1 ESM Live Broadcast System Setup ESM Project Carnegie Mellon University

2 System Logic Overview Encoding machinesSource machine Conf/Class floor audio L video H video Audio/Video Capture Hub Internet E1 E2 S slides speaker VGA-TV converter Event Monitor M

3 System Overview  There are 4 main logic subsystems  Audio/Video Capture Subsystem: provides the audio and video analog signals to the system.  Encoding Subsystem: encodes the analog signals into RTP streams feeding to the source machine.  Source Machine: is the broadcast source for all the audiences  Monitor Machine: which access the ESM web page to start, stop and monitor the broadcast events.  These are logic components, they can map to less physical machines depending on the set up.

4 Notes about Audio/Video Capture  Images for both the slides of the presentation and the speakers (and even the conference room) are important to the viewers. Good quality of both video source will give viewers the feeling of being in the conference room.  The audio/video cables need to be long enough to get to the encoding machines.

5 Audio/Video Capture: Setup 1 Conf/Class floor audio L video H video Audio/Video Capture slides Video seletor mixer VGA-TV converter A/V splitter Audio cable Video cable

6 Audio/Video Capture: Setup 2 Conf/Class floor audio L video H video Audio/Video Capture slides Video seletor mixer A/V splitter Audio cable Video cable C1 C2

7 Audio/Video Capture Setups  Setup 1  Slides come from laptop directly  VGA-TV converter converts from the speakers’ laptop feed to NTSC/PAL video signal  AVerKey300 Gold, ~$  Setup 2  another camcorder captures the slides  VGA-TV merges the two video feeds  The output can be Picture-in-Picture form or other special visual effects, providing video of both the slides and speakers.

8 Guidelines for Audio/Video Operators  Two operators are usually needed  First operator controls the camcorder for the speaker  Camera follows the speaker  Second operator controls the video mixer and selector to provide the desired visual effects  Most time Picture-in-Picture is good.  Occasionally, only display slides or only display speakers (Q &A)).

9 Supporting Heterogeneous Receivers  A/V splitter: split one a/v input into two  Two video encoding machines are used to encode video with different bandwidth (default:100kps and 300kps)  Better support for heterogeneous receivers

10 Encoding Machines Encoding machines Conf/Class floor audio L video H video Hub Internet E1 E2

11 Encoding Machine Hardware  Audio cable from the A/V splitter can directly goes into encoding machine E1.  Video cables link to video capture cards (viewcast osprey-50 shown) and then use USB connectors to connect to the E1 and E2 respectively.  E1 does low bandwidth encoding, Pentium II/III (>500MHz)  E2 does high bandwidth encoding, Pentium IV (>2.4GHZ)

12 Encoding Machine Software  E1 and E2 configurations:  Windows NT/2000  Sorenson Broadcaster 1.5, or mpegable broadcaster 2.0  It is recommended E1 and E2 run NTP so that they are synchronized

13 Source Machine Source machine Conf/Class floor or other places. Internet S audio L video H video

14 More About Source Machine  Source machine S can run Windows NT/2000, Linux, or MacOS. S can also be the same machine of E1, or E2.  S should be close to the encoding machines, so that there will be mininum packet loss from encoding machines E1 and E2 to S.  S should have a good internet connectivity: a public IP address and enough uplink bandwidth for at least one stream (~500kps).  If S can not satisfy #2 or #3, special handling is needed. Please contact us.

15 Event Management and Monitoring  Event management and monitoring machine can be the same as E1or E2.  All the event management (start, stop) and monitoring are done via the web interface  Real-time monitoring of  Number of people  Quality of Audio/video  Duration of each participant …

16 Component Requirement Summary Brand and websitePrice Estimation Camcorder (1 or 2)Any reasonable camcoder should be fine, such as sony one. $ Video Selector & Mixer Video MixerVideo Mixer SFX-9 $ VGA->TV converterAVerKey300 Gold: ml $ A/V Splitter Video capture cardViewcast osprey-50: /osprey50.html $100.00

17 Component Requirement Summary Brand and website, or specificationPrice Estimation Encoding Machine IWindow NT/2000, Pentium II (>500MHZ)$ Encoding Machine IIWindow NT/2000, Pentium IV (>2.4GHZ)$ Source MachineMapped to Encoder Machine I (or II) Monitor MachineMapped to Encoder Machine I (or II)

18 Component Requirement Summary Brand and website, or specificationPrice Estimation Encoding softwareSorenson broadcaster (contact them) $ (or ) Encoding softwareMpegable broadcaster 2.0: ?SITE=mpegable&PAGE=home Free Evaluation $ Hub, ethernet cable Audio/Video Cable, Power Cable, etc.

19 People Involvement  To broadcast an event successful over Internet using ESM, the most important things are:  Good preparation: work very closely with the event organizers; find out various network connectivity.  Using ESM publishing toolkit website to create the events and schedule. (very mininum work involved)  Let your potential audiences know the broadcast and the web links (created by ESM toolkit) to tune in.  One or two people should be enough for these task.

20 People Involvement  During the broadcast:  You need to set up all the components mentioned above.  Two operators (one for Camcorder I, one for the video mixer) should be enough.  One more person to monitor the broadcast is recommended.