Webcast streams

Using the Church Webcasting System, YouTube, etc. Including cameras and mixers.
harddrive
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Webcast streams

#1

Post by harddrive »

My stake president has given me the go ahead to start the process to do webcasting at our June stake conference. So I'm moving forward. Eventually he has on his mind to be able to have speakers not only at the stake center, but also at another building in the stake. I can see this being done for two buildings, but to broadcast to multiple buildings is a different matter.

Last night while trying to sleep, the thought came to me on how it can be done. It would require a video switcher at the stake center and have a broadcast from another building be put into a video mixer and then rebroadcast out.

My question is when you set up the web casting software to connect to the server in SLC, there needs to be a unit number and then an event number. My question is can the stake have multiple broadcasting going on at the same time from different locations. For instance, the main feed be on like 123456-00001 and the feed from the other building be 123456-00002?

If not, then can the wards/branch put their unit number in and we connect to that feed?

Thanks for letting me know.
russellhltn
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#2

Post by russellhltn »

harddrive wrote:It would require a video switcher at the stake center and have a broadcast from another building be put into a video mixer and then rebroadcast out.

The question is how much lag is in a broadcast by the end of the session? Because that lag is going to show up as you switch between buildings.
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troywo
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#3

Post by troywo »

I suspect the lag would be around 1 minute or more to catch the new feed. This thought presents some interesting challenges - like having projectors and sound systems being able to switch quickly and having screens and projectors set up at the front of the stake center to view the feed from the second location. You would need screens and projectors in front of every pair of eyes in all buildings.

Some other thoughts - to try to minimize the lag.
1. Could you have a stream going from each end and just swap the feeds over? This could end up with too much overhead on one internet connection and the extra hardware could be a challenge too.
2. Sing a rest hymn live in each building while you switch things around?
Cool idea - I see lots of potential hurdles and failure would not be an option.
Can't wait to see what others thoughts are.
harddrive
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#4

Post by harddrive »

troywo wrote: Some other thoughts - to try to minimize the lag.
1. Could you have a stream going from each end and just swap the feeds over? This could end up with too much overhead on one internet connection and the extra hardware could be a challenge too.
2. Sing a rest hymn live in each building while you switch things around?
Cool idea - I see lots of potential hurdles and failure would not be an option.
Can't wait to see what others thoughts are.

I agree that there would be some lag. Also it would be a challenge because of the sound. My thinking would be to have a laptop in the back near the video mixer. Have it connected so that I could see the other unit of the person who is going to speak and then when it is time, just switch it to camera 4 say. If we did more than we would need more computer to allow the switch over to be quicker. There are logistic on this and I would need to test and work things out.

My biggest question is can I send multiple feeds to the server in SLC using the same stake unit number with a different event ID? I will attempt that at home when I get a few minutes to test.

I think it would work and it is just a matter of testing.
russellhltn
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#5

Post by russellhltn »

troywo wrote:I suspect the lag would be around 1 minute or more to catch the new feed.

That's what I was afraid of. I don't see how you can work around that "live". The biggest issue is getting the second speaker to start at an appropriate time so a building at the first location doesn't have a long time lag. And I don't know as it would be practical to start the second speaker before the first one is done.

Then there's the issue on setting up each location with both a screen, podium, cameras and crew.

If the issue is travel, I'd suggest pre-taping the remote talks. But then you very well might end up sending the techs around just to save the speakers from traveling.

The only time I've seen locations switched is with satellite broadcasts - that's only a half second delay.
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Aczlan
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#6

Post by Aczlan »

Attached is a diagram of where you will find delays when running a multi-homed conference webcast:
MultiHomedBroadcastDelay.jpg
MultiHomedBroadcastDelay.jpg (28.64 KiB) Viewed 1076 times
Aaron Z
lionelwalters
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#7

Post by lionelwalters »

How many endpoints are you expecting, including the two broadcasting buildings? If you're planning to stream only to church buildings, the scenario you describe could be addressed using video conferencing software rather than webcast. This would reduce your issues with lag time and bandwidth.

But to answer your question, yes you can broadcast more than one stream using the same unit number but different event IDs.
russellhltn
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#8

Post by russellhltn »

lionelwalters wrote:If you're planning to stream only to church buildings, the scenario you describe could be addressed using video conferencing software rather than webcast. This would reduce your issues with lag time and bandwidth.

I'm sure conferencing does have a lower lag to allow communication, but how does the video quality compare? Is it suitable to be projected?
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harddrive
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#9

Post by harddrive »

The other issue with video conferencing is the size of the chapels and getting good video and audio. Also to be able to have multiple cameras, titles and other stuff broadcast out.

I am planning to broadcast to 5 buildings at most. I see switching between video feeds using a mixer as 1 second delay, because the video input would be from a laptop, which would already have the web cast from the other building that has the speaker going, going to the mixer, which then would go to the closed circuit TV in the stake center, which in turn would go back to the main webcasting unit. So everything would be controlled at the stake center and the other units would connect to the main web casting server and not have to connect to the other webcasting stream. I would be the only one connecting to the other webcasting stream.

So basically each building in the stake would connect to the main web casting stream originating at the stake center. Then at the building that has a speaker that we want to broadcast, I would connect to that web casting server using my laptop. Then I would feed that into the projector and sound at the stake center and then send that signal back through the main web casting server at the stake center. This way, none of the other buildings, including the one that the 2nd speaker is at, would have to connect to a new web casting stream.
Aczlan
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#10

Post by Aczlan »

harddrive wrote:The other issue with video conferencing is the size of the chapels and getting good video and audio. Also to be able to have multiple cameras, titles and other stuff broadcast out.
Use a camera that meets the church's standards and you shouldn't have any issues with video quality (assuming that it is well mounted/controlled)
I am planning to broadcast to 5 buildings at most. I see switching between video feeds using a mixer as 1 second delay, because the video input would be from a laptop, which would already have the web cast from the other building that has the speaker going, going to the mixer, which then would go to the closed circuit TV in the stake center, which in turn would go back to the main webcasting unit. So everything would be controlled at the stake center and the other units would connect to the main web casting server and not have to connect to the other webcasting stream. I would be the only one connecting to the other webcasting stream.
All well and good, but in my experience (2 stake conferences and a priesthood leadership meeting with V2 of the webcast software) you should plan for a MINIMUM of 60 seconds delay when running the webcast.
So basically each building in the stake would connect to the main web casting stream originating at the stake center. Then at the building that has a speaker that we want to broadcast, I would connect to that web casting server using my laptop. Then I would feed that into the projector and sound at the stake center and then send that signal back through the main web casting server at the stake center. This way, none of the other buildings, including the one that the 2nd speaker is at, would have to connect to a new web casting stream.
Look at my timeline above. I was planning on that type of setup when I drew it. Each "Delay unit" is at least a minute (we have seen delays of 2 to 5 minutes near the end of a session)

You will have people sitting for a minimum of 2 minutes in buildings 1 and 2 while you wait for the webcast buffering delay.

Aaron Z
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