I plan on getting the cart reworked in the next month or so ( putting on the new wheels, adding better access to the back of the computer, reorganizing and labeling the drawer contents, etc). I’ll be setting up a couple classes for an intro to the cart’s contents and use, and hopefully very basic classes on the OBS streaming software.
All that said, I believe it’s time that DMS creates and sets up polices for use of DMS branded streaming accounts for YouTube, Twitch, etc. This is something that I would not have the rights/authority to do for something that involves the DMS as a whole, and should be discussed as a (IMO) PR/Board level decision.
I agree with your quest to standardize things. But I also plead ignorance. For instance, while not a tech newbie by any standard, I’m not familiar with OBS streaming and only tangentially familiar with twitch. I am excite that you are actually taking this concept to a solution. But please create a solution that people can and will use. Something that has a huge support base on Youtube. For instance, Moodle S****, but at this point we are forced to use it. There are numerous Wordpress solutions that run circles around it and have been refined to the point that an average person can learn them. The market requires that solutions are easy to use and effective. Moodle has a bunch of trapped education clients.
I have found it very helpful to present use cases and why certain decisions or use cases might be beneficial DMS. Very few people have both the time and wherewithal to dig very deep.
I doubt I am alone in supporting this. We will be filming some process vignettes for the Multicam as time goes by so we are definitely a use case for your solutions.
Again, I am very glad you are still fighting for this and invesing in it after many months.
OBS is a very standard streaming software that has quite a bit of support, so I’m sure Paul will do great with it.
On the moodle point, while you’re being a bit crass you’ve also never brought it up, nor discussed alternative options. We’re not forced to use it, it just made the most sense to use at the time it was selected (wordpress with plugins have numerous issues in themselves).
Luckily we aren’t tied hard into it, so please feel free to put forward those better solutions!
While I appreciate all of your effort, I truly do, I have made no bones about this software package over the last year. Trust me, I have not been bashful about Moodle and its short comings. I am not alone in my distaste for Moodle.
But…
I will take you up on your offer regarding LMS options. I will research and profile LMS systems for DMS to consider. I will need ninety or so days due t current commitments. BTW, you better get reelected:)
OBS basically is the standard at this point for streaming software. The amount of support via YouTube channels, forums, plugins, and community knowledge is ridiculous. It’s open source, with a huge and active development community that are constantly adding new options and refinements.
That said, the setup as it currently exists on the streaming cart is just a baseline starting point. I do not have exclusive call on what is to be used, and anyone is welcome to extend it’s capabilities. I personally know just enough to get this up and running and to help others get to a similar point, but not much more.
I’ve used OBS somewhat extensively (streaming Pokémon tournaments live) in the past so I can help with that part. Feel free to let me know what I can do.
As Paul said, OBS (and the streamlabs fork of it) are the defacto standard for streaming and in my research the easiest to use by far.
I’m actually not aware of any other streaming software in widespread use for this. @SWA do you have any suggestions on streaming software? I’d be happy to check them out.
I have zero suggestions(I rely upon @DigitalDoyle )… all I ask is that whatever is selected has very broad support in the “average user” market place. It is very easy to roll-out a pro level solution that is powerful and widely adopted by professionals, while the average would never have the ability or time to learn well enough to embrace. This(all of our tech) really needs to be grandma friendly, even at the expense of power in order to be adopted by more than the uber techies amongst us. As we refine our stacks, we should always keep in mind that memebrs are scattered across all the major operating systems.
I will defer to your expertise in this matter:)
I expect you know were I am coming from on this. We really need to keep it simple so hopefully more members will contribute.
I was able to run an OBS based stream on Twitch after watching a couple of YouTube videos at the start of lockdown with no other experience with the software.
It really is the standard for streaming use. If we hold to the idea of DMS educating members on things they can use later on, OBS would be the first choice. It is not that hard to wrap your head around for a basic starting setup, and has loads of room to expand into highly complex use cases. Anyone can download it for free, it will run on very low level hardware. Take a look at the OBS wiki here:. Wiki - Wiki | OBS
No doubt that is the engine to use.
What are the popular wrappers for Windows and OSX that mere mortals can navigate? iMovie is probably the most complex interface we can get away with for 80% of the membership. It would be great if there was an adopted workflow and editing setup everyone used for DMS. All the way down to allowable transitions.
The streaming cart is not for editing, and has no software on it to do so. All of that would be in Digital Media, and thus would be the software packages available there.
