Webcast end of life question.

[Mikerowaved]

Is anyone aware of documentation on how to connect the Teradek to Zoom?

As mentioned earlier in this thread, the Teradek CAN'T connect to Zoom Meeting or Zoom Webinar. Period.

For those currently using the Teradek encoder (or equivalent), the recommended way to stream to Zoom is to disconnect the Teradek completely and route the HDMI audio/video signal to an HDMI to USB3 adapter connected to a notebook computer running Zoom. None of these extra "pieces" are available from FM, meaning individual stakes will have to buy or borrow the needed equipment.

One alternative is to webcast using another streaming service, such as, YouTube Live. The required equipment list is identical to the church's soon-to-be-discontinued Meetinghouse Webcast system. We've been doing this for quite some time with great success. Our stake has their own YouTube channel, where all the wards are represented. https://youtube.com/LaytonUtahKaysCreekStake. I'd be happy to help others setup a similar channel, if this is what they want to migrate to.

[shanebankhead]

Yeah, agreed that the Zoom solution can work really well, and we've been using it extensively for some time. There are many ways to do it, but just probably will require some learning curve from some. We recently got an A/V overhaul in our Stake Center with everything connected to the Teradek, as is the case elsewhere. But the Teradek has sat unused for quite some time since we have been using OBS or Zoom (or both) for the past year. And frankly our Teradek has been more temperamental than the Zoom/OBS solutions. I'm just offering some reassurance that the Zoom solution is really easy and inexpensive to implement. But may require some re-thinking of your setup.

My biggest concern mirrors those mentioned earlier. I logged into the forum tonight to express my concern about the 500 login cap on Webinar accounts, but it appears a few others beat me to it. This will definitely be an issue on occasion. We can push overflow to YouTube or elsewhere, but I'll have to overcome some local resistance to that option, since some local leaders are opposed to it. I wonder if church Broadcast Support might offer some support for large regional meetings where several thousand may be in attendance (maybe on BrightCove)? I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

[poswald]

We may be headed to Youtube for simplicity sakes. Thanks for all the feedback and thanks for the official announcement for the the end of life on the webcast.

[Wattsuk]

Great rollercoaster of a thread as the announcement is made.

[ccordoba24]

Hi,

I came here to ask the same about the Teradek box. It costs about $1000 and now will be redundant unless someone can log in and change the settings to use with Zoom or Youtube.

The issue is also that the new stake centre's audio/visual system won't work with a direct HDMI to PC connection without an encoder like a teradek box. I tried with $50 ones but didn't work.

So can the church people look into freeing up these Teradek boxes to use with Zoom, please?

Regards,

[Mikerowaved]

I came here to ask the same about the Teradek box. It costs about $1000 and now will be redundant unless someone can log in and change the settings to use with Zoom or Youtube.

The Teradek box is NOT compatible with Zoom, plain and simple. Neither is to blame, they just do things differently. The Teradek IS compatible with other streaming services, YouTube being one of them.

The issue is also that the new stake centre's audio/visual system won't work with a direct HDMI to PC connection without an encoder like a teradek box. I tried with $50 ones but didn't work.

There are many in the forum that have had success in getting a $50 HDMI to USB adapter working with a notebook PC. Without posting the make/model of the adapter you tried and the make/model of the computer you tried it with, it makes it very difficult for people here to offer assistance.

So can the church people look into freeing up these Teradek boxes to use with Zoom, please?

It won't happen because it's technically not possible.

Everyone just needs to relax and take a deep breath. If you're currently using the church's Meetinghouse Webcast system, it will continue to function as it always has until the end of July 2022. They've given us plenty of time to come up with different solutions, or to migrate over to Zoom, if that proves to be the best way to go.

[RR_GraphixGuy]

+1 for going with the YouTube solution. When the original letter came out asking us to move to other streaming services for our weekly sacrament meetings, it was easy to transition over to YouTube. You can establish a single stream key configuration in YouTube and keep reusing it for multiple broadcasts each week... I've configured the Teradek once and haven't had to mess with it since, and there's no need for it to retrieve any kind of remote XML configuration file each time.

If other wards in the building are also using the same Teradek, then you would have to change the Teradek to use a different stream key for each ward. Fortunately the Teradek has the ability to save different manual configurations in a drop down list. The other two wards that meet in our building have since discontinued webcasting altogether (no need, apparently), but we have been successfully going on YouTube for several months now.

The only downside is that with each new meeting you do get a new, unique viewing link to share with the members. Your individual circumstances may vary, but in my case my bishop has asked that we keep our broadcasts "unlisted" and semi-private, because the bishop is encouraging members to physically come to church when possible. Only a select group of families are on a list to receive the webcast each week because of high-risk or other special conditions that prevent them from mingling with the rest of us, so I have to send out a weekly email to that approved list with the upcoming link. If we weren't making unlisted webcasts, we could simply direct members to bookmark a static link for the YouTube channel.

Additionally, my Stake PFR went and got us an HDMI/USB capture device in the event that we need to do anything more interactive through Zoom. Lately for any Stake meetings that are broadcast, the stake president has not requested for any interactivity, so the church webcast system has been used for those few events, but will now also be moving over to YouTube.

Just my $0.02.

- Mike Lewis
Cheyenne, WY Stake

[Tmorrill]

Our stake has their own YouTube channel, where all the wards are represented. https://youtube.com/LaytonUtahKaysCreekStake. I'd be happy to help others setup a similar channel, if this is what they want to migrate to.

I would be interested in learning how to set up a Stake YouTube where all our wards are represented and how to use it to broadcast our sacrament meetings. Also, are there any limitations to broadcasting this way? Are 3 wards able to broadcast at the same time? Do you also use YoutTube for your stake conferences as well?

At this point, YouTube sounds like the easiest route to migrate to, especially with a lot of our ward techs broadcasting in different ways right now. This would be a great way to get them all on the same page so we can work together to support each other as issues arise.

[brad_p]

Just a reminder that many of these Zoom vs YouTube vs other options have been discussed here: viewforum.php?f=27

For those stake techs wondering what to do next, I'd recommend looking through the conversations.

[BEWilson]

It would be great if the Church Webcast Department could post some simple instructions for options. We have old analog systems in our Stake Center and it isn't so easy to capture audio and video from the mounted camera into a computer to send out to Zoom. I am not an AV expert by any means and could use the guidance.