New webcast comments/questions

Using the Church Webcasting System, YouTube, etc. Including cameras and mixers.
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craiggsmith
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Joined: Sun Sep 12, 2010 3:14 pm
Location: South Jordan, Utah

New webcast comments/questions

#1

Post by craiggsmith »

Testing out the new VidiU etc. A few questions/comments:

The Vidiu:
It gets really hot.
Not much documentation.
Consumer grade, not really designed for our setup.
Why should we upgrade through the web interface as opposed to via the unit directly? The box came with 2.2.1 installed, and will upgrade to 2.2.2. The web interface downgrades the unit to 2.2.0.
Why doesn't facilities give us a converter along with the box? I wish the church would provide complete solutions.
I was surprised to see that the Mobile audio setting is 48k; I would have expected mobile to be the lowest as it typically is with video.

The webcast portal:
When I first logged in it asked me a bunch of questions, one of which was my region, which I selected as Western US (I'm in Utah). When I go to schedule an event however, there is no western US option. Lost of eastern and central US options though. What's up?
What exactly is the buffer time -- does the event actually start and end that length of time before and after the time I specify? So I don't need to include extra time?
Minor, but I wish we could select the hour and minute separately. I hate setting time like that.
Also minor, but in the event detail screen it would be nice if there were a refresh button instead of having to use the browsers refresh (to see the server status).
I can't believe they are using Silverlight.

General:
Could the old solution be used as a backup (for now)? I was playing with Livestream as a backup.
Craig
South Jordan, UT
rolandc
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Joined: Tue May 15, 2012 8:20 pm

Re: New webcast comments/questions

#2

Post by rolandc »

There is a new CVBS to HDMI converter listed on the Mhtech site , says available to FM's made by Atlona AT HD120

Buffer is usually around a minute

You will get glitches with firm ware 221 and up.

Wait till you figure out how to get a live preview with audio, its interesting.
Roland
craiggsmith
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Location: South Jordan, Utah

Re: New webcast comments/questions

#3

Post by craiggsmith »

Thanks very much. Yeah, I saw that unit, looks good. I have an inquiry in to our FM to see if they have one (not likely) or can get one. I thought Sewell Direct in Orem would have it but they don't; they have something sort of similar but not quite.

The buffer I'm referring to is the wording next to the Duration when scheduling an event: "A two hour pre-buffer and ½ hour post buffer time is automatically added." When I did a test broadcast, which adds 10 mins before and after, it continued to work during the post buffer period (I didn't try during the pre buffer). So I assume I can just schedule our conference for the two hours it actually occurs and will have two hours before to start it up and test?

Anxious to see what you mean by your last comment! Hoping to try tonight.

Thanks again.
Craig
South Jordan, UT
russellhltn
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Re: New webcast comments/questions

#4

Post by russellhltn »

craiggsmith wrote:So I assume I can just schedule our conference for the two hours it actually occurs and will have two hours before to start it up and test?
I can't find the message now, but someone pointed out some language that indicated that if the feed didn't start within a certain time frame, the event would be canceled. It was unclear if the reference was to the actual event starting time or the pre-buffer.
Have you searched the Help Center? Try doing a Google search and adding "site:churchofjesuschrist.org/help" to the search criteria.

So we can better help you, please edit your Profile to include your general location.
craiggsmith
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Location: South Jordan, Utah

Re: New webcast comments/questions

#5

Post by craiggsmith »

russellhltn wrote:I can't find the message now, but someone pointed out some language that indicated that if the feed didn't start within a certain time frame, the event would be canceled. It was unclear if the reference was to the actual event starting time or the pre-buffer.
I saw that message after I scheduled it. It was 30 minutes, but I was wondering the same thing! I assume it's the actual start time not the buffer but it would be nice to know. I actually plan to start two hours early instead of the usual one hour, but something could come up.
Craig
South Jordan, UT
craiggsmith
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Joined: Sun Sep 12, 2010 3:14 pm
Location: South Jordan, Utah

Re: New webcast comments/questions

#6

Post by craiggsmith »

I talked to the help desk and they confirmed that the "buffer" does mean that the broadcast starts two hours early and we should just enter the actual time the meeting starts.

The also said the West US server has been down, so I continued to pick Central. There are 2 East US servers and 3 Central US servers; you'd think they'd have more than one West server. And still down after 3+ days? Not encouraging.

A few other notes:

When I went into the portal the home page said I had no live or scheduled events, even though I had both.

On the monitoring page it takes a long time to recognize that a size is connected. And even longer to recognize that one disconnected. In fact, it never did recognize that, even after a very long time. So if a site disconnects for some reason it doesn't appear they can reconnect. I tried using the code instead but it always said the event had not started.
Craig
South Jordan, UT
russellhltn
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Re: New webcast comments/questions

#7

Post by russellhltn »

craiggsmith wrote:you'd think they'd have more than one West server. And still down after 3+ days? Not encouraging.
I'm not sure what the deal is. I tried a receive test shortly after it came out just to see how it worked. I don't think a west coast server was available even then.
Have you searched the Help Center? Try doing a Google search and adding "site:churchofjesuschrist.org/help" to the search criteria.

So we can better help you, please edit your Profile to include your general location.
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