Category: Software

  • Hybrid Meetings

    The PDF below is a handbook for anyone who wants to produce meetings that include both in-person participants and others who attend from remote locations using Zoom Cloud Meeting or similar technology. The book explains the basics of setting up such meetings and anticipates problems you may encounter. It’s written for people with limited experience using a computer for video and audio processing. Care is taken to explain the jargon and provide examples of the hardware and software that may be useful.

    The need for such systems at Pennswood Village and the Newtown Monthly Meeting (Quakers) prompted me to write down what I’ve learned is producing meetings that simultaneously were interactive in Pennswood’s Penn Hall, on Zoom, recorded, and also live streamed to the in-house CCTV channel 970.

    Peter Vari did a features comparison of the three scenarios described in the handbook. His table (below) lets you see at a glance what each one offers compared to the others.

    I’m adding links to materials produced by others below:


    Updates (1/23)

    It’s January 2023 as I write this and we’ve learned some things using our hybrid system at Newtown Monthly Meeting. Here’s the list.

    1. Set audio levels going into the Zoom computer carefully to avoid background noise “pumping” between the words of someone speaking in the meeting room. Zoom uses a “magic sauce” of audio compression, automatic volume control, and noise gating. If the incoming audio is too high, it limits the loud bits and amplifies the soft bits making ambient sounds very loud. In our location, traffic noises and even birds chirping are amplified if the settings are not optimized.

      Use a second computer or phone in to the meeting to hear what virtual attendees hear. use headphones to avoid feedback while you make your adjustments. Set the volume control on the hearing assist device and mic mixer as low as possible, the experiment with Zoom’s microphone settings including echo suppression.

      Talent Mixer and Williams Receiver

      We had two of the Talent Mixers fail. They have a generous five-year warranty, and both were replaced. I don’t yet know what the problem is. The mixer has phantom power (undocumented). The output of the Williams is intended for earbuds, not a line or mic input. I am getting good results with an impedance-matching transformer between the headphone jack of the radio and the mixer input.
    2. Zoom attendees like having a camera operator who allows them to see who is speaking and have a sense of who is gathered in person. No one thus far has objected, and volunteers have been willing to serve in this capacity on a rotating basis.
    3. Avoid unsightly untamed wires that may also create a trip hazard. There are velcro products to secure wires to carpet, velcro strips can be stapled to moldings, and gaffer tape can be used to make a tidy and safe setup.
    4. The Williams hearing-assist FM radios evidently use the wire to the earphone as an antenna. If your patch cable is not stretched out, or if it is too close to a source of radio interference, the sound on the Zoom call may be full of static that those in the meeting house won’t hear or be aware of.
    5. Zoom call participants still complain about difficulty hearing clearly because of the echo in the room. We remedied this by adding two wireless hand-held microphones. People who speak into the microphone are noticeably clearer on the Zoom call than those who rely on the PZM mics mounted on a column at the center of the room.
    1. Studio Production of Zoom Events

      I’ve been doing larger Zoom events and this series of posts will document my experiments and discoveries and failures. A quick tour of Zoom’s website will reveal that Internet meetings are now a routine part of doing business because the pandemic has made in-person gatherings too risky.

      For corporate clients Zoom offers not just the meeting platform, but also fancy meeting room gear to upgrade the quality of visuals and sound. Home users and financially strapped nonprofits have been scrambling to assemble similar functionality using free or cheap cameras, software, and studio gear.

      This article will explain how to manage the logistics of presentations, performances, and mixed media productions using easily affordable gear. Here is a list of things I’ve accomplished on a shoestring budget. You may be surprised at what’s possible.

      • Powerpoint slides on Zoom
      • Video playback on Zoom
      • iPhone as a live wireless camera for a PC
      • Canon Rebel DSLR as a live webcam via USB cable (no overlays and not limited to 29.9 minutes uptime.)
      • HDMI output of one computer as camera/video input to a second computer.
      • HDMI output of a Verizon set-top box (STB) as camera input to a PC.
      • Screen capture to video for instructional purposes.
      • Live streaming of Zoom meeting/event to YouTube.

      Toolbox

      This is a list of hardware and software items you will want for your studio lashup kit.

      Where to get certain tools

      Kinoni EpocCam Viewer

      This is an inexpensive iPhone App that transmits video from an iPhone to a PC with the free companion PC software. Your computer see it as an external camera.

      Canon EOS Webcam Utility Beta (free)

      Install and launch this software on your PC and then connect the USB port on the camera to a USB port on the PC. Set the camera to movie mode. Bingo, you have a high quality web cam with optical zoom. No, the camera’s mic does not work. Autofocus does work and the camera’s touch screen lets you pick what’s in focus. Most other settings don’t work – you must live with automatic settings the camera does.

      Virtual Audio Cable [https://vac.muzychenko.net/en/]

      I learned the hard way that the internal signal paths in a PC are not simple. Logically I assumed that audio that comes in on the HDMI to USB connection should be as available as the video signal. It’s not. The video connected immediately and instantly, but after initial success, I couldn’t make the audio connect reliably. Internet research revealed that this is a common problem easily solved with a virtual patch cable. This is a driver program that grabs the audio from one device and assigns it to another. Since you can’t predict when you might need it, buy it.

      More to come

      For the techies who read this, not much more explanation is needed. The tools themselves suggest how you accomplish the tasks I listed at the outset. I’ll provide some diagrams and narrative in a later post for those not inclined to experiment or willing to endure the frustrations of trial-and-error approaches. Stay tuned.

    2. Better Web Cameras

      Your Cannon DSLR, and your phone can double as “web cameras” meaning that the video from the camera or phone can be used instead of the video from the camera perched atop the screen. This means that you have the flexibility you enjoy with those devices for shooting video.

      Whether you are recording, live streaming, or hosting a Zoom meeting call, the ability to have a camera with digital and/or optical zoom lets you frame the shot properly and follow a performer’s movements.

      You will probably need a separate microphone. There are many options. I use an inexpensive lavalier microphone or the shotgun mic I normally attach to my Canon Rebel.

      Clean Image from a DSLR

      Canon recently published software that camera owners may download from the Canon website free of charge. It strips away the overlay of menus and metering you normally see in the camera’s screen to leave only the image. Here’s a link to the download pages:

      Should you have another make of camera, try a Google search to find software for the camera you have.

      Phone as Wireless Video Camera

      Actually it can be either wireless or connect via the USB port of your computer. What you need is a pair of programs — an app for the phone and a companion program for the PC computer. Though it’s not free, it’s far cheaper that any new camera you might buy.

      If you add some free software, you can create a vidoe studio on a budget. Check out the following free video downloads:

      Open Broadcast Studio (OBS)

      BlackMagic Design’s DaVinci Resolve (Resolve)

      AVS for You Suite

      NCH Video

      Here’s a how-to video on live streaming with YouTube:

    3. More free software

      Here is a review of free alternatives to the pricy Adobe subscription line. Though I still rely on my vintage Creative Suite 5.5, the state of the art marches on and some of these offerings have advantages that interest me.

      Previous Article:

    4. Zoom Meetings Tutorials

      Here are some resources for getting more out of the free Zoom meetings service. The first is an independently produced video that’s quite detailed (20 minutes). Laptop users can pause the video by pressing the spacebar.

      The official training videos from Zoom.us are just 3 or so minutes and each deals with a particular feature.

    5. Get Basic Wordsmithing and Graphics Software Free

      The Microsoft Office suite and the Adobe Creative Suite of software have become the top of the line options for many. But, for many, if not most users, more features don’t add benefit. As the marginal benefit to uses of upgrading for the new features has diminished, both publishers have adopted a subscription-based business model to keep their revenue flowing.

      The new subscription plans are prohibitively expensive for many. So how about something more affordable?  Consider these open source free products:

      1. Google Docs, Sheets, etc.  (Free, in the cloud so you need to be connected.)
      2. Apache Open Office (Free, works when disconnected.)
      3. Libre Office Suite (Free, full-featured, works when disconnected.)
      4. Scribus (Free. Layout – like publisher, InDesign for making flyers and books.)
      5. Inkscape (Free. Like Illustrator, use for vector artwork, drawings)
      6. GIMP (Free. Like Photoshop, use for editing photos, graphics projects.)
      7. Cute PDF – Free PDF “printer” and modestly priced alternative for Adobe Acrobat Pro.
      There is a learning curve for these, but there are online tutorials and how-to videos for them.  Because your learning transfers from other similar software, it is mostly a matter of learning how to navigate the new tools and menus.
      You’d have to pay monthly fees for the Microsoft and Adobe products these days. Over time this adds up to thousands of dollars in savings. So it may be worthwhile to invest some time.
      Do you know about refurbished computers?  Enough corporate users retire relatively new equipment that an industry has developed to refurbish and remarket them.  Think less than $350 for a real work-horse of a computer. Check out TigerDirect.com.  You can outfit yourself with a refurbished computer and software for less than $400.
      3.27.19 R B Shreve
      P.S.: Are you a non-profit? Non-profit organizations can obtain some software free by registering at this website: https://www.techsoup.org/