Back to Blogland! Live and on HD!

Honey, I'm baaaaack!!!!

It has been a while since my last post on this blog, and many things have changed since then. I have a ton of questions about live streaming, HD, Internet Campus, Live Experience, and all related topics, so here are the latest updates since 2009... 

1. After created one of the most successful live streaming experiences for a Church, I completed my cycle at Flamingo Road Church (Who changed their name to Potential Church with Troy Gramling) and moved out (Q3 2011) to share more about streaming with other ministries. So Good Bye Flamingo, hello world! :)

2.   I am on a permanent research looking for new solutions for live streaming, but also now more focused on connect and engage the audience moving from a cold-live-cast to a real live experience, using viral tools and other resources

3. I am now working with HD gears and I found that HD can be also accessible to everyone, you can get HD from $ 100 up to $ 200,000 everything depends on how much are you willing to spend.

4. I can create "Tailored" solutions for everyone who is looking to be live to the world....

Welcome back to my blog!

Arturo!

Improved Streaming at our Campus

I'm really exited about 2009 challenges. Today we are launching our new version of our Internet Campus, with an improved flash video streaming provider. To choose our provider we tried with different providers, until we found the best relation between price/quality/realiability. Now we are using H.264 Compression and a video frame size of 640 x 360, streaming at 492Kbps, that will allow us to reach even slow connections, allowing the viewer to have a pleasent and smooth experience.

We also included on this update the Microsoft SilverLight player, that works good on Windows/Mac Enviroments. Good news about it, is works fine in Internet Explorer and Safari, bad news is, doesn't work with firefox/Chrome. We also included Web 2.0 links to our Twitter, Facebook, Our Community, Myspace and Blog.

On the core we also included resources for kids' parents that allow them to print some materials and lessons to share with their kids.

Regarding our viral players, we keep on U-Stream.tv because even it has ads now, you can see our internet campus in your I-phone. At the moment, we are giving up on our Mogulus feed, after experienced their "PRO" version. While they were Beta, everything was great, and at NAB 2008 they annouced the Pro version starting on a suggested price of 29.95 a month plus bandwidth, and guess what... on December 08, they launched their package for starters at $ 350 a month including 25Gb of bandwidht plust $ 1.5 the extra Gb... We had a 600Gb monthly demand so do the math... With our current provider we get 1Tb (1000 GB) for $ 450, plus windows media and Quick Time on april 2009. Technology is always challenging and you have to be on the edgeline seeking, researching and fighting in order to get the best possible deal.

Live Stream on Iphone

There has been several changes on our website that I will explain on the next few posts, but now I want to share our latest update. Now we are streaming live on the I-phone: It has a challenge because there is just a little information on the field, but finnaly We got our signal live on the I-phone. There is two key elements:

One: Encoding side:

You must encode with Flash Streaming Encoder 3.0 or greater, and you should get the AAC codec for audio. The parameters for encoding should be as follow:

Video: H264 with Streamline 3.0

200Kbps

20fps

Audio: AAC @ 44100 Hz

47kbps

Two Server Side:

Your ISP should enable a HTML5 streaming...

One Church where you are from your Iphone

Good news for the Iphone users: Mobile Video is on its way. U-Stream, is developing a new application for the Iphone. The application will let users watch any Ustream channel, live, directly from their iPhone. And not only that, users will also see and be able to participate in the live chat around the video as well, so now you'll be able to experience "One Church Where you are" live from your Iphone!

I found at TechCrunch an article about it and it includes the info required to get the Beta version of the application. You can get it from the article or just follow this instructions:

Instructions to get the beta Application:

1) Plug the iPhone into your computer

2) Wait for the iPhone info to appear in iTunes

3) click on the words “Serial Number” to cause it to change to “Identifier”

4) double-click the identifier number (the long string of characters) and then press cmd-C (Mac) or ctrl-C (Windows) to copy it

5) email that identifier to iphone@ustream.tv so we can build a custom version for that phone using the iPhone SDK

6) Wait for the response :)

Dreamweaver CS3 crashes after Daylight Savings Time ends

Today, I start working on DreamWeaver writting some code for a Special (Secret) project we are developing for the Christmas season, and Dreamweaver CS3 start crashing every time I selected something on a php code trying to copy it to another file I was creating, I was becoming crazy until a Kareem, a good friend of mine suggested to google the simptoms... and guess what, I found a tech note on the Adobe Dreamweaver forum... and the failure was related to the time change... Come one... it did not happened on the year 2000 (The famous bug) and is happening to Adobe, on 2008 with Daylight Savings Time... LOL... here is the link to the Post on the Adobe Website:

http://www.adobe.com/go/kb402776

So here is the simptoms: This page contained regular HTML and some PHP includes. Whenever I selected text or clicked and dragged the mouse to select text, Dreamweaver crashed with the error:

Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience.

Good luck!

Google Chrome

Today I just downloaded the so announced new Browser from Google: Google Chrome. It is a very simple, but powerfull browser that it is setting the new step for internet browsing. My first personal review is:

1. Faster than IE, Safari or Mozilla

2. Simple to use... (The KiSS principle)

3. Integrates the Google search engine as part of browsing (Smart marketing strategy)

4. They created a great comic book explaining the new browser.

They are just short on plug - in's because it is a beta release... but man... It rocks!!!

So, on my review, Google Chrome gets five of five stars! 

Boot Camp and Windows XP SP3

Today I got a brand new MacBook with Windows XP Installed, and tried to update it to SP3 (Service Pack 3) and I got an error message:

There is not enough disk space on C:\WINDOWS\$NtServicePackUninstall$ to install Service Pack 3 Setup requires an additional 4 megabytes of free space or if you also want to archive the files for uninstallation,Setup requires 4 additional megabytes of free space. Free additional space on your hard disk and then try again.

But the hard drive has more than 82 GB of free space! I made a little research on the web and because I couldn’t find anything, so I contacted Microsoft about it for technical support. They offer 3 kinds, free by e-mail, free by chat and paid by phone... so I'm to desperate to wait so I choose to chat. I got an instant reply and once I described the problem, they immediately figured that it was about a Mac with Boot Camp and this was the answer and solutions they gave me:

This is a known issue when SP3 is installed on MAC computer with bootcamp. Not to worry. The C drive is not detected in this case. So we will add a new entry in the registry so that it is detected by the install.

• Click Start - Run -


• Type REGEDIT and press enterNavigate to [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup]


• In the right pane, Right-click and select New - String valueName it as BootDir and set its value to C:\


• NOTE The names are Case Sensitive.


• Close Registry . SP3 install will now detect the C: Drive.

I just follow his instructions and it worked perfectly fine after that... I'm wondering Why I couldn't find anything on that while I was searching... By the way, I insist. The best Laptop PC I ever had is a MacBook... :)

Better Video Distribution

Last week we got a problem with our Video Distributor, so this time I made a little research to get a good (and hard to find) one. I found the Extron DA 6AV RCA EQ and it is produced by Extron Electronics, and by some reason, they have a policy that made me hard to order that piece of equipment, they don't sale direct, and they have some rules about territories and so for to their resellers so I cannot order from anywhere... finally, after several phone calls and a lot of patience, I got it. It worth all the effort, once installed, the video quality was enhanced immediately. We have a sharper image with great black & white values. The improvement really benefited our Internet Campus.

The Rack Two

The rack two is the newest on the Internet Campus.

• 1. APC Rack mount UPS
• 2. Empty space for future backup server
• 3. Power Speakers
• 4. Alesis Multimix usb Mixer
• 5. Keyboard/Mouse rack tray
• 6.The English Flash Media Encoder Server with an Osprey 230 Capture Card, Dual Core 2.5 GHZ, 4 GB Ram, 500 GB Hard Drive, Windows XP SP3 made by me on a Rack Mount Enclosure cabinet.
• 7. Furman Power Conditioner
• 8. KDVR-18 Custom made Equipment Rack
• 9. LN37A530 Samsung LCD TV/Monitor

Have Fun!

Flash Media Streaming

We are currently using three diferent providers: Mogulus, U-Stream and Live.yahoo.com these are free streaming services that allow you to be up and running with a live channel in a few minutes as soon as you have capability to deliver your video signal from your camera to your computer. The three of them are in beta stage and will be advertising driven, but while the beta phase is running, we can have it ad free.

My favorite one is mogulus, because it has an awesome control panel with great features that allow you to use lower third graphics and more.

Windows Media Streaming Provider

One of the most frequents questions I receive is about our Streaming provider for Windows Media format, seven years ago I meet Raul Joselito Palma who was launching a streaming service for radio and TV focused on the Christian market and we did few projects together, so when we started our Internet Campus, he helped a lot with his knowledge and expertise. We developed a private channel using IPTV technology and we are planning to use it for Small Groups. It has been always a reliable service with no blackouts since we started and always providing support to solve any problem, so here is all the information of the company.

http://www.elevangelio.net/

Their market is basically the Spanish churches, but they also serve English speaking ministries. The contact there is the Eng. Raul Joselito Palma and they also provided our IPTV solution for out Internet Campus.

The operator Console

Here is the Operator Console for the Internet Campus:

• 1. We use a MacBook as Character Generator, running power point with a slide with black background to run the lower third.

• 2. The MacBook is connected with a video composit adapter from Apple to the Video Switcher (4)

• 3. We have a Video Input selector to choose from Live Camera on Studio or another live camera out of the studio.

• 4. We use an Edirol V-4 Video mixer to combine the main auditorium, the Internet Campus Studio, CG, DVD's or any other source.

• 5. A preview Monitor is always required to monitor what's going on.

• 6. A 16 Channel Yamaha Audio Mixer is used to receive the Audio from the Main Audio Console, also to manipulate and control audio from studio, DVD, MP3 Player and so fot.

• 7. A DVD Player (DVD-X) is used to have a video loop running while we are not transmitting live.

• 8. A second DVD Player (DVD-Y) is used to play auxiliar videos or any other required signal.

• 9. An LTO tube pre-amp for the Studio Microphone is used to get a better audio quality. Belive it or not, there is no solid state pre amp that can replace a tube one... at least up to this day.

The Rack One

The Rack One, is the first one I build and it contains the main gears of our Internet Campus Streaming Servers:

• 1. An APC 1.5 KVA UPS
  

• 2. The Spanish Windows Media encoder Server with an Osprey 230 Capture Card, Quad Core Intel 3.0 Ghz. 4 GB Ram, 500 GB Hard Drive, Windows XP SP3 made by me on a Rack Mount Enclosure cabinet.

• 3. The English Windows Media encoder Server with an Osprey 230 Capture Card, Two Xeon 2.4 Dual processors, 4 GB Ram, 500 GB Hard Drive, Windows XP SP3 also made by me on a Rack Mount Enclosure cabinet.

• 4. Rack Mount Osprey Balanced Adapter

• 5. Video Distributor (Soon to be replaced by a new one)

• 6. Dell 1gbps/fiber switch

• 7. A Furman power conditioner/switch

• 8. An LCD screen to monitor the servers.

Video Distributor failure

Few months ago, I got a cheap video distributor. Video distributor it is the core of the processed video to be streamed. The signal comes out from the Video Mixer to the the Distributor, and then from the distributor goes to the different servers and monitors we have on the studio. Well, long story short, last Sunday I noticed a little blue color on Troy's face and the supposed blue background was green... out of phase. After a fast review we found the problem. The Impact Acoustics video distributor. A good friend of mine once told me, cheap is more expensive than good. I was able to experience that, so over the amount I paid for the cheap one, now I added the cost of the new one, plus the time to find a good one... I ordered an Extron DA 6AV RCA EQ . We use Extron product on the video production room for several years with no complains. Finally is good to remember that cheap, is always that... cheap.

Last week podcast...

Flamingo Road Church Internet Campus is publishing a Podcast every Week, and they invited me to participate on My First Recorded Podcast!!!! Want to listen to it? You'll have fun!

Hosts: Brian Vasil , Stacie Gonzalez and Miguel UmanzorGuest: Arturo De La Mora, Research and Development Pastor at Flamingo Road Church.

Mobile Live Transmition

We had today two awesome events at the beach, Baptism and a Concert. We got 7 countries watching the event. The question is:

What do you need to have a live event... at the beach?

• The beach! Hollywood Beach, FL.
• A computer (Of course) with firewire port (IEEE 1394) I use a MacBook running Windows XP Pro, Service Pack 3, 2 Gigabyte Ram, 2.2 Dual Core Intel Processor.
• A nice video camera with firewire. I use a Panasonic 3ccd
• A firewire cable with the specific connectors for the Camera and the Laptop
• A good wireless internet card (I Have verizon Wireless) with at least 500 kbps upload stream
• Adobe Flash Media Encoder
• Webcam Max Software
• A great team
• Your Mogulus.com Account
• Extra Batteries for your Lap Top and your Camera
  
  

Mix all together and you'll have a live event!...

Oh! My Gosh!!!! I felt sleep while blogger was uploading the pictures.... lol



I'll c onclude this post later on! zzzzzzzzzzz...................

The basics...

What do you need to launch an Internet Campus for a Church?

This is the often question waiting for an equipment list, wires and other stuff, but... First thing you'll need is to think out of the box, further the walls of a regular building. The lead pastor has to be on board... The internet Campus has to be according to the purpose and vision of the Ministry. The lead pastor is who receives the vision from God, and any dependant ministry has to be fully aligned to that vision, and this, of course, includes an Internet Campus. Prayer and planning are key elements for a healthy start. When Troy Gramling had the vision to take Flamingo Road Church to the Internet, he knew what he wanted, so all we needed it was to fulfill the vision, based on the available technology.

Once we have that on the scenario, now we have to talk about the global concept. What is an Internet Campus? It is not just streaming video over the internet; the concept goes further than that. It has to be interactive and capable to work on both ways: A) To deliver the video, audio, text and graphics to the user and B) To receive the responses from the audience to provide a personalized response that allow the audience to experience community interacting with the pastor and with other church members. It is really to take all the advantages that Web 2.0 offers to creat a Social Network for a church, outside the church.

This are, from my perspective, the basic gears to start rolling your project.

Welcome to LIVE GEARS

I am in charge of the development of the Internet Campus at Flamingo Road Church. What is that? An Internet Campus is a "Virtual Church". It is more than just streaming a preacher's Sunday service. It is a place for social networking, interacting, learning, growing and to experience community about the subject of Jesus Christ around the world. Some times people misunderstand what a Church is. A Church IS NOT a building or a Sacred Temple. A Church IS a community of people with same believes: Jesus is our God and our Savior - now this is NOT a theological or religious blog. This is a forum to share my research and collaborate with others on how to use the Internet to reach the world LIVE. What are the “gears” behind the scenes, the challenges and the opportunities to grow and develop a complete new “live experience”? …we’ll see!

I often receive questions about what “gears” we use at our Flamingo Road Church Live Internet Campus, so I decided to create this blog to talk about it. So feel free to ask questions, leave a comment or post an idea... This blog will be tech driven. I know techs believe everyone else understands our language, but as I often rediscover that's not usually true. So I'll do my best to try to explain everything clearly in plain language as best I can.

Welcome to LIVE GEARS!
Arturo De la Mora
Pastor / Research and Development Director
Flamingo Road Church