Real-Time Alerts

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.

1. HTML5 Video Conferencing Now Offers Toll-Free Dial-In Options – We’ve added new phone dial-in options for attendees to join and participate in video conferences. The toll-free access capability is available to users of our video conferencing products. Keep in mind that this is still in beta so we will continue to be enhancing the toll-free dial-in capabilities over the coming month.

   

2. Improvements to Storage Calculations for Transfer of Owner Scenarios – We improved the accuracy of user account quotas in situations where content is transferred via the Change Owner capability. We also enhanced the accuracy across a number of additional edge-cases.
3. Improve Blackboard Assignment Integration – We deepened our Blackboard Assignment integration with improved capabilities to view embedded content within Blackboard Assignments and related screens within the Blackboard LMS.
4. Faster and More Responsive External Captioning Permissions UI – To better support large organizations (35,000+ users), we optimized the External Captioning Permissions dialog. At the same time, we modernized aspects of the UI to more consistent with the Platform.
5. Improved Mobile Live Streaming Support – We resolved a number of issues to improve live streaming on mobile devices, particular more recent iOS devices. Also improved layout of the embedded Live Stream Player.
Cloud-Hosted Media Recoverability Infrastructure – Next week, we will be updating the Apple Capture application to include complete Media Recoverability. Media recoverability enables abruptly terminated or incorrectly terminated recordings to be uploaded and restored without manual intervention.

By moving the recovery process to the cloud, it enables us to continue to fine-tune and strengthen the recovery algorithms without necessitating end-users’ update their software capture applications. Software Capture on PC – which already has local media recoverability – will also benefit from this new architecture in a future release that we have planned.

In the next release, we will be: 1) improving our Visual Analytics ability to quickly process big data workloads (millions of data points) when creating visualization; 2) adding a new Blackboard LMS integrations for creating a Homepage Media Plugin; 3) providing new options within the Video Editor to automatically update indexes and transcripts based on caption edits; and more.

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 100+ new features and improvements.

1. “Share with Users” Capability Now Supports Ad-Hoc Folder-Level Sharing – The Share button is now also enabled for folders. Previously, a pre-created shared folder was needed to share content at the folder level. Now, simply select Share Folder within the More Actions menu.
   
2. Ability to Grab the Direct Link and Embed Code to a Media Channel – Content aligned to a Media Channel – most often used as playlists linked to an LMS course – can now be embedded or shared via a direct link to the content. This offers Content Owners flexibility in sharing and sending content aligned to an LMS-linked playlist.
   
3. Shared Folders Now Offer Pre-Generated Embed and Direct Links – Folders within an organization’s Shared Folders now can be shared externally with pre-generated direct link and embed codes.
   
4. Video Editor Top-Bar Offers More Relevant Actions – When users are in the video editor, the primary actions shown in the Top Navigation Bar are now change to Save and Close buttons.
   
5. Video Editor’s Cut Operations Now Offers Improved Play-Head Alignment and Fine Tuning Ability – We re-tooled some the trim operations to offer the ability to establish more accurate cut operations. This is achieved with the following sub-capabilities:
   • Playhead and accompanying timestamp will move when trimming the start or end.
   • During a trim, set the trim to the playhead when performing a trim-head operation.
   • Clicking on an cut opens up a dialog to manually set the edit time.

   

6. Improved Live Stream Synchronization on Both Software and Hardware Platforms – After months of research, we are introducing server-side, time-stamp synchronization that should improve multi-source, live stream synchronization when using either our hardware appliance or desktop-based software applications.Our research indicates that there are two key ways to ensure source synchronization. The first is to “fuse” the streams together during the encoding process and transmit them as a unified stream. Alternatively, we believe our server-side, time-stamping algorithm offers the ability to retain the benefits of true multi-source live streaming while improving the synchronization of streams. We encourage you to provide your feedback on how this algorithm dynamically adjusts – typically after a minute of streaming – to improve the live stream source synchronization during an active live stream.
7. Additional Obfuscation of Content Embedded with LTI Deep Linking – Content that is embedded using the CIM-enabled Deep Linking protocol now will perform an additional security check based on the user PID. This helps prevent potentially skimming of content from the HTML code.
8. Improved the Front-End Caching Layer When Moving Media Between Folders – We optimized the caching layer by performing a selective cache bypass, in some cases, to avoid getting stale data.
9. Hardware Hub Improvements Related to Delayed Start Setting on Device Signals – We now offer the ability to have the Delay Start setting as enabled-by-default, as well as improved video playback robustness in situations where a particular video signal is never present for the entire recording session.
10. Improved Zoom API Integration – We implemented a targeted set of changes to improve Zoom integration, status notifications, as well as minor updates to the Admin Panel’s Zoom Connector UI.

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 125+ new features and improvements.

1. An Even Easier-to-Use and More Modern Media Experience
   We’ve introduced a more unified and easier-to-use media experience that encompasses better media library navigation elements, clearer primary and secondary action menus, as well as a host of design-forward innovations that appeal to today’s video consumer (hover effects, modern status notifications and more).
   
2. Media Channels Unified with the Central Media Library
   Media Channels now open directly within the Manage Media’s All Channels view. This provides a more cohesive experience and further simplifies how users navigate within the Platform. We also offer users the ability to toggle between optimized channel-style viewing and library-style editing experiences.
   
3. New Drag-and-Drop Enabled Left Navigation Element for Faster Folder Transversal and Media Organization
   We added a new Left Navigation Bar that provides the ability to quickly navigate sub-folders, move content via drag-and-drop, and publish content to channels via drag-and-drop. We also refined Administrator-level workflows when navigating large volumes of folders and Media Collections.
   
4. Integrated Video Analytics Directly within Video Details
   Content Owners will be able to view at-a-glance content analytics directly within the video’s Media Details popup. Users can also delve deeper into the video analytics by simply clicking the See More button.
   
5. Refined Recording Workflow with Improved Notifications
   When launching the Software Capture desktop application using the Create Recording button, the UI is clearer and more informative when the software capture is actively launching. The inline pop-up will now automatically disappear after a few moments…one fewer user click.
   
6. Improvements to HTML5 Video Conferencing to Scale to Higher Loads
   We added additional load monitoring and fault tolerance to the HTML5 Video Conferencing sub-system. This includes more robust video conferencing replay recording, resolution of a number of smaller issues that could cause a premature disconnection in rare situations and resolution of an issue which prevented users from inviting participants via email.
7. Improved Audio-Only File Streaming Compatibility with Safari Web Browsers
   We improved some aspects of the encoding used to stream MP3 files on Safari web browsers while maintaining optimized audio streaming playback on other browsers. Along the same lines, we expanded our compatibility when encoding rare and older types of MOV file formats.
8. 50+ Smaller Fixes and Improvements
   Additionally, we used this month-long update cycle to resolve over 50+ smaller issues and improvements which we will detail in the upcoming newsletter.

Next release, we’ll be introducing: 1) improved multi-source live stream synchronization for both hardware and software platforms; 2) the ability for individuals to have folder-level sharing via the Share action; 3) the ability to obtain a direct link to both channels and sub-folders within the Shared Folder hierarchy; 4) refinements to the video editing experience when performing granular trims and cuts.

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.

1. Ability to Setup Device Auto-Schedules Using an Organization-Wide XML Schedule – Administrators can now setup an entire organization’s schedule – or just a few capture device’s schedules – by uploading an XML schedule file.
   
2. Improved Internal Audit Logging for Single-Sign-On Authentication – To improve our Professional Services’ ability to identify issues when performing SSO integrations, we have added more detailed audit logging.
3. Ability to Customize Role Names – The terminology we use within the Platform to refer to the three YuJa roles can now be consistent with your organization’s role names. We now offer a new capability to rename roles to mirror your organization’s preferred terminology.
4. Uploaded Videos Now Have Full Breadth of Editing Capabilities – We have unified editing functionality across both captures and uploaded media. Previously a few of the more advanced editing capabilities could only be performed on captures.
   
5. Video Editor Supports Ability to Remove a Video Stream – In situations where you wish to remove an extra stream, we now offer the ability to remove a video stream using the editor.
   
6. Video Editor Supports Ability to Create a “Blur” Region – To better support situations where a particular region of the video needs to be redacted, we now offer the ability to define a area of the video that will generate a blur region in the post-edited video.
   
7. Improved Live Stream Player Embedding and Mobile Layout – Improved how the document viewer renders in embedded scenarios, resolved some issues with the chat box and improved layout on mobile devices.

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 60+ new features and improvements.

1. Link Documents to Live Stream Events – Added both the ability to view documents side-by-side within the Live Stream Player, as well as implemented the ability to pre-insert documents into a scheduled live stream event (or dynamically while the event is in-progress).
   
2. Clear Video Analytics for Particular Videos – To better support a content owner’s ability to re-use content and derive clear insights, we now offer the option to clear analytics data on a per-video basis.
   
3. Upload Custom Thumbnails of Any Digital Asset – Extended our custom video thumbnailing support to include audio, YouTube, Vimeo, hyperlinks and documents. This enables content creators to provide thumbnails that better reflect the content of the underlying digital asset.
   
4. Branding Capabilities of the Platform’s Main Navigation Bar – Organization administrators can now customize the Platform even further with the ability to change the colors of the top-bar and button links.
   
5. New Moodle Roster Sync Plugin – For our customers that use the Moodle LMS, we have implemented a native LMS plugin that complements our IMS-certified LTI integration to provider course roster sync-ing. To learn more, view the help documentation.
6. Increased Maximum Sub-Channel Support to 20 – The Sub-Channel capability within the Media Channels has been increased from up-to-6 sub-channels to up-to-20 sub-channels.
7. Improvements to Video Ingestion of Rare Media Encodings – Added additional browser support for playback of HLS streams where the HLS chunk length is not aligned.
8. Performance Improvements for Organizations with 1,000+ Active Courses and Groups – Optimized the speed and performance of a number of search and input fields to better handle situations with hundreds or thousands of active courses.
9. Ported Over Text Overlay and Video Insertion Capability to Video Editor – Completed the feature migration from the legacy editor to the HTML5 editor. This release, we ported over the capability to insert text overlays and perform video insertions via the HTML5 video editor.
   
10. New HTML5 Video Conferencing Capabilities – Addition of a “Laser Pointer” tool to the whiteboard and improvements to acoustic echo cancellation.

Next release, we’ll be introducing the ability to: 1) upload organization-wide XML formatted device schedules; 2) customize the display-name shown for the role name; 3) add new video editor capabilities to blur regions for a specific time-period, use the full capture editing toolset on uploaded videos, remove a video stream and more.

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 focused primarily on improved LMS integration and sub-system infrastructure improvements including:

1. Implementation of Content Item Messaging for Non-Canvas LMS Platforms – To support LMS-authenticated media viewing – which will enable user-level analytics tracking (among other things) – for content embedded with the YuJa Media Chooser we have implemented the IMS Content Item Message (CIM) protocol.Each major LMS vendor chose to implement CIM differently so we have written up steps on how to embed media via the CIM method for your LMS. For Canvas users, we already implemented CIM last quarter and the workflows are identical to regular media embedding (since Canvas chose to implement CIM in a identical manner as regular Canvas extensions). To get started with CIM, click to view installation and usage instructions for Moodle, D2L Brightspace or Blackboard.
2. Infrastructural Improvements to Support 24/7 Streaming – To better serve some of our event broadcasting scenarios, including 24/7 OTT-type live video streaming, we have improved our sub-system infrastructure to be able to provide more robust 24/7 live streaming capabilities.
3. Updated Video Editor Capabilities – First, we have removed the deprecated Flash-based editor which now makes it easier to go directly into the HTML5 Video Editor via the Edit selection. We also improved the audio waveform synchronization and, lastly, improved the Preview Changes option. We also pushed some more minor improvements.
4. Layout Improvements to Media Player – We improved compatibility of various view types including full-screen, and full-screen-plus-side-by-side with all major web browsers. There are also about a half-dozen smaller layout improvements including resolving some rare rendering issues with certain web browsers.

In the next release, we will be adding some new Video Editor capabilities (such as text and image insertion and more), ability to create custom thumbnail options for non-video objects, a new Moodle LMS Roster Synchronization plugin, new top-bar branding options, new EnterpriseTube capabilities (ability to see Word Clouds, download transcripts, and documents), more robust recording capabilities within the HTML5 Video Conferencing suite and much more.

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. EnterpriseTube Event Streaming – The new Events tab on the EnterpriseTube enables organizations to live stream to their public-facing EnterpriseTube.
   
2. HTML5 Video Editor Now Supports Video Insertion – The Insert Video feature has been migrated over from the previous legacy editor. We do plan to introduce new video insertion modes in future releases.
   
3. Video Editor Now Allows Cuts and Inserts to be Previewed – The playback experience within the Video Editor now offers the ability to preview the applied cuts and inserts prior to saving the edits.
   
4. In-Progress Video Edits Show Processing Indicator – To make it clear to the user when their edits are being processed and finalized, we now display a thumbnail with a Processing indicator.
   
5. Improved Media Player Layout with Open Sidebar – When the sidebar is opened within the Media Player, the video boxes will shift and resize appropriately. This improves upon the preview “overlay” style.
   
6. HTML5 Video Conferencing Now Offers Participant Management Tools – To facilitate larger video conferencing sessions, meeting owners can now manage and group participants into permission-based roles.
   
7. Enhanced Video Views Report – The views report in the Usage & Analytics suite now Unique Views and Last Views. This makes it easier to identify candidate files for pruning.

In the next release, we have some useful capabilities on-deck including:

• New LMS Extension that supports the Content Item Messaging (CIM) protocol for D2L, Moodle and Blackboard (we implemented Canvas a few months ago). This will enable user-level analytics tracking for embedded video that uses the CIM tool and workflow. Along with this release, we will be publishing a set of Help Guides on how to the CIM workflow works for your LMS.
• Ability to overlay an image or watermark using the HTML5 Video Editor
• New HTML5 Video Conferencing capabilities including improved live chat, whiteboard capabilities, and object durability within the recording
• 24/7 Live Streaming will be added to complement the newly added EnterpriseTube-level Live Streaming

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 65+ new features and improvements including:

1. Media Channel Select All Capability for Easy “Course Copy” – Added a capability to perform a wholesale “Select All” channel copy from one channel to one-or-more channels. The primary use-case is to essentially roll forward a pre-existing channel to an upcoming semester’s channel.
   
2. Multi-Channel Publish Capabilities – Introduced the ability to multi-select channels to publish one-or-more media objects simultaneously to multiple channels. This capability, along with the new Media Channel “Course Copy”, enables the ability to create pre-defined channels that can be copied from semester-to-semester or to multiple sections simultaneously.
   
3. Ability to Add Pre-Defined Responses During Live Streams – Building on the existing capabilities of pre-defined commenting capabilities, we added the ability to insert comments from a pre-defined Comment Bank within a live stream session (previously it was just available for recorded media).
   
4. Migrated Insert Slide Capability to HTML5 Video Editor – The Insert Slide capability, which enables users to upload a PowerPoint slide to override a particular video stream, has been migrated to the HTML5 Video Editor.
   
5. Improve Keyboard Shortcuts to HTML5 Video Editor – Added eight keyboard hotkey (shortcuts) for video editing sequences. For more information on this, please review the related help documentation.
6. Improved Media Player Compatibility with Safari – To improve compatibility with Safari 11.1.2 and 11.0.3 versions, we now take advantage of the built-in HLS auto-streaming.
7. Added New Live Streaming Audience Engagement Capabilities – In addition to integrated live chat capabilities, we have now added the ability to send emojis (visual icons) as part of the integrated live stream chat. This capability mirrors the chat capabilities of popular social media platforms.
   
8. HTML5 Video Conferencing Supports Larger Files – Increased the maximum per-document file size to 50MB to support larger slide decks and documents.

We also resolved a number of issues. A few notable issues include:

• Resolved an issue where, in some cases, an embedded video’s Loading event could trigger a view count increment instead of the Play event.
• Improved Media Player rendering on small device screens including both portrait and landscape mode on iOS.
• Resolved issue on iOS devices which could result in the Media Player failing to playback an MP3 file.
• Improved error notification in instances where an invalid Adobe Presenter file is selected for ingestion.

In the next release, we’ll be rolling out new capabilities including migration of the Insert Video capability to the HTML5 Video Editor, improved Media Player Sidebar “pinning”, new admin report showing infrequently used content, and much more.

We have successfully pushed a new YuJa Software Station for PC 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 a maintenance release with one key new feature: Auto-Updating Device Preview.

1. Auto-Updating Device Preview – The Software Capture for PC now offers the ability to setup full and auto-updating Device Preview capabilities (video, audio and status) within the Devices tab of the Admin Panel. This enhanced room monitoring of active recordings. While the product documentation is being updated with this new capabilities, we provided a stop-gap guide on how to enable this capabilities (see below):
   
2. Improved Error Handling When Source Unavailable – If a pre-selected source is unavailable, the software will now attempt to initiate a recording with the remaining available sources.

3. Resolved issue on Windows Machines with Brazilian Localization – Resolved an issue where a PC running a Brazilian instance of Windows could fail to upload a software capture.

   We also resolved some minor and rare issues which could occur when initiating the Screen and A/V encoders and auto-recovery if a XML configuration file is corrupted.

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. Administrative Act-as-User Capabilities – Administrators can now better assist non-Admin users via the ability to “switch” into a particular user’s persona dynamically.
   
2. Ability to Schedule the Email Delivery of Analytics Reports – We introduced the ability to auto-schedule the email delivery of four of our standard “raw” reports. More reports to follow in future releases.
   
3. Improvements to Zoom Connector Integration – Ability to “Select All” Zoom recordings, features to perform bulk operations more easily and small usability improvements.
4. Administrative Lock User Role – The ability to override an LMS or SSO role value within the YuJa Platform for specific users. This locked role type is used irrespective of the role value sync-ed from an LMS or Single-Sign-On Connector.
   
5. Ability to Customize Human Captioning Options Available – For those Human Captioning vendors that have various SLA options, we now support the ability to customize the options available to users. For example, this provides Administrators with the ability to disable “Same Day (8 hour)” turnaround options for users within their organization.
6. Added HTML5-Based Screen Sharing to Video Conferencing Suite – We’ve added new functionality to perform desktop screensharing during a live video conference. Please note that for Google Chrome users we are still in the process of finalizing our submission to the Chrome Extension Store so please use this new capability in Firefox until the middle of next week.
   

In the next release we have some exciting new capabilities being introduced including some Video Editor updates (audio waveform preview, insert slide, and more), Live Stream Chat capabilities with emojis, Media Player Play Bar button customization capabilities, and much more.