Echo360 is in the process of creating a new media player that will be slowly rolled out throughout the system as features are developed.

The New Player is currently accessible in the following places:

• In an Echo360 course for classes that contain Interactive Media. The interactive media opens in a new tab and uses the new player described below.
• Outside of Echo360
  • Video Access Links or Share Links created in Echo360 for the media (both authenticated/private and unauthenticated/public)
  • LMS/VLE embedded content created without the Echo360 Embed button OR using an older, pre-authenticated embeds version of the embed button
  • LMS/VLE embedded content created using the newer authenticated version of the Embed button

For video access links (a direct URL to the media) or for interactive media in an Echo360 course, the media opens in a new tab. For media that is embedded in a page, the media plays directly on the page where it was placed. The player does give you the option to change to full screen or expand to a new tab, as described in the Player Controls section below. The tools in the new player are similar to but not exactly the same as the In-Classroom tools you may be familiar with.

The player initially loads with an overlaid play icon, as shown in the below figure. If you have viewed this content before, the Echo360 media player remembers the timestamp of your prior position, and can begin playback from that point. In this instance, the overlay play icon also has a Start Over button if you want to re-play the media from the beginning. This is also shown in the below figure.

Player Controls

The control bar, located at the bottom of the player, is identical for students and instructors and contains all the controls necessary for video playback as well as closed captioning and media source options. The control bar will fade out after 3 seconds while the media is playing (if there is no control that has focus) and it will reappear with any mouse movement over the player.

The left side of the control bar controls the playback of the video itself, while the right side of the bar contains additional controls for playback and viewing. These controls are listed below in the order they appear from left-to-right.

• Use the Play/Pause button to control the playback of the content.
  You can also click anywhere within the player to play/pause content.
• Use the Skip Back and Skip Forward buttons to fast-forward or rewind by 10-second increments.
  You can also click on a location in the playback timeline to move the playback to that location.
• The volume control button and slider allow you to change the volume of the playback, including clicking on the icon to mute the playback.
• The video timestamp shows the total length of the capture/video and the current location in playback.
• If the media has a transcript, the Transcript button is available and will show/hide the transcript panel. Clicking it for embedded content will open the content in the Full-Tab player with the transcript panel open. See Using Tools in the New Player for more details.
• If the media has closed captions, the CC button is available, and clicking it will show/hide subtitles/captions. Subtitle/CC options are available in the Settings menu.
• Use the Speed menu to change the speed of playback. You can playback the video at .25 (quarter) speed up to 2x speed, or anywhere in between, in .25 intervals as needed.
• Use the Settings menu to set the following additional options:
  
  • Use the Quality selection menu to change from the default Auto bandwidth option to select between Full or Lower bandwidth as needed for your network speed/connection.
  • The Subtitle/CC selection menu shows closed captioning options, including position, contrast, and size. If you have been authenticated (if we know who you are), once closed caption options are set, they will be retained and used when viewing any piece of media.
  • The Sources selection menu allows you to show/hide the media streams. You can view two streams at once (default), or one at a time as needed.
  • The Shortcut Keys option is visible in the Full-Tab player and will open a list of the available shortcut key controls.
• The Widescreen (or theater mode) button allows you to expand media in the Full-Tab player to the full width of your browser window.
• The Fullscreen button allows you to expand media to the full size of your monitor.

Additional Media Options

When viewing the player, there is an additional area below the player itself that is always visible and contains even more media options. These options are listed below in the order they appear from left-to-right.

• The Discussion link allows you to open media from the Embedded player in a new, standalone browser tab, also called the Full-Tab player.
  • The New Discussion Post badge will display a count of new posts in Discussion that have been created within the last 24 hours. See Using Tools in the New Player for more details.
• The Media Details button allows authorized users to easily view and access the Media Details page for a piece of content.
• The Download button allows authenticated users to save media to their local computer for offline viewing.

  NOTE that the Download feature is currently in pre-release. If you are interested in opting into this feature, please contact support@echo360.com

• The Expand button allows you to open media from the Embedded player in a new, standalone browser tab, also called the Full-Tab player.