Stake Conference and Issues

I just want to take a few minutes to write up about our first webcasting of stake conference this weekend. Things went well, but we did have issues.

We used the latest beta version as the production version hit the street way too close to the actual feed. The video was terrific, but we had issue with the sound. We had 5 buildings receiving the feed.

at one building the sound was terrific and they said that it was just like watching general conference, which is great. The other buildings had issue with sound and it was too soft. We had tested before and the people at the receiving end said things were good and volume sounded great. The only issue was that we had a 60hertz hum on the line which would have been very annoying.

So we had the audio cable replace just before the weekend. We got rid of the hum, but it might have affected the sound, but with one building sounding great and the other having issue. I will need to check on how the cable is plugged into the chapel amplifier so that I plug it into the computer properly.

We were using a Dell XPS Studio with AMD process. It has a Happenguge video card. With this card the software will not recognize the TV channel with audio or the audio inputs from it. So what I did was use the composite video on the card for video input and then plugged the sound into the sound card.

Which brings me to my next issue. Everything seemed to worked great from my end. I let it run most of the day on Saturday afternoon and evening. In the evening, we did a test so that Sunday would be "perfect." I had one use that really helped me and it turned out to be the building the was the best.

As he watched it he noticed that the video and audio was out of sync. I thought I noticed something along those lines during the afternoon session, but I just ignored it. So I stopped the broadcast and restarted it and everything went back to being in sync. So we let it run and in about 45 minutes the sync started to go out again. So we stopped it and started again and it was fine.

Since we noticed this on Saturday night, the decision was made to stop the webcast at the intermediate hymn on Sunday and start it for the second half. I was informed later that just before we stopped it, the sync was started to get out, which was about an hour in.

So it looks like anytime between 45 minutes to an hour or more the audio and video will become out of sync. This could be the way that I had it set up, with the video on the TV capture card and the audio on the sound card.

On the webcast program you have two videos, the one for the video and audio and then the main one that shows what is going to SLC. It looked like the sync for the video and audio on the bottom was good, but the one going to SLC was off.

So I'm wondering if someone else has noticed a sync issue using the software version? If so what can be done about it to remove it so that I can run 2 hours without stopping it? Also, I need to work on the audio issue and make sure that my end is hooked up correctly and is pumping out the best audio so that the receiving station get a good audio signal.

Thanks for the help in advance and I look forward to getting this issue solved.

harddrive wrote:As he watched it he noticed that the video and audio was out of sync. I thought I noticed something along those lines during the afternoon session, but I just ignored it. So I stopped the broadcast and restarted it and everything went back to being in sync. So we let it run and in about 45 minutes the sync started to go out again. So we stopped it and started again and it was fine.

It is fairly common for the video and audio to be (or get) out of sync since they technically are two separate data streams. The more powerful your computer and better your network connectivity, the less of a problem it will be.

I recommend using VLC for playback because it lets you adjust many factors such as the audio/video sync on the fly. I use a laptop with dual video, I connect the second video feed to the projector and keep the control on the laptop screen.

rpyne wrote:It is fairly common for the video and audio to be (or get) out of sync since they technically are two separate data streams. The more powerful your computer and better your network connectivity, the less of a problem it will be.

I recommend using VLC for playback because it lets you adjust many factors such as the audio/video sync on the fly. I use a laptop with dual video, I connect the second video feed to the projector and keep the control on the laptop screen.

So are you saying to run this on the server that is encoding the stream or on the laptop/computer at the receiving end?

We noticed the sync off on the server, before it even got sent out.

I'm thinking of going directly off the server without going through the server in SLC.

harddrive wrote:We were using a Dell XPS Studio with AMD process. It has a Happenguge video card. With this card the software will not recognize the TV channel with audio or the audio inputs from it. So what I did was use the composite video on the card for video input and then plugged the sound into the sound card.

Am I correct in assuming that this was a laptop? Which card were you using? Was it an onboard card, or an add-on one?

Thanks

Aaron Z

Aczlan wrote:Am I correct in assuming that this was a laptop? Which card were you using? Was it an onboard card, or an add-on one?

Thanks

Aaron Z

You are incorrect. The server is a full size workstation. You can find more about it here http://www.dell.com/us/p/studio-xps-7100/pd. It is an AMD processor with 6 cores on it. The server has 8 gigabytes of RAM and a 1 gigabyte harddrive.

The TV Capture card is Hauppauge HVR1250 hybrid TV Tuner with Remote Control. This is an add in card and the sound card is on the motherboard.

The remote machines were laptops. My plan is to have the clerk computers act as receivers in the future and not using personal laptops. The clerk computers would be plugged into the TV distribution of the buildings.

I am the product manager for streaming at Church HQ. Thank you for providing feedback on your experience - we definitely want to hear how things are going!

We've had less-than-ideal results with some of the video capture devices made specifically for TV capture. Sometimes they work okay, but not always.

We have also seen what you experienced in splitting the video and audio streams through two different devices - they can become out of sync. Obviously, you didn't have a choice since the software wasn't recognizing the audio portion of the card.

We've had much better results with cards built specifically for streaming capture that successfully grab both video and audio. The Osprey 230 from Viewcast is a very solid product that we've used successfully with Meetinghouse Webcast Software. So you may want to take a look at that product.

we had sync problems with a Dell computer that the Stake clerk uses, and a Roxio usb video capture device.

Is the meeting house webcast communicator appliance still recommended or should we just get a new dell xps PC with an osprey 230? Is the webcast communicator still for sale, i didnt see it in the lds store?

abcampa wrote:Is the webcast communicator still for sale, i didnt see it in the lds store?

Yes, it's still available on store.lds.org. I found it easily by searching for "webcast". You have to be logged in with your LDS Account and have an appropriate stake calling in order to see it.

abcampa wrote:Is the meeting house webcast communicator appliance still recommended... ?

Although I've used it with good results, I would ask ksolsen that question directly before you committed to purchasing a new Webcast Communicator box. The Meetinghouse Webcast software is already a couple of revisions ahead and I believe it will continue to be where the developers focus their efforts.

Also note, the Osprey 230 is a PCI-X card, which is a difficult slot to find in a new PC. Hopefully, the development team will release an updated and expanded list of compatible capture cards. Maybe even one of the many PCI-E flavors now available. [hint]

aebrown wrote:Yes, it's still available on store.lds.org. I found it easily by searching for "webcast". You have to be logged in with your LDS Account and have an appropriate stake calling in order to see it.

Thx, I guess I need to get my account adjusted or have the stake presidency look at it.

Mikerowaved wrote:Although I've used it with good results, I would ask ksolsen that question directly before you committed to purchasing a new Webcast Communicator box. The Meetinghouse Webcast software is already a couple of revisions ahead and I believe it will continue to be where the developers focus their efforts.

Also note, the Osprey 230 is a PCI-X card, which is a difficult slot to find in a new PC. Hopefully, the development team will release an updated and expanded list of compatible capture cards. Maybe even one of the many PCI-E flavors now available. [hint]

Thx for the info I will get with ksolson

Hi All, we just had a session of Stake Conference and the Video and Audio starts getting out of sync. My Stake Technologist says everything he is seeing and hearing is great. My audio and video starts out well, but it starts creeping out of sync. I am using a HP G7 I3 Corr w/4 gig Ram. I can stream things from LDS.ORG and Youtube.com with NO ISSUES! HELP....Is this a Stake sending site error or my receiving site????

Using speedtest.lds.org I got 2.83M download and 720K upload............What is acceptable? Steve in Vernonia, OR

OS Name Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
Version 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 Build 7601
Other OS Description Not Available
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name THEPERRYSLAPTOP
System Manufacturer Hewlett-Packard
System Model HP Pavilion g7 Notebook PC
System Type x64-based PC
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i3 CPU M 380 @ 2.53GHz, 2533 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date Hewlett-Packard F.34, 9/28/2011
SMBIOS Version 2.6
Windows Directory C:\Windows
System Directory C:\Windows\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "6.1.7601.17514"
User Name ThePerrysLaptop\The Perrys Laptop
Time Zone Pacific Standard Time
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 4.00 GB
Total Physical Memory 3.80 GB
Available Physical Memory 2.52 GB
Total Virtual Memory 7.60 GB
Available Virtual Memory 5.52 GB
Page File Space 3.80 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys

seperry wrote:Hi All, we just had a session of Stake Conference and the Video and Audio starts getting out of sync. My Stake Technologist says everything he is seeing and hearing is great. My audio and video starts out well, but it starts creeping out of sync. I am using a HP G7 I3 Corr w/4 gig Ram. I can stream things from LDS.ORG and Youtube.com with NO ISSUES! HELP....Is this a Stake sending site error or my receiving site????

Using speedtest.lds.org I got 2.83M download and 720K upload............What is acceptable? Steve in Vernonia, OR

OS Name Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
Version 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 Build 7601
Other OS Description Not Available
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name THEPERRYSLAPTOP
System Manufacturer Hewlett-Packard
System Model HP Pavilion g7 Notebook PC
System Type x64-based PC
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i3 CPU M 380 @ 2.53GHz, 2533 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date Hewlett-Packard F.34, 9/28/2011
SMBIOS Version 2.6
Windows Directory C:\Windows
System Directory C:\Windows\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "6.1.7601.17514"
User Name ThePerrysLaptop\The Perrys Laptop
Time Zone Pacific Standard Time
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 4.00 GB
Total Physical Memory 3.80 GB
Available Physical Memory 2.52 GB
Total Virtual Memory 7.60 GB
Available Virtual Memory 5.52 GB
Page File Space 3.80 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys

My question is what is the video capture device you are using. I discovered that when I used a TV capture card that it slowly got out of sync and that was within the first hour. So we purchased one of the ospry card and will try again at some point to see what happens.

You might also consider using VLC Media Player or a similar program at the receiving end that will allow you to sync the audio and video if the server decides to stream them at different times to you. I do not believe that Windows Media Player has that option.