End of Webcasting in July 2022: Please transition to Zoom

Discussions around receiving, originating, and holding Church broadcasts and conferences in meetinghouses including schedules, setup, equipment, and support.
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benturley
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Re: End of Webcasting in July 2022: Please transition to Zoom

#41

Post by benturley »

We've been using a Teradek VidiU and were looking for solutions to move our meeting broadcasts to Zoom with minimal added cost/complexity. To do that, we're testing a cloud-based relay option that enables broadcasting from our existing Teradek (or any RTMP stream) to Zoom, without the need for any additional computer or A/V hardware.

Essentially it's a custom script that spins up and configures a secure cloud instance on AWS on demand (when our meeting is scheduled each week), starts the Zoom webinar, and relays the incoming Teradek stream to the Zoom webinar in real-time. It also shows a fallback image for any periods when the device isn't broadcasting, such as before the meeting has started. To make the switch, we just had to set up the Zoom webinar, then change the "Remote XML" URL on the Teradek.

Software components include nginx-rtmp-module, v4l2loopback, snd-aloop, the Zoom client for Linux, and a nodejs service to tie it together. Estimated AWS costs (including bandwidth) are less than $1 per ward per month, as it can run on very modest specs.

If anyone here is interested in something similar, let me know. If there is interest, I may be able to publish the scripts or make it available as a turn-key solution at cost.
ayoward
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Re: End of Webcasting in July 2022: Please transition to Zoom

#42

Post by ayoward »

Can you not just use YouTube for that? You can put in the RMTP and Stream Key straight into the Teradek like you used to with the church webcast system can't you? I apologise if you need Zoom for any additinal functionality, I didn't see that in your post.
benturley
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Re: End of Webcasting in July 2022: Please transition to Zoom

#43

Post by benturley »

ayoward wrote: Wed Mar 09, 2022 8:28 am Can you not just use YouTube for that? You can put in the RMTP and Stream Key straight into the Teradek like you used to with the church webcast system can't you? I apologise if you need Zoom for any additinal functionality, I didn't see that in your post.
Yes, YouTube can work too. Our stake has chosen to follow the guidance in the Church’s statement “Please transition to Zoom”. The statement does suggest YouTube for events requiring over 500 connections, but most of our meeting do not, and it sounds like the Church prefers we use Zoom for those meetings. Zoom also provides interactive features when we need them for smaller meetings/classes (with a standard laptop setup), so sticking to one platform for everything other than Stake Conference is also a plus.

If the Church’s recommendation has changed since the statement attached in the first post of this thread, let me know.
ayoward
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Re: End of Webcasting in July 2022: Please transition to Zoom

#44

Post by ayoward »

Well, I'm not sure about the recommendation changing, but what I do know is that when Elder Ballard, Elder Holland and Elder Cook visited the British Isles recently, they held a special meeting broadcast to the members over here from the Hyde Park Chapel in London. This was broadcast only on YouTube, so I thought if it's good enough for them, it will be good enough for our stake. :D
ayoward
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Re: End of Webcasting in July 2022: Please transition to Zoom

#45

Post by ayoward »

Don't get me wrong, we still use Zoom for our normal Sunday services in the wards.
Wattsuk
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Re: End of Webcasting in July 2022: Please transition to Zoom

#46

Post by Wattsuk »

ayoward wrote: Wed Mar 09, 2022 9:50 am Well, I'm not sure about the recommendation changing, but what I do know is that when Elder Ballard, Elder Holland and Elder Cook visited the British Isles recently, they held a special meeting broadcast to the members over here from the Hyde Park Chapel in London. This was broadcast only on YouTube, so I thought if it's good enough for them, it will be good enough for our stake. :D
That was specifically because of capacity reasons, but I take your sentiment.

YouTube is still encouraged as an overflow/backup option. It's not forbidden or anything.

YouTube offers better audio and video quality but Zoom offers the benefit of consolidation and also tighter controls on the viewing experience. For example, being shown random adverts on YouTube.

We're still weighing our options and haven't yet committed to either.
Progression from Webcast + Mevo means YouTube is the logical step as it requires no difference in hardware, just settings to update.
matthewdavis
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Re: End of Webcasting in July 2022: Please transition to Zoom

#47

Post by matthewdavis »

benturley wrote: Sat Mar 05, 2022 11:50 am We've been using a Teradek VidiU and were looking for solutions to move our meeting broadcasts to Zoom with minimal added cost/complexity. To do that, we're testing a cloud-based relay option that enables broadcasting from our existing Teradek (or any RTMP stream) to Zoom, without the need for any additional computer or A/V hardware.

Essentially it's a custom script that spins up and configures a secure cloud instance on AWS on demand (when our meeting is scheduled each week), starts the Zoom webinar, and relays the incoming Teradek stream to the Zoom webinar in real-time. It also shows a fallback image for any periods when the device isn't broadcasting, such as before the meeting has started. To make the switch, we just had to set up the Zoom webinar, then change the "Remote XML" URL on the Teradek.

Software components include nginx-rtmp-module, v4l2loopback, snd-aloop, the Zoom client for Linux, and a nodejs service to tie it together. Estimated AWS costs (including bandwidth) are less than $1 per ward per month, as it can run on very modest specs.

If anyone here is interested in something similar, let me know. If there is interest, I may be able to publish the scripts or make it available as a turn-key solution at cost.
I would love to see this. We have yet to move off the webcast platform, so if your setup will be seemless and use Zoom, I would love to follow-suite.
lajackson
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Re: End of Webcasting in July 2022: Please transition to Zoom

#48

Post by lajackson »

Our stake transitioned from the Church webcast system to YouTube Live. The decision was very simple. We used the back-up option.

The notice at the Meetinghouse Webcast Event Manager site says
Please make the transition to the Church-sponsored Zoom accounts (Preferred) or YouTube Live (Back-up option) ASAP!.
Our stake has a Teradek VidiU encoder in a very expensive audiovisual rack that we were feeding directly to the soon to be decommissioned Church webcast system. The preferred option, to transition to Zoom, would require the purchase and maintaining of expensive additional equipment including something akin to a laptop and other connection devices that would become obsolete and require replacement regularly.

The back-up option, YouTube Live, required less than 10 minutes* to enter new streaming codes into the encoder. I did not need to use my credit card, other than to scrape some ice off of my windshield the day I made the switch.

* In the interest of full disclosure, I tried off and on for three months to get my encoder to speak with YouTube. My faith was not sufficient to risk losing the Church connection by messing up those settings. But in the end, those settings were the cause of my troubles. On my last and successful attempt, I wiped the encoder memory, reset it from scratch with the YouTube codes, rebooted the encoder, and webcast on the first try. I should have done that at the very beginning.
benturley
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Re: End of Webcasting in July 2022: Please transition to Zoom

#49

Post by benturley »

matthewdavis wrote: Sun Mar 13, 2022 5:48 am I would love to see this. We have yet to move off the webcast platform, so if your setup will be seemless and use Zoom, I would love to follow-suite.
Glad to know we're not the only ones interested in this. We did a full test today, broadcasting our sacrament meeting using the new cloud-based solution (Teradek to Zoom) and it worked perfectly.

If I can find some time in the next week or two, I'll see if I can put together a basic self-serve option for other wards wanting to use this, so you can essentially just upload a CSV/spreadsheet of meeting dates/times (and Zoom info), and it will set up everything and provide a unique XML configuration URL for your Teradek, similar to the soon-to-be-retired Church webcast solution. Will keep you posted.
jsorens6
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Re: End of Webcasting in July 2022: Please transition to Zoom

#50

Post by jsorens6 »

benturley wrote: Sun Mar 13, 2022 5:33 pm
Glad to know we're not the only ones interested in this. We did a full test today, broadcasting our sacrament meeting using the new cloud-based solution (Teradek to Zoom) and it worked perfectly.

If I can find some time in the next week or two, I'll see if I can put together a basic self-serve option for other wards wanting to use this, so you can essentially just upload a CSV/spreadsheet of meeting dates/times (and Zoom info), and it will set up everything and provide a unique XML configuration URL for your Teradek, similar to the soon-to-be-retired Church webcast solution. Will keep you posted.
I'd be very interested in this. It's way beyond my technical capabilities to develop that on my own and am really looking to keep it as simple as the current webcast format is.
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