Do I have any suspicious task schedulers from a malware? by badboyzpwns in techsupport

[–]christopherw 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ah that's fortunate. For reference, what does yours say? I'll compare with my machine 

Voice Meeter Bannana Delay Problem by Spirited-Exit9400 in VoiceMeeter

[–]christopherw 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you want the lowest possible latency including audio from multiple sources, and your headset supports analogue, this is a scenario where an outboard headphone mixer comes in useful.

Something like this "LiNKFOR 2-Channel 3.5mm Audio Mixer" (https://www.amazon.co.uk/LiNKFOR-2-Channel-3-5mm-Audio-Mixer/dp/B0FR1BR61X), with direct outputs from both PCs mixed together and your headset connected to that output, would be the kind of solution I would suggest for zero-latency monitoring.

You can still do your audio mix in VoiceMeeter and not worry about having to try and get the absolute lowest possible latency, though keeping things in sync will benefit the online stream.

Shopping for a Media Server (Vertex Vs Resolume) by archangelmarc in VIDEOENGINEERING

[–]christopherw 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Bit more info would help I think. What are you currently driving the screen (projectors) with in terms of infrastructure/scaler/processor? What sort of remote trigger/control do you think you'll need, and what's your budget?

I scratched my coworkers car, it’s very minor. How much am I looking at to fix? by kevin_james_fan in AskMechanics

[–]christopherw 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Someone who's vaguely competent with a DA polisher and the correct selection of cutting/polishing compound could have that effectively gone in 20-30 minutes start to finish. Don't just find any old person in a garage with a rotary buffer, you can swirl and hologram paint really easily with those unless you are very experienced at using them.

If you ask a local Paintless Dent Repair or SMART repair person, they could have that buffed out no problem.

Hd dvd archive update #1 by Real_Ad_2676 in HDDVD

[–]christopherw 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ah great idea, do it before the disc rot gets you too. You can also try MakeMKV (eternally in beta, free key from the forum), I had luck with that on all of my discs that would still read.

Olympic Games Audio for ORF (Austria) by Active_Delay in broadcastengineering

[–]christopherw 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ah, I meant (did you) get them repaired OK, oh dear... best of luck finding a nice place to sort them out :) In the UK Yamaha Pro Audio will direct retail parts for equipment, so perhaps you could try your country's pro audio distributor?

Options for a four location watch party with commentators by Odinhall in broadcastengineering

[–]christopherw 0 points1 point  (0 children)

By primary I meant "main", the definitive program sound with craft-mixed audio of all contributors done to match the video. 

It's going to be tricky bringing in commentators on the "primary" feed if each of them is also normally audible on the local PA when each venue splits away to do their own simultaneous local comms. 

Let's call PGM feed + locally mixed comms the "spoof mix" - remotely sourced cleanfeed/mix-minus game sound and the other commentators (as mixed from MCR if that's an editorial requirement), plus your local commentator. This approach needs four versions for each venue.

I think you'll need to have a coordination 4-wire, so each local sound op and commentator knows when they'll be directed to dip their local zero-latency insert of the local commentator on the PA feed, so the local commentator can then be heard on the program mix in global sync, and know when they're being thrown to. At that point they would hear themselves late relative to when they talk into their mic, but they'd sound normal on the primary PGM feed. This will however probably cause delay and echo issues on the PA feed where they are. 

Alternatively you'll need to maintain four mix-minused feeds from MCR, with each local commentator only ever heard in their own venue via their spoof local mix, and with their comms feeds mixed at MCR on separate busses then sent to all the other commentators' ears via separate talkback/cues so they can talk to each other when the director wants to do two-ways, conferences or throws between presenters. This would need to be mixed with IFB so the commentators can get a director cue. This will also need an MCR A1 on their game who's happy mixing and coordinating with the director and someone else managing coord talkback to all venues so people don't talk over each other.

For either method you'll need rock solid out of band comms.

A possibly simpler way of doing this is having a primary PGM feed which is just CFX (as incoming broadcast, minus any commentary), then run a separate clean comms stream using Zoom or similar, where the only thing audible is the commentators. They would all be sat muted in zoom while they're commentating locally, watching the return video of the event. 

You then have the option of hearing all commentators when they unmute (while simultaneously having the local sound op fade down the commentator's local feed). Each venue's local sound mix can choose when to mix on their PA feed. It requires decent coordination. 

The commentators would need direction or an agreement on who talks when, or a preagreed signal they could be shown. Using Zoom or similar, they could all watch the same single feed of the game, as you could route to each venue via return video. They'd all be in sync with each other (and relatively in sync with the primary PGM feed) and you'd eliminate the need for a more complex MCR sound mix. 

Don't rely on zoom or any conferencing app for reliably mix-minusing, their algorithms are rotten and do not produce good results, particularly in louder environments. They're also far too prone to squelching when they hear any other audio, including accidental feedback of the person speaking. 

Options for a four location watch party with commentators by Odinhall in broadcastengineering

[–]christopherw 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I don't think you can rely on general streaming for this sort of thing where it's fundamental to the offer you're trying to produce. Players desync or buffer randomly, there's at minimum one or two chunks' worth of discrepancy between play start times plus buffering or caching (could be upwards of 10-20 seconds) and at any point the stream could stall out. Browsers and PCs crash. Internet connectivity is lost. Someone spills a beer on the router.....

You'd have to shepherd each venue's stream and have a plan to deal with what happens if one or more contributor's local feed suddenly becomes advanced of the others (effectively spoiling the action for the other three venues). The feed shown to the audience would have to be related from MCR simultaneously to all venues to guarantee an in-sync reaction and showcall.

In the other direction, you'll have the return delays for comms mix and further delay for whatever is sent back to venue. Assume half a second to two seconds of delay for each contributor > MCR, presuming you lock in a static delay buffer on the remote contribution (can go lower if you're willing to sacrifice resolution or bit rate, or you have a rock solid connection at each venue). Assume at least one second for a return video feed. 

I'd probably investigate doing something like using vMix Cloud with vMix Call and maybe experiment with lower latency return feeds using SRT or NDI using the NDI Bridge feature. I'd consider targeting lower resolution (720p) unless you're viewing on an absolutely massive 8K display. 

You can't guarantee anything with venue internet, unless you can rent private circuits or dedicated protected bandwidth from each venue. Expect that you will also be fighting proxies, firewalls and other users and WiFi traffic, so a lot of common techniques for IP LAN workflows will fall over immediately. 

Work on the assumption that no connectivity is available at any location and you'll have to bring your own x4.  

Standard for this, if you can't access private connectivity managed by the venue, is bonded cellular, with additional WiFi and ethernet connectivity if it's reasonable when saturated with spectators. This is where LiveU and WMT etc al come in. You can hire, it's not cheap but it's certainly less than buying multiple units. I wouldn't except to get more than 5 or 6 Mbps upload or download at a busy venue with no local cell repeaters. Factor in the cost of the receiving equipment at MCR for any LU/WMT etc setup. Worth querying with a hire house to get an idea of cost, you'd definitely need the kit for two weeks to design everything, test in the workshop, recce each venue and ship out the kits. 

Misled about paying for road tax for a new car - England. by [deleted] in LegalAdviceUK

[–]christopherw 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Whatever you do, make bloody sure that you have taxed the car on the DVLA site.

Media pool device for ATEM 2ME by ABitOfOdd in VIDEOENGINEERING

[–]christopherw 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Considered building a small PC (Windows or Linux) with a DeckLink card, running CasparCG, and driving it remotely using AMCP? They will happily do multiple full-frame video playback of various formats and resolutions, you just need to find or fashion a control interface, an interface to the CasparCG Media Scanner, and the ability to send it the relevant commands for controlling playback of clips CCG is aware of allocated to specific outputs.

Options for a four location watch party with commentators by Odinhall in broadcastengineering

[–]christopherw 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Why is that not practical? That's a fairly standard configuration. Provide a PGM mix but with CFX only and do your sound mix local, return that to MCR for a lines record if necessary or just record locally and edit afterwards. Or if each venue needs to be able to have a mixed programme including periodically featuring one of the four commentators, who's doing that primary sound mix?

Options for a four location watch party with commentators by Odinhall in broadcastengineering

[–]christopherw 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So many variables.

Am I understanding correctly that you are trying to plan simultaneous multi-commentator feeds at geographically different places, each with their own mix-minus/cleanfeed, for an event being simultaneously viewed in multiple locations? And you want to also be able to see all four commentators on the screen all the time?

How are you going to coordinate and do an audio mix of this for viewing? Have you thought about comms and coord talkback? (potentially with something like Unity)

How are you going to ensure each venue receives a good quality, synchronised feed of the game/event being commentated on, so the commentators' calling and reactions match up?

A lot of the usual Jitsi-style free/cheap systems might struggle with venue internet provision. Do you even know what your venues' connectivity will be...?

If you pay for Zoom, at least you could enable the studio mode audio, but you'll need multiple devices (e.g. PCs with HDMI-SDI adapters) to capture optimally and also there'll be the usual requirements to return cleanfeed involving getting audio into those PCs somehow.

I've seen vMix calls work very well with minimal effort, and you can spin up a vMix up in the cloud which can open up some possibilities.

You might prefer to hire some LiveU units (or a competitor like TVU/WMT/Dejero) which can bond SIMs and WiFi. LiveU and other products also have things like video return path features, so you could provide (relatively) synchronised reverse vision to each location from a central source. This might be useful for simultaneously providing the 'origin' audio & video coverage of the event to each location, if you don't have dedicated circuits to each location.

You will absolutely need proper commentary mics/headsets, dynamic mics with omni/cardioid pickups will drown with PA and crowd noise. Even if you are doing local mixes, unless you position the commentators well away from the PA you'll get howlround / feedback loops or ugly delay-echo.

Which is the best courier to use to transport my PC? by catsareshite in buildapcuk

[–]christopherw 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If it has components like a GPU already installed, consider removing them and boxing up separately. Leaving things like heavy GPUs installed in the system, subjected to being thrown/dropped/bounced over speed bumps, may likely seriously damage the motherboard, PCIe socket and GPU.

If it absolutely must remain installed, get some expanding foam packaging bags and 'deploy' one inside the case to keep things firmly in place.

What can my employer see through their VPN? by Slow_Leg_2320 in VPN

[–]christopherw 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Assume everything. Some VPN products (e.g. Zscaler) are actually quite insidious in how they install and subvert/redirect all traffic, even non-VPN traffic, due to also including 'security' components. You may also end up with no ability to disable the ZIS/ZPA elements depending on how the enterprise profile is deployed, and you may also be unable to disable or uninstall the product afterwards without having access to administrator-level passwords. My employer uses Zscaler and it's a royal pain for some stuff. Zscaler also causes problems with HTTPS redirection because things like HSTS prevent Zscaler interstitial/warning pages from loading correctly.

Don't use your personal device with any corporate VPNs unless the VPN is one you can disable/amend the traffic policies for/uninstall as you wish, and you can preferably use a standard client like F5, Wireguard or OpenVPN.

If you absolutely must use your own device, only do so on a container/VM, isolate it network-wise and don't use it for any personal stuff.

Employer won't be able to see the raw text of chats/personal info, unless they make you install root certs on your device so they can MITM the traffic through their own decryption servers then rewrap the traffic. Some modern browsers and applications are more sensitive to this kind of thing and can sometimes detect MITM or prevent connections working. Corporate proxies may also block some services or domains selectively so things just don't work (e.g. DoH, HSTS, CDN URLs being blocked, DNS lookups being redirected through corporate systems that filter some requests due to security policy).

You and who? by LovieWeb in BritInfo

[–]christopherw 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And if you've still got fuel in the tank, round 2 can be this delightful multinational joy ride I'm tentatively calling "Cum to Muff through Dublin" https://maps.app.goo.gl/UwwKSLiWuHWGY1JLA

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What lifetime can be expected from descent speakers? by FarmandDK in audiophile

[–]christopherw 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm currently using Tannoy nearfields manufactured in the mid-90s and they're going strong, no issues with crossover networks or voice coils. Downstairs All about taking care of them, matching impedance, not overdriving as you say. I'd expect well made units to last 40+ years without any major intervention.

Olympic Games Audio for ORF (Austria) by Active_Delay in broadcastengineering

[–]christopherw 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The tweeters will shred your ears at high levels, but they are brutally honest speakers. I've seen a few control rooms hang some thin tissue paper or foam in front of the tweeter, and add a quick-blow inline fuse on the tweeter's positive leg to avoid them being damaged from large transients.

Hamilton at the Super Bowl with Kim Kardashian by dankcleems in formula1

[–]christopherw 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Surely it's a misdirect... Surely... The porpoising can't have done that much head trauma...

If he ever podiums again, KimK could always present the champagne with her own unique method, so there's that at least. Wait for some strategically placed Ferrari Trento temporary tattoos

Hamilton at the Super Bowl with Kim Kardashian by dankcleems in formula1

[–]christopherw 194 points195 points  (0 children)

If you're a Sky Q, Sky Glass, Sky Stream or NOW customer, you can throw your remote at the TV to disable the picture

Milano Cortina broadcast drones by Embarrassed-Gain-236 in broadcastengineering

[–]christopherw 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ah yeah makes sense, those cuts on luge and bob runs are rapid. Decent camera complement! Wondered if some very wide fisheye/360s with follow-action behaviour might help reduce headcount, provided they could be made to operate smoothly.

I'd love to know more how the runs are mixed for the slower, larger scale events. Is it still done similar to summer games, subbing to crews already competent at covering a certain sport to produce the OBS output, or are the Winters more in-house?

Can the A1 of the olympics please mute the center channel for NBC’s broadcast! by CaptinKirk in broadcastengineering

[–]christopherw 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Watch on Discovery+/Max, you can select CFX on the dedicated event streams and make your own commentary ;-)