Besides hosting live sessions, you can use Goldcast to stream pre-recorded videos at scheduled times. This article explains how to create and set up pre-recorded sessions in your event agenda. 

What is a pre-recorded session?

A pre-recorded session comprises entirely pre-recorded content. There are no live speakers, live video, or on-stage audience interaction.

In Goldcast, a pre-recorded session gives the feel of a live event without having speakers present live. Your attendees can still chat, submit questions, and respond to polls in the engagement panel. It’s best suited for when: 

• You have repeatable events with the same content for different audiences or time zones. 
• A speaker is busy during the scheduled session time. You can pre-record the speaker’s speech and play it during the slotted time. 
• You want more control over the content and prefer to edit a speaker’s video before your audience sees it.

Limitations of pre-recorded sessions

Pre-recorded sessions do NOT have live speakers presenting on stage. Additionally, you cannot use the following audience engagement features for these sessions:

How to create a pre-recorded session?

Follow these steps to add a pre-recorded session to your event agenda: 

1. Login to Goldcast Studio with your credentials. 
2. Click the hamburger icon on the top left and select the Events tab to get a list of all your events. 
3. Choose an event to which you want to add a pre-recorded session. Alternatively, you can create a new event and add a pre-recorded session. 
4. Navigate to Program → Agenda using the left navigation panel. 
5. Click the +Session button at the center of the Agenda tab. 
   
6. In the Create Session pop-up, select Pre-recorded as your session type and click Create. 
   
7. Select the Tracks to which you want to add the pre-recorded session. Turn on the All Tracks toggle to add this session to all tracks. 
8. Enter the Session Title, Start and End Time, and click Create.   
   
9. Watch out for the Session Created Successfully message pop-up indicating you have successfully created your session. 

Note: The session must fall within your event's start and end times. Also, it cannot begin within 30 minutes of being created. For example, if you add a pre-recorded session at 11 a.m., the earliest it can start is 11:30 a.m. 

Once your pre-recorded session is created, it’s visible in the Program → Agenda tab. A label will be displayed to the right of the session, indicating its type: live, pre-recorded or RTMP. 

Editing a pre-recorded session

Follow these steps to edit the details and engagement options of your pre-recorded session:

1. Navigate to your preferred session using the Program → Agenda menu on the left navigation panel. 
2. Click on the session you want to edit. This opens the Edit Session Details window. 
3. If your event has multiple tracks, you can select which tracks to include in a session by clicking the corresponding track names. You can add the session to all tracks by turning the All Tracks toggle on. 
4. Use the Session Name text field to modify your session name. 
5. You can also change the Date, Start Time, Duration, and Description (maximum of 1500 characters). 

Adding speakers

Even though a pre-recorded session doesn’t have live speakers, you can still assign speakers. This way, the speaker’s name appears next to the session in the agenda tab of the event space, and your audience can click the speaker’s name to view their profile. 

Click the arrow next to the Speakers section in the Edit Session Details window. Use the +New Speaker button to add a new speaker, or click the Select Speaker button to choose an existing speaker from your list. 

For more information, see our guide on Adding and Managing Speakers. 

Adding video

A pre-recorded session comprises 100% pre-recorded video content. You can record videos outside of Goldcast and upload them here. Alternatively, you can record a speaker’s presentation on Goldcast and upload the video to play at the scheduled time. 

Here’s how you can add the required video(s) to your session: 

Click the arrow next to the Video section in the Edit Session Details window. Click the +Add Video button to upload video files you want to play on stage during the live session. 

Heads Up! The processing time can take up to 4x the length of your video, and Goldcast will not be able to play the video unless it's fully processed. So, make sure to upload the video well in advance of your event's start time.

Warning! Your uploaded videos will not play until Goldcast finishes processing them. You might notice alerts like “Your video is processing” or “Session has no processed videos” until the processing is complete. 

Adding a post-session survey

Goldcast allows you to include a post-session survey in your pre-recorded session. You can use this survey to gather feedback and measure engagement. For detailed information on creating a survey, see our guide on Adding surveys to Goldcast events. 

Engagement options

You can also use the Edit Session Details window to select the stage engagement options you want for your pre-recorded session. Refer to our guide on Engagement Panel Overview for more information on managing the various engagement options. 

Goldcast offers the following interactive features to boost audience participation and engagement: 

• Polls
• Resources
• Text Q&A

Note: The video Q&A toggle is set to OFF by default for pre-recorded sessions. This engagement option isn’t available for pre-recorded sessions, as the audience cannot interrupt the pre-recorded video playing on screen to join the stage by using the Raise Hand button as they would in a live session. However, you can enable Text Q&A and respond to audience queries in real time via chat. 

• Audience Count 

RTMP Out

Use the RTMP Out feature to stream your pre-recorded session on Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, and other platforms. 

Once you finish editing all the session details, click the Save button in the top right corner to save your changes. Your session is now added to the event agenda. 

Deleting a pre-recorded session

Deleting a session is permanent and will remove all the associated media from your event. So proceed with caution. 

Follow these steps to delete a pre-recorded session you no longer want to be part of your event agenda: 

1. Login to Goldcast Studio with your credentials. 
2. Choose the event to which the session belongs and navigate to Program → Agenda using the left navigation panel. 
3. Click the session you want to delete to open the Edit Session Details window. 
4. Scroll down to the bottom and click the Delete Session button. 

FAQs

1. Can I play multiple videos in a pre-recorded session? 

Yes. If you add multiple videos, they’ll play one after another during the session. 

2. Can I share polls on stage in a pre-recorded session? 

Yes, you can share poll results on stage, even when a pre-recorded video is playing. Use the different video layout options to determine how you want to share poll results on stage. 

3. What is the size of individual videos that I can upload to a pre-recorded session?

The maximum video size you can upload in the Studio is 5 GB. If you need to upload videos higher than this limit, contact the support team at support@goldcast.io. For the complete list of specifications, refer to this guide. 

4. What is the recommended video length for pre-recorded sessions?

For the best audience experience, we recommend that the total length of the videos in a pre-recorded session be at least two minutes shorter than the session duration.

For example, if your session lasts 30 minutes, the video (or the total length of all videos) should ideally be 28 minutes or less. Use filler slides/buffer videos to display/play on stage before and after your pre-recorded video. For more information, check out our FAQ on Pre-recorded video recommended length. 

5. How do I test a pre-recorded session? 

Goldcast doesn’t permit you to play the videos in a pre-recorded session beforehand to test them. The videos you upload will play only at the scheduled time. If you Enter Backstage before the scheduled time, you’ll notice an alert saying, Video will begin at session start time. 

However, you can follow these steps to test a pre-recorded session.