IT Services - Use Kaltura Capture Annotations

Overview

Kaltura Capture is free software available to all UCSD community members with active directory credentials (instructors, students, staff, etc.). It allows you to capture your screen, camera, and microphone. In addition to these recording capabilities, it also allows you to add annotations during your recording, such as drawings or arrows.

Critical Concepts

They can only be used live. You can only use Kaltura Capture annotations during a recording - you can't edit them in later.
Be sure you're familiar with how to record. These instructions assume that you know how to start a Kaltura Capture recording. Check out our knowledge base article on how to record a video with Kaltura Capture if needed.
Be aware of accessibility. Annotations are a pedagogically useful tool for drawing attention and promoting retention. However, as with all videos produced in an educational context, you may have viewers with disabilities. Using annotations shouldn't replace spoken words that describe what you're doing or when you're indicating emphasis on a particular piece of information. Accordingly, try to be aware of when you're using annotations and be sure to accompany them with spoken words that verbally indicate the emphasis.

Steps to Take

See our video tutorial below, or read the text instructions further down.

To use Kaltura Capture's annotation features, during a recording, click the pencil icon on the right side of the recording bar.

A screenshot of the Kaltura Capture recorder, with the annotation button circled.

When you do, the annotation tools menu will appear above the recording bar.

An annotated screenshot of all the icons in the Kaltura Capture annotations menu.

The table below provides more detail on each of these features / icons.

Table 1. A description of Kaltura Capture's specific annotation features.
Icon	Function	Description
	Draw freehand	The pencil icon within the annotations menu allows you to freehand draw on the screen. You can use your mouse to draw anything you like. Use the color palette to select the desired color of the pen.
	Draw arrow	The arrow allows you to, well, draw arrows on the screen. Once it's selected, click and drag your mouse. Where your mouse begins will be the start of the arrow, and where it ends will be where the actual "pointer" part of the mouse is. You can select the color of the arrow in the color palette.
	Type text	The icon that looks like a capital "T" is the text icon. Once selected, click anywhere on your screen and a text box will be added, allowing you to add text onscreen. Use the color palette to select the desired color of your text. You can also click inside one of your existing text boxes and select a color to change the color of that text. Note that you have a maximum of 500 characters within text boxes.
	Highlight clicks	The icon that looks like a regular mouse cursor (an arrow icon pointing up and to the left) allows you to highlight each of your mouse clicks. When you click your icon on your capture screen, a small yellow circle will radiate outward from where you clicked - kind of like a radar animation. It's handy for recordings where you click frequently and the locations of your clicks are relevant to your students' understanding of the material (for example, software tutorials). Note that you can't change the color of the "radar" effect - it will always be yellow.
	Select object(s)	The icon depicting two perpendicular arrows allows you to select existing annotations and move them. For example, if you have an arrow onscreen already, you can use the select tool to move it around the screen. If you have multiple objects, you can draw a box onscreen around them and all them will be selected. You can also use the selection tool to enlarge existing annotation objects. When an object is selected, little boxes will appear at the corners as well as midway through each side of the rectangle. Clicking and dragging the boxes in the corner of the object will change the overall size of the object. Clicking and dragging the boxes in the midpoints will allow you to visually "squash" the object by changing only the horizontal or vertical dimension separately.
	Create whiteboard	The rectangular icon under the color palette creates a virtual whiteboard onscreen. When the whiteboard is present, all the other tools will only be usable within the whiteboard. You can't, for example, select the arrow tool and draw on your screen outside the whiteboard. However, you can use all the other annotation tools - freehand draw, arrows, and text boxes. You can click the trash icon in the annotations menu to clear the whiteboard. Note that when the whiteboard is present, clicking the trash icon won't delete any existing annotations that are outside the whiteboard. Click the "X" button at the top right of the whiteboard to close it.
	Download whiteboard	You can download the contents of the whiteboard to your computer by clicking the icon that looks like a sideways open bracket with a downward arrow above it. It'll download to your desktop as an image file.
	Change object size	The vertical slider on the right side of the annotations menu allows you to identify in advance how big you want your annotations to be. Move the slider to the top to make it large and to the bottom to make it small. Note that this tool only works in advance of creating your annotation - you can't use it to adjust the size of an existing annotation. If you want to adjust the size of an object you've already drawn, use the select tool and click and drag a box in the corner of the selection.
	Delete objects	The trash icon will delete all annotations on the screen. If you're in the whiteboard, it will only delete the annotations within the whiteboard.

If you still have questions or need additional assistance, feel free to contact us at kaltura@ucsd.edu.