LightBoard Studio

A LightBoard is made of transparent glass panels which allows a presenter to face both audience and presentation screen at the same time while they write and draw. Internal lighting between the glass panels helps screen drawings display clearly to the presenter and viewers. 

Learn more!

 


Information Technology has installed a LightBoard Studio on the second floor of the Chemistry & Biology Building (CBB).  

Contact your Campus Support Team Staff for training in use of the Studio and for permission to reserve the LightBoard Studio via UWSP's room scheduling system, EMS.

Important:  To record via the One-Button recorder you will need a USB 3.0 flash drive 16 GB or larger. A 16GB flash drive will store around 6.5 hours of recordings.

How to reserve the LightBoard Studio

Once you have received training and are authorized to reserve the LightBoard Studio: 

For training and permission to reserve the LightBoard Studio in EMS contact UWSP's Campus Support Team Staff.

LightBoard Studio Layout

The LightBoard Studio contains the following:

  • A LightBoard and LightBoard Power button which powers on all devices when entering the room. 

  • A One-Button Recorder records presentations in mp4 format to the presenter's USB drive.

  • A Confidence Monitor and Secondary Monitor can be viewed through the LightBoard screen to support the presenter. 

    The Confidence Monitor shows how your presentation looks to your viewers as you are presenting. 

    The Secondary Monitor can be used to open any slides or visuals which can then be dragged to your LightBoard screen for your presentation.

  • A permanent microphone is installed in the room eliminating the need for clip-on mics and battery replacement.

Why should I use a LightBoard?

LightBoards can help increase eye contact and engagement with your students. LightBoards can be used to record presentations, or present live using a video conferencing tool such as Zoom or Microsoft Teams. 

See LightBoard Best Practices for Presenters!

First Steps: Plan your LightBoard presentation

Decide where you will stand (i.e. Framing) relative to where you will be drawing, or/and how your slide presentation is laid out. For example, will you stand to the side or in the middle of the screen?


Write out/diagram your presentation just as you will want to draw it on your lightboard.  Make sure to leave yourself an empty space where you will display.

Leave one inch between the LightBoard frame and your diagramming. This one-inch space is not captured by the LightBoard.

A good layout tip is to begin drawing on the side of your dominant hand, and work inwards from the outside edge of the Lightboard. 

What core items do you want to display on your lightboard first? Add those items to the LightBoard screen before you begin recording. This prevents your viewers from having to wait while you add your initial drawings. You also then can take time to draw and write clearly.

Plan shorter recordings to minimize erasing.  Small dots and smudges are easy to miss when erasing, especially if you are trying to erase quickly.  Any marker residue will show up clearly during a LightBoard presentation so it is important to thoroughly erase before moving on to new drawings. Because of this, LightBoards are not meant for lengthy recordings where you need to quickly erase to make room for additional material. 

Instead of planning a lengthy recording, make shorter recordings around specific concepts to minimize the need to erase and add new material.

​Test First!

Before recording or giving your first "live" LightBoard presentation via video conference, do a test video.

  • Practice making eye contact with the camera consistently as you present. When you are talking and not writing on the board, look at the camera. 

  • Check to make sure that you can easily read any notes if using the secondary monitor for this purpose.

  • Consider doing your first videos with markers only.  Practice staying in the empty screen space where you will position yourself as you draw and present.  After a little practice and you become comfortable with LightBoard presenting, move on to adding graphics and slides if needed.

  • See "What markers should I use?" below to learn about marker choices and for important information about how to prevent Lightboard damage.

Important: To avoid damaging the LightBoard, use only approved markers and cleaning supplies!

What markers should I use?

To protect the Lightboard screen, do not use unapproved markers or cleaning materials.

Using unapproved markers can result in marker ink that is unable to be erased completely, or at all. Unapproved cleaning materials may increase the potential for smudges and require extensive cleaning before the LightBoard's next use.

Three styles of approved markers are available in the room: 

  • Quartet Neon

  • Expo Neon

  • Expo BrightSticks

Note: There seems to be very little difference between green and yellow marker colors in all three styles. Please be aware that students may be unable to differentiate between green and yellow markers in your videos.

You may wish to experiment with all sets to find what works best for you. It is likely we will narrow the selection of provided markers in the near future based on faculty feedback.

Revolution LightBoard provides the pros and cons of each of these marker styles in their "What markers are best to use on a lightboard?" blog post.

Getting ready to use the Studio

  1. Press the LightBoard On button located on the side away from the wall.


  2. If using the computer for notes or overlays, log into the room's computer.

  3. Adjust the lightboard height as desired using the controls on the wall side of the lightboard. 

  4. If the height of the lightboard was adjusted, adjust camera tilt using the Tilt Adjust handle on the rear of the camera tripod.


  5. Test audio capture using the provided headphones to verify that you can hear yourself.

  6. Check the board for marker residue or smudges and clean if needed.

  7. Set out a clean towel and desired markers.  Make sure to check marker ink levels.

  8. Add your initial drawings to the LightBoard sceen so they are ready to go when recording begins.

  9. Verify that no objects such as towels or cables are visible in the confidence monitor.

Important: To avoid damaging the LightBoard, use only approved markers and cleaning supplies!

Record a LightBoard presentation via the One-Button Recorder

READ FIRST:

To record via the One-Button recorder you will need a USB 3.0 flash drive 16 GB or larger. A 16GB flash drive will store around 6.5 hours of recordings.

The LightBoard Studio records your presentation in mp4 format to a USB drive. The recordings can then be uploaded to your course or saved to your backed up Office 365 OneDrive file storage.

Information Technology does not supply USB Drives for LightBoard recording.

To record a LightBoard presentation,

  1. Close the door to the Studio and turn off the room lights.

  2. Bring up your notes if needed on the secondary monitor. If displaying PowerPoint slides, drag the slides from the secondary monitor to the confidence monitor. Remember, images and slides must have a black background.

  3. Insert your USB drive into the USB port on the One Button Studio recorder located at the LightBoard. 

  4. Verify the One Button Studio recorder indicator light is blue to verify it has accepted the flash drive and is ready to record.

  5. Press the red button on the One Button Studio recorder to begin recording.

    6.  

  6. Position yourself behind the LightBoard ensuring that your dominant hand has room to write and draw freely. Through the LightBoard screen you should be able to see both the confidence monitor and the secondary computer monitor.

  7. Record your presentation.

  8. To end your recording, press the red button again.

  9. Thoroughly erase all marker ink from the LightBoard.

Recording additional videos

To record additional videos, press the One Button Studio recorder to begin recording a new video pressing the red button once again to stop.

Before leaving the Studio

Pull out your USB drive and take with you when leaving the room.

Record a LightBoard presentation via Kaltura Capture

With Kaltura Capture you can automatically upload LightBoard videos to your Canvas course My Media section. Kaltura Capture also allows for the capture of PowerPoint presentations alongside of your LightBoard videos.

To get started

  1. On first use, install Kaltura Capture. 

  2. Launch Kaltura Capture.

  3. Verify sound and video sources:

  • Camera Source: "Blackmagic Design" 

  • Audio Source: "Blackmagic Design"

Recording

Follow these general instructions for recording with Kaltura Capture within your canvas course.

Post-Recording

To perform light editing on your videos, see this information.

Live presentations with Zoom

If you are recording a video conferencing presentation where student images display on the screen, see the UWSP FERPA Virtual Classroom Guidelines located on the Registrar's FERPA guidelines for UWSP Faculty and Staff page. 

To present live via Zoom,

  1. Follow the steps in Getting ready to use the Studio above.

  2. Close the door to the Studio and turn off the room lights.

  3. Log into the room's computer and bring up your zoom session on the secondary monitor. Drag your Zoom window down to the confidence monitor.

  4. At the bottom of the Zoom window, select Blackmagic Design as both your Audio and Video source.

  5. Position yourself behind the LightBoard ensuring that your dominant hand has room to write and draw freely. Through the LightBoard screen you should be able to see both the confidence monitor and the secondary computer monitor where your Zoom session will display.

  6. Start your Zoom session.

For information about using Zoom, see Information Technology's Web Conferencing with Zoom page.

Important: To avoid damaging the LightBoard, use only approved markers and cleaning supplies!

Overlays

  1. Press the LightBoard On button located on the side away from the wall.


  2. Log into the computer. On the computer desktop open ATEM Software Control.

    3.  

  3. The Switcher screen opens by default.  Locate the Next Transition area and click the ON AIR button. This overlays monitor 3 on the LightBoard camera image.

    4.  

  4. Open your PowerPoint presentation which you prepared as your Overlay.

  5. Select PowerPoint's Slide Show tab. Ensure that Monitor 3 is selected in the Monitor dropdown.

    6.  

Start your PowerPoint and begin recording your Lightboard presentation.


I'm finished and ready to leave the LightBoard Studio

Do the following when you are done working in the Studio:

  1. Clean the lightboard (see Cleaning the LightBoard below). 

  2. Power off system using the Off button located on the side of the lightboard away from the wall. 

  3. Log off of the computer. 

  4. Ensure the door is locked and latched when you leave.

Cleaning the LightBoard

While LightBoards are easy to use, they can easily incur permanent damage or markings if care is not taken during their use. 

Please adhere to the following when using this unique campus resource:

  • Use only approved markers and cleaning supplies. 

  • Do not allow objects other than marker tips, your fingers, and approved cleaning supplies to come in contact with the LightBoard. 

  • Do not use objects other than approved markers or your fingers when pointing at the LightBoard.

Other Useful Tips

What to wear when presenting with a LightBoard

Try to wear:

  • Solid, mid-to-bright colors, or simple patterns when presenting with a LightBoard.

Try to avoid:

  • Clothes that are very dark or black. Dark shirts against the black backdrop can make a presenter look like a talking head. 

  • Very light clothing. Light clothing makes it difficult to see marker notations if you step behind drawings you have added. 

  • Clothing with logos or other writing. This includes UWSP logos. Text on clothing is reversed when displayed through the LightBoard.

Using notes when presenting

The Studio's secondary monitor can be used to display notes to yourself.

Creating presentation notes in a PowerPoint format makes it easy for you to read your notes as you present.  To easily advance through your notes, a wireless presenter is available in the Studio.

Recommended settings if using PowerPoint for your notes:

  • Use a Font Size between 36-54.

  • Use the 16:9 Slide Format.  

  1. From your PowerPoint's Design tab, click Slide Size and select Custom Slide Size...

  2. In the Slides sized for: drop down select On-screen Show (16:9) then click OK.

  • Show notes only on your secondary monitor. 
    PowerPoint 365 wants to control all monitors when presenting. To show notes only on your secondary monitor:

  1. From your PowerPoint's Slide Show tab, click Set up Slide Show 

  2. Select Browsed by an individual (window).

What should I do with my recorded presentation?

LightBoard presentations recorded in the One-Button Studio are recorded in the mp4 file format.  These video files can be uploaded directly to the MyMedia area of Canvas for use in your courses or saved to your OneDrive for future use.

For more information on using video within Canvas, please see CITL’s Canvas Resources page.

Editing your LightBoard video

Light editing such as trimming can be done via Kaltura in the Canvas My Media area. Instructions are available here.


Advanced Editing

For more advanced editing, Camtasia Studio is provided on the LightBoard Studio computer.  Techsmith.com provides tutorials on how to use Camtasia. 

Tutorials on using Camtasia are also available through LinkedIn Learning.

​ ​​ ​

Contact UWSP's Campus Support Team Staff for help!