Church Webcast - Weekly Recurring Event & Other Updates

An update was pushed to the Church's webcast system October 27, 2020. This update includes the following:

- Weekly Recurring Event Scheduling
IMPORTANT: The RTMP URL and stream key will continue to change after every event, including events that are set to recur. We are working on a static encoder RTMP URL and stream solution and hope to deploy it by the end of November 2020.

- Region Changes – elimination of East US 2 and Japan East regions.

- Large Event – elimination of this toggle.

- Low Bandwidth Broadcast – elimination of this toggle.

The attached PDF has additional information on these changes.

Thank you. This makes things alot simpler for virtual sacrament meeting broadcasts. I appreciate you working on the static RTMP URL as well. That will allow me to always have my phone ready to go as a backup in case the encoder goes down.

This is a great addition and thanks for making it happen. If you are taking suggestion may I suggest a pause/cut the stream from the webcast controller for those that need to pause for Sacrament (I have 9 wards in three buildings that all the bishops felt it was too weird to do it at the end).

Thanks.

This is huge - thank you! Not only does this save time - but it cuts down in stupid mistakes I have made because of all the manual data entry in setting up each ward each week. We'll let you know how it goes.

Superb! This will make things a bit easier for us. Looking forward to the static URL. Thank you.

bartj wrote: - Weekly Recurring Event Scheduling
IMPORTANT: The RTMP URL and stream key will continue to change after every event, including events that are set to recur. We are working on a static encoder RTMP URL and stream solution and hope to deploy it by the end of November 2020.

Bart, this is just removed the last weekly thing we had to do for broadcasting 13 wards in our stake every week. Thank you! It's not 100% automated and I get 45 minutes back every week.

How do recurring events handle attendance? Currently I turn a screenshot of the page into a PDF and send that to all bishops and ward clerks for their attendance totals. If these are recurring events, do we have an easy way to determine differences between login days?

bretep wrote:

bartj wrote: - Weekly Recurring Event Scheduling
IMPORTANT: The RTMP URL and stream key will continue to change after every event, including events that are set to recur. We are working on a static encoder RTMP URL and stream solution and hope to deploy it by the end of November 2020.

Bart, this is just removed the last weekly thing we had to do for broadcasting 13 wards in our stake every week. Thank you! It's not 100% automated and I get 45 minutes back every week.

I really wish we could edit these things... It is NOW 100% automated! (Setting up and broadcasting the meetings)

Also, I second bradpeterson's concern about attendance. The ward clerks and bishoprics would like weekly statistics. This would be an awesome thing to automate as well.

Thank you!

So the last coupe weeks have been working well I just schedule the events prior and we hit the red "Stream" button on the encoder unit. With this new update and the important notice with the URL changing, does that mean I need to go into the encoder and set a new link prior to each event now? What does the impact of that statement mean? Sorry I am new here so trying to make sure I won't have an issue tomorrow morning.

whiteout7942 wrote:So the last coupe weeks have been working well I just schedule the events prior and we hit the red "Stream" button on the encoder unit. With this new update and the important notice with the URL changing, does that mean I need to go into the encoder and set a new link prior to each event now?

The URL has always changed for every meeting. If your encoder gets that automatically, then there's no change.

If you're having to put in the URL each week, you'll have to keep doing that.

whiteout7942 wrote:So the last coupe weeks have been working well I just schedule the events prior and we hit the red "Stream" button on the encoder unit. With this new update and the important notice with the URL changing, does that mean I need to go into the encoder and set a new link prior to each event now? What does the impact of that statement mean? Sorry I am new here so trying to make sure I won't have an issue tomorrow morning.

If you are using the auto config URL settings with a Teradek VidiU, there will be no change. The auto config URL doesn’t changer.

bradpeterson@gmail.com wrote:How do recurring events handle attendance?

I found out my own answer. They don't handle attendance at all. The recurring event stays "up top" and nothing moves to the "completed events". That attendance info with names is vital to our bishoprics.

For this reason, recurring events are a no-go for us.

bradpeterson@gmail.com wrote:

bradpeterson@gmail.com wrote:How do recurring events handle attendance?

I found out my own answer. They don't handle attendance at all. The recurring event stays "up top" and nothing moves to the "completed events". That attendance info with names is vital to our bishoprics.

For this reason, recurring events are a no-go for us.

I just ran my first week with recurring events for all my wards. All of the wards had recorded attendance, which is down at the bottom of the page, and the recurring event just scheduled next weeks event at the top of the page.

bphilli7 wrote:

bradpeterson@gmail.com wrote:

bradpeterson@gmail.com wrote:How do recurring events handle attendance?

I found out my own answer. They don't handle attendance at all. The recurring event stays "up top" and nothing moves to the "completed events". That attendance info with names is vital to our bishoprics.

For this reason, recurring events are a no-go for us.

I just ran my first week with recurring events for all my wards. All of the wards had recorded attendance, which is down at the bottom of the page, and the recurring event just scheduled next weeks event at the top of the page.

Weird. I ran a test event yesterday on a recurring event. An hour after the meeting, I had no entry for it in the "completed events" area. But I did see the recurring event change dates above.

johndcastro wrote:This is a great addition and thanks for making it happen. If you are taking suggestion may I suggest a pause/cut the stream from the webcast controller for those that need to pause for Sacrament (I have 9 wards in three buildings that all the bishops felt it was too weird to do it at the end).
Thanks.

(queue the music for Tevye to start singing the hit song from Fiddler on the Roof)

Ah - the power of 'TRADITION'!!! <--- just because that's how we've always done it...

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRdfX7ut8gw]

johndcastro wrote:This is a great addition and thanks for making it happen. If you are taking suggestion may I suggest a pause/cut the stream from the webcast controller for those that need to pause for Sacrament (I have 9 wards in three buildings that all the bishops felt it was too weird to do it at the end).

Thanks.

Interesting, so when do the people watching the broadcast do their sacrament?

The letter with instructions for this was pretty clear about the worship service is separate from the sacrament ordinance and included instructions about the sacrament service.

I only bring this up because the solution I worked on takes into account the direction given by the First Presidency, and I imagine the group at the church who work on the webcast system are working under the same assumptions/requirements, which means a pause button does not make sense.

I too have a large stake, 14 wards across 4 buildings. If we were to have a pause in the middle of the meeting, it would make broadcasting difficult and awkward for the users watching the webcast.

This might be a good topic to council with the Stake Presidency about. I would suggest having the letter sent to Stake Presidencies present during the council.

The solution I worked on can be found: https://github.com/bretep/webcast-auto-conf
Discussion about the project can be found: viewtopic.php?f=27&t=37546

The Sept 11 letter says "consider". It gives permission, it doesn't make it a requirement.

russellhltn wrote:The Sept 11 letter says "consider". It gives permission, it doesn't make it a requirement.

Yes, and it mentions the either-or to consider:

Since a sacrament broadcast does not include the administration of the sacrament, consider initiating the broadcast following the sacrament, or alternatively, holding the sacrament portion of the meeting last, so those viewing the sacrament meeting virtually see the program without interruption.
-- Safely Engaging in Church Meetings and Activities, Page 2 of 2 - September 11, 2020 letter from The First Presidency

This is why I encouraged to council with the Stake Presidency with the letter. The word "consider" gives 2 options. These are the boundaries the Frist Presidency set and constraints a solution should be build around.

Option 1. Hold a normal meeting, but only start the broadcast after the sacrament.
Option 2. Hold the sacrament portion of the meeting last.

Goal: Those viewing the sacrament meeting virtually see the program without interruption.

Please correct me if I'm wrong: A recurring meeting - at least what I can tell - does not allow you to make any changes once you create the event. If this is the case, I will hold off until January to make these recurring events for each ward, due to our rotation of start times when the new year rolls around.

nitzer280 wrote:Please correct me if I'm wrong: A recurring meeting - at least what I can tell - does not allow you to make any changes once you create the event.

Recurring events can be edited just like non-recurring events. Meeting times can be easily modified when the new year rolls around.

I've noticed that editing an event can change it's links. So, it's possible that when you change the event for the new year, it's possible it will break the static upload link.

I think I almost understand.
simply re-stating for clarification...

The address will not change
thus, the link will not need to be resent each week (because it is the same).

awesome improvement, if that is what happened.

Inkbolt wrote:The address will not change
thus, the link will not need to be resent each week (because it is the same).

The only thing that changed is that the event now can be recurring.

The upload link (for the encoder, OBS, Larix) to originate the webcast still changes each week. They are working on implementing a constant upload link, but that is not yet in place. The goal is to have it happen by the end of November.

The download link is the same for viewers. They go to the stake webcast page and select the meeting they wish to view. The list of stake meetings is the same each week, and has been so for quite some time.

bradpeterson@gmail.com wrote:

bradpeterson@gmail.com wrote:How do recurring events handle attendance?

I found out my own answer. They don't handle attendance at all. The recurring event stays "up top" and nothing moves to the "completed events". That attendance info with names is vital to our bishoprics.

For this reason, recurring events are a no-go for us.

I ran another test tonight. It is working, recurring events do show up in the complete events in the bottom.

Also, they spelled recurring wrong. The webcast says "reccurring".

I was wondering if we could download the Webcast after it's finished. It has a replay, but it prompts that the footage is only available for 24 hours... Are there any ways we can download the video? Thanks!

ljbusadre wrote:I was wondering if we could download the Webcast after it's finished.

The short answer is, no. The First Presidency has asked that we not record these meetings. The 24 hour playback is only available to those with access to the Event Codes from the Meetinghouse Webcast dashboard (STS, ATS, etc.) for quality purposes only. For example, on Sunday I received several feedback reports of very low audio in one worship service meeting. As STS, I was able to play it back and verify how bad the problem was.

Mikerowaved wrote:For example, on Sunday I received several feedback reports of very low audio in one worship service meeting. As STS, I was able to play it back and verify how bad the problem was.

Our stake conference this past Sunday was playable after the event, but lately the sacrament meetings could not. Even with the event code.

russellhltn wrote:...but lately the sacrament meetings could not. Even with the event code.

Strange. I had no problem Sunday afternoon/evening playing back events with the code. I wonder if they tightened up on the allowable time frame for playback.

Mikerowaved wrote:Strange. I had no problem Sunday afternoon/evening playing back events with the code. I wonder if they tightened up on the allowable time frame for playback.

All I know is that the recording no longer worked for me for same-day viewing to troubleshoot a reported issue. I'd verify your events have the presiding leader as "bishopric" and the event is "Ward sacrament meeting". If either of those are off, that might explain it.

russellhltn wrote:I'd verify your events have the presiding leader as "bishopric" and the event is "Ward sacrament meeting". If either of those are off, that might explain it.

Yep, they're correct. Haven't changed them since turning on recurring events. I'll see what happens this coming Sunday.

Does anyone know if there is a way to export the "Individual Sites" data after an event so that our Bishops can see who attended the broadcasts when they have completed?

When I click a completed event all I see is a very long list of the names that I have to scroll through. I have been asked to send a list of names for attendance purposes and am taking screen shots in order to do this. I of course can select it all and copy it, but It would be great if I could download an Excel file or something to send back weekly reports to them.

Any ideas on if this is possible currently? Thanks!

gbreit wrote:Does anyone know if there is a way to export the "Individual Sites" data after an event so that our Bishops can see who attended the broadcasts when they have completed?

It's currently not available, but it's been oft requested.

Thank you! Just wanted to check before doing all the screen captures again.

I've been told that Sacrament Meetings are not recorded or available for playback.

Correct. See the First Presidency letter dated September 11.

Hello,

This option "Weekly Recurring Event", now, work fine? or working to fix?

Thanks.

mdantas wrote:This option "Weekly Recurring Event", now, work fine? or working to fix?

Still working on it, but it really doesn't matter much since we've been asked to start using Zoom Webinar instead of Meetinghouse Webcast for Worship Service meetings.

Ok.

But webcast services will be cancel?

Thanks.

mdantas wrote:But webcast services will be cancel?

No, the Meetinghouse Webcast service will still be available, but the church recommends using it only for things like stake conferences where the attendance might exceed 500 viewers.

Great.

Do you have any links or documentation talking about it for me to read and train Stake secretaries?

mdantas wrote:Do you have any links or documentation talking about it for me to read and train Stake secretaries?

It was an email sent to STS (and perhaps others) on Friday.