[kwlug-disc] Remote vs local meetings, five months in

[Bob Jonkman]

Paul said:> two mics is a recipe for feedback.

Only if the mics are sending audio to the PA system. So you need more 
AV: The presenter's mic goes to the PA system only. Connect the PA line 
out to a separate mixer[1]'s line in,  plus the hockey puck to the 
mixer's mic in, then send the mixer output to BBB. That way there is no 
path from the hockey puck to feed back the PA audio.

I'd suggest sending the BBB audio to the PA system as well (so the 
in-person people can participate in the BBB chatter), but then you're 
setting up a feedback loop again, and you probably don't want the BBB 
chatter to disrupt the presentation anyway.

[1] There may be a way to configure JACK to send both mic-in and line-in 
inputs to BBB so you don't need a separate mixer, but I've never had any 
luck with JACK.

--Bob.


On 2024-02-15 09:28, Paul Nijjar via kwlug-disc wrote:
> On Thu, Feb 15, 2024 at 04:08:33AM -0500, Bob Jonkman wrote:
>> Paul wrote:
>>> (A large number of the in-person attendees also are on BBB for some reason?)
>>
>> Yes, if I were at the meeting then I would be on BBB too. Just as remote
>> people don't want to miss the chatter in the room, so the in-person people
>> don't want to miss the chatter on BBB.
> 
> That's a good point, but if I remember correctly most of our
> presentations display the full BBB window on screen, including the
> public chat. Others who are in-person: is this the case?
> 
> 
>> One thing that would help engagement between in-person and remote attendees
>> is to point a webcam at the in-person audience before the speaker starts,
>> during intermission, and for a short time afterwards. And if you allow
>> remote webcams during that time and project BBB on the screen then everyone
>> can see everyone else. If the bandwidth requirements of all-webcams is too
>> much, at least show the chat box to the in-person audience so those without
>> a personal BBB device can still get some of the online flavour.
> 
> We have been staying away from webcams on BBB for bandwidth reasons.
> If people in the meeting don't mind revealing themselves to strangers
> on the Internet we might be able to have an introductory webcam shot.
> (Again this would end up being something others have to remind us to
> do. Yes we should have a proper script. I find that it is hectic and
> distracting getting everything ready for the in-person portion,
> especially when we are having A/V issues.)
> 
> 
>> To improve the audio for in-person presenters, maybe have two mics? One
>> lapel mic and one hockey puck mic should work well. Of course, that may
>> require some analogue audio gear...
> 
> As I said before, two mics is a recipe for feedback. Maybe we can work
> around this? I wish I had better A/V skills.
> 
> If the main issue is that people want to hear the chatter but it is
> inaudible we can play with the puck settings/placement to capture more
> of the room. We can also have people who are asking questions get
> closer to the mic (as we did for Ole's presentation).
> 
> If the main issue is that people do not want to hear the chatter
> because it is distracting then we should think about the lapel mic and
> abandon the puck.
> 
> But I think there might be a mixture of both within the group?
> 
> 
> - Paul
> 
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-- 
Bob Jonkman <bjonkman at sobac.com>          Phone: +1-519-635-9413
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