USING MEDIACAST FOR LIVE EVENTS THERE ARE THREE SEPARATE KEYS NEEDED TO ACCESS THE FRONT AND BACK OF THE VIDEO CART. 1). Plug in the cart to a power source and a network plug-in drop that is in the sam area as where the event will take place. Be sure that you are using an active network drop check with your building tech before the day of the live broadcast event. 2). Turn on the MediaCAST cart, video camera, and VCR/DVD unit. 3). When prompted, press Control + Alt + Delete. Log in to the computer using the following information: Username: media Password: media 4). In the back of the cart, find the A/V cord that is attached to the camera (red/white/yellow). Unplug the A/V cords that connect the VCR to the computer and replace them with the cords for the camera. One end has one prong that goes into the camera and the other end is 3 pronged: yellow (this gives you the picture), red, and white. The red and white connectors are for the audio from the camera. In an interview set-up or in a room that may have background noise, you may want to use the wireless microphones for better sound quality. You may want to use masking tape to mark each set of wires for easy access.
MICROPHONES: In the drawer are 4 types of microphones: 2 hand held microphones, a lapel mic with battery box, and a headphone mic. These are not regular stage microphones. The receivers attached to the top of the VCR receive the signal from the microphones to give a clearer sound quality for interview-like circumstances. The PRO AMP receiver in the front of the cart and the Amp Buddy in the back of the cart both need to be ON for the microphones to work. The front PRO AMP box will show you which microphone is connected to which channel. If needed, you can use the dials on the front to adjust the volume of each channel individually. 5). Double-click the Live Multi icon that appears on the Desktop screen.
6). In the upper left-hand corner, click on the TV button. A black screen will appear in the middle of the monitor. In the middle of the screen there are 8 different tabs. Click on Input and change the Source Profile to Composite Unbalanced. If you don t do this, you will not get a picture. 7). Find Trigger in the bottom right-hand corner. The Trigger default will allow you to broadcast for 5 hours. If someone is going to be at the cart during the event and the event is shorter than 5 hours, do not change anything. If you want to broadcast for longer than 5 hours, click Trigger. Then click on gray Duration tab and uncheck Enable. Now the cart will broadcast until someone stops it manually.
Enable duration of live broadcast. 9). When you are ready to begin Broadcasting, push record on the camera. Then, on the right-hand side of the monitor, click Start. Whatever the camera is capturing will show up on the monitor. In the bottom right-hand corner, the white circle will become a turning red and white pinwheel. This means you are now live. Will become a red and white Pinwheel when feed is live
Since you are recording at the camera, you must have enough DV tapes for the video camera for the length of the event. Most DV tapes are 60 minutes long. If the DV tape runs out of room, recording will stop and the live broadcast may be interrupted. 10). In the top left-hand corner is an Audio grid. Two green bars should show up to determine how soft or loud the audio is. If the audio levels show less than half, click on Audio Levels in the middle of the screen. You can adjust left and right as needed. If you are using the microphones, adjust the volume levels on the PRO AMP on the front of the cart above the VCR. The computer sound in the bottom right hand corner of the monitor must be muted, otherwise you will get nasty feedback sounds. You will have to go to the MediaCAST website to verify that the sound is adequate. 11). When Broadcast is finished, click Stop on right-hand side. This has ended the live broadcast capture. Stop the camera and turn it off.
12). If you want to have this Broadcast added to MediaCAST to view at a later date, go to the Desktop and double-click Video Storage. You will need to rename the file live new video. You can do this by right clicking on the file name and selecting Rename. Name the file by Event Title and Date. 13). Close all open windows. When asked Do you want to modify this project? click No. 14). Shut down the computer by going to the Start menu and selecting Shutdown. Make sure to secure all wires and lock all doors on the cart before leaving it unattended. 15). Please inform library staff when you are finished with the cart. Also please let your library staff know which files need to be added to MediaCAST and when you would like the video to be available. TO VIEW THE BROADCAST 1). Go to the MediaCAST website: http://mediacast.nacs.k12.in.us 2). Use your network log-in to gain access. 3). Click on Digital TV tab. 4). Scroll to the right to find your school s cart and click on it. (EX. Live-CH) 5). Click the Play button on the Windows Media Player window to view video. If it does not play right away, continue to click on Play until the video loads. Please note that there is a 10 to 15 second delay from the time someone begins a broadcast at the cart until the classroom teacher can view the feed via the On Location cart under Digital TV. See step 5 if you are not able to view the content right away.