Using Skype with DV cameras for JCC and GLIVE
Many of us know Skype as the software product that allows us to do a phone conversation or a chat (video or audio) session with our friends and in particular with friends abroad – all via the internet. When my friend George was overseas we used Skype for a video conference with him and some of our friends.
Most recently, we’ve taken Skype to a new level – when we broadcasted JCC and then GLIVE. We’ve even “skyped” people for meetings and such as well. So let me explain some basics here. This is delving a little into the video world but you need to understand both to see how this works.
Here’s the flow:
Mixer Board (xlr) –> DV Video Camera (dv) –> Video Switcher (dv) –> dv repeater (dv into computer and dv deck*) –> Computer with Skype (audio input from Dv Deck) –> Recipient Computer with Skype
Flow for this setup is relatively simple. But this is a much larger setup. We use the video switcher b/c we have multiple cameras and inputs coming into the switcher. Usually we have 3 cameras and an S-Video (
pro-presenter/slides).
For a single camera setup, it’s similar:
Mixer Board (xlr) –> DV Video Camera (dv) –> dv repeater (dv into computer and DV deck*) –> Computer with Skype (audio input from Dv Deck) –> Recipient Computer with Skype
* the reason that we need the dv repeater and the deck is b/c Skype cannot handle the video and audio stream in the dv input. i don’t know why but it will not accept the audio input, so we need to grab the audio from another dv device, hence the repeater. I’m sure i’ve confused a few of you by this point. that’s b/c it is confusing. hopefully skype will resolve this issue and then we could just plug the dv camera right into the laptop and we’ll be good.
So this is a rough presentation. If you have more questions i can try to fill in the gaps.