Our Stake Conference broadcast setup

Using the Church Webcasting System, YouTube, etc. Including cameras and mixers.
jviola
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Location: Bowling Green, OH 43402

Our Stake Conference broadcast setup

#1

Post by jviola »

First of all I need to thank everyone on this forum. I spent quite a bit of time reading and asking question. I was pretty clueless when I started. (Seehttp://tech.lds.org/forum/showthread.php?t=5534).

Looking back it was amazing what we were able to accomplish in such a short time. We had approximately 4 weeks notice and with a 2500 to 3000 budget. The stake computer specialist asked me to help him. We were down to about 3 weeks when we got things rolling. Here is what we did.

1. We made two trips to the stake center trying to understand what connection were already in place. None of us were audio/video guys so we were trying to figure out the wiring, the satellite system, video system and audio system. Plus, we found out that the internet speed was too slow for the broadcast.

2. Without an increase in bandwidth this wasn't going to work so we ask that we could increase the bandwidth of the internet. The stake clerk took on this assignment and was able to get AT&T with a 1.5 Mbps upload.

3. We needed more help so we put together our team. We had my brother in-law (a Systems Administrator) take care of the south building where we were going to broadcast. We had my son in-law ( a total electronic, and computer geek, professionally a data miner), The stake computer specialist (Insurance salesman, photographer and loves techie things), his son (web designer and tech geek) and myself (Systems Administrator).

4. We had our first meeting via Oovoo (
http://vsc.lswalters.com/). In this meeting we talked about how we thought we could accomplish this and what equipment we would need. I told them about my forum reading and information gathered here. We were under the gun as far as time. We all took on different assignments and was given the time frame to accomplish it. We stayed in touch via emails to the group. We had discussion mostly through emails.

We were cutting this very close. On Saturday a week before conference we still weren't ready. We were still waiting for some equipment to show up. Plus we were still trying to figure out some of the cabling, converters, and connectors. We had the video mixer that we bought on ebay for $399, but no cameras, no cables, no computer, and no connectors. Although, one camera was ordered from the church we still had not received it. I don't recommend this approach to anyone.


Late on Monday night we ordered from Amazon the rest of the items that we thought we would need. We were going to meet Wednesday evening and put things together.

Here is a list of the equipment that we purchased:

1. Video Mixer – Videonics MX-1 MX1 NTSC digital Video Mixer $399 on ebay. If you have time to bid you can find them cheaper. We were cutting it close so just click on “buy now”.
2. Camera (1) – We ordered the EVI-D70 from the church.https://tech.lds.org/wiki/index.php/Fil ... VI-D70.png
3. Camera (2) – We bought a Sony DCR-DVD650 with 60 optical zoom from Amazon.http://www.amazon.com/Sony-DCR-DVD650-D ... _p_title_1. You will need the cable to connect via S-Video. Here is the cable:http://www.amazon.com/Sony-VMC15FS-Cabl ... 00009RUFZ/
4. Video capture card –Osprey 100 -http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/defaul ... P-95-00135
5. Computer – Originally from Dell, but they didn’t ship on time so we cancelled the order and picked up a Dell Dual-core computer with 4GB of RAM from Best Buy for about 590 dollars.
6. Video Card with 512 MB of RAM for Under $100.
7. Ground Loop Isolator – We had a buzzing noise during our test so we went to Radio Shack and bought this.http://www.radioshack.com/product/index ... Id=2062214
8. We bought numerous connections and cables. I can’t remember them right now, but they were to either connect, split signals, or to convert from s-video to composite (RCA) or to convert from RCA to F-Type or coaxial. Most connections were purchased on Amazon or Radio Shack.
9. S-Video Balun (4) – These worked great for connecting our camera to the video mixer.http://www.amazon.com/S-Video-Balun-Cat ... =8-1-spell

10. Wireless microphone – Unfortunately I don’t know where it was purchased nor what model it is.


Audio – We just used the church’s sound system. We had the podium microphone for the speaker. We had 1 microphone on each end of the stand and we used the microphone jack underneath the sacrament table. We had one microphone setup by the piano and the other two microphones were setup for the choir. In the Satellite room we pulled out the Audio-In cable on the modulator and used a Y cable to split the signal. So the sound would go to the overflow areas (RS, Primary, and mother’s room). The other end we plugged in a 75 ft composite cable and ran that back to the computer.
Image

We originally plugged the 75' composite cable into the video mixer, but we had some buzzing. We then plugged it into the computer and had less noise. We later plugged in the Ground Loop Isolator and almost totally eliminated the buzzing.. We could of ran two separate 75 ft cables to the satellite room instead of just one and used the ground loop isolator. That also would have reduced the noise.

Video – We setup on the stage in the gym (cultural hall) which is about 175 feet from the pulpit. We had camera (1) back with us because the remote control communication was limited to about 30 feet. We didn’t have time to get and setup a controller. Next conference we hope to have that in place. This camera worked really well. It only had 18x zoom. It would have been better to have the other camera (60x optical zoom) back with us, but because of the limitation of the remote control we had to place camera (1) near us. This camera was close enough to the equipment that we just ran an s-video cable back to the video mixer input #1. We bought a s-video balun for this camera, but didn’t use it this time.

Camera (2) we mounted on top of the ledge up by the lighting in the chapel. We had only one shot on that camera. We used the S-Video balun and then ran a 100’ and 50' CAT 5 cable with a coupler back to the other s-video balun plugged into the video mixer input #2.

Image

Then on the video mixer we had 1 S-Video output going to the output monitor (used to see what we were broadcasting) and we split it and sent the other s-video output to the computer’s video capture card (Osprey 100’s s-video input). We could of split it again to send back to the church’s video system to show in the overflow areas, but instead we decide to run another 75’ composite cable from the video mixer’s output to the church’s video system. We plugged the 75’ composite cable with a F-type connection (rca with a coaxial converter) to the church video switch. This was the hardest part to figure out. We thought just putting the connection in the Video input on the modulator would do it, but it did not. We eventually found the video switcher and plugged our 75' cable converting it from RCA to Coaxial in there. We had a BYU TV stream until we connected our cable from video mixer then the video mixer signal became activate. See picture.
Image

We had 4 monitors/televisions (whatever we could find). We connected two monitors on the computer. One was used to control the computer and the other was used for hymns. We had a S-Video out to the video mixer input #3. We had a preview monitor that allowed us to see the two cameras and do PIP or other things before we sent them out to broadcast. See pictures


Image

Things went really well. We did a test run on Saturday night with only 4 people in the building we were broadcasting to. They said it went really well. Here are the main issues that we will be working on to resolve before next broadcast. Piano was louder than choir. The choir wasn’t very loud. The lighting was another issue. The camera in the chapel was fine, but the camera that were using for the straight on shot was fine for the bottom portion of the screen, but the lighting was too bright towards the top. Some time we notice the speaker’s head was shining too much.

We plan on switching the cameras and adding some remote controls. I also would like to get another camera or two. Also, we ended up doing PIP for the Hymns and music director because the Chrome Key wasn’t crisp enough to use. We are talking about getting more capture cards for the PC and software to use instead of the video mixer and selling the video mixer. We need to meet as a team to discuss.

We had a very good group. This was a fun project. We made some mistakes, like when the general authority used the wireless microphone for priesthood we thought he was done with it so I turned it off, pulled the XLR cable from the wireless receiver and plugged it into one of the microphones for the choir. As I was watching him I saw him grab the wireless microphone and trying to get it to work. I realized what the problem was so I had to dart up front and got the XLR cable plugged into the wireless receiver.

I guess we learned that it is important to know what the agenda is and what the speakers are going to present or may present. He also announced he was going to show a short video. We just looked at each other and thought, how are we going to broadcast that. Fortunately, he ran out of time and didn't show it.


Have any of your guest presented a video before? How did you handle it?

If you have any questions let me know. I’m not an expert, but I learned a few things.

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kh_design
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computer's ground

#2

Post by kh_design »

Great post, jviola
jviola wrote:We originally plugged the 75' composite cable into the video mixer, but we had some buzzing. We then plugged it into the computer and had less noise. We later plugged in the Ground Loop Isolator and almost totally eliminated the buzzing.. We could of ran two separate 75 ft cables to the satellite room instead of just one and used the ground loop isolator. That also would have reduced the noise.
I was working on a sound project years ago that had a buzzing noise. It ended up being the computer's power ground that was connected into the setup. The computer's power ground had to be isolated, when the computer's power ground was isolated the buzzing was gone. Isolated ground 120v power outlets are the orange outlets with a green triangle, you notice these orange with a green triangle isolated ground power outlets in hospitals. It could also help isolating the mixer's power ground.
jviola wrote:The camera that were using for the straight on shot was fine for the bottom portion of the screen, but the lighting was too bright towards the top. Some time we notice the speaker’s head was shining too much.
Were the pulpit spot lights on? Perhaps you could test the camera lighting with the pulpit spot lights off.
jviola
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Location: Bowling Green, OH 43402

#3

Post by jviola »

Thanks for the insight. We will have to look into that. We originally put the sound into the mixer and we could hear the buzzing before we sent it to the computer.

I'm not sure about the pulpit spot light. I'll have to pay closer attention to the lighting when I get back to the stake center. I was back watching the display and another member of the team was trying different light settings. I'm not sure if he turned those off or not?

Thanks again,

Jeff
michaelfish
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Increasing resolution of chroma-keys on Videonics MX-1

#4

Post by michaelfish »

jviola wrote:Also, we ended up doing PIP for the Hymns and music director because the Chrome Key wasn’t crisp enough to use.

The Videonics MX-1 can superimpose hymns with professional results, if everything is set up correctly.

Here are a couple of suggestions to increase the resolution and make your chroma-keys look more like the real broadcast keys.

Prepare the lyrics on a BLUE background and set your resolution to 600x800. You'll find that the resolution is significantly better.

I also put a black boarder on the bottom behind the words so I can have a translucent "screen" effect when superimposing. After setting up the chroma-key, (compose, chroma-key, OK), moving the "T" handle only partially results in a "see-through" and "translucent" effect similar to what you see in the World General Conference broadcasts. This is also done for speaker's names.

I have attached a PowerPoint hymn template (PowerPoint 2007) you can download and modify for your own use. Use the "Galliard BT" font, as it very closely resembles the church's font.
Attachments
Hymn template.pptx
(42.86 KiB) Downloaded 337 times
michaelfish
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Distributing Video Presentations with Videonics MX-1

#5

Post by michaelfish »

jviola wrote:Have any of your guests presented a video before? How did you handle it?

I'm assuming that the presentation is in the chapel, that there is a projector or TV in the chapel, the video needs to be fed to the building TVs and/or broadcasted to other buildings:

Feed the guest's video composite or S-video source (i.e. DVD player) into a video Distribution Amplifer (D/A). Radio Shack sells video distribution amplifiers.

Connect one D/A output to the chapel projector or TV video input and another D/A output to one of the Videonic MX-1's inputs. The mixer already accepts composite or S-video from a DVD or a laptop's NTSC video output (S-video or composite).

For laptops with only VGA, plug the laptop's VGA output into the projector's VGA in, and then connect a VGA cable from the projector's Monitor out (DB15) to a scan-converter (this converts the VGA signal to composite video). This composite signal can then routed to one of the inputs on the MX-1.

Punch up the presentation video on the MX-1's input for full-screen or use PIP with one of MX-1's effects.

The output of the MX-1 should already be feeding the building's TV sets, projectors and remote buildings.

Hope this helps.
jviola
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Location: Bowling Green, OH 43402

#6

Post by jviola »

michaelfish thank you so much for the explanation and the PowerPoint. I can't wait for our next broadcast to use it. Also, the insight for capturing the a video presentation. I will be copying your information and emailing it out to our team. Great help.

I can get 4 LCD monitors from work to use, but they only have VGA inputs.
I have found a device to convert s-video to VGA, but I was wondering if anyone knows how to do less expensively. Here is the one that I found: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003NU ... ZVNQ9LP7N9
michaelfish
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Software instead of the Videonics MX-1

#7

Post by michaelfish »

jviola wrote:We are talking about getting more capture cards for the PC and software to use instead of the video mixer and selling the video mixer.

If you are considering selling the MX-1 and considering more capture cards for the PC, I'm wondering what software you are considering and what features it will have.

For multi-camera setups, I haven't found any affordable software solutions. I still use the MX-1.

If you find something interesting, please share what you find.

On a personal note:
I've used the MX-1 for years with excellent results and I can't think of any unit that gives more bang-for-the-buck for $350 or for even less than $1000. It's been great to have all that it has in one small, affordable package (4 inputs for composite or S-video...TBC, synchronization, quad monitor, wipe patterns, audio switching and Chroma-Key).

If however, the quality of the video was an issue, you may want to look back at how you connected the equipment. You had mentioned:

[quote="jviola"]Then on the video mixer we had 1 S-Video output going to the output monitor (used to see what we were broadcasting) and we split it and sent the other s-video output to the computer’s video capture card (Osprey 100’s s-video input)[/quote]Please note that video should not be “split.” Video signals should only be terminated once at each end of the signal path. If you split a video signal, it will be terminated with each device you plug it into (monitors, mixers, etc.). The result will be improper termination of the signal, loss of power and loss of picture quality (you will actually see that the picture gets darker).

To properly split video, you should use a video distribution amplifier (or if you have professional A/V gear, turn the termination switch on the back of the device to the off position and terminate only at each end of the signal path)

Technical note: Composite video signals carry so much more information that a simple analog audio signal (thus the word composite…). The 1 volt peak-to-peak signal contains luminance signal (black and white picture), chroma signal (color information) and synchronization information (where to put the picture). Not to get too detailed here, but there is a TON of information in that little signal. Messing up the voltage by terminating the signal improperly is going to make all measurements by the video equipment inaccurate.
stephen500
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#8

Post by stephen500 »

jviola wrote:2. Without an increase in bandwidth this wasn't going to work so we ask that we could increase the bandwidth of the internet. The stake clerk took on this assignment and was able to get AT&T with a 1.5 Mbps upload.
Why did you need 1.5mbs upload, we acheived a good broadcast with 250mbs?
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aebrown
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#9

Post by aebrown »

stephen500 wrote:Why did you need 1.5mbs upload, we acheived a good broadcast with 250mbs?
It wouldn't be hard to achieve an amazing broadcast if you truly had a 250mbs upload speed. But I don't think you could afford a DS4 connection. I'm guessing you meant 250kbs, which is a rather modest upload speed.
Questions that can benefit the larger community should be asked in a public forum, not a private message.
stephen500
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#10

Post by stephen500 »

Alan_Brown wrote:It wouldn't be hard to achieve an amazing broadcast if you truly had a 250mbs upload speed. But I don't think you could afford a DS4 connection. I'm guessing you meant 250kbs, which is a rather modest upload speed.
Which still worked very well, so why did they need 1.5?
Was it just to get a better picture quality, ie a want rather then a need?
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