Our Stake Conference broadcast setup
Posted: Tue Sep 14, 2010 7:13 pm
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.