Welcome to the Presentation Practice Room!  The following method describes connecting a laptop to the room's television display for presentation and recording your presentation for later review using Zoom teleconferencing software. Zoom is available to all UCSB students and staff with UCSB NetIDs at no cost to end users. 

A couple notes before we get started:

  • You will use Zoom to record your presentation, not to present.  
  • If you have Powerpoint presentations etc. to share with your theoretical attendees, those will be shared independently of Zoom.

Basic Requirements

  • You will require a laptop; this can be checked out from the Library Services Desk, or may be a personal laptop on which you have administrative rights.
  • If you use a Library laptop, we recommend using a personal USB drive (thumb drive) if you wish to retain your recording(s).
  • The laptop must meet the following minimum system requirements to use the Logitech Meetup Camera: 
    • Windows®7, Windows 8.1, or Windows 10
    • macOS® 10.10 or higher
    • Chrome OS™ Version 29.0.1547.70 and higher

    • USB 2.0 port (USB 3.0 required for 4K video)

Your laptop will also require the ports pictured at right for recording and presentation to the TV.

If your laptop does not have these particular I/O ports, you may require adapters. Inquire at the Services Desk as to adapter availability.

Ports Needed on Laptop:

USB (USB-A) Input for the webcam

HDMI Video Output (if presenting on the TV)


Note that the laptops available for checkout at the Services Desk have both USB-A and HDMI ports.

This Document on the Library Wiki:

https://wiki.library.ucsb.edu/x/1CBpAg

I) Initial Setup

Connecting to the Television

You can duplicate your laptop's display to the Television to present materials to your audience.  To do so,

  1. Connect the laptop to the podium's HDMI cable (black). 
  2. Power on the TV (controls are on the right-hand side of the television).

You should now see your laptop's screen duplicated on the TV. 

If you don't wish to record your presentation, you can simply practice and then skip to section IV at the end of this article regarding what to do when finished with the room.

Troubleshooting: If you encounter issues with the above,

  • Verify that the HDMI cable is fully plugged into your laptop.
  • Verify that the TV's HDMI input cable has not been disconnected from the right-hand side of the TV.
  • Verify that the TV's input is set to HDMI 3 (Input button is also on right-hand side of TV)
  • You may need to configure your laptop to use the TV.  For Windows laptops, hold the Windows Key while pressing "P" to cycle through display options, stopping at "Duplicate Display".

Connecting to the Webcam 

If you wish to record your presentation for later review, you can use Zoom and the room's camera to do so.

This room is equipped with a Logitech Meetup Camera mounted on the wall opposite the television. Please do not disconnect cords from the webcam itself! There is a USB cable for connection purposes at the presenter's podium.

  1. Make sure your laptop has a working internet connection.  You may need to authenticate to establish this.
  2. Connect the laptop to the podium's USB cable (blue).  When you do this, you should see the webcam lens begin to move and center itself.
  3. Drivers for the camera should automatically download and install.  


Troubleshooting: If you encounter issues with the above,

  • Ensure that the podium's USB cable is connected to the wall-mounted USB port that leads to the webcam (to the right of the podium).
  • Those using personal laptops: 
    • Confirm that your laptop meets the minimum system requirements described at the top of this article.
    • You may need to update your operating system while the webcam is attached in order to download drivers for it.  Meetup Camera drivers for Windows systems come via Microsoft updates, not Logitech.

II) Prepare to Record

  1. Using your preferred browser, go to ucsb.zoom.us

  2. Choose "Host a Zoom Meeting":


  3. Authenticate using your UCSB NetID.

  4. Follow the instructions to download and launch Zoom (in most cases this will happen automatically).

  5. Click "Join With Computer Audio"


  6. Camera Setting: If the camera icon at lower-left is crossed out, click on it to enable.
    Then use the up-arrow ( ^ ) to ensure that the Logitech Meetup camera is selected:


  7. Microphone Setting: Click the up-arrow ( ^ ) to the right of the Microphone Icon at lower left, and make sure that the Logitech Meetup Camera's mic has been selected.  The name used in this interface may vary by Operating System.

III) Recording and Reviewing your Presentation

  1. When ready to start recording, click the "Record" button.  
    If given a choice between recording to Computer and recording to Cloud Storage, choose to record to the computer for best results.


  2. If you plan to present to the TV, you can minimize/hide all Zoom windows at this point and bring up any presentation materials.

  3. Perform your Presentation! 


  4. When ready to stop recording, click the "Record" button again (it will have changed to a Stop/Pause icon), then choose "End Meeting" from the lower right.


  5. Choose "End Meeting for All", as you are the only participant.


  6. Depending upon your Zoom configuration, you may be prompted for a save location (or else defaults to saving under Documents\Zoom).   After conversion, you should have an MP4 video that you can use to review your presentation; double-click this to play and review your presentation:


    If you are still connected to the TV, most laptops will attempt to output sound to that by default. If you do not get any sound during replay, use the Volume controls at the right-hand side of the TV to increase the volume.


IV) Finishing Up

  • Please turn the TV off when done.

  • If you are using a Library laptop, we recommend moving your video to a personal USB thumb drive if you wish to keep it.

    Privacy Alert! Laptops checked out from the Services Desk will reset and wipe user files between each user, but only if you power it off or restart Windows fully. When you're done and have saved any materials you want to keep to a personal USB thumb drive, click on the Windows start button and choose either shutdown or restart.


  • Disconnect the USB and HDMI cables from your laptop when done.

V) Technical Support

Library IT's onsite staff are available from 8am-5pm Monday-Friday to help with:

  • Issues with the webcam or TV
  • Issues with Library laptops checked out from the Services desk.

IT staff are unable to assist with issues relating to personal laptops.  If you are unable to resolve such issues, you may wish to check out a laptop from the Library Services Desk.

To request assistance from IT, please ask a staff member at the Reference desk to call x5000 and request onsite assistance at the desk.