Sacrament Meeting

Discussions around receiving conferences and broadcasts for the meetinghouse via Internet.
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drepouille
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Re: Sacrament Meeting

#21

Post by drepouille »

My USB extensions are very old, so probably USB 1.

Luckily, the stake president authorized us to upgrade from DSL service to 100MB cable modem service last year. Otherwise, it would be impossible and unthinkable to try to host a Zoom teleconference during Sacrament meeting.
Dana Repouille, Plattsmouth, Nebraska
drepouille
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Re: Sacrament Meeting

#22

Post by drepouille »

russellhltn wrote:How long is the USB cable? I'm thinking 3'.
Cable length: 5 ft (1.5 m)
Dana Repouille, Plattsmouth, Nebraska
drepouille
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Re: Sacrament Meeting

#23

Post by drepouille »

russellhltn wrote:When is your first meeting? You've got maybe one business day before this Sunday.
We should have our first meeting on July 12th. Since Staples and Amazon are practically sold out of webcams, I ordered a webcam and tripod from an eBay seller in Idaho, who uses USPS Priority Mail. He may have been able to drop the shipment today, since my mail carrier was out delivering mail today (which surprised me). Guaranteed delivery date is Thursday, July 9th.
Dana Repouille, Plattsmouth, Nebraska
EdHammond
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Re: Sacrament Meeting

#24

Post by EdHammond »

Your laptop should the a “headset input” 3.5 mm quad contact jack. One of those is the microphone. Use a splitter (something like this https://www.amazon.com/Kingtop-Adapter- ... r_1_2_sspa) to get the audio to work.
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Mikerowaved
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Re: Sacrament Meeting

#25

Post by Mikerowaved »

Sorry I'm a bit late to the party.
drepouille wrote:...if I don't want to buy a $600 camera, I will need to sit close to front and center.
The Canon VIXIA HF R20 is out of production, but a nice 1080i Camera that we've been using quite a bit for webcasting stake conferences. Available used in the $100 price range. The newer 1080p version (I think it's the R80) is about $200. The optical zoom is plenty to properly frame a speaker at the pulpit, or a chorister off to one side, all from the back of the chapel. Run the HDMI into your stake's Teradek VidiU encoder (tiny little box), and with the help of your STS, set it up to livestream over the church's webcast system, or some other webcast provider.

Any camcorder used needs a couple of features that not all of them come with. 1) You must be able to disable the auto-shutoff and 2) You must be able to remove all the menus & information found on the viewfinder from the HDMI output signal.

Finally, I would NEVER use Zoom for something intended for a one-way only webcast. Too many variables when nearly every viewer has a live webcam in front of them and options to see and chat with other participants. Save Zoom for ward council meetings. For complete control over the tone of the webcast and the spirit therein, you need to use a one-way only solution. The church's system is just that and works great. So does YouTube Live and a number of other providers offering one-to-many webcasting services.

It won't all come together in a day, sometimes not even a week, or month. Set it up and TEST it. Then test it a dozen more times. Yes, it's more involved than plugging a webcam into a laptop, but the results will be far more pleasing to those that can't attend in person.
So we can better help you, please edit your Profile to include your general location.
drepouille
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Re: Sacrament Meeting

#26

Post by drepouille »

This is a ward Sacrament meeting at a ward meetinghouse. The stake is willing to let us borrow a laptop and the stake's Zoom account. No camcorder, encoder, or webcasting software. The stake clerk recommended that I place the laptop on the podium, pointing the built-in webcam at the speaker, and ask the conducting person to mute and unmute the laptop's microphone so the Sacrament prayers are not broadcast.

I decided to use my own laptop, and purchase a Logitech C922 Pro Stream webcam with tripod. I will set up the laptop and webcam in front of the rostrum, to the side of the podium, so the speaker isn't staring directly into the webcam. I tested the C922 yesterday, and was impressed with its digital zoom abilities. I will probably use the RJ-45 jack on the podium, just to ensure the Wi-Fi encryption/decryption doesn't hamper the stream. I can't disable the Wi-Fi, since I am a ward clerk, and not the STS.

Rather than use the stake's Zoom account, I registered for a ChurchofJesusChrist Google Meet account, which should allow up to 250 participants. I had hoped it would provide the ability for a view-only stream. However, the church has apparently not enabled that view-only stream ability for their G Suite account.

I am going to run a test on Wednesday night, while the bishopric and the young men do another walk-through to prepare themselves. I invited the ward council to join as a test of the broadcast.
Last edited by drepouille on Tue Jul 07, 2020 8:36 am, edited 1 time in total.
Dana Repouille, Plattsmouth, Nebraska
drepouille
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Re: Sacrament Meeting

#27

Post by drepouille »

drepouille wrote:
russellhltn wrote:How long is the USB cable? I'm thinking 3'.
Cable length: 5 ft (1.5 m)
After unpacking the Logitech C922, I seriously doubt that the USB cable is 5 feet long. Maybe 4 feet at the most.
Dana Repouille, Plattsmouth, Nebraska
russellhltn
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Re: Sacrament Meeting

#28

Post by russellhltn »

drepouille wrote:I am going to run a test on Wednesday night, while the bishopric and the young men do another walk-through to prepare themselves. I invited the ward council to join as a test of the broadcast.
Once it's clear that it's working, you might want to ask them to see if it's possible for a viewer to be disruptive.

Keep in mind, even if you can mute people, at least in some situations, they can unmute themselves. Usually by using the space bar as a push to talk.

You might want to see if the stake zoom account has extra goodies. A separate product by zoom called "webinar" seems like a better fit for what you're doing. I don't know as it's available at the free level.
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.
lajackson
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Re: Sacrament Meeting

#29

Post by lajackson »

drepouille wrote:I will probably use the RJ-45 jack on the podium, just to ensure the Wi-Fi encryption/decryption doesn't hamper the stream. I can't disable the Wi-Fi, since I am a ward clerk, and not the STS.
I would still use the pulpit network connection, but your stake STS may be willing to turn off the WiFi and then turn it back on on a schedule you request, i.e., please turn if off Sunday at 8:30 am and turn it back on at 11:00 am. You would especially want to do this if your meetinghouse Internet connection is slow.

I have done this several times for meetinghouses in our stake on request.

I do not remember if a ward technology specialist (if you have one) can turn the WiFi off and on.
russellhltn
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Re: Sacrament Meeting

#30

Post by russellhltn »

Disabling WiFi though TM would be the nice way. Unplugging them works too. <grin>
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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