Producing a Quiz Show from Multiple Locations? 173
Bloke in a box asks: "One of the pubs I help manage is putting on a quiz show. The landlady's two sisters also run pubs, so we have decided to do this quiz for charity (for the Tsunami disaster). At the moment I have: three pubs, three webcams, two laptops, a desktop, three microphones, three sets of 512kb broadband, three big screens, three projectors and one willing quizmaster. I'm aware of various remote admin software which will aid with this, but I'm wondering if there is conferencing software that might be a better fit for this, since I'd need the ability to control the communications between the pubs (like when questions need to be repeated, and so forth)." What other pieces of software would you recommend for such a production?
512kbit? (Score:5, Insightful)
I think you need to look into more bandwidth, that's quite a low amount and I think you're going to see some issues from it.
Re:512kbit? (Score:1)
Re:512kbit? (Score:3, Informative)
I'm guessing that the three pubs aren't that far apart, so 512k should be plenty even with the IP overhead.
I don't know much about running video conferencing over IP, but check into the H.323 standard. I've seen a bit about it on http://www.openh323.org/ [openh323.org].
Re:512kbit? (Score:2)
What does geographic distance have to do with it? Bytes is bytes, no matter how far (or not) they travel.
Re:512kbit? (Score:1)
Re:512kbit? (Score:2)
Re:512kbit? (Score:2)
Re:512kbit? (Score:2)
Re:512kbit? (Score:2, Insightful)
Better idea (Score:5, Funny)
Well... (Score:3, Insightful)
It sounds like you've got a blank slate and aren't sure where to start doodling plans. Make sure you test the system thoroughly and keep cell phones for when the system bombs.
Recommendation (Score:3, Insightful)
Each location has it's own 'contest', with the computer providing a results display of each of the 3 seperate matches. Some form of bar chart could be kept 'live' showing the results for each pub.
You could 'film' 30-second interviews of the contestants, between questions, and play them back during "intermission" periods.
This way each of the pubs is competeing for an ultimate score, highest scoring pub/player = 1st place, etc.
This eliminates the majority of th
NetMeeting? (Score:2)
NetMeeting not an option? (Score:2, Insightful)
This sounds like just another case of self-defeating zealotry.
My advice? Pick whatever works best meets your needs.
Re:NetMeeting not an option? (Score:2)
Re:NetMeeting? (Score:2)
What's more likely?
A. The three computers he has available run windows.
B. They don't.
Mac's, broadband, iChat, iSight, AOL or dot Mac (Score:1, Interesting)
You just have to wait a few months until Mac OS X 10.4 is released. Or have a hot copy, just watch out for lawyers.
http://www.apple.com/macosx/tiger/
-7 Pedantry (Score:1)
really, sorry.... i am... i just couldnt help myself.....
screw quizzing.. (Score:4, Funny)
you got the makings of a small time porno production unit.
Maybe not enough bandwidth? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Maybe not enough bandwidth? (Score:3, Insightful)
For validity of who buzzed/answered first, you'd have to a) have a system to offset for the latency between the locations or b) conduct the timing and answering separately, and mayhaps do a bonus or whatnot for whoever answered first.
Windows Media Encoder (Score:3, Informative)
You can attach to your input streams and send them to a central location with more bandwidth.
Re:Windows Media Encoder (Score:2)
Re:Windows Media Encoder (Score:2)
Re:Windows Media Encoder (Score:2)
Re:Windows Media Encoder (Score:2)
Totally real-time???
Ok, you can ARGUE excellent quality, so I won't touch that. As for real-time:
An Essential Piece (Score:2)
Ken Jennings? Well, his brain is kinda like software.
Re:An Essential Piece (Score:2)
I'm not so sure. His brain appears to have the ability to recall information in a time better than O(1), although it does goof on occasion and return the incorrect response.
List (Score:3, Interesting)
Addendum: List (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:List (Score:2)
buzz in (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:buzz in (Score:4, Insightful)
Sync the clocks with NTP and have the first click win. A small delay while the machines poll each other wouldn't be out of order.
Re:buzz in (Score:1)
Re:buzz in (Score:2)
Re:buzz in (Score:2, Insightful)
Why reinvent the wheel? (Score:2)
Flash Communication Server (Score:3, Informative)
This could be built fairly easily using the Flash Communication Server for data comm and video streaming, and building the quiz show client in either Flash or Director. (Despite its name, FlashComm works with Director just fine.) Keep the quiz logic in the client, and use a bit of server-side Actionscript to do the scorekeeping/results arbitration.
I hate MACR's pre-built components, but given that real-time video streaming is pretty much drag'n'drop with them, you could have a prototype up in a couple of hours.
Lag anyone? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Lag anyone? (Score:2)
I assume spoofing is not a concern here (but use SSH if it is).
Re:Lag anyone? (Score:1)
Re:Lag anyone? (Score:2)
Second, let me repeat that timing is
take the time factor out (Score:4, Interesting)
Once you've done that, just use iChat, MSN Messenger, or something similar.
Re:take the time factor out (Score:4, Informative)
A set of questions is read out. Each team answers all questions. The winning team is the one that answers the most correctly.
Hence no buzzers.
Re:take the time factor out (Score:1)
Also, something along the lines of "The Weakest Pub" where focusing one question on one person/pub/team can work also
Re:take the time factor out (Score:1)
Beat the intro being one obvious one.
Use GPS for timing (Score:3, Interesting)
NTN? (Score:4, Insightful)
Just a thought...
Re:NTN? (Score:2)
A corporation like NTN would be all over something like this... simply put, they can always use the free marketing, and they do a great job with these games at many pubs/bars across Canada and abroad.
Yahoo IM might work (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Yahoo IM might work (Score:2, Insightful)
As a Broadcast Engineer who has actually DONE something like this before, over a satellite link, let me give you some pointers...
The lag in your answer time is going to KILL you over the internet. I would HIGHLY suggest having someone at your "host" location on the phone to each of the other pubs, and keeping an ear on the host pub, and let them be the "final judge" on who rings in first. That way there is no question as to someone being "locked out" due to lag.
The on
To be honest (Score:3, Insightful)
Maybe you should organize something more conventionnal, with the help of your municipality maybe ?
I'm not pessimistic, I'm realistic, it's about dying people, don't forget that point. Do it the efficient way.
why not an NTN system (Score:2)
Re:why not an NTN system (Score:1)
A cellphone/webcam hybrid might work... (Score:1)
If you were to take the conference call and drop it online, folks from everywhere could tune in.
Sounds like fun!
Other benefits... (Score:1)
It can also solve the lag problem people are concerned with. Since the phone lag should be negligible (no guarantees), each contestent can be equiped with a different noise maker. You could even make them funny sounds. Whichever is heard first wins the buzzer. Could be automated, but making it fun could keep people more involved.
already widespread (Score:2)
No video, but with your bandwidth limitation... (Score:2, Informative)
Why not simplify it? (Score:5, Insightful)
Another thing I worry about is, if you're only doing it once, you can count on stuff going wrong. Things always do with something this complicated. I could see if you were going to do it week after week, because after a few weeks you'd get the hang of it and you could streamline the process. But if you're just planning on doing a one-shot event, stick to the tried and true. You could rent three PA rigs for the evening and be good to go. Hope this helps.
too bad you don't have Macs. (Score:2)
Re:too bad you don't have Macs. (Score:2)
Free open solution: www.accessgrid.org (Score:1)
Re:Free open solution: www.accessgrid.org (Score:1)
irc (Score:1)
To bad Tiger isn't out yet... (Score:2)
Think Flash, maybe FlashCom (Score:1)
Consider Macromedia Flash and perhaps FlashCom server, especially if you're looking to do something relatively bandwidth-light yet attractive.
Flash has come a long way in the last few years: Flash 7 supports video and has XML parsing and even Xpath functionality baked into the player. Actionscript 2 supports class-based and OOP development. The XMLSocket class might be useful if you're looking to maintain persistant communications.
The nice thing about Flash is that you could develop a engaging experien
Come on Slashdot (Score:1)
BAC (Score:3, Funny)
probably a bad idea.... (Score:1)
While the concept of drinking for charity sounds fun, it would be a really unfortunate way to die (indirectly) from the tsunami. T
Yahoo! Messenger (Score:2)
Seems Trivial (Score:1)
Find a volunteer location that is near the network center of the three locations. Do the webcast from here, which simply includes your host's webcam image overlayed with the text questions as s/he speaks. This is to avoid any one pub having an unfair advantage.
Assuming quality webcams, at each pub you should display on the overhead a split-screen -- maybe the announcer on the top 1/2 and each of the other pubs left-to-righ
WebEx (Score:2)
Logic?! (Score:1)
While I have no answer to your question, I urge you to reach for your nearest dictionary and look up "non sequitur".
Thank you.
Re:Logic?! (Score:1)
non sequitur
n 1: a reply that has no relevance to what preceded it 2: (logic) a conclusion that does not follow from the premises
*is* there good quiz hardware / Open sofware? (Score:1)
- For games with loose / free-form answers, paddles like on Jeopardy (or any game show with "buzzing in"), where tapping a sensor is associated with a physical device or a contestant, and it can be displayed on a screen, etc. A Griffen PowerMate would be good for this, and would look cool, too. Every contestant gets a powermate att
Palantir (Score:1)
It doesn't offer any of the conferencing facilities you want, but you there's nothing to prevent you using it for video only, and something else for audio (which may have more control)
You may just want to have 3 differ
Another possible solution (Score:2)
Very Low Tech solution (Score:2)
In fact, if you really want to go whole hog have a three round tournament, one round in each pub. Triple your opportunity to solicit donations.
Why so complicated? (Score:1)
I've done a bit of pub quiz myself and I'd suggest a "keep it simple" approach. Get two more buddies (or have the pub owners get someone) to quizmaster at the other pubs and just go simultaneous. If you want something to tie the pubs together have "championship" plaque going to the pub with the high point total, donations, whatever you want. Not sure why this has to be all that complicated. Any technical issues that arise will most
iChat Does 4-way Video Conferences (Score:2)
Re:iChat Does 4-way Video Conferences (Score:2)
Lots of ways to skin this cat (Score:5, Informative)
Anyway, this is exactly what our company's software [avacast.com] does, so pardon the self promotion.
Let me answer some of the points above:
- Not enough bandwidth: You can easily do this on a 512k link, although you're not going to fall in love with the video quality. With three locations, Flash Communication Server would do fine. In fact, I think the developer edition supports a max of three users an 1Mbit of bandwidth, so you'd be able to use it on the cheap.
Even if you didn't use FCS, you could roll your own using Windows Media Encoders at each location pushing streams to a windows media server. You can make a page that hosts all three videos in it, with an area below for the quiz. Don't like WME? You can use Real's Helix, although it's a little harder to set up the first time. Both WME video and Helix introduce significant buffering delay, so you'll have to configure all components (encoder, server, and client-side playback control) to use the minimum buffering allowed. You'll still end up with at least 5 seconds of buffering.
- Lag: I doubt you'd have enough lag to make a big difference in determining whose answers are correct. Regardless, in our system, every message up & downstream is timestamped (down to thousandths of a second), and the client and server clocks are synchronized together, so you'll have a very decent idea who answered first. Not that it really matters, since it's for charity, who cares if it's slightly off, right?
- Webex is a fine choice if you DON'T care about video. Their video is very lousy, hugely bandwith intensive, and doesn't support n-way video conferences. The price mentioned above does not include video, I don't think. A better pay-per-minute options would be Breeze Live. They also have a 15-day free trial, which is nice.
Also, you should consider something like a Polycom, Tandberg, or other traditional video conferencing product. For one, lots of companies have them, so you can probably get loaner units easily.
Or (ahem) maybe give us a call. Our software does polls, quizzes, slides, chat, moderated Q&A, all synchronized to the video and and internal clock. Up to 5-way video conferences are supported using the Flash Communication Server, and we have bandwidth partners in the UK if you need them.
Re:Lots of ways to skin this cat (Score:1)
Re:Lots of ways to skin this cat (Score:3, Interesting)
I don't know about Flash Comm Server, but Webex has serious issues. I'm just speaking from recent experience (as late as yesterday), but I have yet to have a Webex conference go smoothly.
Webex uses a browser plug-in. It claims to work with Netscape and IE, but I've only managed to get it to work with IE. There doesn't seem to be support for Firefox, Mozilla, etc.
Conferences are assigned a number. This meeting number, in the
Re:Lots of ways to skin this cat (Score:3, Insightful)
Can you make it asynchronous? (Score:2)
Have a running frame on the right-hand side showing 30s webcam shots of each of the pubs. Center frame
512Kbit is not enough (Score:2)
Have you considered asking your local amateur radio clubs for help?
Better still, rent the town hall
don't do it! (Score:1)
The joy in pub trivia is that it is simple, no computers, no technology, no hassles. You show up, get your piece of paper, and scribble away. Why unnecessarily complicate things?
A solution...with and offer to help (Score:2)
Firstly, I think you are short 1 camera, 1 Mic and one computer. You might be able to do without the extra computer.
If you can get the extra computer and mic, set the emcee up in one pub with the camera and mic. Set up one further mic and camera in that pub, and a mic and camera in each of the other two pubs.
Use a piece of video conferencing software that can 1> Tile multiple connections and 2> show that view, or
Take a look at this (Score:1)
It's a UK pub-quiz, not a game show (Score:4, Interesting)
Also, I'm not going to mention specific software, rather the infrastructure approach to doing this successfully...
First, each site has a technician. At the remote sites, they're responsible for feeding the video and audio to the projector, and for using some sort of low-bandwidth instant messenger or dedicated IRC to chat with the host site technician for things like question repeat requests and so forth. At the host end, the tech feeds messages to the quizmaster and runs the outbound video/audio feed.
Second, remember that the 512kb link is downstream only - the upstream is going to be half that for basic UK ADSL, which means much less bandwidth for the video/audio as most ISPs don't support multicast. It'd probably be worth contacting the ISP - if all three venues us the same one - to try and get some dedicated/increased bandwidth for the event, or at least some "preferred" routing for the video.
Next, the host site server needs to be the most powerful you have, in order to compress the video as much as possible in as close to real-time as possible. Hardware encoding is a big plus at this point. Also, forget about webcams for the video source - beg/borrow/whatever a decent video camera, capture card and lighting.
Also, have a backup plan. For example, feed the ear-piece output of a cellphone to the remote site PA, and have the host-site microphone also feed the mic input of two cellphones as an alternate feed. Return feeds would come from/go to the techs.
Finally, test everything off-site well before the event to make sure it all works, then test it all extensively on the day. It might sound obvious, but you'd be surprised how often it doesn't happen.
Oh, and if you're running this somewhere in the south-east of England, drop me a line if you want a tech for one of the sites...
Multicast overlays... (Score:2)
In the absence of my wonderful software, I'd suggest taking a quick look at Yoid [isi.edu], which should theoretically use your bandwidth intelligently. The applications which run on yoid without modificat
Re:PHP (Score:1)
[me ducking]
Re:PHP (Score:1)
I didnt thing of this but
Re:PHP (Score:5, Funny)
Re:PHP (Score:2)
Re:PHP (Score:1)
... And moreover since he could do it in Aspect Oriented PHP !! Onward to mayhem !
Re:PHP (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Conference XP (Score:1)
I figured if the original poster was handy enough to figure out how to post on
Maybe if I had mentioned that it was MSR, not "M$", and that source was available the suggestion would have been better reci
Re:IRC (Score:2)