bamateacher89

Q: Blurry Videos

I am a classroom teacher "flipping" instruction.  I create videos in Explain Everything then upload them to YouTube and my camera roll.  I upload videos from my camera roll to iTunes U, and students watch the videos on their iPads.  The videos are blurry when viewed on the iPad through the app (not when viewed from my camera roll).  Any ideas?

Posted on Sep 12, 2014 6:34 PM

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Q: Blurry Videos

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  • by patixa,

    patixa patixa Sep 15, 2014 8:21 AM in response to bamateacher89
    Level 3 (612 points)
    Sep 15, 2014 8:21 AM in response to bamateacher89

    Blurry videos are usually a sign that the video decoder is downgrading the bitrate because of a poor quality or low-bandwidth connection. Some things to try to collect more data:

    • Are the videos blurry when you upload them to your Mac or PC via iPhoto or iTunes and play them on your Mac or PC?
    • If your course points to your YouTube videos, does the video quality improve for the students if you upload the video directly to your materials library via iTunes U for iPad or Course Manager?
    • If you want to continue to use YouTube, the player offers different resolution and quality options in the player. Can you improve playback quality with a different setting?
    • If changing YouTube's settings improves the playback quality, consider using those settings as your defaults.

     

    Does that help?

  • by bamateacher89,

    bamateacher89 bamateacher89 Sep 15, 2014 4:59 PM in response to patixa
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 15, 2014 4:59 PM in response to patixa

    Thank you so much for taking the time to reply!

     

    I think I confused the issue by mentioning YouTube.  There is actually no connection between the videos on iTunes U and YouTube.

     

    When I export a video from the app Explain Everything, it saves a copy to my camera roll on my iPad.  I then add "existing photo or video" from my camera roll to my course in the iTunes U app (this is all done on my iPad).  The videos are not blurry on my camera roll.

     

    Is there a better way to get the videos into my materials without losing quality?

  • by patixa,

    patixa patixa Sep 16, 2014 10:37 AM in response to bamateacher89
    Level 3 (612 points)
    Sep 16, 2014 10:37 AM in response to bamateacher89

    Hurm. I haven't experienced the blurriness you report. Let me do some experiments when I have some time and get back to you.

     

    My first question is still relevant to help narrow the problem down: Are the videos blurry when you upload them to your Mac or PC via iPhoto or iTunes and play them on your Mac or PC?

  • by bamateacher89,

    bamateacher89 bamateacher89 Sep 16, 2014 10:50 AM in response to patixa
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 16, 2014 10:50 AM in response to patixa

    My iPad is a school-issued device and is not actually connected to a Mac or PC. The only place I access anything to do with my school Apple ID is on the iPad.

     

    I tried to email the video to my home email address/Mac last night to see if the video was blurry, and the file was too big to email.

     

    Do I need to try to email just part of the video to check for blurriness on my Mac?

     

    I apologize for being a bit tech-challenged.  But I am teachable.

     

    Thanks again for your help.

  • by bamateacher89,

    bamateacher89 bamateacher89 Sep 16, 2014 4:46 PM in response to bamateacher89
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 16, 2014 4:46 PM in response to bamateacher89

    OK...I just discovered I can log on to iTunes U from my Mac using my school Apple ID.  But I can't play any of my videos to see if they're blurry on the Mac?

  • by patixa,

    patixa patixa Sep 16, 2014 5:25 PM in response to bamateacher89
    Level 3 (612 points)
    Sep 16, 2014 5:25 PM in response to bamateacher89

    As I mentioned in a few other threads, private iTunes U courses created with Course Manager or iTunes U for iPad can't be viewed in iTunes on the Mac.