Author: alertsyuja

• June 9, 2018

  Canadian Zone – Semi-Monthly RC20180601 Released

  Canada Zone

  We have successfully pushed an update to all physical zones residing in the Canada. For a summary of the release, please refer to the corresponding tag for United States zones.

• June 2, 2018

  United States Zone – Semi-Monthly RC20180601 Released

  United States Zone

  We have successfully pushed an update to all physical zones residing in the United States. Please note that this release will be pushed to Canadian zones next week. This release includes over 70+ new features and improvements including:

  1. General Availability of the Zoom Connector – We’ve moved over the Zoom Connector to General Availability. Though this will be an optional add-on depending on your licensing agreement, initially we’ve opened it up for general use. Please contact your Account Manager for pricing details.
     
  2. Automatic LMS Transition Module – To assist organizations who are transitioning LMS platforms, we have provided tools to transition YuJa LTI-linked users automatically between the two LMS products.
  3. Improved Accessibility of Media Sub-Channel – We improved the accessibility of the Media Channels, as well as resolved some issues with the new Sub-Channel style that affected certain courses in production.
  4. Improved End-User, Administrator and YuJa Staff Notifications on Transcode Failures – While rare occurrences in the first place, we have added appropriate tools for all user types – including YuJa Operations Staff – to be alerted about most types of media transcoding and transmuxing failures. Admins will see the filter-able in the Admin Panel alerts.
     
  5. Large Entity Performance Improvements – We improved both our front-end and back-end systems to better handle large volumes of media objects within a single folder, as well as, large number of folders within a parent folder.
  6. New HTML5 Video Conferencing Capabilities – We introduced a new HTML5 whiteboard foundational interface (still lots more work to do!), improved browser compatibility, better automatic audio/video detection, disconnection detection, as well as general bug fixes.
  7. Improved Tab-Level Accessibility of Admin Panel – As part of our initiative to improve the keyboard-only accessibility of our Platform, we have reviewed and improved the capabilities of the Admin Panel.

  In the next release, look forward to improved SCORM 1.2 object compatibility and exportability, screensharing capabilities on the HTML5-based video conferencing, and more.

• May 26, 2018

  Canadian Zone – Semi-Monthly RC20180518 Released

  Canada Zone

  We have successfully pushed an update to all physical zones residing in the Canada. For a summary of the release, please refer to the corresponding tag for United States zones.

• May 18, 2018

  United States Zone – Semi-Monthly RC20180518 Released

  United States Zone

  We have successfully pushed an update to all physical zones residing in the United States. Please note that this release will be pushed to Canadian zones next week. This release is mostly a maintenance update that includes over 40+ new features and improvements including:

  1. Crisp Sub-Channel Visualization and Improved LMS Integration – For those users using sub-channels within their course Media Channels, we’ve changed to a tab-style interface that is easier to navigate.
     
  2. Keyboard-Only Tab Navigation Improvements – We have an ongoing project to review our keyboard-only navigation and ensure that all screens are a smooth navigation experience. We’ve reviewed many of the screens and this effort continues.
  3. Better Media Channel Layout – To better use the top-region of the Media Channel, we’ve move away from a 3-video layout and introduced a 7-video layout (where space allows). This is a better use of the available screen (see screenshot above).
  4. New Visualization of Word Clouds, Transcripts, and Tags – Along the same theme of better use of space, rather than a linear down-the-page style, we’ve moved each of the AI-powered video cognition attributes to individual tabs. See screenshot below.
     
  5. Bulk Download Now Integrated With Date Search – We’ve integrated the existing date-based media searching with the ability to use the Bulk Download capabilities. This enables users to refine their search to identify which media to bulk download.
     
  6. General Platform Improvements – In addition, we also made some general Platform improvements:
     • Changed Blackboard Media Chooser Extension to use the actual zone-specific embed code rather than the generic Platform URL. This ensures that use of an embedded video with a Single-Sign-On is directed to the organization’s SSO.
     • Identified rare issues within the Media Player that could cause the geographic restrictions to fail for specific network types. Also resolved rare issues related to Blackboard media embedding within self-hosted instances.
     • Improvements to the HTML5 Video Editor in handling very large caption files
     • Improved overall Platform compatibility with older versions of Internet Explorer (the predecessor to Edge)
     • Improved HTML5-based Editor’s multi-stream sync when editing large media files.
  7. Limited Release of Zoom Connector – We’ve finished deploying all the backend infrastructure for the Zoom Connector and those organizations that had expressed interest in using it should be able to. In a few weeks, we’ll open this up to all organizations to try out.

  In the next release, we anticipate rolling out some updates to the HTML5 Video Conferencing, Platform performance improvements, new notifications for any media transcoding errors and more.

• May 5, 2018

  Canadian Zone – Semi-Monthly RC20180427 Released

  Canada Zone

  We have successfully pushed an update to all physical zones residing in the Canada. For a summary of the release, please refer to the corresponding tag for United States zones.

• April 28, 2018

  United States Zone – Semi-Monthly RC20180427 Released

  United States Zone

  We have successfully pushed an update to all physical zones residing in the United States. Please note that this release will be pushed to Canadian zones next week. This release includes over 50+ new features and improvements including:

  1. Improvements to HTML5 Video Editor – We ported and added some additional functionality including thumbnail visualization for video streams, simple visualization for separate audio streams, undo button with new “Changelist” pane (and the ability to view and revert current changes), new save options namely the ability to save captions & indexes to the current video object, UI improvements, and general bug fixes & tweaks. If you run into issues with the HTML5 Video Editor, we encourage you to provide us with specific reproduction steps and we will actively aim to get this reviewed and resolved in a near-term release.
  2. Optimizations to Bulk Download – We have further optimized the self-service Bulk Download feature to work even more efficiently across nested folders and both video and non-video digital assets.
  3. Student-Oriented My Gradebook Tab – For organizations using Video and Text Quizzes, in addition to the LTI Gradebook integration, we now provide a specific tab where students can view grades of post quizzes.
  4. Mobile Live Streaming Player Improvements – We bolstered our mobile live streaming capabilities with broader mobile device support.
  5. Improved Live Stream to Capture Transition – We now provide the option of the Live Stream URL being used to auto-forward to the subsequent recording of the Live Stream event. We also added some general bug fixes and small improvements to the HTML5 Live Stream Player.
  6. General HTML5 Video Conferencing Improvements – We integrated recorded conference recordings into the Storage analytics, improved participant box sizing, and improved overall stability. Upcoming releases will focus on continuing to port over functionality present in the Flash-based Video Classrooms tool.
  7. Improved Usability of Accessibility Tab within Media Details – We’ve made managing and uploading accessibility related metadata including caption files, Audio Description files, and transcripts – easier to do with a more intuitive user interface.

  In the next release, we will be introducing to General Availability a new add-on called the Zoom Connector to connect to enterprise Zoom instances and import Zoom recordings into the Media Library (please contact your Account Manager regarding pricing, availability and feature set), new media search options, new video editor capabilities and more.

• April 21, 2018

  Canadian Zone – Semi-Monthly RC20180413 Released

  Canada Zone

  We have successfully pushed an update to all physical zones residing in the Canada. For a summary of the release, please refer to the corresponding tag for United States zones.

• April 14, 2018

  United States Zone – Semi-Monthly RC20180413 Released

  United States Zone

  We have successfully pushed an update to all physical zones residing in the United States. Please note that this release will be pushed to Canadian zones next week. This release includes over 90+ new features and improvements including:

  1. Improved HTML5 Video Editor – Migrated the caption editing and index editing into the HTML5 video editor tool. We also implemented a synchronized scrubber bar with zoom capabilities. In this release, we also added the ability to edit captions inline underneath the video feeds to provide an easier caption editing experience.
  2. General Availability of External RTMP Ingestion – We now offer organizations the ability to use their existing tri-caster or RTMP-based streaming software to live stream at scale. This allows organizations to use their existing hardware and software encoders with our cloud-hosted live streaming infrastructure to create embedded live stream players for events and graduations. This capability was originally available to a limited set of zones, however it is now offered to all organizations.
  3. Aesthetic Improvements to Media Player – We improved some of the graphics and play-pause transition changes to the Media Player.
  4. HTML5 Video Conferencing (alpha) – We implemented and migrated the group chat capabilities, UI improvements, and smaller improvements to meeting recording capabilities. We expect to exit alpha in the next month-or-so with a limited set of functionality.

  In the next release, we anticipate migrating over more of the Flash-based video editor’s capability to the newer HTML5 editor, improved Media Details panel, and more.

• April 7, 2018

  Canadian Zone – Semi-Monthly RC20180330 Released

  Canada Zone

  We have successfully pushed an update to all physical zones residing in the Canada. For a summary of the release, please refer to the corresponding tag for United States zones.

• March 31, 2018

  United States Zone – Semi-Monthly RC20180330 Released

  United States Zone

  We have successfully pushed an update to all physical zones residing in the United States. Please note that this release will be pushed to Canadian zones next week. This release includes over 70+ new features and improvements including:

  1. Improved In-Video Commenting with Timeline Commenting and Pop-up Comment Bubbles – We improved in-video commenting by enabling the ability to comment directly on the video timeline, see comments on the timeline, and see “pop-up” comments as the video plays. As you’re using the new capabilities, we encourage you to provide feedback on ways you’d like to use this capability so that our Product Team can extend and expand it.
  2. In-Video Quiz Suite Now Part of Media – We’ve extended the video quizzing to be integrated more deeply with the Video Platform as a whole. While this will change how users create and access quizzes, we are confident that the improvements will make it even easier to create video-based assessments. Here are some of the details:
     • Top-Bar Take-Quiz Workflow – Quizzes that are available for users to “take” are now linked directly within the top-bar of the Platform (look for a new “Bell” icon). This makes it easier for students to find available quizzes without having to “dig into” the Polls & Quizzes suite.
     • Quizzes Stored in My Account tab – Created text-based and video quizzes are now stored in your My Accounts under a sub-tab called My Assessments.
     • UI Refinements – We also tidied up some naming inconsistencies with the use of the term “poll”, resolved a Unicode oversight that prevented non-English languages from being used for quiz questions, as well as a few other smaller improvements.
     • Supports In-Video Commenting – In-video quizzes can be used in conjunction with in-video commenting.
  3. New Tab Orientation for Media Details – To accommodate the new Comments tab within Media Details, our design folks switched the tabs to stack vertically. We will be further refining the user experience within the Media Details sub-tabs in upcoming releases.
  4. HTML5 Video Conferencing (alpha) – Our plan to migrate capabilities from the Flash-based Video Classrooms tool to the HTML5-based Video Conferencing continues. In this release, we moved over record-and-replay capabilities. We’re getting there!

  Looking ahead, in the next release we’ll be providing some feature updates to the HTML5 Video Editor, providing better self-service Bulk Downloading capabilities, new Live Streaming capabilities, and much more.