Live video feed

paulmaybury

I asked a similar question a couple of years ago with a different version and a different context but is there now a means of playing a live video feed to screen, through OpenLP? Previously it was suggested that I use screen monkey in parallel. I've not yet tried this.

I'm really pleased with all the developments in OpenLP over the years and know how it is all achieved by a small team of dedicated volunteers.

May you be continually blessed in your ministry.

tgc

Hi Paul,

Unfortunately it is still not possible to play live stream. We have it on our to-do list...

raoul

You should be able to do it with VLC, though you'd have to run VLC alongside OpenLP.

revmarkp

I think I had this working experimentally once. It's possible to make VLC video as the desktop for your monitor (see here ). So make a live capture card playback in VLC. Create an OpenLP theme using the 'transparent' option for the background of the theme. Possible, not sure how controllable the VLC feed would turn out to be? Putting a vision mixer inline with your video feed might solve that though?

tjachimiak

Get a little vid mixer like a videonics MX-1, 4 port switcher. Input 1 will be camera 1, input 2 is camera 2, input 3 is video OUT from the OLP  computer. Send the MX-1 out to the projectors and the MX-1 monitor out to another monitor to allow you to see what to send to the projector next.I am 98% ready to do this at my church. With a vid splitter, one could record the main out or stream it live on another computer.Jack

Brian William

I've used VLC running behind OpenLP to display a live video feed before.  Basically, I attached a HD webcam to the computer.  Then opened VLC and then Media / Open Capture Device from the menu, select the webcam from the "Video Device Name" drop-down, and enter the desired webcam resolution in "Video Size".  Set VLC to full screen behind the OpenLP display screen and the webcam feed is displaying.

Then go back to OpenLP and either create a theme with a transparent background  or just tap the blue "Show Desktop" icon and ta da, you're displaying a live feed for the cost of a cheap webcam and a long usb cable.

Now, I did find there was enough lag in the system that I couldn't truly show a "live" feed.  If you showed someone talking, the half-second or even full-second delay was terribly distracting, so the times I've used it are to show closeups of things that would otherwise be hard for the congregation to see -- everyone dropping commitment cards into a basket on the altar, the baptism water, people pinning notes to a cross up front... those sorts of things.

Oh, and of course, you've gotta mute VLC or the mic on the webcam creates a terrible feedback loop!