Teams webinar\meeting\broadcast with all the bells and whistles

[Scifigirl]

Sorry if this is in the wrong place

 

We have been asked to try for a dynamic teams (?!?) meeting on our staff dev day (less than 4 weeks away)

Points we have been asked to consider:

• multiple angles\cameras (static wide, powerpoint view, etc)
  
• sound source remains the same
  
• still interactive
  
• camera follows speaker, and zooms in\out as necessary
  

 

kit we have: wired webcam, wireless radio mic that apparently works with teams

 

We are a special school and have no expertise on this and virtually no kit. Any help would be much appreciated, even a list of kit.

[FragglePete]

We've recently been using a Blackmagic ATEM Mini (https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/uk/products/atemmini) to allow us to have up to 4 cameras selectable during a Teams Live Event. We have also used this along with OBS using this as the external encoder within Teams as well. All worked very well and give a slick feel to your presentations. You can route the audio through the unit as well, or use the Audio Follow Video (AFV) option that switches between each camera Mics if so required.

 

Was a lot of work initially to get it all setup and understand how it works but plenty of guidance on YouTube and other places to give you an idea. On hind sight, I wish we got the Atem Mini Pro version as this allows you to preview what each camera is seeing so you can select the right camera at the right time. I'm going to push to do a live stream of our school production towards the end of this year.

 

Pete

[Scifigirl]

@FragglePete

Thank you for that. As i have said we have no equipment - what cameras are you using? Our AP is talking about wireless cameras, but im not sure that would work.

we only have A1 licensing so i don't think Teams Live is available to us

[TechMonkey]

Simplest option: All presenters are made presenters in the meeting and share their content as needed. They can control audience being muted and audience can ask questions via chat. Using Spotlight, presenter can be forced to be main camera view when talking or the person asking a question if you want them to ask over video. Easy to setup but need to trust the presenters to be able to manage it themselves. No extra kit needed.

 

Harder option: lots of devices with cameras and using the Broadcast feature someone will be able to mix them together. Will need someone acting as the producer/director. Only really worth it if you are adding external cameras to broadcast someone doing an actual real life presentation. Less interactive as the audience can only ask text questions and more complex with many setting up many devices. Need as many extra cameras and devices as angles wanted. Best if any files are shared in advance so the director can have them ready to be shared in sequence.

 

Techy option: OBS with feeds that then is fed into Teams. Think you need a higher Teams license to run this but allows you to mix titles in, Picture in Picture and make it look more like a broadcast. All points are the same as the harder option with the added technicality of using an extra piece of software.

 

From your points list:

- Multiple angles camera. I'd check if they are really needed, are presenters really going to be treading the stage?

- Sound. Same question as camera angles. If they are just in front of a PC why complicate it.

- Interactive. What kind of interaction? Very different interactivity in a meeting to a broadcast or webinar.

- Camera ability. This sounds like they want someone presenting to a big room and also people able to watch or have it recorded. You can get cameras that auto pan but they will cast. Realistically you are looking at some one manning the camera and manually moving a tripod control. First you need to find out where they are presenting as the room may not lend it self to be recorded in if it is full of people. Also the person manning the camera will not be able to be the director or involved with the presentation. Well, they could but it will be pressurised!

 

Hope that helps a bit.

[Scifigirl]

@TechMonkey

The theme of the day is "reconnection". The actual plan is one presenter in the hall with half the staff broadcasting to another location with the other half. These will swap at mid-day so everyone gets to reconnect together. (not our idea)

From what i can tell most of this will be Powerpoint and talk kind of presentation. You're right I doubt there will be much movement, however, they want the follow and close-up options available. we have purchased a USB radio mic so the sound can be separate from the audio to avoid any slip-ups.

This won't be recorded or used again but I have a feeling this will feel like the norm going forward as we are too large now to fit all staff in one room.

[FragglePete]

@FragglePete

Thank you for that. As i have said we have no equipment - what cameras are you using? Our AP is talking about wireless cameras, but im not sure that would work.

we only have A1 licensing so i don't think Teams Live is available to us

 

We've used a multitude of cameras, recently a couple of Zoom Q2n4K (https://cvp.com/product/zoom-q2n4k-4k-camera-recorder?gclid=CjwKCAjwtdeFBhBAEiwAKOIy5zSmDzNTGFgvFmp8E6t6I4DszsN0CtgZCQ8ypfX-mIoiQkdTXHnVZhoC1QUQAvD_BwE) which have superb image quality. We've also used some older Sony Handcam units.

 

The ATEM takes in HDMI inputs from these cameras. The unit is quite clever as it upscales/downscales all the inputs automatically and outputs all to the same frame size, rate, etc - you can then either use the HDMI out from the ATEM or use the USB-C connector and it appears as a webcam on your PC in Teams, etc.

 

We purchased a few A3 licenses that enabled us to use Live Events - wasn't much per user overall.

 

We're still experimenting with the best way to handle to audio, tried various methods all with some success but trying to simplify it a bit more.

 

Pete