Tips for Zoom Operator (The A/V Brother)

[thenewworld]

As you may know, the organization has designated 3 roles for each Zoom meeting, the most technical being the "Audio-Visual Support" brother.

 

Would it be helpful if I shared some tools, suggestions, and training for that role?

 

For example, I've found a wonderful countdown timer that plays before the meeting starts, and I also found some software that makes it easier to display the songs and images etc.

 

Let me know if you'd find that helpful...

 

[Skookum]

I would love to see anything helpful😀👍👏🏻

[Dages]

The countdown clock for the Convention, it could be nice

[Old]

2 hours ago, thenewworld said:

As you may know, the organization has designated 3 roles for each Zoom meeting, the most technical being the "Audio-Visual Support" brother.

 

Would it be helpful if I shared some tools, suggestions, and training for that role?

 

For example, I've found a wonderful countdown timer that plays before the meeting starts, and I also found some software that makes it easier to display the songs and images etc.

 

Let me know if you'd find that helpful...

 

Where did you find it?

[Portsmouth]

Andrew, I started a topic Here

Anything to help mac users get a more streamlined process for displaying images and videos would be appreciated - do you have any experience with macs?

[Qapla]

3 hours ago, thenewworld said:

Let me know if you'd find that helpful...

 

I would find it much more helpful if you would post the d/l link for this timer ...

[thenewworld]

The countdown timer can be found here: https://dany.net/tool/timer

 

You'll need to click on 'setup' in the top left corner to initiate the setup of a free account, then login and click on 'timer'.

 

As you'll see, there's a variety of settings that can change the look and feel of it. 

 

I added the JW logo and chose the globe background (it slowly rotates) in the example above.  It's a great resource!

 

 

[Jf800]

We use the VMix program to put titles and some icons in the Zoom transmission.

Edited April 23, 2020 by Jf800

[thenewworld]

We use a free software called OBS: https://obsproject.com/

 

It allows us to easily setup and play the assets (songs / videos / music / images) for the meetings.

We setup everything in advance in the software, and then it's ready on-demand and easily switched.

 

[thenewworld]

Here's some training slides I've put together to explain the roles to the various brothers who are involved...

Zoom meeting training.pdf

[serggio99]

Thanks Andrew! Do you have a guide on how you setup obs to work with zoom? How do you get the camera to show in obs without screen share? How do you get the sound to go from obs to zoom? 

[thenewworld]

OBS is not complicated, but it wouldn't be appropriate for someone who isn't familiar with the basics of these types of software.

I use a Mac, and the ideal setup would be for OBS to be seen as a virtual camera input in Zoom.  Unfortunately OBS doesn't currently have that option, so instead we select 'screen share' on Zoom and then under the 'Advanced' tab, we select 'Portion of the screen' then drag and resize the image to display it over the OBS output window while in Studio mode (one big window instead of the two smaller preview/program windows).

The sound is the most tricky area.  Again, on a Mac, it's necessary to install an extra plugin with OBS, called iShowU Audio capture, there's a link to it on the OBS website.
After it's installed, you'll need to click 'settings' on the right hand side of OBS, select 'Audio' on the left side of the popup, and then change the 'Advanced' monitoring device option to 'Zoom Audio Device'.

Then, whenever you drag an audio or video file into OBS, you'll need to update the output option for that file.  After you've imported the audio or video, click on the settings wheel for the file under the Audio Mixer section in the middle, and click on 'Advanced Audio Properties'.  In the 'Audio Monitoring' dropdown selection, choose "Monitor and Output".

 

I also recommend changing the scene transition to 500ms.

 

Another tip is to have a JW logo as one of the scenes.  That way you can show that logo just before you start playing a song or a video.

 

Once you get everything setup, it's very smooth and easy to run the meeting using this software.

[Qapla]

Sounds a bit more complicated than just using JWL to play songs and show images/videos from the WT and MWM

[Portsmouth]

19 hours ago, thenewworld said:

Another tip is to have a JW logo as one of the scenes.  That way you can show that logo just before you start playing a song or a video.

 

Once you get everything setup, it's very smooth and easy to run the meeting using this software.

Thanks for the tips, is the JW.org logo a separate scene in itself, or is the scene a transition to another scene (such as a song)

And how do you stop/start the video - looks like a play icon under the sources tab.

 

Otherwise, looks like it could work for me on a mac..

[Portsmouth]

19 hours ago, thenewworld said:

After it's installed, you'll need to click 'settings' on the right hand side of OBS, select 'Audio' on the left side of the popup, and then change the 'Advanced' monitoring device option to 'Zoom Audio Device'.

I think you might have given me a clue on how to solve a Quicktime issue I am having under 10.9.5

Quicktime does not play audio to the Zoom Audio Device in this version of macOSX, but in later versions audio under Quicktime is not a problem.

In other words, Quicktime video works, but not audio when playing videos under 10.9.5

[Portsmouth]

18 hours ago, Qapla said:

Sounds a bit more complicated than just using JWL to play songs and show images/videos from the WT and MWM

For mac users we cant use JWL for meeting media (unless you use Crossover, which I haven't tried)

And then there's the issue of how do you handle external images/content outside of JWL?

You need two apps for windows. JWL and OnlyM just about nails it (except I'd like the option to be able to fade out sound in OnlyM)

For mac, you cant use JWL so you have to use something else. OBS gives me another option of using one app, outside of using Quicktime.

[thenewworld]

7 hours ago, Portsmouth said:

Thanks for the tips, is the JW.org logo a separate scene in itself, or is the scene a transition to another scene (such as a song)

And how do you stop/start the video - looks like a play icon under the sources tab.

 

Otherwise, looks like it could work for me on a mac..

The JW logo is a scene in itself, yes.
To show (start displaying) any asset, just click on the scene that contains the asset(s).

 

Just to clarify how OBS uses 'scenes' and 'sources'.

A 'scene' is merely a label to remind you about the running order of a meeting.
For example, typical scenes for a Sunday meeting are:

Countdown Timer
JW Logo
Intro Song
Public Talk Image 1

Public Talk Image 2

Public Talk Image 3

JW Logo

Middle Song

Watchtower Image 1

Watchtower Image 2

Watchtower Image 3

Watchtower Image 4

End Song

 

A 'source' is the actual asset you want to display or play, whether it be a video, audio file, image, website link (for the countdown timer) or logo.
It is possible to have more than one source for a scene, just remember that visual sources (images or videos) are like layers, so if you drag a new source on TOP of another source, it will hide the one below unless the one on top isn't full screen.  An example of why you might use multiple sources, is when you have a countdown clock with an audio file playing at the same time.  Or it might be that you have a video, and you want a lower third graphic (like a subtitle) displayed on top of it (superimposed).

 

This video on Youtube gives a nice overview of just how versatile OBS is, especially for advanced users, it will help you understand more about how to use the software.
 

 

[thenewworld]

On 4/24/2020 at 1:53 PM, Qapla said:

Sounds a bit more complicated than just using JWL to play songs and show images/videos from the WT and MWM

It's definitely more difficult to setup initially, but in a meeting I find it MUCH easier and more seamless, compared with using JWL to play songs and show images, because everything is already imported and ready to show in the OBS software.

[thenewworld]

7 hours ago, Portsmouth said:

For mac users we cant use JWL for meeting media (unless you use Crossover, which I haven't tried)

And then there's the issue of how do you handle external images/content outside of JWL?

You need two apps for windows. JWL and OnlyM just about nails it (except I'd like the option to be able to fade out sound in OnlyM)

For mac, you cant use JWL so you have to use something else. OBS gives me another option of using one app, outside of using Quicktime.

Let me know how you get on with it, I'm happy to help!

[Qapla]

12 hours ago, Portsmouth said:

You need two apps for windows. JWL and OnlyM just about nails it (except I'd like the option to be able to fade out sound in OnlyM)

 

Yes, both JWL and OnlyM can be used to do all that is needed for meetings ... as for "fading" - at the summer Conventions the Branch has discouraged the use of fading with the audio and video transitions so we do not use it for our Congregation meetings.

 

12 hours ago, Portsmouth said:

For mac users we cant use JWL for meeting media (unless you use Crossover, which I haven't tried)

 

I'm not a Mac user so I don't know how it is done on a MAc - but I know it can be done since our WT Overseer (and the one over our Zoom Meeting Tech) is a Mac user and his wife does the songs and images for most meetings. She does these on a MAc and is using JWL ... and it all works seamlessly

 

 

On 4/22/2020 at 2:27 PM, thenewworld said:

I've found a wonderful countdown timer that plays before the meeting starts,

Still waiting for a link to this timer

[Portsmouth]

1 hour ago, Qapla said:

Still waiting for a link to this timer

Brother Andrew provided a link to a timer above - is this the one you're referring to?

Link to post

😎

[Portsmouth]

6 hours ago, thenewworld said:

Let me know how you get on with it, I'm happy to help!

Thanks for your help and starting this thread - I've learnt a lot.

My first step is to update from 10.9.5 to a later version of MacOSX

The reason I am still running Mavericks is due to some legacy software I'm running but I've solved this now and no longer have this limitation.

I'm also looking at buying a new mac mini to replace my 2012 mini.

 

I am extremely grateful to the brothers for moving to virtual meetings as it has given me a legitimate reason to purchase a whole new bunch of tech 😎😊

[Portsmouth]

1 hour ago, Qapla said:

Yes, both JWL and OnlyM can be used to do all that is needed for meetings ... as for "fading" - at the summer Conventions the Branch has discouraged the use of fading with the audio and video transitions so we do not use it for our Congregation meetings.

Good point but what I intend to do is that we use a meeting intro video (which contains Zoom instructions) which plays background music. Sometimes we need to stop it short due to timing requirements, and I want to avoid the abrupt stopping of the music, if that makes sense. A gradual fading of the audio would be more polished way to finish it off. As OnlyM doesn't have an inbuilt volume control in the app, I'm not sure how this can be done.

A very minor detail, but I'm bit of a perfectionist....😊

[Qapla]

1 hour ago, Portsmouth said:

Brother Andrew provided a link to a timer above - is this the one you're referring to?

Link to post

😎

 

Yes, somehow I missed that post - thanks for pointing me to it

[Qapla]

On 4/23/2020 at 12:04 PM, thenewworld said:

Here's some training slides I've put together to explain the roles to the various brothers who are involved...

 

In your instructions you include

Quote

•Rename the key speakers / reader with a “0” in front of their name to force them to the top of the participant list. 

 

A couple questions about this

• Is that the letter "O" or the number zero "0"
• Do you use a space as "O Person's Name"
• Is there not a space as in "OPerson's Name"
• Will this also move someone name that begins with "O" to the top of the list
  • as in "Osbourne"
  • O'Malley