Pausing video is much like editing video, which is frowned upon due to Sunshine Laws, so we don’t offer that feature. If you stop recording, it stops the recording process and creates a new file when you start recording again. That being said, we do understand the reason for wanting to pause the recording because its not uncommon for a board to take a break and the natural instinct it want to cut that portion of the meeting out of the video.
When thinking through your options, a good rule of thumb is to think of your camera(s) as just another participant in the meeting and ask yourself “What does someone attending a meeting see?” Are they asked to leave the room? Does the board leave the room? How would your camera(s) be any different than someone attending?
Option 1: Time Stamp Around It
The easiest option is to simply continue the recording and then use timestamps to provide short cuts for your viewer to jump to the next section. This way your entire meeting is captured and when a viewer watches the video later they can jump to when the meeting resumes.
Of course this begs the question, “What does the user see during the break?” and to answer that question, you can do any of the following:
Switch To Standby Graphics
Because you are also streaming live, the ideal solution is to switch from your live cameras to standby graphics. This way your live viewers understand that you are at a break should they tune in late and there’s no need to stop the recording process.
Not everyone has the ability to do this since it does require additional hardware to create your standby graphics, so the three options below provide an alternative.
Turn Off The Cameras / Mute The Mics
If you don’t have graphics to switch to, the next option is to simply turn off the cameras and mute the microphones. This would be the equivalent of having everyone leave the room but it would ensure that nothing is seen or heard while you continue to record the meeting.
Leave Everything As Is
If someone is attending a meeting and there is a break, chances are the participants are simply sitting there waiting for the meeting to resume and your camera(s) can do the same thing. It’s best practice to mute the microphones (even in-room) and then leave the recording going. Those in attendance and those watching remotely will see the same thing.
Option 2: Stop & Start Your Recording
If the idea of leaving your recording running is not what you want, then when your board takes a break, simply stop the recording process and then start it again when the meeting resumes.
Using this option will generate two files or more files so you’ll need to consider how you’d like to proceed.
Two Files = Two Events
Since an Event can only have one media file attached to it, you’ll need to create two Events: one for part-1 and a second for part-2 of your event/meeting. This can easily be done by simply cloning your Event and attaching the second recording to the new event.
Download And Stitch
The other alternative is that you can simply download the files and use a 3rd party application to “stitch” the files together into one file. Once that it done, simply upload the file to replace the video in your event.