Optimizing Video File Size

There are two options we recommend when optimizing file size. Trim the video down into manageable chunks or chapters, or use Lectora to start the user at different locations in the video.

Option One:
To edit the file after the fact, you could use Lectora's video editor to trim the video into multiple chapters and place each chapter on a separate page or in different courses to get around the limitations your LMS might have on a single upload. You could then use a Lectora Table of Content object or Menu object to move around the video by going to the particular page for a chapter. You don't need to use our video editor, any basic editor will have the ability to trim a file to a set start and stop limit that you specify in their editor.

Option Two:
Lectora has actions for media to Play, Pause, Toggle Play/Pause, Mute, Unmute, Set Time and Get Time. You can use buttons or the Menu wizard to create a set of clickable elements that would move the user to a specific time in the video and start playing there.

• Control Place with Buttons:
  You can have more than one action on a button. Each button will have two actions. A "On Mouse click Set Time", and "On Mouse Click Play Video". The first action sets the video time to the location that this button will take the user, say the start of the "CREDITS". The second action plays the video. If you had the video Autoplay, you might not need the second action as the video might already be playing. You can do further modifications based on your preferences, maybe use the "Toggle Play/Pause" action on a button to stop and start, Lectora's flexibility allows you multiple options.
• Control Place with Menu:
  You can use the Menu Wizard to create a menu look that controls the Learner's place in the video. Since a Menu normally only has one action per menu item, this would require you to have either Autoplay turned on, or provide a "Play" or "Toggle Play/Pause" button to get the video playing once the Learner chose their desired Chapter. Or, as you can see in the Menu item for "Chapter 3", you could create separate Groups of Actions to allow any menu click to perform more than one action on the click. Again, Lectora's flexibility allows you multiple options to complete the experience for your Learner. For example, you can use a separate Pause/Play button so the user selects the location using the specific "Chapter" button, and have no play actions on these buttons. Then the Learner can clicks the toggle button when ready to play their selected Chapter.

This article last reviewed September 2021. The software may have changed since the last review.