Setting up in a venue – CaptionHub

This article covers what to prepare when you run in-room captions at an event. It assumes you have already created a project with the In-room/webinar output.

You need an internet connection, a modern browser, a way to send the audio to Timbra, and a way to get the in-room display onto the screen.

The audio goes from the room to Timbra. Timbra sends captions back to a computer connected to a screen, and to attendees' phones.

Send the audio to Timbra

Timbra transcribes the audio you stream to it, so the first job at a venue is to get an audio feed out of the room and onto the internet.

Use an encoder to stream to Timbra over RTMP or SRT. Stream to Timbra using RTMP or SRT lists software, mobile and hardware encoders, and how to stream from a Dante network.

Open your project. The connection details are on the first tab of the project, under SRT credentials or RTMP credentials. See SRT source configuration or RTMP source configuration for how to enter them in your encoder.

Timbra doesn't use the video, so you can send a low-resolution or black video feed. A low video bitrate (1000-2000) makes the connection more stable. Use a normal bitrate for the audio.

Before the event:

Start the project and your encoder at the venue, using the same network and equipment you will use on the day.

Open the Health tab and check the Bitrate chart shows the audio arriving.

Check that captions appear for someone speaking into the microphone you will use.

For ways to improve the captions themselves, see Improving live caption quality.

Get the display on the screen

The in-room display is a web page, so you show it by opening its URL in a browser on the computer connected to the screen.

Open your project and select the In-room tab.

Choose the Screen, Theme, Language, Dialogue style and Font size you want. The URL to in-room display updates as you change them. See Configure the in-room display for what each option does.

Copy the URL to in-room display, or select View in-room display to open it.

Open the URL in a browser on the computer that is connected to the screen, and put the browser in full-screen or kiosk mode.

Before the event, check how the display looks on the actual screen, at the resolution you will use. Live preview uses your project, and Preview with demo content shows the display without a stream.

If the screen is far from the computer

If the computer running the display can be next to the screen, use a standard HDMI cable and you can skip this section. If it can't, for example when the laptop sits in a building 20 metres from the stage, the distance a signal can travel depends on the type of cable or extender, the resolution and the refresh rate.

CIE Group publishes a useful table comparing the distances for VGA, HDMI, active optical cables, fibre, HDBaseT and AV-over-IP at several resolutions: Comparing AV signal distances. For expert advice on your setup, talk to your AV supplier or venue technician.

Help attendees follow on their own devices

The in-room companion lets attendees follow the transcript on their own phone or laptop.

On the In-room tab, under In-room companion, copy the URL to in-room companion, or select View in-room companion.

Select Download collateral (.zip) to get QR codes and posters you can print or put on screens in the room.

Before the event, print the posters or add the QR codes to your slides, and scan one with a phone to check it opens the companion.