Webinars, what are they and how do I set one up?

[overit]

...wasnt sure if this should be in DIY or HELP boards but opted for this one.

Moderators please move if you're bovverred.

I am wondering what would be involved in setting up and running webinars?

1st things first: This is how I want a webinar to work:

Subscribers would be able to see and hear me and my decks from anywhere in the world. This way I could demonstrate techniques and discuss queries.

I and all subscribers would be able to hear all subscribers and hold group discussions.

I would be able to see any subscribers (or at least their hands on their decks if they were shy) and let all other subscribers see them too so we could watch and discuss their techniques on the decks. I guess it would be hard for everyone to see everyone all the time as more than 8 subscribers would take up too much screen space. I guess I would have to switch which subscriber is visible on screen at any one time.

I guess some subscribers would only need audio not camera but they would not get as much from the sesssion if I couldnt see what they were doing.

I guess after a testing period I would want to start charging subscribers (if they werent in the adjf circle of trust that is)

2nd things 2nd:

I will have the opportunity to host these webinars from my purpose built teaching room when it is ready. In this room we have CCTV for child protection/security reasons.

Could I hook into the cctv system to get various camera angles?

So what I need to know: is there some software i need to do this? any hardware? Is it all easy for end users to operate? How would I make it secure if I wanted to charge people? is it stable and reliable for paying customers?

and finally: is it a good idea, would any of you be interested? is it too much work?

all input gladly appreciated.

[Mitch]

the scope of this is a pretty large. You might be able to do a group video chat style thing, but

you could do group a skype chat style thing, but with so many people streaming the video your going to run into bandwidth issues in getting decent quality + no lag with all the feeds. Maybe not you if you have awesome internet at your studio, but not everyone has great net and they will run into bandwidth issues fairly quickly.

there is also things like uStream/livestream, but you can't see the other people, only chat via text. And you can't really secure it to people who have paid you either, it's a fairly public thing to anyone who knows the link. So that makes it hard to charge people to watch. Would be a good way to live broadcast for free and have text feedback though.

As for hooking into the security cameras that is a whole new thing - without anymore details i would say no. it might be possible but effort to do so in most situations + my minimal knowledge about your setup i would say no.

[Kodiak]

Google+ Hangout?

Obviously people would have to be on Google+ (as they should cause it is superior to Facebook).

[overit]

]Cheers mitch

Fyi i only teach a max of 5 at a time. More than that and some suckers wont get a go. Sessions are normally. 1-2 hours.

Does that make it easier?

Edit- i'll look into drc1 recommendation and mitches but am decorating room today so on phone only.

[Mitch]

google+ looks similar to skype group chat

[wrxfiend]

I am so down for this! Hope you can pull it off, unfortunately mitch has to embed all my yt videos Lol so im not much help

[x0russ0x]

Tinychat is similar to the skype and google+ hangout, but hosted online, and the room can be made private.

[overit]

'kin brilliant.

cheers all

research on.

[wazza]

i,m so down for this...cant wait for my vestax pbs 4.

beening able to jam with you live from anywhere..

[overit]

YES blud.

[overit]

okely dokely auserinos.

I've set up a google+ account and downloaded an app which helps google stream my webcam and audio.

If any of you are still willing to be my guinea pigs and if joining google+ and downloading the app isn't too much to ask you then:

Please send me a PM with your email. I guess it's best if it is a gmail account already set up on google+ as this will save steps later on.

Then I'll try and arrange a date/time when we can sit at our decks and see if this ish works.

I'm guessing the first few goes at this will be mostly verifying audio quality, streaming quality etc so thanks in advance for anyone willing to help me work this out. We'll get to some mixing as soon as we can.

Currently sat looking at my own lonely face in lonely chatroom.jpg

[wrxfiend]

Pm sent!

[overit]

replied and sent you an invite but I gotta go work now.

Will try test again soon. thanks for quick response, i guess we're gonna have to plan a time we can both sit down.

chk your PM too buddy.

[Tomy]

Webinar stuff can get pricey.

gotomeeting.com

http://www.adobe.com/au/products/adobeconnect.html

http://www.pgi.com/au/en/

sooooo many.

[overit]

Webinar stuff can get pricey.

no shit mate!

I'm looking for free solutions first and they are rubbish. Will move onto trialing the pricey versions later but....

Does anyone have any experience of any of these webinar platforms that can stream audio direct from a DJ mixer?

so far all seem to use inbuilt microphones on the laptop and the resulting sound quality is shit.

or am i gonna have to buy one of these http://www.vestax.com/v/products/detail.php?cate_id=195 or similar?

[Scottie]

You can plug one of your mixer outs (someone with a mixer could be more specific here) into the line or microphone in on the laptop.

[Mitch]

has to be line in, not mic in FYI.

Which i'm pretty sure jim has a macbook anyway so he is sweet in that regard

[overit]

yeah ok, I was gonna try that.

What is concerning me is that my macbook has only one minijack in which acts as line in and line out depending on what is plugged into it.

If i plug my mixer into it I can obviously route a mic through the mixer so users can hear me. But I won't be able to route users audio back into the mixer and so I am left hearing the users through laptop speakers only. Which means I will get low quality from their audio.

The tests continue...

Webinar - y u no simple?

[Mitch]

That is a major downfall of the 13" model

[x0russ0x]

Cheap usb soundcard?

[overit]

bloody hell russ!

I've got a NI8 sat here which I only use if running traktor.

But these tests can work on NS6 and itch.

If I can select seperate channels in google Hangout GUI and if the NI8 works I'll be buzzing you whales to get in.

Will test between my own two macs at home 1st.

[wazza]

can use your traktor audio 8 sound card

[wazza]

can use your traktor audio 8 sound card

sorry to slow

[overit]

hey wazza, have you done this b4?

Google hangout is recognising the ni8 and lettign me select it as an audio device but not letting me choose the routing, i cant see any indication on the NI8 that audio is passing in or out so i dont know where my sound is coming from or going to (i know i have it wired up correctly)

Is there some extra setting to allow me to choose which of the in/outs I want sound to pass thru the NI8?

[Scottie]

is there a separate program for the 8 that allows you to config it?