Knowledge Base

While a recording runs, you want to know two things at a glance: that the recording is still going, and that every device is delivering. NoldusViso surfaces this in four places:

• The Home dashboard — its first widget, Current sessions, lists the active sessions, recording ones first, next to a System status widget with the health of your devices;
• The Observe page — an overview of all active sessions you can access, each with a red recording badge and a running timer;
• Inside the session itself — live video and audio, with a status overlay on any source that runs into trouble;
• The Devices page — the health of every registered device, with a plain-language explanation of anything that is not ready.

On top of that, a red dot on the Observe item in the sidebar tells you on every page that a recording is in progress, and the Notifications bell collects warnings about devices and recordings.

Important note: the preview images on the Observe page and the Home page are snapshots that refresh every few seconds — they are not live video. Open the session itself to watch and listen live.

Important note: devices that are in an active recording by another user do not show a live stream — because of privacy regulations, you only see an 'In recording' label instead of the image. As an Administrator you can stop any recording to release its devices.

Prerequisites

• Any signed-in user can open the Observe page, but you only see the sessions you own or that were shared with you.
• The Devices page and device warnings are available to Researchers/Trainers and Administrators. Students/Trainees and Viewers do not see device status.
• Stopping a recording requires edit rights on that session: you started it yourself, or you are an Administrator.

1. See at a glance that a recording is running

Wherever you are in NoldusViso, a red dot on the Observe item in the sidebar means a recording is in progress.

The Home page gives a quick overview:

• The Current sessions card lists active sessions, recording ones first, each with a red recording badge and the elapsed recording time. Click See all to open the Observe page.
• The System status card shows your devices with a compact status icon, so an unreachable camera stands out before it spoils a session.

2. Follow active sessions on the Observe page

Open Observe in the sidebar. Every active session you can access appears as a card showing:

• A red recording badge with a live timer while the session is recording;
• Preview images of the cameras (refreshed every few seconds — not live video);
• The scenario and session name, and the avatars of everyone currently connected;
• A warning icon ('Camera not connected') if one of the session's devices has a problem, and a red pill (for example '2 of 3 available') if devices are claimed by another session;
• A Session actions menu to share the session, stop the recording, or close the session.

Click a card to open the session itself.

Sessions published by link are not listed merely because the link exists. A recipient who is not otherwise invited must open the specific URL first; after that successful join, the session can appear here through their remembered access.

Important note: when no session is live and you have recording rights, the Observe page skips the empty overview and takes you straight to a scenario so you can start a session.

3. Watch the ongoing recording live

Inside the session you see and hear the sources live. While the recording runs:

• The clock below the timeline shows the elapsed recording time, next to the red stop button;
• Each source tile has a connection-quality indicator, and the volume control shows the live audio level;
• The avatars in the header show who else is watching or annotating right now.

If a source runs into trouble, its tile says so:

• 'Connecting...' — the stream is being set up;
• 'Stream lost — retrying' — the connection dropped and NoldusViso is reconnecting automatically;
• 'Offline' or 'Connection Failed' — the device is not reachable;
• 'In recording' — the device is in use by another session.

4. Audio levels and monitoring

Watching the audio meters is the quickest way to confirm a microphone is really delivering — a silent meter on a source that should carry sound is a problem you want to catch early, not in the debrief.

• A session opens with audio muted. Unmute with the speaker button next to the record button (or press Shift+M) to listen in; this master control sets the overall listening volume.
• Each source tile also has its own mute button and volume slider. The slider's rail doubles as a live level meter, so you can see at a glance that audio is coming in — and the meter highlights when the signal runs hot.
• Sources that carry audio additionally offer a gain stepper (in dB) above the volume slider. Use it to bring a quiet microphone up to a usable level, in 1 dB steps, and to level-match sources against each other. Volume is your personal listening level; gain is the boost applied to the source itself.
• If you boost too far, the gain value turns red and a warning appears: 'Signal is clipping — reduce gain'. You can always reset the gain to the device default.

Important note: volume and gain only affect what you hear while monitoring — recordings and exports are unmodified.

5. Check the status of your devices

Open Devices from your account menu. Every device row shows a status badge:

• Connected — the device is ready to record;
• Not Ready — something is wrong; the row tells you what in one sentence (for example 'Device is not responding on the network.' or 'Device storage is running low.');
• Disabled — the device was switched off by an operator;
• No recent data — the last status confirmation is too old to trust.

Next to the badge you see when the status was last confirmed. Click Refresh status to re-check all devices at once; the button then shows how many are ready, for example '6/7 ready'.

Click a device to open its detail page:

• Overview — a live preview, the status verdict, and a Recheck button to test the device right now;
• Configuration — the device's settings;
• Diagnostics — every health check on one list (reachable, authorized, stream probe, clock synced, and so on), what each check is required for, and the device's active streams;
• Activity — when each check last changed state.

6. Alerts and warnings

NoldusViso warns you when something needs attention:

• Device problems pop up as a warning card ('Camera 3: Stream probe failed') with the reason and an Open device link straight into the device's diagnostics. These warnings also collect in the Notifications panel (the bell in the sidebar).
• If an ongoing recording loses a required source, you are notified immediately.
• If someone else stops your recording, you are told who did it.
• When you start a recording while a required source is not ready, NoldusViso asks first: 'Record with sources that aren't ready?' — you can record anyway, or fix the device first. Your organization can also configure recording starts to be blocked entirely until all required sources are ready.

7. Respond to issues during a recording

What to do when something goes wrong mid-recording:

• A stream drops — nothing to do at first: the tile shows 'Stream lost — retrying' and reconnects automatically. If it does not recover, check the device (next point).
• A device has a persistent problem — open its Diagnostics page from the warning's Open device link (or via the Devices page), read which check fails, and click Recheck after fixing the cause. Cameras can be rebooted from the device actions menu.
• You need to change the setup — devices cannot be added or replaced while a recording runs. Stop the recording, edit the scenario, and start a new recording.
• Stop the recording — click the red stop button in the session, or use Stop recording in the session card's actions menu on the Observe or Home page.
• Close the session (owner only) — this stops the recording, ends the session, and disconnects everyone. This cannot be undone; the recording itself is kept and appears in the Library.

Links

• Schedule sessions — plan recordings ahead and start/stop them automatically
• Session sharing — invite Viewers, Reviewers, and Annotators to an ongoing Session
• User Accounts and Roles — who can record, monitor, and manage devices
• Record a session and Manage devices — related chapters in this guide