Sharing our experience with Virtual Sacrament Meeting Broadcasts

[enelson5]

Hi All,

I'm blending several ideas from this thread with an additional spice of my own that I think some might find useful. I just performed a successful stream test from home using Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) to push an RTMP stream to the Church's Azure media servers with an event set for high-bandwidth encode (HBE). OBS is free open-source software available from https://obsproject.com. It requires a Windows PC/laptop. Using this software removes the need for Zoom licenses to handle the RTMP coding, so you only have to schedule the Church webcast event and then enter the RTMP URL and Stream name into OBS.

The OBS software has some pretty cool features for a free tool, and the learning curve isn't too bad (maybe an hour or two). I went through some settings to configure the base canvas and output resolution, the video and audio bitrate, the stream service (chose "Custom" to enter the RTMP URL and Stream info). I added my webcam as a video capture device into a "Scene" I called "Camera View", and then resized it to fit the canvas. Each of the available audio sources can be muted or level adjusted in the audio mixer pane. I also created a "Sacrament In-Progress" scene that uses the "Image Slide Show" source to cycle through several appropriate sacrament-related photos while a text box at the bottom of the screen shows a "Text" source that says, "Administration of the Sacrament is in Progress. The broadcast will resume shortly...". The slide transition rate and fade times are adjustable. And lastly, I created a "End of Service" scene using a "Text" source that displays the meeting start times for each of the Wards.

I'm going to use @dbaresrc 's approach to scheduling a single public event for each building that runs throughout the Sunday (well at least until the last Ward concludes). If a meeting isn't in progress, the audio will be muted and the the "End of Service" scene will be selected showing the meeting times. The next Ward to arrive simply unmutes the audio source and switches to the "Camera View" scene.

My HD webcams and audio capture USB devices are due to arrive today, so I'll try the actual in-building testing next week. I've located each "Record Out" audio port in my buildings, and as you'd expect for buildings with the older sound systems, these ports are located about 30-40 feet away from the pulpit so I'm going to have to fashion appropriate cables.

I'm sorry I don't have a fancy guide written for how I've done this. Maybe I'll write something up after the scramble to get things going the next couple of weeks subsides a bit. I mainly wanted to get the OBS aspect out to for others to consider trying. I appreciate the ideas and suggestions shared here, and I hope my OBS "spice" will help build on the already great suggestions. It's been good to know that I'm in the same boat with a lot of talented people coming up with solutions!

[rmrichesjr]

Hi All,

I'm blending several ideas from this thread with an additional spice of my own that I think some might find useful. I just performed a successful stream test from home using Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) to push an RTMP stream to the Church's Azure media servers with an event set for high-bandwidth encode (HBE). OBS is free open-source software available from https://obsproject.com. It requires a Windows PC/laptop. Using this software removes the need for Zoom licenses to handle the RTMP coding, so you only have to schedule the Church webcast event and then enter the RTMP URL and Stream name into OBS.

...

Open Broadcaster Software is not Windows-specific. I runs on Linux and macOS 10.13+ according to this page: https://obsproject.com/ There are even instructions at the bottom of this page https://obsproject.com/wiki/install-instructions#linux to install (or build) it for FreeBSD. I don't know whether there's a binary download for the Raspberry Pi or whether the Raspberry Pi has enough horsepower. Because OBS is open-source, it can be built from source for anyone so inclined.

[enelson5]

Open Broadcaster Software is not Windows-specific. I runs on Linux and macOS 10.13+ according to this page: https://obsproject.com/ There are even instructions at the bottom of this page https://obsproject.com/wiki/install-instructions#linux to install (or build) it for FreeBSD. I don't know whether there's a binary download for the Raspberry Pi or whether the Raspberry Pi has enough horsepower. Because OBS is open-source, it can be built from source for anyone so inclined.

Thanks for clarifying that point! For those non-Windows users, be sure to click on the Apple logo on the Download page to get the appropriate installer, and for those brave enough to try to compile or cross-compile the source, click on the penguin logo to download the source code.

[rmrichesjr]

Thanks for clarifying that point! For those non-Windows users, be sure to click on the Apple logo on the Download page to get the appropriate installer, and for those brave enough to try to compile or cross-compile the source, click on the penguin logo to download the source code.

There are binary OBS packages available for several Linux distributions. Installing software on Linux does not necessarily imply building it from source.

[cwcahoon]

Hi All,

I'm blending several ideas from this thread with an additional spice of my own that I think some might find useful. I just performed a successful stream test from home using Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) to push an RTMP stream to the Church's Azure media servers with an event set for high-bandwidth encode (HBE). OBS is free open-source software available from https://obsproject.com. It requires a Windows PC/laptop. Using this software removes the need for Zoom licenses to handle the RTMP coding, so you only have to schedule the Church webcast event and then enter the RTMP URL and Stream name into OBS.

The OBS software has some pretty cool features for a free tool, and the learning curve isn't too bad (maybe an hour or two). I went through some settings to configure the base canvas and output resolution, the video and audio bitrate, the stream service (chose "Custom" to enter the RTMP URL and Stream info). I added my webcam as a video capture device into a "Scene" I called "Camera View", and then resized it to fit the canvas. Each of the available audio sources can be muted or level adjusted in the audio mixer pane. I also created a "Sacrament In-Progress" scene that uses the "Image Slide Show" source to cycle through several appropriate sacrament-related photos while a text box at the bottom of the screen shows a "Text" source that says, "Administration of the Sacrament is in Progress. The broadcast will resume shortly...". The slide transition rate and fade times are adjustable. And lastly, I created a "End of Service" scene using a "Text" source that displays the meeting start times for each of the Wards.

I'm going to use @dbaresrc 's approach to scheduling a single public event for each building that runs throughout the Sunday (well at least until the last Ward concludes). If a meeting isn't in progress, the audio will be muted and the the "End of Service" scene will be selected showing the meeting times. The next Ward to arrive simply unmutes the audio source and switches to the "Camera View" scene.

My HD webcams and audio capture USB devices are due to arrive today, so I'll try the actual in-building testing next week. I've located each "Record Out" audio port in my buildings, and as you'd expect for buildings with the older sound systems, these ports are located about 30-40 feet away from the pulpit so I'm going to have to fashion appropriate cables.

I'm sorry I don't have a fancy guide written for how I've done this. Maybe I'll write something up after the scramble to get things going the next couple of weeks subsides a bit. I mainly wanted to get the OBS aspect out to for others to consider trying. I appreciate the ideas and suggestions shared here, and I hope my OBS "spice" will help build on the already great suggestions. It's been good to know that I'm in the same boat with a lot of talented people coming up with solutions!

What type of cable are you using for connection to the record out jack? We used the assistive hearing devices to loop the chapel audio directly to our camera audio input with much success, but at the older building in our stake this didn’t work too well because the devices there are antiquated and has an annoying buzz. Since it is an older building it has a record out jack, but I’m weighing the cost of getting a 50-foot cable to connect to it, move the camera so it is closer to the jack (not ideal) or buy a new assistive hearing device from the church (about $70 last I checked). What are your thoughts?

[rmrichesjr]

What type of cable are you using for connection to the record out jack? We used the assistive hearing devices to loop the chapel audio directly to our camera audio input with much success, but at the older building in our stake this didn’t work too well because the devices there are antiquated and has an annoying buzz. Since it is an older building it has a record out jack, but I’m weighing the cost of getting a 50-foot cable to connect to it, move the camera so it is closer to the jack (not ideal) or buy a new assistive hearing device from the church (about $70 last I checked). What are your thoughts?

A new assistive hearing receiver might not solve the buzzing noise--depending on whether the noise is introduced in the receiver or the transmitter (or upstream from the transmitter). If you have a HAM radio operator in the area, he/she might be able to check the RF signal (~72MHz, IIRC) to determine whether the signal is clean or has the buzz.

Other than that, $70 can buy a lot of cable and even a couple of isolation transformers if 50-feet is too long for an unbalanced line-level audio signal in that building's environment.

[russellhltn]

I'd borrow a receiver from the newer building to test in the older one. Most buildings are on the same frequency and the different brands are interchangeable.

[enelson5]

What type of cable are you using for connection to the record out jack? We used the assistive hearing devices to loop the chapel audio directly to our camera audio input with much success, but at the older building in our stake this didn’t work too well because the devices there are antiquated and has an annoying buzz. Since it is an older building it has a record out jack, but I’m weighing the cost of getting a 50-foot cable to connect to it, move the camera so it is closer to the jack (not ideal) or buy a new assistive hearing device from the church (about $70 last I checked). What are your thoughts?

Check out the 50' RCA F-F cable at monoprice https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=2743. Probably overkill for theh unbalanced line level signal coming from the "Record Out" port, but it'll be pretty durable at a reasonable price.

I've got a couple of buildings with 1/8" mono female jacks for the line level record out, so I'm getting these 1/8" male to RCA female adapters. https://www.amazon.com/Ancable-4-Pack-A ... ef=sr_1_14

[studerje]

We initially tried the Teradek autoconfig but ended up having more problems then successes. So we have stayed with known, always good-to-go manual input.

We picked up another Teradek from the church's online store for our third building. It's a slightly newer model than our other 2 Teradek's.
This newer model is labeled as "Teradek Pro". This new one seems to experience issues with the autoconfig scheduling.
The older two handle it like a champ.

[mashcraft]

I've been putting together notes on how I put the entire setup together here https://github.com/TechnoSwiss/broadcast_pi

I've been following this to build an identical system and hopefully enhance it to address the need to pause the stream with a simple web interface.

I've run into a problem with the Amcrest camera you recommended. It doesn't show support for h264. Did I get the wrong one or is something else wrong?

Code: Select all

$ v4l2-ctl --list-devices                                                                                                                        bcm2835-codec-decode (platform:bcm2835-codec):                                                                                                                           /dev/video10                                                                                                                                                     /dev/video11                                                                                                                                                     /dev/video12                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              bcm2835-isp (platform:bcm2835-isp):
        /dev/video13
        /dev/video14
        /dev/video15
        /dev/video16

HDA Webcam USB: HDA Webcam USB (usb-0000:01:00.0-1.2):
        /dev/video0
        /dev/video1

$ ffmpeg  -list_formats all -i /dev/video0
ffmpeg version git-2020-09-21-1aee02c Copyright (c) 2000-2020 the FFmpeg developers
  built with gcc 8 (Raspbian 8.3.0-6+rpi1)
  configuration: --extra-cflags=-I/usr/local/include --extra-ldflags=-L/usr/local/lib --extra-libs='-lpthread -lm -latomic' --arch=armel --enable-gmp --enable-gpl --enable-libaom --enable-libass --enable-libdav1d --enable-libdrm --enable-libfdk-aac --enable-libfreetype --enable-libkvazaar --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libopencore-amrnb --enable-libopencore-amrwb --enable-libopus --enable-librtmp --enable-libsnappy --enable-libsoxr --enable-libssh --enable-libvorbis --enable-libvpx --enable-libzimg --enable-libwebp --enable-libx264 --enable-libx265 --enable-libxml2 --enable-mmal --enable-nonfree --enable-omx --enable-omx-rpi --enable-version3 --target-os=linux --enable-pthreads --enable-openssl --enable-hardcoded-tables
  libavutil      56. 59.100 / 56. 59.100
  libavcodec     58.106.100 / 58.106.100
  libavformat    58. 58.100 / 58. 58.100
  libavdevice    58. 11.102 / 58. 11.102
  libavfilter     7. 87.100 /  7. 87.100
  libswscale      5.  8.100 /  5.  8.100
  libswresample   3.  8.100 /  3.  8.100
  libpostproc    55.  8.100 / 55.  8.100
[video4linux2,v4l2 @ 0x26010b0] Compressed:       mjpeg :          Motion-JPEG : 1920x1080 1280x720 640x480
[video4linux2,v4l2 @ 0x26010b0] Raw       :     yuyv422 :           YUYV 4:2:2 : 1920x1080 1280x720 640x480
/dev/video0: Immediate exit requested

Thanks,
Mike