Advice on large submissions for 3D graphics/computing students

Advice on large submissions for 3D graphics/computing students

by Tim Gildersleeve -
Number of replies: 2

Hi all,

I wonder if anyone here has students following computing courses where they need to upload submissions for 3D work.   I have been discussing with course tutors about issues with upload sizes.  We currently allow 400MB uploads for submissions and I am told that this is not sufficient as they need full frame 3D renders, un-optimised Photoshop files etc.

If I were to simply grant them the file sizes they needed - Moodle would suddenly use up 4 times the space it currently does.  I realise storage is "cheap" but this argument does not change the fact that backups need to be stored and processed and with multiple day VM backups of the Moodle server this takes considerable space on backup infrastructure.

If anyone else has students who need to submit 3D work I would love to hear what you do regarding this.  If it were simply video then I would use eStream submissions - but it is more than that it seems.

if anyone can offer any advice, I would love to hear it.

Kind Regards

Tim Gildersleeve, VLE Manager, Bradford College, Bradford, UK

Average of ratings: Useful (1)
In reply to Tim Gildersleeve

Re: Advice on large submissions for 3D graphics/computing students

by Marcus Green -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Plugin developers Picture of Testers

Hi Tim,

It doesn't sound cheap at all, another one of the issues is that processing of a large file submission can result in a performance bottleneck and the possibility of timeouts during uploads which is not good.

I was faced with this with issue with Multimedia student at a previous employer and it was resolved with a third party repository that had a Moodle plugin (something a bit like eStream I suspect). There could be a more generic external repository that would help. 

I work for Moodle Partner Titus Learning in Salts Mill, Saltaire  and I suspect I could see where you are working if it wasn't for the houses in between.

Average of ratings: -
In reply to Tim Gildersleeve

Re: Advice on large submissions for 3D graphics/computing students

by Cam Davis -

At our school, the university has worked with Google to obtain a large cloud storage solution. I have created a folder and shared with each student. I instruct them to upload their files (large graphic files) in a zipped folder. Then they are to go to Moodle, click on the assignment link and just simply type in the filed that the file(s) have been submitted. 

It is not convenient as the files are not in one place in Moodle. But it solves the storage problem.

Average of ratings: -