Adobe+Connect

Adobe Conect

****Introduction****

 * (courtesy of Stephan Ridway, Sydney Institute)**

[|Adobe Acrobat Connect] is a commercial web conferencing platform produced by Adobe and is one of numerous platforms including[|Elluminate],[|discovere], [|iVocalize] etc. which are referred to as synchronous communication platforms. Typically they combine live Web conferencing within a collaborative e-learning environment and are referrred to as synchrounous because the communication takes place in real time rather than over time as in asynchrous forms of communication such as forums or email groups. Typically they bring together simultaneous Voice over IP [|(VoIP)], video, text chat, interactive whiteboard communications, application sharing etc. which are in-sync regardless of connection speed.

****Adobe Connect Professional features****
The Adobe Connect platform comprises the core Adobe Coonect Communication Server and applications for real-time and on-demand communication.

****Acrobat Connect Professional****
This delivers real-time meetings and seminars and is the component which most staff will utilise.

****Client requirements****
Adobe Connect is a [|Flash] based platform so all the a user requires to attend a meeting is the following :-


 * MS Windows, Apple Mac, Lynux or Solaris Operating System [|more info]
 * Web Bowser ie IE, Firefox
 * [|Adobe Flash player] installed
 * Sound Card with mic input
 * Headset/Microphone headset
 * Webcam (optional)

****Profiles****

 * [[image:http://static.flickr.com/96/236534422_7912be4022_m.jpg caption="external image 236534422_7912be4022_m.jpg"]] ||
 * external image 236534422_7912be4022_m.jpg ||

image by [|sridgway]

There are 3 profile types in a Adobe Connect Professional meeting room, each with its own level of permissions.


 * Hosts**
 * [[image:sridgway:host_icon.jpg caption="host_icon.jpg"]] ||
 * host_icon.jpg ||

Can set up a meeting, invite guests, add content, and add or edit layouts in a meeting room. They can promote other participants to be hosts or presenters, and while a meeting is in progress, they can switch to preparing mode to create or edit a layout for a different presentation. They can use any features available to a presenter.


 * Presenters**
 * [[image:sridgway:presenter_icon.jpg caption="presenter_icon.jpg"]] ||
 * presenter_icon.jpg ||

Can show content already loaded into the meeting room from the library, and they can show new content from their computer. They can also share a screen, making anything displayed on the presenter's screen appear on the meeting room Stage of all participants and presenters. They can also chat, answer questions, and broadcast live audio and video. What they can't do is alter the layout of the pods in the room.


 * Participants**
 * [[image:sridgway:participant_icon.jpg caption="participant_icon.jpg"]] ||
 * participant_icon.jpg ||

Can view the content that the presenter is showing or sharing, hear and see the presenter's audio and video broadcast, use text chat, and broadcast their own audio and video, if given permission.

Prior to entering the room you will need to ensure the microphone and/or webcam are working correctly.

****Audio Headsets****

 * Analogue headsets**


 * [[image:http://static.flickr.com/88/259297980_5573ab643d_m.jpg caption="external image 259297980_5573ab643d_m.jpg" link="http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephanridgway/259297980/"]] ||
 * external image 259297980_5573ab643d_m.jpg ||

image by [|sridgway]

Typically analogue headsets have 2 leads, one for the microphone and one for the headphones which are plugged into the computers sound card. They are referred to as analogue as the computers sound card converts the signals to digital information. The leads follow a loose colour coding convention which is unfortunately often not adhered to, pink for the mic and green for the headphones. They will also have printed symbols which denote the mic and headphones. One of the common problems with audio is that they are plugged into the wrong sockets on the computer. They commonly they have an in-line volume control and microphone mute switch which is also be good place to check if you have no audio signal. The microphones fold out and need to be close to your mouth, 15 cm max to work effectively.

Analogue headsets range anywhere from $7 up to $50 depending on the quality of the headphones mostly, and are the most common type of headset used.


 * Sound card settings**

Analogue headsets are notoriously difficult to get working as they require the "sounds and audio devices" settings in Windows XP to be set up correctly. As each sound card, driver software and computer is different so it is difficult to provide a definitive guide to the setup. Once set up it will not need to be altered, however it may require some trial and error tweaking to get it right initially.


 * Desktop Computers**

It's not uncommon for desktop computers to have 2 microphone headphone socket sets, one at the rear and one at the front of the computer. Plug the headset into the one most convenient. The rest of the configuration will be done using the Windows "sounds and audio devices" panel.

[|Watch this video] to learn how to use the sounds and audio devices panel.


 * Notebook Computers**


 * [[image:http://static.flickr.com/96/259455132_17da82aff2_m.jpg caption="external image 259455132_17da82aff2_m.jpg" link="http://flickr.com/photos/stephanridgway/259455132/"]] ||
 * external image 259455132_17da82aff2_m.jpg ||

image by [|sridgway]

Notebooks often have an internal microphone in addition to a socket for an external microphone. Sometimes these are refered to mic 1 and mic 2 on the audio devices panel. When an external mic is connected the internal mic is disabled.


 * USB headsets**


 * [[image:http://static.flickr.com/99/259297942_3bb32f7a65_m.jpg caption="external image 259297942_3bb32f7a65_m.jpg" link="http://flickr.com/photos/stephanridgway/259297942/"]] ||
 * external image 259297942_3bb32f7a65_m.jpg ||

image by [|sridgway]

USB headsets are fully digital in that the headset itself converts the microphone signals to digital information and hence the sound card in the computer is not utilised. The data is transferred via the USB port. One of the great features of USB headsets is that they are "plug and play" and don't require any drivers to be installed and will generally be ready to use once the Operating System has detected and configured the headset. The advantage of USB headsets is that you bypass the common issues surrounding sound cards and drivers, all you need to do is plug the lead into a free usb port and ensure the microphone level is set appropriately in the sounds and audio devices panel.


 * [[image:sridgway:mic_level_usb.jpg caption="mic_level_usb.jpg"]] ||
 * mic_level_usb.jpg ||

[|Adobe Presentation on choosing a microphone]

****Logging into Adobe Connect****
Typically when you attend a Adobe Connect meeting/conference you will be sent an invitation which includes a url to the room.


 * [[image:sridgway:login.jpg caption="login.jpg"]] ||
 * login.jpg ||

If you are a registered user on the server enter your username and password Otherwise you can enter the room as a guest, here you will be asked to enter a name for the session.

In some instances the room will have an additional layer of security and a request to enter the room will be sent to presenters and hosts present in the room who will in turn approve your entry.

****Setting your bandwidth****
Upon entering the room you should set the bandwith according to the speed of the connection you have to the internet.
 * Participants** **Connection Speed**

Select Meeting>My Connection Speed and choose from one of the options listed.


 * [[image:sridgway:bandwith.jpg caption="bandwith.jpg"]] ||
 * bandwith.jpg ||

Modem - Optimises your room use for a dialup connection. DSL - Optimises your room use for a broadband connection such as ADSL, cable LAN - Select this is you are on a corporate network, like @ TAFE


 * Presenters/Hosts** - **Room Bandwidth**

If you are a presenter and/or a host in the room you will need to optimise the overall bandwith of the room.


 * [[image:sridgway:connection_presenter.jpg caption="connection_presenter.jpg"]] ||
 * connection_presenter.jpg ||

The bandwidth for the meeting room itself, should correspond to the average bandwidth of your meeting participants. This way Adobe Connect optimises the delivery of content to best suit the majority of users in the room.

****Running the audio Wizard****
Prior to using the Camera and Voice pod it is a good idea to run the set up wizard to optimise your audio for the meeting room.

Select from the menu //**Meeting>Audio Setup Wizard**//


 * [[image:sridgway:audio_wizard.jpg caption="audio_wizard.jpg"]] ||
 * audio_wizard.jpg ||

Follow the steps outlined in the wizard to the very end.


 * [[image:sridgway:audio_wizard_2.jpg caption="audio_wizard_2.jpg"]] ||
 * audio_wizard_2.jpg ||


 * [[image:sridgway:addin.jpg caption="addin.jpg"]] ||
 * addin.jpg ||

NOTE: To set your microphone for echo cancellation and noise suppression, you need to install the Adobe Connect Meeting Add-in. The Audio Setup wizard can run without this additional plugin however, for the highest quality audio possible with your configuration, Adobe recommends that you install the Adobe Connect Meeting Add-in and run the wizard.


 * Advanced Settings**

If after running the audio wizard the room attendees are reporting poor audio quality or report you are tool low in volume, despite the audio panel adjustments you can turn off some of the automatic functions.

This can be done in the final stage of the Audio set-up Wizard.

Click the **Advanced Settings ....** button


 * [[image:sridgway:audio_wizard_3.jpg caption="audio_wizard_3.jpg"]] ||
 * audio_wizard_3.jpg ||


 * Silence Level**

For Silence Level, drag the slider to adjust the level. A higher setting results in more sensitivity to silence in an audio broadcast.


 * Automatic gain Control**

The automatic gain function dynamically adjusts your microphone levels based on how loud you speak. Occasionally this is too aggressive and results in too much gain being applied. To turn it off uncheck the AGC check box and manually adjust your microphone level with the slider.


 * [[image:sridgway:audio_wizard_4.jpg caption="audio_wizard_4.jpg"]] ||
 * audio_wizard_4.jpg ||


 * Echo Cancellation Mode**

This is important if you want to use speakers and a microphone where multiple speakers can generate feedback.

For Acoustic Echo Cancellation Mode, select an option to adjust echo cancellation (the Flash Connect Add‑in must be installed to use this option):


 * ~ Option ||~ Description ||
 * **Full Duplex** || Enables multiple users to speak at one time. If echo feedback results, select another option (this option is preferred for most systems). ||
 * **Half Duplex** || Enables only one user to speak at a time. Use this option if microphones on your system are unusually sensitive (transmitting unwanted background sound) or if you have poor echo cancellation. ||
 * **Headphones** || Optimizes audio settings for use with headphones. This option uses Full Duplex mode, in which multiple users can speak at one time. ||
 * **Off** || Disables echo cancellation. ||


 * Audio Quality**

For Audio Quality, select an option to adjust a combination of all audio settings, including silence level, echo cancellation, and gain control, to provide optimized performance. A higher quality setting uses more CPU resources, and therefore slows performance, but provides better audio quality. It is recommended that you use the highest quality setting that does not cause detectable audio degradation on your system. Select one of four settings:


 * ~ Option ||~ Description ||
 * **Fast** || Provides the fastest performance but the lowest audio quality. (This setting uses the fewest CPU resources. Use this option for systems with slower CPUs.) ||
 * **Good** || Provides somewhat slower performance but better audio quality. (This is the default setting, recommended for most systems.) ||
 * **Best** || Provides the slowest performance but the best audio quality. (Use this option for systems with very fast CPUs.) ||
 * **Custom** || Enables you to select options for audio quality settings. Use this option if the standard settings do not provide adequate results. Proceed to step 10 to select Custom options. ||


 * NOTE:** Best not to adjust any of the Advanced setting unless you experience problems.

****Camera and Voice Pod****

 * [[image:sridgway:Voice_pod.jpg caption="Voice_pod.jpg"]] ||
 * Voice_pod.jpg ||

[|Watch this move] to learn how to set up audio for a meeting room & use the Camera and Voice Pod.


 * Hints on using camera/voice**

Unless you have a specific reason it's best not to utilise the video camera as it consumes significant bandwith and may degarde the overall experience of the session. As a facilitator you may introduce the session using the camera and then pause it for the duration of the session

To pause the camera click the camera icon, this will take a snap shot from the camera and use this as a still picture. The camera can be restarted by clicking the icon again.

It's a good idea to turn you microphone off if you are not speaking. With multiple speaker mode enabled, each participant adds a little background noise to the session which culminates in a distracting background interference.

The microphone lock mode is useful if you need to use your mouse to demonstrate and essential if you are desktop sharing as the foucus is moved to away from the meeting room to the shaped application.

Adobe - TechNote : [|Best practices for Voice Over IP (VoIP) audio]


 * Configuring pod options**

Once you have been granted control over a pod the options button will be present in the lower right hand corner.


 * [[image:sridgway:camera_pod_options.jpg caption="camera_pod_options.jpg"]] ||
 * camera_pod_options.jpg ||


 * Camera Off** Turns off video broadcasting.


 * Slow Images** Samples and transmits the camera image less frequently than other image settings. Images tend to be low-quality and can shift abruptly. Use this setting if most attendees have low-speed connections or if you are not concerned about image quality.


 * Fast Images** Provides a clear but not high-quality image. Use this setting if attendees are connected at a variety of speeds.


 * High Quality Images** Provides high-quality images. Use this setting if all attendees are connected at high speeds.


 * Portrait** Presents a square shape.


 * Standard** Approximates 160/120 aspect ratio.


 * Landscape** Approximates 9/5 aspect ratio.


 * Voice Off** - Turns off all audio broadcasting.


 * Voice On - Multiple Speakers** Turns on audio broadcasting. Meeting attendees who have the appropriate permissions can broadcast audio. Any attendee can talk when holding down the Talk button.


 * Voice On - One Speaker** Turns on audio broadcasting. Meeting attendees who have the appropriate permissions can broadcast audio. When a speaker holds down the Talk button, the Talk button is disabled for other users, who cannot broadcast their voice.

**Allowing participants to broadcast**
There are three methods a presenter can use to allow participants to broadcast video and audio in a meeting.

//**Method 1**//

Method one promotes the participant to a Presenter role. As a Presenter, the participant can use any meeting features available to a presenter except change the layout and size of the pods.


 * [[image:sridgway:enhanced_3.jpg caption="enhanced_3.jpg"]] ||
 * enhanced_3.jpg ||

Select the users name in the Attendee List and then set their role as presenter. This will give them control over all pods, including the camera and voice pod.

//**Method 2**//

The second method is to enable "auto promote participants to presenters feature". Here as participants enter the room they are automatically promoted to the role of presenter.

As a host or presenter click the meeting menu and enable the option for the room.

//**Method 3**//

The third method changes the participant's rights only for the Camera and Voice pod. From the Attendee List pod, you can grant presenter's rights to a participant for a specific pod.


 * [[image:sridgway:enhanced_1.jpg caption="enhanced_1.jpg"]] ||
 * enhanced_1.jpg ||


 * [[image:sridgway:enhanced_2.jpg caption="enhanced_2.jpg"]] ||
 * enhanced_2.jpg ||

You can choose to grant a user control over one or more pods. Note they will have same control as hosts and presenters over pods which can lead to some chaotic outcomes if users begin changing settings which effect everyone in the room. This is a useful method to give participants control over the camera and voice pod so they can use a mic or camera.

NOTE: You can select all participants by selecting "Select All" and then use the "Change Enhanced Participants Rights" option to grant control over pods.

****Attendee List Pod****

 * [[image:sridgway:attendees.jpg caption="attendees.jpg"]] ||
 * attendees.jpg ||

The Attendee List pod, enables you can quickly see who is logged in to a meeting and monitor everyone's name, role, and status.

The names in the Attendee List pod are grouped by role indicated by their icon.


 * [[image:sridgway:attendees_roles.jpg caption="attendees_roles.jpg"]] ||
 * attendees_roles.jpg ||

Presenters and participants can view a participant's name & status while hosts can control options.


 * Emoticons**

By default the participant emoticon is blank. However, participants can change their own emoticon to indicate to the group their status. For example they might wish to ask a question or indicate they have stepped away. When a participant selects a status, an icon appears to the right of the their name. Participants can clear their status at any time during a meeting. When you have responded to a message and want to clear the participant status, select Clear User Status from the Attendee List Pod Options pop-up menu.


 * About attendee bandwidth**

When an attendee's connection falls below the current meeting room bandwidth, one of the following indicators appears to the right of the user's name:

//**Orange triangle**// The participant is on a connection that is less than the current room bandwidth, the participant has high latency (between 0.2 and 4 seconds), or the participant is dropping between 5% and 20% of packets.

//**Red square**// The participant is on a connection that approximates a modem connection, the participant has high latency (greater than 4 seconds), or the participant is dropping more than 20% of packets.

When bandwidth performance meets requirements, no symbol appears. You can configure the network connection status indicators to be on or off at any time during a meeting.

To show or hide attendees' connection status indicators:


 * 1) Click the pod option icon in the bottom right hand corner of the Attendee List pod.
 * 2) Select Show Connection Status from the pop-up menu.

If Show Connection Status has a check mark next to it, the network connection status is enabled and shows network connection status for all attendees in your meeting. If the option has no check mark, the connection status indicators are hidden for users in your meeting.


 * Changing an attendee's role**

As a host you can change the role of any participant in the Attendee List pod, so that you can promote and demote them as necessary. You can also change your own role.

Roll over each name to view the attendee's full name, meeting role, audio conference status, and enhanced rights.

To change a participant's role:

1. In the Attendee List pod, select the name of the participant whose role you want to change. 2. Click Set User Role in the lower-left corner of the Attendee List pod. 3. From the pop-up menu, select the role to give to the selected attendee: Participant, Presenter, or Host

To remove a participant from a meeting: A pop-up menu appears with a list of the available pod options.
 * 1) In the Attendee List pod, select the name of the participant to remove.
 * 2) Click Pod Options in the lower-right corner of the Attendee List pod.
 * 1) Select Remove Selected User from the pop-up menu.


 * Changing a participant's pod control**

A host can give a presenter or a participant full control of a specific or range of pods.


 * 1) Select the name of a presenter or participant from the Attendee List pod.
 * 2) Click Pod Options button on the bottom right hand corner of the the Attendee List pod.
 * 3) To change a user's rights for a pod, select the pod.
 * 4) Click OK.

The user has full functionality for all instances of the selected pod types.

****Recording your sessions****
[|Watch this move] - How to access and distribute connect recordings

****Resources****
[|TAFE NSW Adobe Connect server]

[|What's possible with Adobe Connect & Presenter], John Paull, Adobe Pacific

[|Overview of Adobe Connect]

[|Adobe Connect Resource Center] - Note the existing Breeze resources are applicable to Connect

[|Breeze 5 Documentation]

[|Macromedia Breeze Presenter Quick Start Guide]

[|TAFE Online Stage 2 EdNA group] - Including Breeze user group

[|Adobe Presentation on choosing a microphone]

[|Adobe presentation on the best practices for using webcameras]

[|Adobe resources on best practices for recording]

[|Adobe presentation on Screen sharing with Breeze]

All things Connected - wiki space is for teachers in TAFE NSW attending CLI's online sessions on how to use Adobe Connect.