Before troubleshooting, please check Kaltura’s System Status page to see if there is a system-wide issue affecting video playback.
For instructors:
- Oftentimes instructors embed their lecture videos into the course page (cuLearn or D2L Brightspace) for students to access. There are a number of different ways to accomplish this. However, we strongly recommend following the instructions found on our Embed your Media Page to assure the best playback experience possible.
- Even if you’ve used the Kaltura plugin to embed your videos into your course page, they might take a while to load. One of the most common reasons is that there are too many videos on any one given page. When the page loads, it automatically starts loading all of the content (including videos). One way to get around this is to ensure you’re posting your videos to different Pages in your course page. This way, only the videos students are attempting to access will be loaded.
- Using the Kaltura plugin to embed your videos into your course page allows you to keep your media listed as private in MediaSpace. One of the many advantages to this method is that it is the best way to protect your intellectual property. If you’re set on using other methods of sharing your videos (e.g., embed codes or URLs), then you need to make sure the media is published as “unlisted” in Media Space. Otherwise, your students will be directed to a screen with an error like “Access Denied”.
- Sometimes, even when the media appears to be finished processing, Media Space has some extra processing to do in the background. This might result in buffering. If the media is buffering right after it’s been uploaded, give it a little while and try again.
- Like any other activity or resource in cuLearn, videos can be hidden from students. One of the most common reasons students can’t access the media is that it is hidden is cuLearn or restrictions prevent them from accessing the activity/resource where the video is located.
- Finally, it might be the case that the video file is corrupt on the server. In this case, please fill out the form below so that our EdTech team can begin to investigate the issue.
For students:
- The number one cause for poor video playback is internet speed. You can test your internet speed at Speettest.net. Most often, lecture videos are recorded at 720p or 1080p. Typically, it takes at least 5 Mbps download speeds to stream these videos. These are the minimum requirements, which means that you might still experience buffering. Even with fast enough download speeds, long ping times can indicate an unreliable connection. To increase your internet speed, you can try the following:
- Connect to your router using an ethernet cable.
- Close all other applications and browser tabs.
- If Wi-Fi is a must, ensure no other devices are connected to the Wifi.
- Consider investing in faster internet packages through your service provider.
- Like many of Carleton’s supported web-services, we strongly recommend using Chrome as your browser. However, if Chrome is not playing your media, please try another browser.
- Even if your internet speed is fast, slow or bogged-down computers can lead to buffering or playback issues.
Still not playing?
Is your video still not playing? Please fill out the form in our TLS Support Portal with as much detail as you can to help us find the issue. When you click into the Capture Support Portal, please select My Video Won’t Play from the “what can we help you with” dropdown menu.