[NFBMO] 2018 State Convention Streaming Report

Tue Apr 17 03:34:30 UTC 2018

Hi Randy and all,

As someone who thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated the ability to stream the convention, I feel that no apology is necessary. Sure, there were issues as you laid out in your message, but overall, I felt very much like I was still a part of the proceedings. At many points throughout the weekend, I had the stream airplaying on my AppleTV, so it was almost like you guys were in my living room.

This is one of the first years that I have not been able to attend the Missouri convention since I joined the affiliate in college, and I missed you all more than I can say. Having the stream gave me an opportunity to feel like I was a part of things even though I couldn’t be there in person, and that meant a great deal to me.

Given your incredibly thorough analysis of how the streaming went this year, I am sure that you will address any issues next year. It is clear to me that you care a great deal about doing the best job that you can and providing the best results possible, and that is to be commended. I had not gotten a chance yet to email Gene in response to his questions about the convention stream, and when I saw your message tonight, I thought this would be a great opportunity to publicly express my deepest thanks for providing the Stream and to say how very much it meant to me to be able to take part in the convention in this way.

Chris

Sent from my iPhone

> On Apr 16, 2018, at 9:00 PM, Randy C via NFBMO <nfbmo at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> *2018 State Convention*
> 
> *Streaming Report*
> 
> 
> Total views: 104
> 
> Saturday Morning Session had 46 views.
> 
> Saturday Afternoon Session had 16 views.
> 
> Saturday Evening Banquet had 29 views.
> 
> Sunday Morning Session had 13 views.
> 
> 
> Viewer Locations
> 
> Missouri 46
> 
> Colorado 19
> 
> Washington 10
> 
> Michigan 8
> 
> Minnesota 5
> 
> Nebraska 5
> 
> Other States 11
> 
> 
> I suspect that our views would have been much higher if it had not been for
> our numerous audio issues (described below).
> 
> 
> *1. Audio Echo* – When I began to stream Saturday morning there was a
> really bad echo. I didn’t know about this echo until I was informed of it.
> It turns out I was getting my audio from two different external microphones
> and not getting any sound from the mixer where I was supposed to be getting
> my audio.
> 
> 
> *2. Audio Drop Outs* – Saturday morning when I determined that I was having
> audio problems. I was attempting to troubleshoot and once I determined that
> I was not going to get any audio out of the mixer, I began trying to figure
> out which external mic would be best to use. The troubleshooting process
> caused many short audio drop outs. Also, I decided to use the microphone on
> the camera and I did not realize that the camera commands are issued on the
> same channel that the audio output comes from, so every time I would give
> the camera a command such as pan, tilt and/or zoom it would cause the sound
> to drop out.
> 
> 
> *3. Audio Quality* – The microphone on my camera is lousy. Because I was
> forced to use the camera's microphone it caused the entire audio output of
> the stream to be lousy.
> 
> 
> *4. Audio/Video Sync.* - There is a control in my encoding software to sync
> my audio and video together. With all of the audio problems that I was
> having, I simply forgot to sync the audio and video.
> 
> 
> *5. One Major Stream Drop* – Near the end of the Saturday afternoon
> session, Microsoft thought that it might be a good time to update the
> computer that was handling the stream. Part of this update included a
> system reboot and I was unable to stop it. So we lost the stream for a good
> 10 min. while Microsoft rebooted and updated my streaming computer.
> 
> 
> *5. Internet Quality* – While my tests on the internet connection showed a
> significant amount of packet loss, it still seemed to be a stable enough
> connection. With all of the other problems that I had, it is impossible to
> determine how great of an impact that the packet loss had on the stream
> itself.
> 
> 
> *To Dos:*
> 
> 1. Bring headphones so that I can monitor the audio output of the stream.
> 
> 2. Spend more time pretesting all of my connections.
> 
> 3. Bring a high quality microphone and enough cable to place it in a good
> location in case I cannot get audio from the mixer.
> 
> 4. Never use the microphone on the camera.
> 
> 5. Sync audio and video.
> 
> 6. Find the control that allows Microsoft to automatically reboot your
> computer and turn it off.
> 
> 
> *In Summery:* While I was able to maintain an online video stream to the
> website for most of the General Sessions and Banquet, I really dropped the
> ball with the audio portion of the stream and while video is nice, audio
> content is our priority. If I were grading my own performance,
> unfortunately I would have to give myself a “D” at best.
> 
> 
> I wish to offer my deepest apologies to anyone who was trying to monitor
> the convention stream. You may rest assured, although I personally make my
> share of mistakes, I rarely make the same mistakes twice.
> 
> 
> Respectfully Submitted,
> 
> Randy Carmack
> 
> NFBMO.org Website Administrator
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