Opencast can be confusing for new people since it consists of a number of separate components. Here’s a quick primer so that you can more easily understand the system!
Core
Opencast’s core consists of a number of pieces. These are, in no particular order
- The processing components. These perform the actual work you want Opencast do to – transforming video, generating captions, etc.
- The workflow engine. It uses the processing components and controls which processing actions occur on a given recording and on what hardware.
- The integration components. These allow Opencast connect with other systems, most notably your LMS and video portal.
Capture
Opencast’s capture system has three major routes:
- Agent-based capture uses hardware capture boxes in your venue to record your event based on scheduled data or manual control, and then automatically send the recording to your Opencast core
- Web-based capture is powered by Opencast Studio which uses your browser to capture your desktop. Once complete you can automatically upload to Opencast, or save your recording to your local drive. Try it today, this part works without Opencast!
- Manual ingest uses Opencast’s administrative interface to input the relevant metadata and upload the recording files at the same time.
Distribution
Opencast is very flexible for distribution, supporting both self hosting and distribution to 3rd party content platforms.
- Opencast’s presentation node: Supporting progressive download, as well as HLS streaming of content directly from your Opencast system. This is the most common option, suitable for embedding into your LMS.
- Video Portals: A second piece of software which hosts Opencast’s finished videos separately from Opencast itself. This can improve performance, and security, but is not required. The Opencast project recommends Tobira for this!
- 3rd part content platforms: Opencast can export video to content platforms like YouTube, or even directly to raw video files if configured to do so.
Opencast 