Desire2Learn Capture Station
The Desire2Learn® Capture Station is a powerful, easy-to-use tool for delivering rich media presentations to online audiences, live or on-demand. Our production-grade capture appliance records and webcasts audio, video, and synchronized visual aids. With its streamlined, touchscreen-based interface, a CaptureCast™ recording can be created with just a few clicks or can be completely automated.
By creating a presentation schedule, the Capture Station can be automated to create CaptureCast recordings for your scheduled events, with no operator required. Every unit is pre-configured and ready to use right out of the box; simply plug in your AV equipment and start capturing.
Continue to present as you always have
A presentation capture solution should stay out of the presenter's way, allowing them to communicate their message without hassle, whether it be in a board room, a classroom or a lecture hall. Presenters should not have to adapt their presentation style to accommodate the capture technology. Desire2Learn Capture has been designed to operate unobtrusively, with minimum-to-no interaction required by the presenter to capture their presentation. A Capture Station can be deployed out of the way in a podium or media booth, leaving presenters to engage naturally with their audience. Or, when operated in manual mode through the intuitive touch-screen interface, presenters can start a capture in only 3 touches.
Live Webcasting and Reliable Recordings
Desire2Learn Capture has the horsepower to encode high-quality video, crystal clear sound, and high-resolution visual aids. Stations deliver live CaptureCast sessions through the Desire2Learn Capture Portal, while simultaneously creating a recorded version of the CaptureCast presentation on the local hard drive. Unlike some webcasting systems that rely on remote servers to create recordings, the recordings created on the Capture Stations' built-in storage are not affected by Internet connection problems. The Capture Stations' on-system recordings give you the peace of mind that no matter what unanticipated network issues may occur, the fidelity of your recordings remains intact.
Automation is Scalability
How scalable is your webcasting solution? This question has two equally important parts:
- How many online viewers can participate simultaneously?
- How many webcasts can be on the air at the same time?
While the answer to the first question is determined by technical factors such as server capacity and network bandwidth, the answer to the second is often determined by a more practical limitation: the need for human operators. Even with sufficient server capacity, the logistical difficulties inherent in running multiple CaptureCast sessions onsite can limit the number of events that ultimately get captured. Desire2Learn Capture Stations can be fully automated, thus allowing you to schedule events and let the Stations do all of the work.
In a multi-station setup, Capture Stations are deployed in multiple locations, for example a number of classrooms or auditoriums. Create an event schedule on the web using the Capture Portal, and the Stations automatically activate at the appropriate time, record or webcast the scheduled events, and later publish them to the cloud or your own server infrastructure. This centralized scheduling system relieves you of the need to supervise the day-to-day operation of your CaptureCast sessions or hire a large team of human operators, freeing you to deliver more content to your audience.
Minimal Wiring
Presentation capture systems are often deployed on portable media carts in order to transport them between presentation sites. When designing a portable capture system, it is essential to avoid unnecessary external components and wiring. Having a media cart piled up with equipment, such as external monitors and video devices, can make it difficult to transport and introduce the risk that components will fall off in transit. The Desire2Learn Capture Station is an all-in-one capture appliance, with an integrated 7" touch-screen and all essential components built into the unit. This allows you to minimize extraneous cables and equipment, and easily put together a robust cart-based presentation capture system.
For organizations that deploy multiple Stations, the units can also be mounted on standard 19" server racks. When deployed in this way, the integrated touch-screen allows a series of Capture Stations to be monitored and operated without the need for KVM switches or other complex and costly control systems.
A Powerful Machine with State of the Art Components
Stations are equipped with state of the art components from leading brands such as Viewcast, Intel, and Epiphan. The latest technologies and industry-standard codecs, such as H.264 video, are employed to deliver great-looking presentations while consuming less bandwidth. The Station's rugged design and sturdy steel case means that it can be transported between locations worry-free, making it ideal for A/V production companies or other organizations that need to take their Capture Stations on the road.
Capture Stations Play Well with Video-conferencing Systems
Webcasting and video-conferencing each have unique strengths. Webcasting systems excel at providing highly scalable one-to-many communication, while video conferencing systems provide many-to-many communication among a smaller group of participants. Capture Stations can easily be integrated with existing videoconferencing equipment, allowing you to leverage the strengths of both modes of communication. To use a Capture Station with your Polycom, Tandberg, or other videoconferencing system, simply connect the output of the videoconferencing system to the video input of the Capture Station. A conference among a small group of participants can then be broadcast to a much larger online audience. Combining a Capture Station with an existing videoconferencing system lets you enjoy the advanced interactive features of videoconferencing alongside the scalability and accessibility offered by Desire2Learn Capture.
