Webcast S/W A/V problems

I'm trying some simple tests of the LDS Meetinghouse Webcast S/W to prove it out before we try to put it to use. I'm using Webcast S/W v2.1.0.1.

My first test setup was with a simple webcam. That test went fine. Audio and Video were both transmitted. The latency (~70s) while not desireable is within expected limits (this test was actually with the beta Webcast S/W).

My next test was from our meetinghouse A/V equipment. A pan/tilt/zoom camera with building audio was brought to a Plextor PX-AV100U. Component video and audio went into the AV100 and was converted to digital and fed to the computer via USB. In this instance the Webcast S/W recieved the video and could broadcast it, but it would not receive the audio. Nothing I tried could get the S/W to see the audio stream. I am able to record both audio and video from this setup using Windows Movie Maker, so I know video and audio are both making it into the computer.

My next test was using a Sony DCR-HC28 Camcorder and a Canopus ADVC110 video converter. The ADVC takes component A/V from the camcorder and converts it to a DV stream feeding into the computer via firewire. Once again, Windows Movie Maker can see and record both audio and video. In this setup, I get no audio and only a black video screen. If I try to use the "configure" button next to the video drop-down box, I get a pop-up that says "An error occurred in this application. Please email the error details to Church representatives for assistance". It doesn't say who these "church representatives" may be, but I presume it's not my local missionaries.

My setup seems to be pretty much what is suggested by the help pages I can find on-line. Can anyone tell me what I may be doing wrong?

People webcast every day. The setup should not be this hard. I can't help but think there's something wrong with the Webcast software, but others seem to be having success so I'm hoping someone can point me in the right direction.

Follow up:

I've been able to verify that with the ADVC setup, audio and video can also be received by Windows Media Endcoder. WME can save the audio and video to a file.
I installed VLC and it too can see the video and audio streams from the ADVC 110. Seems that only the Meetinghouse Webcast software can't see it.

I called the Global Service Desk and got nowhere with them.

Just so I'm clear, are you talking about the encoder seeing the audio in to the computer or the software decoding the broadcast stream?

Windows media encoder can see the audio stream. The church Webcast software cannot. Because the Webcast software cannot, it is not broadcast.

The only thing I can think of is that the software is looking for the audio from a specific input and ignoring all others. On a typical desktop PC, there's line in and mic in. Laptops tend to only have a mic in. Of course with a video capture card, there's more inputs involved.

Wish I could give a better suggestions.

Has anyone tried to use this software with WMP 9 on a Mac?

Brooksby,

How is your testing going?

We are getting ready to start

Try using the Plextor for the video and running the audio into the onboard card on the computer. For some reason, the webcast software does not play well with the audio that comes over a USB connection.
See the release notes for more info.

Aaron Z

Due to the problems with the audio and the inherent lag in the A/V feed, we gave up on this solution for our needs. We'll keep it in mind for the future. I did not find a solution for the audio via the Plextor unit, but will try the solution mentioned here (audio via computer line-in) in the future if we try again.

brooksby wrote:Due to the problems with the audio and the inherent lag in the A/V feed, we gave up on this solution for our needs.

When you say "the inherent lag" were you taking about audio out of sync with video, or were you using this in the same complex and the digital lag was creating problems?

By "inherent lag" I meant that there is a 70s delay in the encoding, transmission to SLC, and rebroadcast. The audio and video are in sync, they just suffer a long delay.

When I use Skype for a video call things run without such a delay. If I were using VLC this delay would not exist. I'm not sure why the church decided to use a system with this kind of delay, but it makes it unusable for two way communication. If I want to have a conference call with a far-flung unit in our stake, this system is not an option.

brooksby wrote:it makes it unusable for two way communication.

OK, thanks for the clarification. I was thinking "broadcast" and wondering why the delay was a problem.