Camera and Voice Pod: Broadcasting Audio and Video

Hosts and Presenters can broadcast live audio and video to all attendees using the Camera and Voice pod. To broadcast audio, the broadcaster’s computer must have a microphone connected to it. To broadcast video, the broadcaster’s computer must have a video or web camera connected to it.

Each time you enter a meeting room, make sure your headset and camera are properly configured, as outlined in Setting Up Audio and Video under Getting Started.

View Camera and Voice pod tutorial.
View Camera and Voice pod options tutorial.

To Begin Broadcasting Audio and Video
For participants to broadcast audio and video, they must be assigned either a Presenter or Host role. After running the Audio Setup Wizard, start broadcasting your audio and video by clicking the "Start My Camera and Voice" button in the lower left corner of the Camera and Voice pod.

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"Start My Camera and Voice" Button

You may see a window pop up on the screen asking you to allow your video to be broadcast -- click "Allow". This window appears only once during a meeting, no matter how many times you turn your camera or microphone on and off.

Camera and Voice Pod Controls
While broadcasting your audio and video, you have access to a number of controls in the pod:

• Stop my camera and voice button: Stops broadcasting your video and mutes your audio if the “hands-free” button was locked on. Your name, image, and media control buttons will disappear from all attendees' Camera and Voice pods. However, unless the Host has changed your meeting room permissions to “Participant,” you will still be able to use the Talk button to broadcast audio.

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  Stop My Camera and Voice Button

• Camera button: Controls the video broadcast by toggling between start and pause. When paused, the last image broadcast to attendees remains visible in the Camera and Voice pod. Click the button again to toggle back to live broadcasting.

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  Camera Pause/Resume Button

• Pod options: Allow Hosts and Presenters to change broadcasting settings for everyone in the meeting room

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  Camera and Voice Pod Options Button

Broadcasting Video
Having a number of people broadcasting audio and video at the same time can cause the system to run slowly and result in poor quality of both audio and video. To avoid this problem, meeting members should pause their video broadcast when they are not speaking.

Broadcasting Audio
To broadcast your voice, do one of the following:

• Hold down the Talk button to speak during a meeting. When you release the Talk button, you are no longer broadcasting audio.

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  Talk Button

• Alternatively, click the Hands-Free button (lock icon). After it is enabled, the Hands-Free button lets you speak at any time during the meeting.

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  Camera and Voice Pod Options Button

  A little microphone icon will appear in front of your name in the Camera and Voice pod (if you are also broadcasting video), a Speaker icon will appear beside your name in the Attendee List pod, and, when you speak, a green line under the talk button indicates your audio broadcast level.

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  Audio Indicators

  You will continue to broadcast audio until you click the Talk button again to release the hands-free feature -- the little microphone icon beside your name in the Camera and Voice pod will disappear as will the speaker icon beside your name in the Attendee List and the green bar under the Talk button.

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  Hands Free Lock Button

  Since sound levels of individual microphones can vary greatly, adjust the volume of your microphone by selecting High, Medium, or Low from the Talk button Options menu. Adjusting the volume is useful if others in the meeting or training session tell you your voice is too loud or that you cannot be heard.

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Talk Options Button

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Hands-Free Button

Clicking the Talk button only when you want to speak, instead of using the Hands-Free button, may reduce problems with echo and improve the quality of the sound in the meeting.

Audio Broadcast Options
Options for audio broadcasts are located in the dropdown menu of the Talk button. All Attendees who are able to broadcast audio and video are also able to turn audio broadcasting on and off for all attendees in the meeting room, and enable one or multiple attendees to speak at one time using the options in the dropdown menu.

• Selecting "Voice Off" turns off all audio broadcasting for
  everyone in the room.
• Selecting "Voice On - Multiple Speakers" turns on audio broadcasting and allows more than one person to broadcast audio at the same time.
• Selecting "Voice On - One Speaker" turns on audio broadcasting but only broadcasts one speaker at a time.

Selecting a volume option sets the audio broadcast of the person making the selection.

The Help Option
Finally, selecting the Help option at the bottom of the menu takes you to general help documentation at the Adobe Web site.

Audio Captioning for the Hearing Impaired
For information about audio captioning for the hearing impaired, see Setting Up Audio and Video under Getting Started.

Audio and Video Icons (Block/Unblock)
You can choose to block (mute) an individual's audio and/or video broadcast from the Camera and Voice pod. Blocking broadcasts from others on your own computer does not block them from other attendees in the meeting. Blocking video and audio is only a choice if video is being broadcast. If only audio is being broadcast, there is no way to block just selected Attendees.

Two icons let you control the ability to block video and/or audio from selected participants to your computer. To access the icons, move the cursor over the name of the Attendee located directly under their video broadcast. As you move the cursor over the name, a camera icon and a speaker icon will appear to the right of their name.

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Mute Audio and Block Video Icons

To block audio or video, click the speaker or camera icon next to the participant's name. A red line over the participant's icon indicates that broadcasts from that participant to your computer are blocked. To reactivate the broadcast, click the icon again. No line indicates that broadcasts from that participant have resumed.

To turn off an Attendee’s video broadcast for everyone in the meeting, click the “X” icon on the far right beside the Attendee’s name. Note that the Attendee can turn their broadcast back on by clicking the Camera icon in the Camera and Voice pod.

Camera and Voice Pod Options
All Attendees who are able to broadcast audio and video also have access to the Camera and Voice pod options in the lower right corner of the pod and to the Talk options in the dropdown menu of the Talk button. The options selected will be applied to everyone in the meeting room except for the volume choices which apply to each individual computer.

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Option Button

In the Camera and Voice pod options menu, there are two sets of pod options. Selection of these options applies to video broadcasts for everyone in the room.

Camera Off Option
Selecting the "Camera Off" option will stop video broadcasts for everyone in the meeting room. To turn all video broadcasts back on, select one of the other options from the menu, such as "Fast Images." Selecting lower-quality video options from this menu may improve the sound quality and performance of the meeting.

Using "Camera Off" to stop broadcasting VIDEO for everyone in the meeting does not affect the AUDIO broadcasts. Even if the microphone is in the video camera, audio broadcasts are still audible.

Image Options
The Slow Images option samples and transmits the camera image less frequently than other image settings. Images tend to be low-quality and can shift abruptly. Use this setting if most attendees have low-speed connections or if you are not concerned about image quality. A less distracting option for low-speed connections would be to pause your camera instead of using the Slow Images option.

Fast Images, the default setting, provides a clear but NOT high-quality image. Use this setting if attendees are connected at a variety of speeds.

High Quality Images provides very good quality images. Use this setting if all attendees are connected at high speeds.

High Bandwidth provides the highest-quality images. Like the High Quality option, this option is suitable for use with the highest connection speeds.

Video Display Options
The next section of options allows you to adjust the video images of everyone in the room to better fit the size and shape of the Camera and Voice pod in a given layout. When creating a layout, you will want to try each of the settings to see which one looks best.

Portrait displays video with a square aspect ratio.

Standard displays video with a width-to-height aspect ratio of approximately 4 to 3.

Landscape displays video with an aspect ratio of approximately 9 to 5.

Granting Audio Access through the Attendee List Pod (AKA Passing the Mic)
There are two additional ways to give Participants the ability to broadcast audio.

Use the Attendee List Pod Fly-out Menus
The first way is by using the Attendee List pod fly-out menu attached to each Attendee’s name. This feature is available only for meeting Hosts to use.

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Attendee List Pod Fly-out Menu

To grant audio broadcast permissions to a Participant, roll the cursor over the Participant’s name and select the microphone icon from the fly-out menu. To allow the Participant to also use the Share pod, select the Share pod icon from the fly-out. The icons on the fly-out menu are toggles. To remove permissions, roll over the Attendee’s name and select the appropriate icon. More than one Attendee can be given access to the microphone and/or Share pod at a time.

Use the “Revoke Microphone Rights From All” option in the Attendee List pod options menu to cancel everyone’s audio broadcast permissions at once. Since Presenters and Hosts permission to broadcast audio is based on their assigned roles in the meeting, selecting this option simply mutes their microphone. To actually revoke their broadcast rights, the Host will need to change their “Role” settings in the meeting room.

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Attendee List Pod Options Button

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Revoke Microphone Rights from All Option

Use the “Raised Hand” Emoticon
The second way to give Participants the ability to broadcast audio is for the Participant to use the “Raise Hand” emoticon either in the Attendee List pod or from the emoticon button in the lower left corner of the screen. Again, only a Host will see the request and be able to grant access to the microphone.

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Emoticon Button

The type of signal the Host sees indicating that an Attendee has raised their hand will depend on the role of the person raising their hand. A Presenter already has access to broadcast audio. The Host will see a popup in the lower right corner of the meeting room and only needs to verbally acknowledge the Presenter’s raised hand and ask him/her to go ahead and talk. A Participant doesn’talready have access to the microphone. The Host will see an icon of a raised hand and a popup in the upper right corner of the screen when a Participant uses the Raised Hand emoticon. By approving the Participant’s raised hand signal, the Host grants mic access to the Participant. Since Participants and Presenters don’t see the popup signals that the Host sees, they may not know that, rather than just indicating that they want to ask a question, they are actually indicating that they want to broadcast audio.

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Host View of Participant Raised Hand Signal and Presenter Raised Hand Signal

Improving Performance

Bandwidth and processor constraints affect audio reception, video reception, and latency when sharing. Users may experience audio dropouts, jerky video broadcasts, jerky played video on shared files, and slow performance of shared applications.

You can test your meeting connection by going to the Adobe Connect Connection Test: https://breeze.psu.edu/common/help/en/support/meeting_test.htm ( View the tutorial.)

For information on the different bandwidth explanations please see the Adobe Connect Live Bandwidth Calculation Information: http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/knowledgebase/index.cfm?id=tn_19524

Setting Bandwidth
Selecting the proper bandwidth allows for clearer video and less choppy audio.

• Hosts can set the bandwidth for the meeting room. From the Meeting menu (from within a meeting room), select "Room Performance and Appearance”, then “Optimize Room Bandwidth." Choosing DSL/Cable (or even Modem) will reduce the meeting room bandwidth. For an audience with a wide variety of connections, the “DSL/Cable” setting is recommended.
• All users can individually set their own bandwidth appropriately for their connection. From the Meeting menu (from within a meeting room), select “Manage My Settings,” then "My Connection Speed" and choose the appropriate speed.

Other Recommendations
Other recommendations for improving performance:

• Close non-essential applications running on your machine -- especially programs like e-mail applications that automatically check for new mail at set intervals
• Don’t allow non-presenters to broadcast audio or video
• Use a telephone or conference call instead of Adobe Connect's audio
• Freeze your web cam image, or set it to "Slow Images," if video is absolutely necessary
• Record your meetings. Since Adobe Connect records events rather than screen shots, users can play the recording at whatever size they would like, and all the interactive SWF files that a typical participant would manipulate can be manipulated during playback. See Recording Meetings under Using Adobe Connect for details.

Audio Troubleshooting and Recommendations

Responsibility for audio quality belongs to both the person broadcasting and the person listening. Allow time before the meeting begins to correctly configure your audio.

As a listener,

• Do you have a functional USB headset or external speaker set to the appropriate volume?
  • (note that using a headset with a phono plug instead of a USB plug may cause the audio to be "choppy" under certain circumstances).
• Did you check your meeting connection speed by going to this test link: https://breeze.psu.edu/common/help/en/support/meeting_test.htm? Set your connection speed in the Meeting Menu.
• Did you quit all other applications and close all other browser windows?
• Did you run the Audio Setup Wizard and pass each test each time you enter a meeting room?

After you have completed the recommendations listed above and passed the tests, if you can't hear but others in the meeting room can, then try quitting the meeting room and re-entering.

As a broadcaster,

• Do you have Host or Presenter permissions?
• Are you using a wired Internet connection?
• Do you press and hold the talk button only when you want to talk if you don't have a headset?
• Did you make sure the connection speed for the entire meeting room is set correctly for the current conditions? Meeting room connection options are located in the "Meeting" menu.

Set-Up Recommendations

• Check your computer periodically to make sure you are running the most recent versions of Flash Player and the Adobe Connect add-in. This can be easily done by going to http://breeze.psu.edu/common/help/en/support/meeting_test.htm.
• Run the Audio Setup Wizard. Run the wizard (on the Meeting menu) with the mic and speakers you will actually be using, along with the background noise that will actually exist during the meeting. Be aware that the Wizard allows you to advance even if your computer has failed a test.
  • After running the Wizard, microphone volume can also be adjusted during the meeting by choosing "Select Camera" from the meeting menu, clicking the microphone icon, and adjusting the slider.
• Have participants test their mics. Having people test their mics one at a time as they join the meeting will help to isolate anyone who may be having a problem.

Audio and Video Options

• Push to talk. If there is a sound quality issue, everyone should press the talk button when they want to talk, instead of using the hands-free button. This helps eliminate excess noise and will also help in identifying if one person's mic is causing the audio problem.
• Pause the video. If the sound quality issues persist even with just one person speaking, then also try pausing the video or only have the person talking broadcast video.
• Change the quality. To free up more bandwidth for audio, you can also reduce the video quality. Click the "Option" button in the lower-right corner of the Camera and Voice pod and choose a lower video quality, such as "Slow Images." These settings affect everyone in the meeting.

Audio Quality Issues

• Audio breaking up. The sound will often break up if more than one person tries to talk at once. If it is important for a number of people to be able to speak at the same time, you may want to consider setting up a telephone conference call instead of using the VoIP built in to Adobe Connect.
• Connect Pro audio. If you are interested in utilizing VoIP on Adobe Connect, Adobe has some postings available at their Web site (Adobe.com) pertaining to the topic. We have also created a recorded "meeting" where a group of people are troubleshooting audio problems. At the beginning of the recording you can clearly hear audio problems. By the end of the recording, the audio problems have been resolved for the most part. In addition, the recording includes the steps taken to resolve the audio problems. You can view the recording at: https://breeze.psu.edu/p53374683/.
• Enhancing audio quality. The quality of the VoIP audio can be improved by using a high speed, wired connection and by closing other applications running in the background, including e-mail. Audio quality depends on the amount of bandwidth available and the processor’s speed and capacity. If other running applications are periodically checking the Internet for some reason, those other applications can take up bandwidth and processor resources. The set connection speed for the meeting room and each individual’s connection speed can also affect the audio quality of the meeting. These settings are located under the "Meeting" menu within each meeting room.
• Check microphone volume. If the speaker's voice is breaking up, try increasing the microphone volume. From the Meeting menu, select "Select Camera," click the microphone icon, and increase the volume by sliding the slider to the right.
• Reduce background noise as much as possible. If others notice that your mic is picking up breathing sounds, try moving the mic just a bit further away from your mouth and nose.
• Volume level changes. Unexpected changes in volume when someone jumps into the conversation after being quiet for a time are probably just normal intonations people use. People often speak a little louder when they are jumping into a conversation after a pause.
• Check the audio gain. If you have problems with the volume suddenly getting louder, try turning off the automatic gain control. Windows users, go through the Audio Setup Wizard (on the Meeting menu), select Advanced Settings at the end of the Wizard, and uncheck the Automatic Gain Control box. Note that there is no automatic gain control setting if you are using a Mac or a PC without the Adobe Connect Add-in installed (see Requirements under Getting Started) or a Mac.
• Skip the Camera/Voice pod. If you have problems with audio quality, try replacing the Camera and Voice pod with a Share pod displaying a .jpg file of yourself instead of broadcasting paused video. This works because you can have more than one instance of the Share pod on the screen at one time. Using an additional Share pod instead of the Camera and Voice pod reduces bandwidth usage, which, in turn, allows for better quality audio and faster meeting room performance.
• Other issues. If you have audio issues and you have been using the "pass the mic" feature, try going back to promoting attendees to Presenters or giving them enhanced rights to the Talk button instead and see if your audio quality improves.

Video Troubleshooting

Camera Unavailable
If the camera doesn't appear on the drop down list, make sure:

• The camera is connected to the computer and turned on
• You have the most current drivers installed. You may need to download a new driver from the camera manufacturer's Web site.
• The camera is "Flash compatible."

If the camera still doesn't show up in the drop down list, try using the camera with a different application to make sure it is working. Be sure to quit the application after you have checked the camera. Only one application at a time can access the camera. Adobe Connect won't be able to access your camera if it is already being used by another application.

Camera Not Broadcasting
If the camera does appear on drop down list but doesn't broadcast a picture in Adobe Connect, make sure:

• You have Host or Presenter permissions (see Roles and Permissions under Using Adobe Connect)
• There are no other applications running that are already using the camera.
• The Camera and Voice pod options are not set to "Camera Off." These options are accessible by clicking the Options button in the lower-right corner of the pod.

After completing the above steps, if the camera still doesn't work, try:

• Stopping the broadcast and starting again using the buttons at the bottom of the Camera and Voice pod
• Pausing the video and then un-pausing it using the buttons at the bottom of the Camera and Voice pod
• Quitting the meeting and coming back in and/or restarting the computer and coming back in to Adobe Connect.

Penn State Audio Bridge

The Penn State Audio Bridge is an optional alternative method of audio communication.

Consider using the Penn State Audio Bridge if video and audio interaction with meeting participants is critical to the success of your meeting but your remote participants will be attending the meeting over a variety of Internet connections.

If you will be using the Penn State Audio Bridge for audio instead of the VoIP built into the Adobe Connect meeting room, you need to make the necessary arrangements in advance (http://css.its.psu.edu/callcenter/audconf.html). When using the audio bridge, Adobe Connect participants will receive audio from the meeting by using telephones to call into the bridge. You will need a telephone connection in the physical meeting room as well as some sort of telephone microphone that will be able to broadcast to (and possibly from) the remote audience. At a minimum, the remote audience needs to be able to hear the presenter’s voice.