Wolfvision and The DDMC

 

Welcome to today’s presentation! Here we have WolfVision Cynap Pro! This wireless presentation and collaboration system is available worldwide with an output resolution of up to 4K UHD. It has a Linux operating system and supports devices for wireless mirroring such as iOS, iPadOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Chrome OS and more.

Cynap Pro plays, displays, records and streams all commonly used media at the same time giving you unlimited choice of materials during presentations, lectures, and active learning classes. You can access your data easily via cloud, network drive or from mobile devices – even your laptop is no longer essential – you can simply bring your content on a USB stick.

It also lets you record all your multi-window multimedia content. Everything is captured in high definition and saved internally – perfect for use as part of your online educational program. The included Capture feature pack enables operation as capture agent for Panopto and other compatible video management platforms.

In common with other Cynap systems, the Cynap Pure Pro comes with 4K output resolution, up to 4 window on-screen display and free-of-charge firmware updates and remote management tools. Both customizable and prepared API modules are also available enabling easy room control system integration.

The DDMC had a great turn out for the in-person presentation of WolfVision Cynap Pro. The attendees were impressed by its features such as recording all multi-window multimedia content in high definition which can be saved internally for use in online educational programs.

We were joined by WolfVision’s Innovation and Product Managers Andreas Ganahl and Fabian Hirschauer for presentation of WolfVision solutions and sneak-peak at upcoming roadmap! They presented WolfVision solutions that are designed to enhance collaboration in meeting rooms, classrooms or lecture halls.

I would like to extend a big THANK YOU to the Multimedia Team at the Fuqua School of Business for their hospitality!

That’s it folks! Check out our Panopto recording for more details!

Wolfvision CYNAP Pro

App-free dongle-free screen sharing!

Connect and share your screen using the wireless technology that’s built into your own mobile device. Our wireless BYOD solutions suit all iOS, iPadOS, Android, Chrome OS, Windows and Mac devices – with full support for AirPlay, Chromecast, and Miracast screen mirroring.

Record your content

Cynap Pro lets you record all your multi-window, multimedia content. Everything is captured in high definition and saved internally – perfect for use as part of your online educational program. The included Capture feature pack enables operation as capture agent for Panopto, and other compatible video management platforms.

Multi-platform web conferencing

Cynap Pro‘s multi-platform web conferencing solution runs directly on the device itself, and is designed to solve many of the issues most commonly experienced with BYOM web conferencing systems.

Complex multi-step setup, and bandwidth issues are eliminated, and Zoom, MS Teams or WebRTC-based wireless conferencing sessions are easily started and controlled, using a simple workflow, from a touchscreen, or any laptop, smartphone, or tablet.

Stream & record to mobile

Our unique vSolution App for iOS, iPadOS, Android, and Windows lets your audiences receive and record a live stream of presentation or lecture content from Cynap Pro onto their own smartphones and tablets.

Freedom to present

Cynap Pro plays, displays, records, and streams all commonly used media at the same time, giving you unlimited choice of materials during presentations, lectures, and active learning classes.

Access your data easily via cloud, network drive or from mobile devices – even your laptop is no longer essential – you can simply bring your content on a USB stick, or download it directly from the cloud!

Annotate over any open window

Add to your content material using our built-in annotation features – or note down your ideas using the digital whiteboard, and save the output of both for future use.

If you are looking for an all-in-one with only needing to add audio processing? The CYNAP line of products is a good way to go.

Audio Engineering Society

The Audio Engineering Society Convention

AES New York 2022

What is three days in a crowded convention hall full of audio engineers like?

It’s a completely immersive experience!

Mic Placement

Abbey Road Studio 2

 

The theme of this years edition of the AES convention was clear. Immersive and spatial audio is going to be the wave that propels the future of audio industry.  The range classes covered the entire work flow of how to plan, set up, record, mix, binauralize and distribute audio for the masses. Middleware like Wwise, Dolby Atmos and game engines like Unity and Unreal Engine will give audio engineers the tools they need to transition their audio tracks from stereo to an immersive aural experience.

 

 

Some of the highlights of the show floor that will be of interest include a sit-stand ready made podcast table and Ultra Low Profile Adjustable Mic Boom from Forecast and  O.C.White Co.

Magewell Capture & Combine USB Fusion is a multi-input USB video capture devise with integrated sourse switching and layout control. Offering two HDMI inputs and one USB webcam input, USB fusion can switch between sources or combine two inputs simultaneously into one output (picture-in-picture or side-by-side) for capturing into popular software via its USB 3.0 interface.

Magewell

Magewell Fusion

The Klover Mik 09 parabolic microphone is by far one of my favorites of the show! Engineered for the modern videographer, the KLOVER MiK 09 parabolic microphone is known as our “shotgun killer.” Attach it to the camera’s shoe mount, mount it to a light pole, attach a pistol grip, or even hang it from the ceiling, for long-range audio that’s always ready. By far the most comprehensive and effective demonstration I have ever been apart of!

This mic rig deserves an award all by it self!

Mi Demo

KLOVER MiK 09

Over the years I found that going to gathering like this often reward us with information that you never knew you needed or simply not aware of. Conversations with peers lead to things you simply cannot live without.

Like Krisp’s AI-powered, bi-directional Noise Cancellation eliminates background noise from your microphone and your speaker.

krispWith Krisp toggled “on,” you can rest easy knowing that your voice—and your voice only—is heard clearly. But Krisp doesn’t stop there. Sounds on the other end of the line are identified and eliminated, so there are no distractions to break your focus during that important meeting.

For more information about these products and more.

Please contact me via Teams

Extron Electronics

Mark Bednarcik & Don Mitchell with Extron Electronics dropped into the DDMC and gave us a run down on some of the powerful tools that Extron has available for Collaboration spaces, Conference Rooms, and Lecture Halls. Also highlighting control and their new Virtual Control platform that will allow control of up to 50 rooms on one box.

Mark and Don pointed out the expansive online and in-person training that Extron offers. Worth checking out! Especially if your are in need of CTS or BICSI continuing education credits.

If you would like to review the meeting please follow this link to the DDMC Panopto to this video!

Panasonic Education Solutions

The DDMC met with our good friends at Panasonic this afternoon. All of us know they provide high quality classroom projectors. We just now discovered is they have a “pimp my projector” option with custom vinyl wraps! Custom Graphic/Logo/Colors. A 5-10 day Business day turnaround will get you stylin n’ profilin before the fall semester!

Also new to the Panasonic line of education products is their entry into wireless microphones with (11) new products that aim to be intuitive to use, lightweight and secure. Designed for lecture halls, auditoriums, the system has the flexibility to deliver excellent quality in spaces small too large.

New and notable is the Panasonic Lecture Capture & Auto – Tracking system. An all-in-one system to automatically track, record and stream video. Delivering a high quality, rich multi-source viewing experience. Co-developed & certified with Seneca and Panaopto for plug and play capabilities that should make for easy integration into existing AV systems. I have requested a (4) camera on site demo! So, stay tuned for further developments.

Check into our Zoom call here

2022 Northwest Managers of Educational Technology Conference Summary

This April I attended the Northwest Managers of Educational Technology conference held this year in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Since there’s nothing quite like this group in the Southeast, it felt well worth it to me to fly across the country to enjoy a little normalcy and connect in person again with fellow A/V professionals focused on education. Of course, I can’t deny that the location for this year’s event on the shores of beautiful Lake Coeur d’Alene was an added draw. The conference was well attended (I’m guessing ~100 attendees), and exceptionally well run. NMET is a close organization with a history that spans several decades going all the way back to the beginning of the AV industry as we know it in the era of analog media.

Lake Coeur d'Alene

TOPICS

  • Responses to the pandemic and various school’s efforts to work toward a “new normal” 
  • The CARES Act as a catalyst for A/V classroom upgrades: UNLV launched a huge new program during COVID called RebelFlex using CARES funds that is seen as largely successful that would likely not have been possible otherwise. (Duke, along with several other top private universities such as Harvard and Princeton chose not accept CARES act funding.)
  • COVID as a driver for A/V initiatives and standardization: Many schools saw decision-making for A/V and IT-related projects shift to the provost level and higher as schools developed alternative teaching strategies such “emergency”, “HyFlex,” “hybrid,” “co-mingled,” and remote teaching as pandemic responses. In most cases timelines for implementing major A/V projects sped up significantly as well.
  • COVID as a driver for A/V standardization: Oregon State University described how COVID helped their campus standardize on an enterprise A/V strategy that centered on Kaltura, Canvas, and Zoom, and quieted demand for competing tools. Interestingly, OSU does not use a dedicated recording tool such as Panopto but instead utilizes Zoom for all recording and pushes this content to Kaltura within Canvas course sites. 
  • Faculty support models for hybrid teaching: UNLV’s RebelFlex program experimented with hiring students who were assigned to in-person classes as tech support. While overall this seemed successful, there were challenges, such as the diminishment of the need for tech support as the semester went on and faculty became familiar with the new technologies involved. Additionally it was observed that faculty members tended to morph the roles of their student help into roles resembling TAs and research assistants over time, including using these helpers as moderators for their Zoom chats.
  • Building a Networking Group like NMET: Some of the conference attendees were surprised I came all the way from North Carolina to attend the conference. “You mean the Duke?” several asked. I explained there’s nothing in the southeast comparable to NMET, an education-driven organization focused on the intersection of A/V and IT. That’s sad, but not surprising in a way, since a successful organization like NMET isn’t built overnight. NMET began holding conferences in 1979 and is the result of the hard work and passion of several generations of A/V professionals who have comprised NMET.
  • The A/V Superfriends Podcast (https://www.avsuperfriends.com/): Some of the members of NMET together with other A/V professionals extending beyond that group maintain a very cool podcast for A/V professionals focused on the intersection of A/V and pedagogy in higher ed. They were actually recording new episodes of the podcast live in the exhibit area. Members of this group led several interesting conference sessions focused primarily on the impact of COVID for classroom technology. Recent topics of their podcast include: 
    • Managing PO’s and supply chain issues
    • Campus support structures
    • Auto-framing and auto-tracking cameras
    • Cabling infrastructure and TIA standards
    • The intersection of A/V and IT in hiring new staff
    • AV replacement cycles–do we set arbitrary schedules of 5, 7, 10 years or tie AV refresh projects to capital projects?
    • Bootstrapping light video production switchers into classroom systems
  • AV over IP: It was argued by some that the NDI (Network Device Interface) protocol represents the wave of the future, and that we should future-proof our classrooms by purchasing NDI-capable cameras
  • Benefits and drawbacks of Zoom certification: It was discussed this may be OK as long as not mandated or exploited for commercial benefit (cross reference Tandberg)
  • “Hybrid” (instructor-driven) vs. “HyFlex” (student-centered) classrooms
  • USB as the “common language of hybrid learning spaces”
  • Elevating sound quality in the rush to add A/V infrastructure to classrooms 
  • Keeping classroom AV UI’s simple and standard even in classrooms where there is great complexity under the hood
  • ePTZ (auto-tracking) cameras: Importance of good lighting, fixed positions are better than continuous tracking
  • Making a virtual lightboard: One presenter showed how he used Procreate and a green screen in front of presenter to make a virtual lightboard 


VENDORS

  • Kaltura: Kaltura was one of three main sponsors of the conference. As mentioned above, Oregon State University, which was the main organizer of the conference, is a Kaltura customer. It was noted that Kaltura, unlike most other vendors, still offers an unlimited storage and bandwidth licensing tier, although it was mentioned it is “expensive.”
  • Panasonic: Panasonic was another major sponsor of the conference. Their projectors and displays were used in conference venues.
  • Elmo was showcasing its wide array of document cameras from a $200.00 USB to similarly portable wireless options starting at ~$800.00 to its flagship 4K, 12x optical zoom version designed for fixed classroom installations, the PX-30E (MSRP $3700.00). Interestingly, while WolfVision is the 500lb gorilla in the doc cam space, Elmo actually invented the document camera, and is the older company.
  • Epiphan was showcasing its well-known Pearl live encoder lineup along with its cool new device, the LiveScrypt. The LiveScrypt connects to Epiphan Cloud to add live ASR-based captions to your live production. These captions can be embedded with your live streams or sent out to monitors in the room for display for in person or hybrid events. There is a charge of $10.00/ hr to use the cloud-based ASR service in addition to the $1,500.00 cost of the device itself.
  • Alfatron had its wide range of PTZ cameras on display, ranging from a MSRP of $700.00 to $2150.00.
  • Shure had a booth showcasing equipment by Stem, a company they recently acquired. Stem offers complete solutions for outfitting conference and meeting rooms with a range of mics, including tabletop, wall, and ceiling mounted ones, together with a hub and an integrated control system for managing the individual elements.
  • Smart was demoing its latest lineup of interactive displays
  • Legrand AV showcased a wide range of products focused on physical classroom infrastructure, including displays, display mounts, projectors, PTZ cameras, speakers, device controllers, and network switches. Legrand is a large company that owns Vaddio, Chief, Da-Lite, and Middle Atlantic Products.
  • Cleardigital featured its modular display wall called Vue featuring very smooth touch surfaces and replaceable panels as well as other products such as a PTZ cam, the RL400, a portable doc cam and an all-in-one conference camera.
  • Newline Interactive was featuring its newest interactive and non-interactive displays ranging from 27” to 98”
  • AVer gave a conference session demo-ing its new autotracking PTZ camera, the TR333V2. The TR333V2 offers:
    • 30x optical zoom
    • Sophisticated pre-set configuration, including the ability to move in and out of continuous tracking and fixed position mode based on how an instructor moves in the classroom
    • 4k
    • 3G-SDI, HDMI, IP, and USB output 
    • Full or half body tracking

ThingLink Pilot at Duke Has Potential for 360 Video, Images

Duke Learning Innovation recently launched a new pilot of a tool called ThingLink. ThingLink offers the ability to annotate images and videos using other images, videos, and text to create visually compelling, interactive experiences. One  core use case for ThingLink is to start with a graphic (such as a map) or a photograph as a base and place buttons in strategic places that users can click to expose more information. ThingLinks can also link to other ThingLinks to create structured learning experiences.ThingLink Example

The screenshot above is from an example project on ThingLink’s “Featured” page by Encounter Edu. In this example, viewers can click on the “+” signs to reveal more information about each portion of the carbon cycle.

While creation of learning objects like these could have wide value for education, one aspect of ThinkLink we think DDMC-ers might find intriguing is its AR/ VR authoring capabilities. A challenge for 360 video, even with professionally produced material, can be that viewers sometimes feel lost clicking around trying to figure out what to look at next. With a tool like ThingLink’s VR editor, you can curate the experience by creating guideposts, and in doing so provide your users with a potentially more rewarding experience as they engage with 360 videos and images.

OIT Media Technologies production team is going to be reviewing ThingLink’s VR/ AR capabilities and posting their findings to the blog.

If you or others on your team would like to test ThingLink out, you apply to be a part of the pilot here: https://duke.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6R07iAqB2jeXYGh

Links

 

2019 Lecture Capture Survey

We’re excited to announce that our 2019 Lecture Capture Survey is complete. We had a chance to take a birds eye view of ten of the leading lecture capture tools and make some observations about general trends in this rapidly evolving product space.

We hope this information will be useful to you. Please feel free to reach out with any questions or comments to oit-mt-info@duke.edu.

A publicly accessible PDF version of the complete survey can be found here: https://duke.box.com/s/r50wv3sgqanxj7pq2x7xiud6vppldqfj

-OIT Media Technologies Team

Quick AV Signal Flow with Lucidchart

When collaborating on the design of classroom AV systems, having the ability to rapidly sketch, modify, innovate, and share a signal flow diagram is an invaluable tool in avoiding expensive mistakes before install. But, creating signal flow diagrams has traditionally been a challenge for AV technicians as the software is either expensive, overly complicated, or locks the AV technician in as the single point of modifications for all time.

First, what is a signal flow diagram, and why do I need it? A signal flow diagram shows the signal path (audio, video, network, control, etc.) from inputs to outputs, for the entire AV system. It’s essentially a blueprint for the system… and would you buy a house where they didn’t have a blueprint? With a signal flow diagram, most entry-level technicians should be able to diagnose an AV issue down to the cabling or hardware level. Without this diagram, it’s difficult to troubleshoot small systems, and nearly impossible with larger systems.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been testing Lucidchart to see if it’s capable of eliminating some of the frustrations with other software-based signal flow products. First, Lucidchart is web-based, so it’s not a piece of software you need to download and manage. If you have a web browser, Windows, Mac, or Linux, you can work on your project from the office, at home, or on your vacation… because we all love working during our vacation.

The platform is easy enough for a novice user to pick up after watching a few 5-10 min. videos. But, the true power comes in the ability for the design to be shared. By pressing the Share button at the top, you can share your design with clients in a “read-only” mode, so they can see, but not modify, the design. But, you can also share the design with collaborators to speed up the process. Also, this ability to keep users up-to-date on the design means you aren’t sending PDFs of the drawings. If you’ve ever attempted to incorporate change requests from the initial release of a drawing when you’re already three or four versions ahead… you’ll understand the appeal of real-time environments.

The only negatives we see are that we are required to design our own AV hardware blocks. While this is somewhat time-consuming, once you create a block, you never need to re-create it.

Check out a quick design we created!

Wirecast 10 Adds Live Captions

Wirecast recently announced a new cloud-based service that supports live captions based on ASR (automatic speech recognition) and an rtmp re-streaming service. Both work in conjunction with Wirecast 10. This means that if you are using Wirecast 10, you can automatically caption your videos and simultaneously push them to another provider like YouTube or Facebook live. This is an interesting development because we are seeing the entrance of new ASR platforms like IBM Watson that claim to offer much greater accuracy than has been possible with earlier generation ASR technologies. I’m not sure what platform Wirecast is leveraging, but we’d love to hear from anyone at Duke using Wirecast 10 who is willing to give their 100 minute free trial a go.

New Wirecast Cloud Services

It’s a subscription-based service with monthly fees starting at $25.00/month for re-streaming and $60.00/month for live captions. Detailed information and a link to set up an account and get started can be found here:

https://www.telestream.net/wirecast/webservices/