How to use Clear Touch RL500 camera

[drepouille]

But at our stake center, the wards use the rear ceiling mounted camera and the stake equipment, which culminates in output from an encoder. (We do stake conference the same way.) Since Zoom will not accept output from an encoder, we feed YouTube. If Zoom accepted encoder output, we would change in a heartbeat.

That is very interesting. The engineer who designed our new system specifically told us that everything from the chapel is encrypted (which may be the same as encoded). He said that he intended that we use an HDMI to USB adapter to feed this encrypted video/audio into our laptop, which makes the whole system appear as just another webcam to the laptop. (Funny story -- the contractor has not yet delivered that adapter to us, but they promised us that it has been ordered.)

But if Zoom does not accept encrypted/encoded A/V from that adapter, then the engineer's entire design is not usable for Zoom. In that case, then using OBS with NDI, PTZ, and other plugins is our only choice for Zoom.

[drepouille]

I told the church engineer who designed our new A/V system that my goal is to run the Zoom Sacrament Meeting wirelessly, because I don't want to sit with my laptop in the meetinghouse library or the overflow (with the cold metal folding chairs). I want to be able to sit with my laptop anywhere in the chapel. The biggest challenge may be connecting to the audio source.

Am I being unreasonable?

[russellhltn]

The engineer who designed our new system specifically told us that everything from the chapel is encrypted (which may be the same as encoded).

Encryption and encoding are different things. I'm not sure what the engineers point was.

The web page you're reading is encrypted via https, yet there's nothing stopping someone else from coming to this same server and reading the same webpage. They just can't see your stream to know what you are reading.

[drepouille]

From the LDS Tech Forum and various YouTube videos, I see a few challenges:

• Encoded HDMI from the A/V rack may not be acceptable as a Zoom meeting input.

• OBS audio output is not an available Zoom audio input.

• Audio sync issues may result if NDI video from the PTZ camera is mixed with audio from a Record Out jack.

• Using NDI video and NDI audio sources while streaming to a Zoom meeting may overload the laptop's wireless adapter.

To mitigate the above issues, I think I should:

• Use a laptop with a discrete GPU so I can use hardware acceleration.

• Use a wired Ethernet jack, rather than wireless.

• Use a 3.5mm TRS cable from a Record Out jack to the laptop headphone jack.

• Use the VB-Audio CABLE Windows Audio Driver as a Virtual Audio Cable, which is a valid audio source for Zoom.

These YouTube videos are a good demonstration of using NDI video and the VB-Audio CABLE driver with OBS and Zoom:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wr9PdkX93WM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8X1kgumf_k

So I need A/C power for the laptop, an Ethernet jack, and a Record Out jack to make this work. And a laptop with a discrete GPU would also be helpful.

[lajackson]

... our laptop ...

What laptop?

And that is the trick. We do not have a laptop and for now we do not need one. We do not ask our members to furnish one.

At the point where a laptop becomes necessary, the stake will budget for it and provide it. And then the hassle of maintaining two extra pieces of equipment (laptop and HDMI to USB converter) will begin. The laptop will need to be replaced regularly. Someone will need to update it before each stake conference use.

Or can we just use the Chromebook in the stake clerks office?

[drepouille]

Well, our stake issued older Lenovo laptops to each unit during COVID shutdown, to use with the unit Zoom accounts. I think they are Lenovo P50 with 6th Gen i7 and a GPU, plus SSD. They can't run Windows 11, but they are pretty good laptops. I have several Dell laptops with 8th Gen and 10th Gen CPUs, some with Radeon GPUs. I got bored during the COVID shutdown era, and took up the hobby of repairing and refurbishing broken Dell laptops from eBay. I always get mad when I buy a laptop that is listed as "For parts or not working" and it springs to life as soon as I unbox it. I feel cheated.

[drepouille]

I have trained the ward STSs there to turn on the encoder at the beginning of the day and turn it off after the last meeting. The more ambitious ones will also use the camera remote control to view more than just the pulpit. They also know how to turn off the rack video and audio feeding the encoder so that the sacrament ordinance is not webcast.

I do have to set up the YouTube event each week. I also turn off the event at the end of the day.

I learned yesterday that the power button on the pedestal on the podium turns the entire system on and off. So if our camera were set up as you have to stream to YouTube whenever it is on, that would happen any time anyone pressed that power button on the pedestal.

What would happen if someone turned on the system during the week, when no YouTube stream was scheduled? I wonder what the camera would do then.

Meanwhile, I am having fun learning about OBS, NDI plugins, PTZ controls, and virtual audio cables and mixers. I am using one of my Dell Inspiron laptops that has a discrete Radeon GPU (about 7 years old). Judging from the fan RPM, it appears that OBS loves to heat up the GPU.

The beauty of using OBS is that I can have one scene for chapel video and audio, and another scene for playing hymns from the church music library in a browser with sheet music or lyrics. The chapel feed is disabled when I switch to the music feed. That helps me hide the Sacrament ordinance, and it helps the folks at home to hear the music, since the pulpit mic doesn't pick up the organ, piano, or singing.

[lajackson]

I learned yesterday that the power button on the pedestal on the podium turns the entire system on and off. So if our camera were set up as you have to stream to YouTube whenever it is on, that would happen any time anyone pressed that power button on the pedestal.

What would happen if someone turned on the system during the week, when no YouTube stream was scheduled? I wonder what the camera would do then.

Our system is always on. The button only turns on the microphone. Our camera is always on.

The camera does not control our stream. The encoder does, and the encoder is not controlled by the rack. It must be physically turned on and off. If I have an event loaded at YT and someone turns on the encoder, YT will begin the webcast without waiting for the set time, and I will need to end it and reset it again before Sunday. But the STSs have been good about letting me know when they will be training someone new.

That is part of the challenge. Every system and setup is different.

[drepouille]

That is part of the challenge. Every system and setup is different.

And that is why when I asked the engineer who designed the system during our training last week, "Who will set up and configure the PTZ camera and train me?" -- he answered that our STS would have to do that, since the FM does not get involved in that, even if it was the FM who paid for the camera and the installation work.

[lajackson]

... he answered that our STS would have to do that, since the FM does not get involved in that, even if it was the FM who paid for the camera and the installation work.

Except that there is no provision to train the STS. And so we have come full circle to the original topic.

Our camera is on the verge of failing. I assume that when it does, the FM Group will install a new one, perhaps similar to the one being discussed here. I will learn about it because the wards will not be able to webcast their sacrament meetings that day. I hope it is not the Sunday of the children's sacrament meeting presentation.

I will ask the same training questions, and then I will come here to the Forum to learn all I can before I go out to the Interwebs to learn more.

And then, when the FM Group gets after me for messing with the rack so that I can make it work, I will say things that should not be printed here, smile kindly, and then hope they do not lock me out of the FIR system.

Perhaps I should ask for a pay raise. Or maybe a discount on my tithing. [grin]