Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMCH resolution about providing a web conferencing system for the Wikimedia Movement
Am 22.02.2013 10:46, schrieb Charles Andrès: Deployment is planned for the next Wikimedia Conference in Milan. In the meantime, people interested in getting access to the tools can contact us by email at supp...@wikimedia.ch, with a simple description of the project, an estimation of the number of people interested and the frequency of usage. As the one who does this job: *briefly waiving hello* Many of you wait for responses from me since last week - I take the opportunity of this wide-spread mail to quickly response that I am still alive, I just caught a bad case of Flu in London and was totally grounded while I was in Vienna and supposed to set up the office network of Wikimedia Österreich. It will take a while until I have catched up with all my e-mail. /Manuel -- Wikimedia CH - Verein zur Förderung Freien Wissens Lausanne, +41 (21) 34066-22 - www.wikimedia.ch ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l
Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMCH resolution about providing a web conferencing system for the Wikimedia Movement
Hi Fæ and all, Richard already contacted me offlist concerning A/V equipment for conferences, so I thought it makes sense to reply on-list (Richard's in CC) to make this information available broadly. Anyway, I am not claiming that I have the best solution nor the best knowledge on this topic but some experience. Others please add their solutions and experiences. For an inexpensive audio and / or video conference we need components which we can easily connect to a PC and will be recognized by the operating system as simple audio or video inputs, like a webcam and a soundcard. If we stick to these standards we can use any conferencing software we want - be it Skype, Google Hangout or Big Blue Button (which uses simply Flash). == Video == === Webcams === Built-ins are always inferior to USB webcams, especially the angle due to their fixed position on the screen is bad. When buying a USB webcam make sure that it can be used as a standard USB imaging device. Don't buy webcams with a too high resolution! They have small lenses catching only a little light and higher resolutions typically mean darker / noisier images. 720p is good. You can't stream in HD anyway. Logitech C310 and C510 are good models. === Camcorder === Camcorder have much bigger lenses and are much more flexible in their use: ** use a small tripod ** you can set whitebalance, manual focus, shutter... ** optical zoom ** tilting LC-display - turn around so people can see how the camera image looks like ** they can record simultaneously (on tape or SD card) Make sure your camcorder as a DV output (Firewire). Plug it into your computer and you can use the camcorder as a standard imaging device. Again, you don't need HD for a video conference. At least with the bigger lense and sensor or a camcorder it doesn't hurt too much. I use a Panasonic camcorder, a recommendation (and gift) from the Austrian Broadcaster (ORF): Panasonic NV-GS500. This little tripod can be expanded up to 1m but fits perfectly in a small bag and gets through hand-baggage on an airplane: http://www.amazon.de/Cullmann-50008-Stativ-Digi-Pod-long/dp/B000AM4N10 == Audio == === Microphones === Built-in microphones are always inferior. This is true for camcorder mics, notebook mics... For most applications they are also way too far away from the audio source (your mouth). Table / Conference Mics Get extra mics. For a conference get a boundary layer microphone. * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PZM_%28microphone%29 I got this one: http://www.thomann.de/gb/superlux_e304b.htm Like most professional mics it needs phanton power and comes with a simmetrical connection (XLR). Symmetrical connections are less prone to noise and other negative impact on the cabling. Gooseneck Mics If you need better audio quality then you need to get individual mics for each participant. Goosenecks are best here, especially when you get them with on-off switches, so they participants can switch themselves to avoid disturbances. Bundle, not switchable: http://www.thomann.de/gb/samson_cm_20_p_bundle.htm Mic stand w/ switch: http://www.thomann.de/gb/km_29375.htm === Soundcards === Built-in soundcards don't work for professional audio equipment. They have noise and the line input / mic input jacks don't have the right impedances. Their power supply for condenser mics is mostly incompatible to what we want to use. There are great mixers which have a soundcard integrated. So you can just plug all audio equipment together in your mixer, check the quality via headset, plug it into your computer and get the sound right their on its own audio channels. Just make sure before you buy a mixer that it supports the USB 1.1 standard! USB 2.0 only means that you need special drivers and might end up not having a generic sound interface available in your OS. For only two mics (eg. PZM / boundary layer) I got myself this little sound card. It even has a small VU meter, so you can check the volume without a headset. http://www.thomann.de/gb/alesis_io2_express.htm Big advantage is that this device is USB-powered. No additional cables on you table and no additional source of noise in your audio system! For bigger setups I got me this: http://www.thomann.de/gb/behringer_xenyx_x1832_usb.htm This one also supports 2-track-input so you can do more complicated things like sound routing - this was needed to handle live translation of Sue Gardners visit at Wikimedia Deutschlands General Assembly. I streamed / recorded on two different back planes and switched the input planes between translation and original audio so we had english always on one back plane and german on the other. These soundcards work fine under Linux with the generic USB audio driver. === Speakers Better in virtual conferences would be headphones. Everyone knows the negative effects in Skype meetings if somebody doesn't use a headset. Echos and other disturbances. Put the speakers far away from the mics but so you can still hear
Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMCH resolution about providing a web conferencing system for the Wikimedia Movement
Thank you Manuel, this is precisely the kind of information I was hoping for and will be very useful. I hope you've recovered from the flu! Regards, Richard Nevell On 25 February 2013 12:14, Manuel Schneider manuel.schnei...@wikimedia.chwrote: Hi Fæ and all, Richard already contacted me offlist concerning A/V equipment for conferences, so I thought it makes sense to reply on-list (Richard's in CC) to make this information available broadly. Anyway, I am not claiming that I have the best solution nor the best knowledge on this topic but some experience. Others please add their solutions and experiences. For an inexpensive audio and / or video conference we need components which we can easily connect to a PC and will be recognized by the operating system as simple audio or video inputs, like a webcam and a soundcard. If we stick to these standards we can use any conferencing software we want - be it Skype, Google Hangout or Big Blue Button (which uses simply Flash). == Video == === Webcams === Built-ins are always inferior to USB webcams, especially the angle due to their fixed position on the screen is bad. When buying a USB webcam make sure that it can be used as a standard USB imaging device. Don't buy webcams with a too high resolution! They have small lenses catching only a little light and higher resolutions typically mean darker / noisier images. 720p is good. You can't stream in HD anyway. Logitech C310 and C510 are good models. === Camcorder === Camcorder have much bigger lenses and are much more flexible in their use: ** use a small tripod ** you can set whitebalance, manual focus, shutter... ** optical zoom ** tilting LC-display - turn around so people can see how the camera image looks like ** they can record simultaneously (on tape or SD card) Make sure your camcorder as a DV output (Firewire). Plug it into your computer and you can use the camcorder as a standard imaging device. Again, you don't need HD for a video conference. At least with the bigger lense and sensor or a camcorder it doesn't hurt too much. I use a Panasonic camcorder, a recommendation (and gift) from the Austrian Broadcaster (ORF): Panasonic NV-GS500. This little tripod can be expanded up to 1m but fits perfectly in a small bag and gets through hand-baggage on an airplane: http://www.amazon.de/Cullmann-50008-Stativ-Digi-Pod-long/dp/B000AM4N10 == Audio == === Microphones === Built-in microphones are always inferior. This is true for camcorder mics, notebook mics... For most applications they are also way too far away from the audio source (your mouth). Table / Conference Mics Get extra mics. For a conference get a boundary layer microphone. * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PZM_%28microphone%29 I got this one: http://www.thomann.de/gb/superlux_e304b.htm Like most professional mics it needs phanton power and comes with a simmetrical connection (XLR). Symmetrical connections are less prone to noise and other negative impact on the cabling. Gooseneck Mics If you need better audio quality then you need to get individual mics for each participant. Goosenecks are best here, especially when you get them with on-off switches, so they participants can switch themselves to avoid disturbances. Bundle, not switchable: http://www.thomann.de/gb/samson_cm_20_p_bundle.htm Mic stand w/ switch: http://www.thomann.de/gb/km_29375.htm === Soundcards === Built-in soundcards don't work for professional audio equipment. They have noise and the line input / mic input jacks don't have the right impedances. Their power supply for condenser mics is mostly incompatible to what we want to use. There are great mixers which have a soundcard integrated. So you can just plug all audio equipment together in your mixer, check the quality via headset, plug it into your computer and get the sound right their on its own audio channels. Just make sure before you buy a mixer that it supports the USB 1.1 standard! USB 2.0 only means that you need special drivers and might end up not having a generic sound interface available in your OS. For only two mics (eg. PZM / boundary layer) I got myself this little sound card. It even has a small VU meter, so you can check the volume without a headset. http://www.thomann.de/gb/alesis_io2_express.htm Big advantage is that this device is USB-powered. No additional cables on you table and no additional source of noise in your audio system! For bigger setups I got me this: http://www.thomann.de/gb/behringer_xenyx_x1832_usb.htm This one also supports 2-track-input so you can do more complicated things like sound routing - this was needed to handle live translation of Sue Gardners visit at Wikimedia Deutschlands General Assembly. I streamed / recorded on two different back planes and switched the input planes between translation and original audio so we had english always on one back plane and german on the other.
[Wikimedia-l] WMCH resolution about providing a web conferencing system for the Wikimedia Movement
Dear member of the Wikimedia Movement, During our last Wikimedia CH board meeting, we resolved to set up a web conferencing solution. After reviewing our needs, we decided that the most effective solution would be that of setting up a dedicated server for that purpose. From a chapter level point of view, it could appear like an expensive investment, but put in the context of the Wikimedia movement, this investment (not such a large one, in fact) could be made profitable quite easily. We plan to give access to these tools at first to all the chapters and affiliated group, as then as well for thematic groups. Deployment is planned for the next Wikimedia Conference in Milan. In the meantime, people interested in getting access to the tools can contact us by email at supp...@wikimedia.ch, with a simple description of the project, an estimation of the number of people interested and the frequency of usage. For further information on the chosen solution, you can check the Big Blue Button website. http://www.bigbluebutton.org/ For the Wikimedia CH board Charles ___ Charles ANDRES, Chairman Wikimedia CH – Association for the advancement of free knowledge – www.wikimedia.ch Office +41 (0)21 340 66 20 Skype: charles.andres.wmch IRC://irc.freenode.net/wikimedia-ch ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l
Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMCH resolution about providing a web conferencing system for the Wikimedia Movement
On 22 February 2013 09:46, Charles Andrès charles.andres.w...@gmail.com wrote: We plan to give access to these tools at first to all the chapters and affiliated group, as then as well for thematic groups. Deployment is planned for the next Wikimedia Conference in Milan. Hi Charles, Thanks for choosing to open this up as a service. I will be recommending to my own chapter that we should test out this tool in preference to non-open source solutions that we are currently using (such as Skype and Google Hangout) and I would like to offer it to the GLAMtoolset project (there are regular sprint reviews that rely on video conferencing). It would be great if we could share a test platform in advance of deployment for Milan so that we can make sure that on-line guides and advice are well established. Could we make a general offer to all chapters that if they want to use this tool to have open board meetings or committee meetings (and preferably record proceedings), that we will offer this as an actively supported service? This may mean setting aside a small budget for technical support. It seems exactly like the type of inter-chapter initiative that the WCA should seek to promote. As part of a supported service, it might be an idea to recommend what sorts of hardware kit work well with video conferencing. In my own chapter we have a history of poor audio problems, and sharing experiences of good value multi-directional microphones, recommended bandwidth and so forth, would be helpful in deciding how to minimize our spend on hardware and provide high quality recordings at the same time. It may even be an idea to have a recommended virtual meeting kit box for chapters (mini-sound mixer, mic types, mini-tripod etc.), this would make it easy for any chapter to estimate and add a non-controversial line item in their funding proposals to support good quality virtual access, in line with our shared values of openness and transparency. ;-) Cheers, Fae -- Ashley Van Haeften (Fae) fae...@gmail.com Chapters Association Council Chair http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WCA Guide to email tags: http://j.mp/mfae ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l
