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How do I add chapters to my Kaltura videos?

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5.0 - Updated on 2024-09-25 by Judith Stern

4.0 - Updated on 2024-01-03 by Sara Viray

3.0 - Updated on 2023-10-02 by Sara Viray

2.0 - Updated on 2022-01-26 by Sara Viray

1.0 - Authored on 2021-09-08 by Sara Viray

What are chapters?

Chapters are like bookmarks in a Kaltura video that allow viewers to jump to different sections of your video from a menu in the video player. The chapters menu can be opened by clicking on the three line icon at the top left of the video player. 

Screenshot of the three line chapters menu at the top left of the video player. 

Screenshot of the chapters menu open.

 

Viewers can use the search bar to find the timestamp when a searched word or phrase was on the current slide. You can also add Search Tags to your chapters to allow viewers to locate relevant sections of your video based on words or phrases that are not in your slideshow presentation.

If your video is a slideshow presentation, using chapters is a great option, as it allows your viewers to easily navigate your video and slides. 

How to add chapters to an existing video 

Chapters can be added to almost any video uploaded to Kaltura. The only exception is videos uploaded from a YouTube link, i.e. videos added to My Media following the process described in How do I add YouTube videos to My Media. Please note that for imported YouTube videos, the chapters on YouTube will not be automatically copied to Kaltura. 

1. Go to your My Media within any bCourses site or MediaSpace.

2. Click on the pencil icon to the right of the media's title or click on the media's title and from the Actions dropdown menu, choose Edit.

3. Click on the Timeline tab. If you do not see the Timeline tab, expand your browser window. You should now see a timeline that looks like the one below.

Screenshot of the video timeline.

4. From here, follow the instructions in the "To edit or add a chapter" section of Manage Chapters and Slides

How to automatically add chapters by recording in Kaltura Capture (for Powerpoint users only)

It is recommended to record videos in Kaltura Capture if you plan to add chapters to them. The Kaltura Capture application automatically creates chapters for screen capture recordings of PowerPoint presentations. Please note that this feature does not work with Google Slides, KeyNote, or any presentation software other than PowerPoint; no chapters will be automatically created.

1. Open Kaltura Capture and adjust the input settings to record your entire screen. For more help with this, see the "Changing and disabling input sources" section of How do I get started recording videos with Kaltura Capture?

2. Open your slideshow in PowerPoint.

3. In PowerPoint, click the Slideshow tab and from the top menu bar, choose one of the Present icons, either From the Beginning or From Current Slide. Your presentation will now be full screen, and corresponding chapters will be made for each slide.

4. Use Kaltura Capture to record your video following the instructions in How do I get started recording videos with Kaltura Capture? After you finish the recording, choose to Save & Upload.

While your viewers will be able to use the search function to find timestamps for text on your slides, please note that Kaltura will not automatically enter chapter descriptions or search tags for you, you will have to add them manually. See "Editing Chapters" below for instructions.

For more help on recording PowerPoint slides in Kaltura Capture, see Kaltura Capture- Recording PowerPoint Slides.

How to edit and delete chapters in an existing video

Editing Chapters

1. Click a blue bookmark icon in the timeline to open and edit the corresponding chapter's information.

Screenshot of the timeline open with a blue bookmark chapters icon highlighted.

2. See step 3 of the "To Edit or Add a Chapter" section Manage Chapters and Slides to see how to edit your chapter. 

 

Deleting Chapters

See the "To delete a chapter" section of Manage Chapters and Slides for instructions.

Adding Slides to your video

This method is only recommended if you would like to add slides to your video post-recording. It is also not recommended to add slides to a video that already has chapters or multiple streams already, as it makes the interface hard to navigate. Adding slides is most helpful in the case where only your camera was recorded. 

Adding slides to your video creates another stream with the slides on it and automatically creates chapters corresponding to the uploaded slides. You may add either one slide or a whole presentation deck to your video. If you upload a presentation deck, the slides and chapters are evenly spread out across the timeline, but you can edit their positions.

See the "Edit or Add Slides" and "Delete a Slide" section of Manage Chapters and Slides for instructions. 

 

For a video walkthrough of adding chapters and slides to your Kaltura video, watch How to add Chapters and Slides Using the Timeline Tab.