ADENA Hack: How to track active speakers on Televic Confidea with AREC.

AREC DS-4CU is a speaker tracking station that is integrated with different brands and models of microphone discussion systems. When used with a supported microphone system, DS-4CU is able to automatically switch everything about the produced image and cameras’ positions according to the active speaker. We keep expanding the list of supported systems, and one of the latest additions to our supported systems list is the Televic Confidea.

Connecting and configuring the Televic system is very simple. To begin with, make sure that your DS-4CU runs at least FW version 6.1.10.8. You can download the latest update from our website www.a-dena.com. After the station is updated, open the web interface of Televic Confidea and select “Technician”. Click on the settings button at the bottom-left corner and go to the “Camera protocol” tab. Enable it, then select “TLVCAM1” in the dropdown list next to the “Camera protocol”.

On the same page, select “TCP” next to the “Network protocol” and write “5003” without quotation marks in the field next to “Port”. Press “Apply” to save these settings. You can now go to the DS-4CU’s Administrator web page, log in, and click on “Speaker Tracking” -> “Control settings”. Select Televic Confidea in the list, enter the IP address of your device, press “Apply” and that’s it. You can now set up camera and video presets for every scenario. The only thing to keep in mind is that when setting up microphone IDs, “Group” must be set to “0” and microphone IDs should be written as 4 digits: e.g. 0001, 0002, 0003, and so on.

If you would like to know more about setting up DS-4CU, take a look at the ADENAcademy Level B Lesson 15. And if you would like to see a live demonstration of DS-4CU or any other AREC/RADA product, contact us at www.a-dena.com and we will be happy to arrange it for you.

Use multiple Shure MXA arrays simultaneously with the new DS-4CU update

Dear ADENA Partners, we have exciting news for you! With the new DS-4CU update 6.1.10.8 it is now possible to use up to 4 Shure MXA microphone arrays on the same DS-4CU station.

MXA microphone array series from Shure are known for their excellent audio and can be set up in numerous environments: schools, city halls, conference rooms, and more. Adding DS-4CU to your Shure setup will let you create unique tracking presets with up to 4 video sources, such as computers and network cameras, and automatically change your video image depending on the active speaker. You can output this video image into an AV system or videoconferencing hardware with a simple HDMI or VGA cable, through RTSP, or connect it to a computer with an accessory like RADA Bridge and use it as a webcam in any app.

Setting up DS-4CU is simple and doesn’t require complex programming - take a look at our ADENAcademy lesson dedicated to it to learn more about this product and its configuration.

ADENA Hack: How to use some of the extra features of Media Stations.

LS-860 and LS-US2 have a number of unique features that you may not know about. For example, they can create a special overlay for date and time. This overlay can be configured in a number of ways, including date format, font colour, size, and its position on the screen. The date/time overlay can be used to constantly give a real-time indication of when the recording and streaming is taking place and doesn’t conflict with standard overlays. To enable and configure it, open the “Administrator” web page of your Media Station, proceed to “Video” -> “Themes” and scroll down. You will see a menu like this

Toggle the button and change settings according to your preferences. You can use the Online Director web page to preview changes without leaving your computer. Time displayed is determined by your “Date and Time” system settings, which can be found in “Administrator”->“System”->”System Settings”.

One other feature that you may have skipped is called “Smooth Transitions”. Enabling it allows you to set a fade in-fade out effect when changing layouts. You can determine the length of this effect - from 0.5 to 5 seconds. Transitions, just like other special effects and designs, can be used to enhance the video appearance and make it stand out - therefore, if you haven’t tried this feature yet, give it a go!

Would you like to know more about the unique features of AREC devices? Contact us at www.a-dena.com and we will be happy to introduce them to you, or complete our ADENAcademy class (C3) dedicated specifically to this topic!