Live Video Activities: Screen Share with videos with audio using Google Chrome

There are two ways that you can share videos with participants in Recollective's Live Video Interview and Live Group Chat Activities. Videos can be uploaded and shared as prepared items in the chat allowing participants to control the playback. This option is ideal if you want participants to be able to pause and rewind the video at their discretion. If you want to control the playback of audio and video for all participants, you can do so using screen share.

Live Activities support screen sharing for both Hosts and participants on desktop web browsers such as Firefox and Google Chrome. Google Chrome offers the unqiue ability to share a specific Chrome tab with audio.

Note: If you are not already using Google Chrome as your web browser and you need to screen share with audio, you will need to download Chrome.

To use Chrome's Share tab audio feature, the video must be hosted online and open in a separate Chrome tab before starting the screen share. If your video is already available online (e.g. on Youtube, Vimeo, or any other webpage), no extra steps need to be taken before your live meeting. Simply have the relevant tab open before you start sharing your screen.

If your video is not already available online, you can drag and drop the video file directly into a Chrome tab, or, host the video on your Recollective site using a Home page. We recommend opening the Chrome tab you plan to share prior to joining the live meeting.

Drag and Drop Videos into Chrome

To open a video file directly in a Chrome tab, start by opening a new tab. Drag and drop the video from your local files into the address bar of the new tab, then press enter on your keyboard.

Once the video loads, you can play, pause, and control the audio using the video playback controls.

Screen Sharing a video with audio

During the Live Video Activity, hosts will see the screen sharing option on the bottom of the screen next to the camera toggle and chat button. Once selected, the host can choose to share their own screen or request that the participant share theirs. Once you have selected Start Sharing, Chrome will prompt you to choose what to share. 

  1. Choose Chrome Tab then select the relevant tab from the list. 
  2. Ensure Share tab audio is selected. 
  3. If you have multiple tabs open, look at the page preview window to check that you have selected the correct tab. 
  4. Click Share to start your screenshare.

After you click Share, you will automatically land on the tab you selected. Once you click play on the video, you can switch back to the tab where the Live Meeting is taking place. The meeting interface will default to Spotlight view and you will see a preview of your screenshare in the center of the screen. The attendees' videos will appear across the top. 

If you wish to return to Gallery view while screen sharing, simply select the View icon > Gallery View. Click Stop Sharing Screen when you are ready to end your screen share.

Learn more about screen sharing in Live Video Activities.

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