The recording functionality in Zoom allows the Host of a meeting, or anyone attending the meeting to whom the Host grants explicit permission (requested during the meeting), to record the session in full.
To learn about the consent form required to record classes, please see the Guidance for Faculty Interested in Recording Classes.
Session recordings will include:
- Video and audio of all attendees
- Shared screen content
- Chat logs (Group chats as well as direct message texts)
Hosts can set recording to begin automatically when the meeting starts (in advance through the meeting's settings). They can choose to record to their local computer, which means a video file will automatically download when they stop recording and end the meeting, or to the cloud, which means the video will be stored online:
Or, hosts can start recording locally or to the cloud on an ad hoc basis at any point during the meeting by clicking the Record button in the meeting's toolbar:
When a recording is initiated, all participants in the meeting will be prompted to either consent to be recorded or leave the meeting. This prompt will also come up for anyone joining the meeting at any point while the recording is occurring. This is not a replacement for the consent form, which is still required.
Where does the recording get saved?
The host has the option to save the recordings either locally, to the Host's computer, or to the Zoom cloud. By default, both recording methods are private to the Host until the Host elects to share files.
The recording is divided into multiple parts:
- A video recording of the shared screen with Speaker View
- An audio-only recording of the meeting
- A text file of the Chat log
- An audio transcript (only available when saved via Zoom cloud)
The location of your recording depends on whether you scheduled the meeting at emerson.zoom.us or via the Zoom tool in your Canvas course:
If you scheduled the meeting at emerson.zoom.us:
- Recordings can be found by logging into emerson.zoom.us and navigating to Recordings in the left-hand sidebar. From the Recordings page, one can either navigate to their cloud recordings or see a record of their local recordings, including the name of the computer and file path to where the recording was saved.
If you scheduled the meeting via your Canvas course:
- Both instructors and students in the course can find cloud recordings by clicking Zoom in the course's left-hand navigation menu, then clicking the Cloud Recordings tab.
- Instructors can also find recordings by logging into emerson.zoom.us and navigating to Recordings in the left-hand sidebar. From the Recordings page, one can either navigate to their cloud recordings or see a record of their local recordings, including the name of the computer and file path to where the recording was saved.
How do I edit the recording?
To edit a Zoom cloud recording, first find it at emerson.zoom.us using the instructions above. Click on its title to reach its details page, then click on the film strip icon to enter playback mode:
Once there, click the scissors icon in the bottom-right corner of the video:
Click and drag the sliders back and forth to adjust playback range. Only the blue portion of the timeline (between the two sliders) will be played:
Click Save when finished. Note that this will not affect the original video or its downloads. To edit the recording in a way that will persist when it is downloaded, you will need to download the recording, upload it to Panopto, then edit it there. Alternatively, you can download the recording and edit it in any video-editing app like Adobe Premiere, which is available to the Emerson community for free via Adobe Creative Cloud.
Cloud Storage Policy
All Zoom cloud recordings will be retained for 180 days. After 180 days, recordings will be placed in the meeting host's trash folder for an additional 30 days. Once the 30-day trash countdown expires, the recordings will be deleted permanently. Zoom will send an email reminder seven days before the permanent deletion date.
Although the Zoom interface says to contact your administrator to request an exception, Emerson IT will not grant exceptions to this policy.
This policy only applies to Zoom meetings or webinar cloud recordings hosted on emerson.zoom.us. This does not apply to Zoom recordings stored locally.
This policy encourages our community to promote the proper stewardship of college data by requiring the transfer of any Zoom cloud recordings that may be needed for longer-term access to one of the college’s official storage locations (Panopto, Box, Google Drive). For files that are kept outside of Zoom cloud, please review the College’s recordkeeping requirements, including the Records Management Policy and Retention Schedules.
Additionally, faculty that are interested in recording courses should note that the College requires written consent from students, guest lecturers, and special presenters, under the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) as well as state law.
Sharing Recordings
Cloud recordings can be downloaded by the host or shared via a link. When the host clicks the Share button next to a cloud recording, they will see options to:
- Share the video publicly or with authorized Emerson Zoom users only
- Prevent viewers from downloading
- Allow others to request access to view the recording via registration
- Password protect the recording (*Strongly recommended!)
Local recordings can be uploaded to any of Emerson's secure cloud storage options — we recommend Panopto for streaming and sharing, and Box for long-term storage and archive purposes. Videos uploaded to Panopto can then be embedded in a Canvas course.
Who Has Access?
For meetings scheduled at emerson.zoom.us: No participant can access the recording without intentional action by the host or permitted recorder, so no one would have access unless they were sent the link directly, the link was made publicly available, or the video was uploaded to Panopto and embedded in Canvas.
For meetings scheduled via Canvas: Students in the course will automatically have access to cloud recordings after they finish processing by clicking Zoom in the left-hand course menu, then clicking the Cloud Recordings tab. For local recordings, no participant can access the recording without intentional action by the host or permitted recorder, so no one would have access unless they were sent the link directly, the link was made publicly available, or the video was uploaded to Panopto and embedded in Canvas.
Who can help? Emerson Zoom administrators have view, share, and deletion access to recordings in Zoom Cloud, and can assist with locating and deleting recordings.