# Panopto - Free Lecture Capture System

[![panopto](https://hawksey.info/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/panopto-thumb.jpg)](https://hawksey.info/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/panopto.jpg)Would you like to be able to record your lecture, meeting or presentation to make them available via the web? There are a number of software companies who provide systems to simultaneously record your desktop, presentation and any audio/video, automatically merging the output into a single streamable web resource which can be indexed and archived for future reuse. These systems can cost thousands of pounds but one product, [Panopto CourseCast](http://www.panopto.com/products_coursecast.aspx), is being made freely available to selected educational institutions. CourseCast was originally developed by Carnegie Mellon University and is now run as a commercial operation by Panopto. Carnegie Mellon are keen *"to give back to academia in a manner in which \[they\] received benefit"* and consequently are making CourseCast available to accredited academic institutions via their [Socrates Project](http://www.panopto.com/solutions_education_socrates.aspx). If you would like to see what is possible with the CourseCast system you can [see some of Panopto's showcase examples here](http://www.panopto.com/showcase.aspx). \[Chris Warren at Williams College has prepared a [short presentation on the benefits of lecture capture](http://www.slideshare.net/cwarren/lecture-capture-discussion?type=powerpoint)\]