Atomic regularly uses Viz/Newtek's Tricaster, and have been asked to use Live Call Connect as a tool to bring in remote contributors to a call. We have been testing the feature and have found it to be a bit of a mixed bag, especially for use with Discord. Here are some of the technical details and challenges we have encountered.
Technical Details
- Tricaster's Live Call feature enables the inclusion of Windows applications as sources in Tricaster. However, it functions as a screen grab tool with several quirks. It can cleverly detect individual calls in video conferencing software and treat them as individual inputs. Nevertheless, if any window moves (due to someone joining or leaving the call), it can disrupt the feed. There is a manual reset option, but executing it during a live show can be tricky.
- Discord workflow: Tricaster can only have one instance of Discord open, preventing the use of individual pins. Accidentally moving the mouse into the Discord window reveals menus on screen. The quality degrades with more people added, as the gallery views become smaller.
- Discord-specific challenges include the inability to have two gameplay feeds live in one chat room simultaneously. However, a workaround is possible by using multiple Discord channels.
- While streaming gameplay on your phone, simultaneous participation in a Discord video chat on your computer is not allowed. However, being on video chat and sharing your screen on an iPhone is feasible, with exceptional video quality compared to using a webcam.
Audio
- The audio is multiplexed (combined together), making it challenging to adjust individual elements. Additionally, there are issues with communication between the producer and talent.
- Three aux busses are available in Tricaster for mix minuses if needed, allowing in-studio talent to communicate with remote talent and vice versa.
- Tricaster's limited audio I/O, especially outputs, may pose challenges to enable cross-communications with In-Studio talent. One simple solution might be to have in-studio talent use an iPhone on Discord to keep things uncomplicated and minimize routing complexities.
- Furthermore, the return audio and video from the Tricaster were not functioning properly during testing. We are uncertain about the reason behind this, but are about 60% confident that there is a solution to address and rectify the issue.
Conclusion
We're used to being able to bring in many unique caller/contributors into our production suites. Live Call is really designed for just one or two remote contributors, and for that it works well enough. Fore more complex productions, we've found the best tools for this are vMix Call, or even Microsoft Teams (with NDI Support)
If you're interested in learning more about how we can help you with your live production with remote contributors, don't hesistate to reach out to us.
