Downloading a Connect recording directly (i.e. not streaming)

[wsipc-mike]

According to a public 'Welcome to Connect 9' recorded webinar, one can now download recording directly without having to stream them in real time to the local workstation:

https://onlineevents.adobeconnect.com/_a655548740/p82otjzrh2h/?launcher=false&fcsContent=true&pbMode...

(it's in the Q&A section about 2/3 of the way down -- screenshot attached)

However, I cannot find any way to do this. There is still the 'Make Offline' option, but that just starts the local streaming. I tried using 'Edit' first and then clicking 'Save', but that also just started streaming. I also tried using the 'download=zip' URL hack that I'd read about on other sites, but that just saved a zip file full of decompiled Flash bits. I created a short 1 minute recording for testing, and none of the FLV files in the zip download were playable in VLC. I thought maybe Connect Desktop had something, but no direct download was available there either.

Am I missing something?

Mike

[Jorma_at_CoSo]

No, you are not missing something, it just isn't there. I think Rocky miss-spoke. I've hear rumors that the option to download an FLV or MP4 version is on the list of features for future releases, but nothing about expected timelines or workflows.

[wsipc-mike]

Okay thanks. I know that has been 'coming in a future release' since at least v7, so I am not exactly hopeful. I found a checkbox called "Allow for distribution of local copies of recordings to end users" under the Compliance section. It's unchecked by default. Any idea exactly what this is for? I thought it was related to the 'Make Public' option for recordings, but that worked even with this box unchecked.

Also, is there any official documentation on that URL hack? Or can accomplish the same thing through the UI? I didn't even know that existed until today -- and apparently it's been there for a while. Not that it is that useful for offline viewing. But the resulting local folder can be uploaded as new content in a different folder to make a copy of a recording...so I guess that's something.

[Jorma_at_CoSo · Accepted solution]

The checkbox is to allow users with Connect Desktop to "fetch" the recordings to their local computer. That box, along with the Admin option must be turned on to allow the Connect Desktop application to pull recordings down for off line playback.

The download api call has been around for years. It all comes down to applying it appropriately. The documentation on it is in the Web Services guide. For Connect 9 you can view it here: http://help.adobe.com/en_US/connect/9.0/webservices/WS5b3ccc516d4fbf351e63e3d11a171dd0f3-7fea_SP1.ht...

The most common use for this function is to make edits to a recording that can't be done in Connect , or, as you stated, to have multiple versions of the same recording on the server allowing you to have them edited differently. You can also assign a custom URL to a recording you upload, so that is a nice bonus.

[wsipc-mike]

Great info. Thanks Jorma!