ADENA Hack: How to use chroma key with AREC Media Stations?

Chroma key is a technique that allows users to remove certain colours from the video in order to replace them with anything else. While the chroma key is not a built-in feature of AREC stations, it is very simple to add this effect through third-party software and hardware. In this guide, we will describe how you can do this via one of the most common and free broadcasting applications, OBS.

To begin, open OBS and create a new scene by pressing ‘+’ at the bottom-left of the app under ‘Scenes’, or use the one that was created by default. Next, add your video source to this scene by right-clicking in the field under ‘Sources’ or pressing a ‘+’ there. Add a ‘Video Capture Device’ if you are using a USB camera, NDI, or another virtual driver camera. If you are using a network camera, then choose ‘Media Source’ and make sure to tick off ‘Local File’. This will allow you to type in the protocol and address of your source.

Once the source is added, right-click on it and select ‘Filters’. Under ‘Effect Filters’, choose ‘Chroma Key’. Customise its name or simply press ‘OK’. Doing that will open chroma key settings with preview. It may be that the default settings of OBS will immediately produce the right results for you and make all backgrounds black. However, if that’s not the case, use the dropdown menu to select which colour to remove and adjust accordingly using sliders like ‘Similarity’ and others in the same settings menu.

Once you are satisfied with the chroma key appearance, close this menu to apply changes. You can now resize and reposition your video source by dragging its corners and add other elements that you wish to see instead of the black background. For instance, you can add presentation slides, your organisation’s colours and backgrounds, view of a conference room, or any other image, video or file. Simply right-click under ‘Sources’ or press the ‘+’ button to add the element you need, and then reorder the camera source you customised before to be on top of the list. To give an example, in the following image we added computer slides via ‘Window Capture’, and put a USB camera on top of them:

You can now send the final result into your AREC Media Station. Connect the computer running OBS into the station and make sure that it is selected as a video source there by going to the ‘Administrator’ web page -> ‘Media I/O’ -> ‘Video inputs’. In the OBS, right-click on the ‘Scene’ you were setting up, click ‘Full Screen Projector’ and select ‘CBOX’ from the list. This will make that OBS scene display in full screen on your Media Station. Choose a layout with your computer source and you are good to go!

If you would like to know more about how to effectively combine features of other third-party hardware and software with AREC, let us know by contacting us at www.a-dena.com and stay tuned for more useful tips and tricks in our future posts!

AREC at ISE 2025 — Hall 2 Neighbourhood

With over a thousand exhibitors, there are just as many reasons to visit the ISE 2025. Make the most of your visit by starting your journey in AREC’s booth 2U130 in Hall 2, where you will find versatile hybrid conferencing and education technologies for every vertical market. The neighbourhood around our booth is the perfect starting point for any technology enthusiast and system integrator. You can combine the different brands in the area with AREC to achieve complete solutions for all needs. For instance:

• i3Connect — a brand focused on interactive displays for education. Use them as video sources for AREC Media Stations and make the teaching more impactful.

  
  

• Airtame — a brand focused on collaboration and connectivity tools. Connect AREC Media Stations to Airtame Hubs to bring the benefits of switchable multi-source layouts with graphics and more to Teams, Zoom, and other conferencing apps.

  
  

• Temas Technology — a manufacturer of smart digital lecterns. Temas’s interactive content tools work seamlessly with AREC’s automatic multisource capture, recording, streaming, and backup functions. Together, they create a streamlined and cutting-edge solution for Higher Education and Governmental users that is integrated with various VCMS and CDN platforms.

  
  

There are two more reasons to start your visit at AREC’s booth this year. Stay tuned for a sneak peek at one of our exciting new products in our next post, and make sure to reserve your meeting early via the following link: https://calendar.app.google/iM6U3MQaMpEHwC6z9

ADENA Hack: How to use layouts for more effective presentations and conferencing?

Layout is an essential feature of all AREC Media Stations. All our models come with a number of preconfigured layouts that can be used to quickly set up the devices for all sorts of usage scenarios. However, to make the most of layouts, you may want to customise them for your specific case. You can do so easily through either the Online Director web interface or the Layout Editor app, both of which we have explained in the previous ADENA Hacks. 

In this post, we will use the Layout Editor app to show you a few ideas that you can try with your own Media Station.

Content source parameters: X: 0, Y: 12.50, W: 75, H: 75. Letterbox aspect ratio.

First source parameters: X: 75, Y: 12.50, W: 25, H: 75. Fit to height aspect ratio.

When you want to display your computer content and have a clear image of the presenter, e.g. for presentations and webinars, you can try this very simple layout. Its advantage is in how efficiently it uses the available space and maintains clean proportions. It leaves you enough space to add logos and backgrounds on the upper and lower thirds without impacting your content or presenter visibility.

For example, here is how we use this layout:

Like the source clarity, but need more space for messages? Consider making a few slight changes to this layout:

Content source parameters: X: 1.25, Y: 17.50, W: 72.50, H: 72.50. Letterbox aspect ratio.

First source parameters: X: 73.75, Y: 17.50, W: 25, H: 36.25. Fit to height aspect ratio.

This layout’s advantage is in the free space under the first source. As all AREC Media Stations allow uploading 10 overlays and 10 backgrounds, and, in some models, up to 20 each, you can use this space to display all sorts of elements: logos, advertisements, announcements, product images, upcoming speaker photos, textual overlays generated through the Online Director web interface, and more. The extra bit of space on the left can be used to wrap your content in a frame for emphasis or to fit your organisation’s style. Here is an example:

Need to show more than 2 sources, but the concept suits you? Here is another idea you can try:

Content source parameters: X: 17.50, Y: 27.50, W: 65.00, H: 65.00. Letterbox aspect ratio.

First source parameters: X: 2.50, Y: 2.50, W: 25.00, H: 25.00. Letterbox aspect ratio.

Second source parameters: X: 72.50, Y: 2.50, W: 25.00, H: 25:00. Letterbox aspect ratio.

When you have two presenters, or when there is a product that you want to be visible during the presentation, consider creating a layout like this. It gives priority to content and leaves enough canvas space to fill it with useful information: logos, topics, URLs, speaker and product names, and more. Here is how we use this layout:

And most importantly, you can implement all of these layout ideas and more simultaneously on your AREC Media Station! Combine them with overlays and backgrounds, switch between them easily using themes, and make your videos stand out.

If you’d like to know more about layouts, overlays, backgrounds and themes, we invite you to check out the following ADENAcademy lessons, all available for free:

• Level B, Lesson 9 - Overlays and backgrounds on AREC Media Stations, part 1 - how to upload and create them

  
  

• Level B, Lesson 10 - Overlays and backgrounds on AREC Media Stations, part 2 - how to mix them into themes and overview of theme 

  
  

• Level B, Lesson 11 - Import and export of configuration on AREC Media Stations and the Layout Editor App tutorial

And, as always, if you have any questions or want to know more about AREC and its features, please contact us at www.a-dena.com and we will be happy to assist you!