Rutgers.eduRutgers Canvas is pleased to announce the planned upgrade of the Kaltura media player to Version 7 (V7). The current Kaltura player will be upgraded to V7 on May 13, 2024, across all Kaltura instances, including Rutgers MediaSpace (standalone website) and Kaltura integrated in Rutgers Canvas.
What is changing?
- Faster load times – Course content with multiple videos on a page will load faster.
- Enhanced security and performance.
- Multiple means of representation – With advice from Rutgers instructional designers and accessibility experts, the new V7 player will display a transcript by default in Rutgers Canvas. The searchable transcript may be closed if not needed or opened in a pop-up window.
- Responsive design and modern look – The player will work better on different screen sizes and multiple stream recordings (main video and a picture-in-picture video) will work better on mobile devices.
- Extended audio descriptions – The V7 player supports extended audio description (EAD) if requested for the video.
What is not changing?
- REACH Automatic Speech Recognition: REACH services and automatic machine caption generation are not affected.
- Media shared via the Kaltura Course Gallery and embedded through Kaltura’s browse-search-embed option in the Rich Context Editor in Canvas do not need to be re-shared or re-embedded, for the time being.
How can I learn more about the Kaltura V7 Player:
The sample video used in the walkthrough above is available to explore the features of the new Kaltura video player. The videos shared on this page include all options and are customizable by the video owner.
As a content creator, what actions do I need to take?
As part of this upgrade, existing embed codes that call for the V2 player will automatically load the new V7 player. This includes embed codes that were manually cut and pasted from Kaltura into your web pages and Canvas course content and media embedded using the integration in Rutgers Canvas. To improve performance and reduce the chance that the legacy embed codes will no longer work, it is recommended that course instructors and website content creators update their existing embeds over the next six months.
- Re-embed your media on your websites: Embed codes obtained from Rutgers MediaSpace will redirect automatically. After the V7 upgrade is complete, you can visit your media entry page to copy the new embed code that will use the new V7 Player. You will need to edit your website page and update the page with the new code.
- Re-embed your manually embedded media in Canvas: Media and playlists that were manually embedded in Canvas by using the HTML view in the Rich Context Editor in Canvas or embedded as media from an external source in the Rich Content Editor in Canvas will need to be re-embedded or embedded through Kaltura’s browse-search-embed option in the Rich Context Editor in Canvas.
What media player versions are available?
The options vary depending on which instance of Kaltura you are accessing and your intent.
Rutgers Canvas
Kalura V7 players that will be available in Rutgers Canvas are listed below. All video media players using the Kaltura integration in Canvas will display the transcript upon play. Video and audio players will not have a share button since users must be logged into Canvas to play the media.
- Main Player: supports dual screen video, playlists, documents, images, livestream, and 360 & VR media.
- Download Player: includes all the same features as the Main player and allows course participants to download the transcript, captions, attachments, and video.
- Playback-only Player: includes all the same features as the Main player. The viewer will not be able to skip ahead in the video timeline. Viewers may skip back to a point in the timeline that has already been viewed.
- Audio Player: supports audio-only media in a player with a smaller size. The transcript does not automatically display upon play.
Rutgers MediaSpace
Kalura V7 players that will be available in Rutgers MediaSpace are listed below. All media players and embed codes from Rutgers MediaSpace include a share button and the option to view transcripts.
- Main Player: supports dual screen video, playlists, documents, images, livestream, and 360 & VR media. The transcript does not appear when play is started.
- Transcript Player: includes all the same features as the Main player, with the transcript appearing upon play.
- Download Player: includes all the same features as the Main player and allows any viewer to download the transcript, captions, attachments, and video.
- Audio Player: supports audio-only media in a player with a smaller size.
Why is it recommended that I re-embed my content?
Whether you are a content contributor to a website or to a course site in Canvas, it is recommended that editors re-embed your Kaltura media. The upgrade process will use a redirect tool that will force legacy embed codes to load a new Kaltura player. Kaltura will continue to update the new player. Legacy embed codes are no longer supported and may likely break. It is recommended that content editors re-embed their content since the new embed codes will load the V7 player directly without going through the redirect tool. It is expected that the redirect tool will be sunset at some point.