Home area
  • the students' Calendars for the course

In comparison, adding the media to a Canvas Page will ONLY make the due date visible to students in the Course Summary under Course Syllabus, and will not provide reminders on the Calendar or Home area.

Generally speaking, online courses will best be served by embedding the media in an Assignment, while face-to-face course may only need the simple due date available in a Page.

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