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Subject: Recording WebEx webinars

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catherine
Posts:2

04/26/2007 5:43 PM	Alert
We do a lot of in-house training via WebEx which we record for our training library and our non-US employees. The audio quality of the recording has been bad which is, I think, because we're recording off a speaker phone. I want to use a wireless lavalier microphone to capture the audio. Does anyone use a lavalier mircophone for their webex presentations? If so, any recommendations for which to purchase or what to look for in a good microphone? thanks, Catherine

jjkd
Posts:23

04/30/2007 1:31 PM	Alert
Hi Catherine: Is this recording being done during a 'live' presentation? If not, there are other options, but I think so, based on your mention of wanting to go with a wireless lavalier. There are a number of different brands you'll find people recommend, but I'd suggset you look for the following features: 1) Cartioid lavalier for less ambient noise pickup, omni will work, but won't provide as clean an input 2) UHF FM or Digital modulation 3) Good battery life (generally this means the more 'professional' units, some of which run the transmitter via 'AA' batteries rather than a 9V) A headworn microphone is going to provide better sound quality than a lavalier, but not all presenters tolerate these well. I wouln't recommend spending less than around $150 for such a unit, unless you know exactly what you are getting and have a money-back return option if the product turns out to be not that great. There are some units at the low end like this that can work perfectly fine if your environment is not very noisy from either an audio or RF standpoint. You can spend up to $1000 or more if you go for the 'premium' brands, which do tend to be more durable and have other advantages, though unless you end up do this every day, spending more than $300 to $500 is probably not going to be warranted. From roughly most expensive to least expensive, here are some brands: Shure, Sennheiser, Audio-Technica, AKG, Nady/Samson/Gemini. Each company has a range of more and less expensive products, so you will find these to overlap somewhat (once you get above Nady-end of the line, anyway). If you have a budget in mind, I can point to a few appropriate models. Note that you will probably need some help from someone who knows audio to help you patch this into your PA and computer. You may also need a few accessories and 'glue' (maybe a small mixer, under $50) to help hook things up, depending on how much you need to interconnect. -- Joe Kyle --jjkd--

ddavidson
Posts:41

05/01/2007 7:02 PM	Alert
Hi Joe, Wanted to thank you for the in-depth response you provided Catherine regarding getting high quality recordings. Would appreciate any ideas about how we could help folks with these choices. Regardless, appreciate your response. Diane Davidson - WebEx Community Director

jjkd
Posts:23

05/01/2007 10:34 PM	Alert
Hi Diane: I think it might be helpful to put together a couple of example setups, perhaps a 'whitepaper' that gives say, configurations for various combinations of: 1) Telephone audio vs. VoIP, or both 2) with/without local PA for a live local audience 2) Presenter only vs. presenter plus audience pass-around mic(s) Right now, I believe you've got some information documented about how to use a Dynametric interface for basic recording, this would take that to the next level, and provide more flexibility in the case of combined web/live events. -- Joe Kyle --jjkd--

ddavidson
Posts:41

05/01/2007 10:49 PM	Alert
Hi Joe, Again, this is helpful and I am going to discuss with both our Product Marketing Manager and our audio Product Manager. Either I or one of them will post a reply. High quality audio recording is often challenging - even inside WebEx - so hearing what would actually help a customer/user is really helpful. Thanks. diane

dbrown
Posts:7

05/03/2007 10:51 AM	Alert
Hi Catherine and Joe, My name is Don and I am a Sr. Product Manager for WebEx Audio. Diane sent me a heads-up. I have a couple of comments to add to your thread. Catherine, because you posted your question to the WebEx User Community I assume you are using Network Based Recording (NBR). If you are using a tape recorder or other means to record then Joe’s response is more than adequate. NBR requires WebEx integrated telephony or VoIP to capture audio. Any microphone/public address system you use will need to be connected to your phone if you are using integrated telephony or your computer in the case of integrated VoIP. We do not have any recommendations for particular equipment but I can tell you some things about microphone and public address systems in general. Most microphone systems are analog and can do permanent damage if connected directly to a computer, digital, or IP based phone. Likewise, digital microphones won’t work with analog phones. Please discuss any equipment choices with your local IT and telephony experts and review the hardware documentation before plugging things in. Some conference phones have microphone inputs on them. If you are unsure if your conference phone is analog, digital, or IP based, again, ask a local expert before making connections. If you have an analog phone with a line input port an analog microphone or pre-amp the line output might work with it. Arrange a test in advance of your event. Most of the conference phones we use automatically mute when audio levels drop below a certain threshold like when the speaker moves out of range. I routinely record live training sessions from my desk and utilize the headset that works with my phone. If you use VoIP you will need to use digital microphones or an analog to digital converter. Headsets designed for VoIP usually have two plugs for microphone and earphones (speakers) and should work fine. There are many analog to digital converters on the market that can enable you to connect analog microphones to your computer. Podcast creation kits sometimes include a digital microphone. Personally, I like to use a VoIP headset when recording VoIP sessions. As you can see this is not really a plug-and-play area yet. The range of complexity for WebEx supported events is quite broad. I’d need a few more specifics before going further. Not to be redundant but here are a couple of things to keep in mind: 1. Always check with your IT and telephony experts before hooking things up. 2. Always test in advance of your event. Key conditions can be hard to recreate. Please let us know how this turns out. Your experience is valuable to the rest of us. Thanks for posting. Don

catherine
Posts:2

05/03/2007 3:46 PM	Alert
Joe, Diane and Don... Thanks for all the useful information. Obviously, it is going to be more complicated than we initially thought. We are not using Network recording - we record using a 3rd party audioconferencing system using a dynametric adaptor. Most of the sessions we want to record are small - held in a conference room with usually no more than 15 attendees. We want to record these sessions so they can be used in the future for training new employees and so they can be shared with our overseas employees who cannot attend the sessions live. I need to do some research and talk with our IT folks about how best to implement. We are also having difficulty editing the recordings that we've made. While the WebEx editor has some utility it also has a lot of limitations (the largest being that the editing has to be done chronologically). I am looking now at converting the WRF to WMV and then editing in Quick Time and then posting on our internal site as WMV files. I know WebEx has a lot of utility for us - just need to figure out how best to maximize the WebEx tools. This is an excellent forum for discussion. Thanks, Catherine

ddavidson
Posts:41

05/04/2007 9:39 PM	Alert
Catherine, We have quite a few folks with recording expertise. I will continue to see what I can uncover to shorten your 'discovery' and learning phases. diane

bmartin@openair.com
Posts:4

05/07/2007 1:44 PM	Alert
Hi This thread has been very helpful. We are planning to use Webex to record training sessions that we give to our clients via webex. Do I need the higher end technology described in this thread, or will the DynaMetric Telephone Logger Patch suffice? I want the quality to be good, but I plan to give the training sessions from my phone, so I will not be presenting to a cavernous room? Thank you in advance for any advice Brian

hnothhaft
Posts:7

05/07/2007 11:10 PM	Alert
Hi Brian, Thanks for posting to the community. I am the WebEx product manager responsible for recording. For the scenario you describe, the DynaMetric adapter will suit your needs; no advanced technology required. I also recommend that you consider using Network-based Recording (NBR). This is a new recording option available on the latest WebEx release WBS25. Unlike the client side recording method, which requires the use of a DynaMetric box, NBR does not require the use of additional hardware. In addition to other advantages, NBR captures the raw meeting data directly from WebEx’s servers. So, by design, the capture quality of the sharing window and the audio portion of the meeting is going to be higher than that of a client side recording, which simply captures the image of the meeting from your PC and compiles it with the audio captured from your soundcard. You mentioned that you plan to upload your recorded trainings to your WebEx site for your clients to access. By default, NBR recordings are saved on directly to your WebEx site. A simple process enables you to post the recordings for others to access and view. Finally, my favorite feature of NBR is the streaming option. Each recording is assigned both a URL for download and a URL for streaming. The streaming URL does not require your customers to download and install the Network Recording Player in order to view the files. The user simply clicks on the streaming option and the player is launched. Good luck recording. Feel free to post again should you have additional questions. -Hank