Larix Broadcaster (Webcast from a cell phone)

Using the Church Webcasting System, YouTube, etc. Including cameras and mixers.
magiciancomus
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Re: Larix Broadcaster (Webcast from a cell phone)

#11

Post by magiciancomus »

If a cell phone is used as the origination of the broadcast how do you use the best practices of disabling the wifi to ensure bandwidth?
russellhltn
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Re: Larix Broadcaster (Webcast from a cell phone)

#12

Post by russellhltn »

magiciancomus wrote:If a cell phone is used as the origination of the broadcast how do you use the best practices of disabling the wifi to ensure bandwidth?
Short of brining in a Router/AP to plug into the podium, you don't.

However, turn out seems to be really small. (Maybe 40 members) And with shorter services, there isn't as much temptation to start doing things with the phone.

So far, it hasn't been an issue. But I know some bishops are planning on asking members to put their phones into airplane mode for the benefit of others.

So far, there's been 5 webcasts in my stake (that I know of) and no problems that have come back to me.
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ulupoi
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Re: Larix Broadcaster

#13

Post by ulupoi »

bretbassett wrote:Thanks for this discussion thread. Attached is an example of what another Ward did with the free Larix Broadcaster App.
Thank you very much for these excellent instructions!
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Re: Larix Broadcaster (Webcast from a cell phone)

#14

Post by ulupoi »

russellhltn wrote:Larix Broadcaster is an app that will webcast with nothing more than an a smart phone. It can feed any number of distributions systems, including the Church Webcast system as well as YouTube.

Attached is a Word document that can be used as a starting point.
Thank you very much for these instructions! Combined with Brett Bassett's PDF and the meetinghouse webcast 3.0 how-to guide, it inspires confidence that we could actually get this to work without too much trouble.
ulupoi
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Re: Larix Broadcaster

#15

Post by ulupoi »

russellhltn wrote:I've read that the iPhone OS will kill the stream if anything else gets "focus". That's probably what's behind the requirement to silence all interruptions. However, I'm surprised that airplane mode with WiFi on would accomplish that.

If there is a choice, Android might be the better pick for it's ability to continue streaming while doing other things - like checking your battery level.
I haven't tried it yet, but I think that the Do Not Disturb setting on the iPhone might solve this problem. Has anyone tried this?
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hicksticks2001
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Re: Larix Broadcaster (Webcast from a cell phone)

#16

Post by hicksticks2001 »

Great post Russell - thanks for sharing Larix Broadcaster - I may use this in a pinch if we ever have an outdoor meeting we want to broadcast and don't have time to bring our other stake equipment.
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Mikerowaved
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Re: Larix Broadcaster (Webcast from a cell phone)

#17

Post by Mikerowaved »

Here are the instructions I wrote up for our stake, following a successful demonstration to the stake presidency of using Larix Broadcaster on an Android phone to uplink an audio/video feed to the church Meetinghouse Webcast system. Please note, the buildings in our stake have ample bandwidth to stream at the default video rate of 2000Kbps. Your situation may be different. These instructions were based on an Android phone. They may differ some for iOS or Windows phones.
INSTALLING, CONFIGURING, AND RUNNING THE LARIX BROADCASTER APP

1. Install Larix Broadcaster and open
2. Allow the permission requests (Camera, Microphone, Storage, etc)
3. Open Settings (tap on gear in upper right corner)
4. Click on Video
5. Change Video size to 1920x1080
6. Change FPS to 30 fixed rate
7. Check the Background Streaming box (Larix will restart)

These are all the changes needed from the default setup and shouldn't need to be revisited.

Prior to Sunday you'll be sent the RTMP stream credentials to enter into Larix for your upcoming sacrament meeting. It will be similar to the following:

[url=rtmp://MHW-40-12345.westus2.cloudapp.azure.com/169P/1234567890abcdef1]rtmp://MHW-40-12345.westus2.cloudapp.azure.com/169P/1234567890abcdef1[/url]

After receiving it:
1. Open Larix Broadcaster
2. Go to Settings --> Connections (If there are any old connections listed, you can safely delete them using a long-press on the connection name, then select Delete [Connection Name].)
3. Select New Connection
4. For Name, enter any name, such as, "KC Sacrament mtg 9/27"
5. For URL, carefully paste in the entire URL you were sent
6. Scroll down and press SAVE
7. Make sure the new connection is the ONLY one checked.
8. Press the arrow in the upper-left corner (or your phone's back button) until all Settings are closed.
That's it! You can close the app until Sunday. Be sure your phone gets a healthy charge Saturday night!

For Sacrament Meeting:
1. To avoid interruptions from incoming calls, texts, or email, put your phone in "Airplane" mode, then switch back on the WiFi
2. If you haven’t already, accept the terms of the Liahona splash screen
3. Open Larix Broadcaster
4. To toggle the camera view from back to front, tap the small circle opposite the big red circle
5. ALWAYS POSITION YOUR PHONE HORIZONTALLY IN THE HOLDER
6. Tap the red circle to go live. It should turn into a red square.
7. Prior to the sacrament, tap the red square to stop the webcast.

If Larix fails to connect, it will tell you at the bottom of the screen. Double check that you correctly entered the RTMP URL you were sent and it's the ONLY connection selected. Text the STS at xxx-xxx-xxxx.

Note 1: The stream won't connect until 1 hour prior to your meeting's start time.
Note 2: The stream will be delayed on receiving devices anywhere from 30-120 seconds.
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azanoncello
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Re: Larix Broadcaster (Webcast from a cell phone)

#18

Post by azanoncello »

I'm a bishop and I went to the webcast website. It doesn't seem to let me setup any locations, devices or schedule anything. I'm assuming only the stake technology specialist has access to get this setup? Is that correct?
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Re: Larix Broadcaster (Webcast from a cell phone)

#19

Post by russellhltn »

azanoncello wrote:I'm a bishop and I went to the webcast website. It doesn't seem to let me setup any locations, devices or schedule anything. I'm assuming only the stake technology specialist has access to get this setup? Is that correct?
The Stake Technology Specialist, or an Assistant Technology Specialist. Both are stake callings. But a recent letter pushes the stakes to call an assistant for each ward.
Have you searched the Help Center? Try doing a Google search and adding "site:churchofjesuschrist.org/help" to the search criteria.

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mrichman
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Re: Larix Broadcaster (Webcast from a cell phone)

#20

Post by mrichman »

Sorry that I am coming in on this a little late to the party on this and I apologize if the answer is elsewhere on these forums, but is there any ability to have repeat meetings.

Meaning the rtmp URL's can be reused each week by the wards and members accessing the event? Allowing for less complication each week?

Thank You,
Michael
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