Remote Guest Monitor in a Hybrid Setting Using NDI

Modified on: Tue, 12 Dec, 2023 at 9:18 AM

One of the multiple NDI use cases for Socialive applies to when you want to provide a video monitor of a remote guest when the Green Room setting combines virtual as well as in-person guests, a so-called hybrid setting. In this use case, a guest in the Green Room is physically present in front of an audience and interacts with another Green Room guest who is remote. This setup usually requires the remote guest to appear on a large video display, so that both the (physically present) guest and the audience are able to see and hear them.

Prerequisites

For this use case, you'll need the following:

A powerful Windows PC running Windows 10 with a dedicated graphics card and ample RAM
Two displays connected to the PC, a monitor next to the PC, and a large display for the stage.
Have NDI Tools installed on the Windows PC
Access to the Internet via Ethernet
Be a Socialive Administrator in your Socialive account.

Process

Launch NDI Tools and run the Screen Capture app.
In the system tray, right-click on Screen Capture, and in Capture Settings check the following options: Region of Interest and Configure RoI.
The Region of Interest window will appear on one of the displays, make sure it appears on the display that is adjacent to the PC, which we will name Display A.
Using Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge, navigate to the Socialive Portal, log in as a Guest, join the session that you are a guest of, and enter the Green Room. You should see all the guests that have joined and are in the Green Room with you.
Select the guest that you need to monitor on stage and pin them in the Green Room.
Position the Region of Interest window and resize it to cover the area as much as possible without revealing any of the boundaries or other elements not relevant to what you would like to display on stage (e.g., health monitor, guest director badge, mute icon, etc.).
In NDI Tools, run the NDI Studio Monitor app and position the window in the large display, which we will name Display B.
A "hamburger"-like icon will appear at the top-left when you hover over the window, click the icon, and then select the NDI source from the drop-down. The pinned guest image should appear in the window.
Click the expand icon at the top-right corner to make the Studio Monitor app full-screen to cover the entire Display B so it serves as a working video monitor of the pinned guest to both the onstage guest as well as the audience.