Category: Replay

We are aware of an issue affecting playback when a Re/Play presentation is paused and resumed during recording. Our supplier has identified the cause and is working on a fix, which will be included in a future version update (release date to be confirmed).

Temporary workaround

The problem appears when users pause and resume recording too quickly. To avoid this, please advise presenters to wait at least 5 seconds between selecting pause and resume.

We’ll provide further updates as soon as the fix is available.

Due to a technical issue with accessing the data on lecture schedules, the Re/Play service encountered a problem which caused a number of automatic recordings to be missed at 9 am today (25 November).

The DEO worked with IT Services and the supplier to address this issue, and the data was restored in time for the 10 am lectures. No further problems are anticipated, but we are monitoring the service and working with IT Services and the supplier to ensure this will not happen again.

If you have any questions, please email the Digital Education helpdesk.

The core service of automatic lecture capture will still work in the same way for the new academic year and there are some improvements.

For staff who are new to Bristol our web pages explain exactly what to expect

The key messages are – 

Adding content through Blackboard Ultra – you should spend sometime looking at our guidance to ensure you are familiar with how to do this.

Recordings can now be added directly to a channel in a course using the Add Presentation button these can be pre-recorded or recorded directly in to the page

Templates are now uniform and all lectures will be captured at a higher frame rate and the video template will no longer be needed to be requested

Lectures will be captioned using automatic speech recognition, there is no mandate to edit these but we would recommend having a quick check once generated

Updates will be applied to the system throughout the year and we will use this blog as the main communication channel.

Where to get more help and training 

You can find all of the guidance for getting the best from Re/Play via the DEO’s Re/Play webpages. Re/Play | Digital Education Office | University of Bristol  

There are also a number of Re/Play related workshops and training sessions planned for the start of term. 

DEO have new Re/Play training which you can find and book via Develop. 

IT Services have user guides and run sessions on the audio visual equipment in rooms. 

• Audio visual equipment videos (sharepoint.com) 
• AV Training

As part of our summer programme of work, we will be deleting the oldest lecture capture content from the Re/Play service. This content was recorded in the academic years 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18. These recordings were made for students who have now completed their programmes of study and the majority of them have not been viewed in the last three years.

These recordings will be removed from the system on 1st September 2025. If you require any recordings from this period, please email digital-education@bristol.ac.uk with the unit code, title of the recording and date it took place, and we will transfer ownership.

This will not affect any recordings made by an individual or manually uploaded into the system. If you have any questions, please contact the Digital Education Office by emailing our team.

Re/Play now includes interactive elements to enhance your presentations. With these new features, you can add text, buttons, and hotspots directly onto your videos, helping to guide your students and link to additional content seamlessly.  

Getting Started 

Open your presentation and click Edit Interactions. This brings up an editor, with a grid to help you accurately place and customise your interactive elements. All elements can be repositioned. For text and hotspots, you can also resize them—hold the Shift key to move without resizing.  

Types of Interactions 

• Text: Add text overlays by choosing a preset size and colour and set the alignment. For enhanced readability, pair your text with a background hotspot or button.  

• Buttons: Create clickable buttons with sample text and a chosen size and colour. You can set these to pause the video when clicked, and easily link them to another presentation, a specific time within the current one, or an external URL.  

• Hotspots: Highlight areas with hotspots that come in circle or rectangle shapes. Customise their appearance, adjust opacity, and set them to pause the presentation as needed. Hotspots can be annotated using a textbox and offer flexible linking options.  

Best Practices 

• Plan Your Layout: Use the grid to ensure interactions align with your content.  

• Keep It Simple: Focus on the most relevant interactions to maintain a clear, engaging presentation.  

• Enhance Accessibility: Tag interactive elements and use chapters to make them easily identifiable for students.  

We hope you enjoy experimenting with these new tools to create more engaging and interactive learning experiences. You can find more information on our Re/Play support pages. If you have any questions or need further support, please email digital-education@bristol.ac.uk.