Tip | ACPR Best Practices and Considerations

Discover top tips, best practices, and important considerations related to the ACPR plugin.

Updated at April 23rd, 2024

Advice


The ACPR plugin is designed to ensure your participant or audience member will be seen by the far-end when they talk. This article will discuss the considerations and best practices to ensure proper operation of the plugin for your needs.

Room Layout

  1. Confirm table location and arrangement.
  2. Confirm location of displays.
  3. Confirm microphone location(s).
  4. Best practices for camera views:
    1. Don't try to have just 1 person per shot. Too tight a shot leave you open for errors.
    2. Ideally, have 2-4 people per camera shot. This is more natural for viewing.
    3. If setting up audience views, cut the room into bigger areas. It's ok to have 10-15 people per shot in this case. You only need to be close enough for viewers to recognize who is speaking.
 
 

Designer Setup

Critical Elements

  1. Add cameras
    1. Include ALL cameras in the system.
    2. Use the code names to distinguish position and primary/secondary status.
    3. Enable script access.
  2. Add Mediacast Router
    1. Primary cameras set to Inputs 1-8 (or 16).
    2. Secondary cameras set to Inputs 9-16 (or 17-32).
    3. Enable code name and script access.
  3. Enabling Script access to all components
    1. This is how the ACPR plugin communicates with each necessary component.
    2. Can be set to “Script” or “All” for this use case.
    3. Code name is what will appear in the drop down later in the configuration.
  4. Add ACPR v3.1 component from Asset Manager
  5. Microphone Signal
    1. Tie in audio from mic(s) pre-mixing and post-AEC
      1. The plugin should get the most unaltered signal from the mic.
      2. If you want mic gating for the far end audio feed, have gates in the signal path separate from those sent to the plugin. There is a built in ‘Mic Audio Detection Threshold’ slider that can be used to dial in the mic detection in the room. Do not add a gate before the plugin audio feed.

        Note

        In previous builds of ACPR (before v3.0), gates and automixers were required before the mic input. This is not longer the case, and they should not be included.

         
    2. If no integrated ceiling mic is used, discrete mic mode is used.
      1. An audio pin is assigned for each microphone.
      2. Each microphone corresponds to a zone of camera presets.

        Note

        NMT-1 and discrete mics are post-AEC because their crosstalk detection relies on the internal gating auto mixer activating 2 mics at the same time. When using the signal post-AEC it is less likely that far end or any signal from the speakers can trigger this. When using any of the other mics the NOM of the internal gating auto mixer is 1 and is not affecting this. Crosstalk detection in this case works by recording the count of zone changes within the last 10 seconds.

         
  6. Far-end Speaker Signal
    1. Tie in far end signal from bridge (just before out to speakers).
      1. One of the conditions for the default shot is the far end speaking for a certain amount of time. If the far end is presenting, the camera feed should not be looking at a small section of the room. The presenter should be able to see the whole room.
    2. Ideally the AEC reference will be sent to the plug in for the far-end audio feed. This ensures the “far-end” audio is based on what the room is actually hearing is being sent to the far-end. It will account for things like program audio to trigger the wide shot.

      Note

      This may not work in every situation, if other local mics/sources are being mixed in. Triggering should not be based on those, so it is best to get the far end audio feed right off the AV bridge.

       
  7. Send the camera router to the AV bridge output.
 
 

ACPR Component Configuration (v3.1)

Properties

  1. Mode: Select your microphone
    1. Sennheiser TCC2 (Up to 10)
    2. Sennheiser TCCM (Up to 10)
    3. Discrete Mics (Up to 90 in groups of 10)
    4. NM-T1 (Up to 16)
    5. Audio-Technica ATND1061 (Up to 10)
    6. Shure MXA920 (Up to 10)
  2. Camera Zone Mode
    1. When the ATND is selected as the mic, this will allow you to use the Camera Zones configured in the Audio-Technica Digital Microphone Manager

      Note

      Typically, this is not use this as it is best to define the camera zones in the ACPR block and not rely on the microphone zone definitions.

       
  3. Cameras
    1. Minimum of 8, maximum of 16
  4. Camera Preview
    1. Enables the camera preview window showing the currently selected camera.
 
 

Control Pins

See ACPR help guide for full walkthrough of available control pins.

  1. Disable vs Tracking Bypass
    1. Tracking Bypass can have a toggle tied to it to put the system into ‘manual camera control’ mode.

      Note

      You can still make changes to the settings while tracking is bypassed.

       
    2. Disable is a pin common to all plugins that disables every control within the plug in.
 
 

Audio Pins

See Designer Setup section above for Audio setup instructions.

 
 

Setup Tab

  1. Bypass button
    1. Enable or disable camera tracking. Auto = not bypassed. Click here for more information.
  2. Number of primary cameras
    1. This is the number of camera positions.
    2. Primary/Secondary pairs make up a camera position.
  3. Assign cameras and wire them into the Mediacast Router to make the component work (take some time on this; it is critical and often the cause of issues)
    1. Primary cameras go into router inputs 1-8 (or 16)

      Note

      Remember you can only have anywhere from 8 to 16 primary cameras (or camera positions)

       
  4. Secondary cameras go into router inputs 9-16 (or starting with the max number of primary cameras + 1).
    1. Ensure secondary cameras are paired with their primary cameras (1+9/17, 2+10/18, 3+11/19, etc.) With ACPR 3.1 the number of primary cameras can be anywhere from 8 to 16 so getting the math right for the secondary camera should be double checked.
  5. Mask Transition
    1. In scenarios where there is no secondary camera, the home position camera can be switched to while the primary camera is moving.

      Note

      A dedicated home position camera(s) is required in this case.

       
  6. Choose a Mediacast Router for the cameras from the dropdown menu.
    1. Also choose the router output desired for control.

      Note

      This is where Code Name and Script Access comes in. Without enabling/setting, the dropdown menu will not populate.

       
  7. Set switch delay
    1. This is the amount of time there needs to be signal in a particular zone before the load command will be triggered.
      1. Generally, start between 2 and 2.5 seconds. Once the system is running well, the switch time can be slowly reduced until unfavorable results are shown, and then turned back up. Much of this comes down to users’ meeting etiquette and preference.

        Note

        If there is a lot of crosstalk, lengthening the delay will help prevent frequent bouncing between shots.

         
  8. Default home position controls
    1. Auto/Off works like the Tracking Bypass button.
      1. If this is OFF then the cameras will just remain in the last triggered zone.
      2. Will remove any condition that would trigger the Default Zone
        1. Crosstalk
        2. Far End speaking
        3. In room silence
    2. Camera
      1. Selects the default camera
      2. Only primary cameras can be selected
    3. Primary Position
      1. Once the camera is selected, click the LOAD button to select it as the active camera.
      2. Use the PTZ controls in the plug-in to set a position.
      3. Click the SAVE button. The position coordinates then populate in the Position box.
    4. Secondary Position
      1. Identical functionality as the Primary Position.

        Note

        If the primary camera has no secondary camera assigned, then the controls are disabled.

         
    5. Save
      1. Click to save the current position of the selected camera.

        Note

        The Position box is not live-updated with the current position of the selected camera. It only updates when you click Save.

         
    6. Load
      1. Click to load the current saved position of the selected camera
  9. Cosstalk Detection
    1. This is the rate at which the plugin sets the default camera to the home position when several people are detected as talking at once: 
      1. None
      2. Slow
      3. Medium
      4. Fast
      5. Custom

        Note

        If Custom is used, the parameters are set on the Expert Control page. If crosstalk has been detected, the LED turns on. When this occurs, preset recalling will not trigger.

         
 
 

Expert Controls

  1. Silence Home Position Trigger Time
    1. This is the time, in seconds, that there must be silence on the local mic and local speakers until a home position call gets executed. The range is 1 to 15. The control background is a meter to indicate the amount of time silence has been detected. When it reaches the limit (indicated by the slider) the home position will be called.
  2. Far End Home Position Trigger Time
    1. This is the time, in seconds, that there must be audio on the local speakers until a home position call gets executed. The range is 1 to 15. The control background is a meter to indicate the amount of time the fare end has been talking. When it reaches the limit (indicated by the slider) the home position will be called.
  3. Crosstalk Trigger Custom Level
    1. If the preset on the Setup page is set to 'Custom', this is the threshold at which the Crosstalk gets called. The range is 0 to 1.00. The control background is a meter to indicate how close the detected level is to the threshold.
  4. Crosstalk Reset Custom Time
    1. This is the minimum time, in seconds, for how long the camera will stay in the home position after a crosstalk event has been triggered. The range is 1.00 to 15.0.
  5. Mic Audio Detection Threshold
    1. Sets the Threshold microphone signals have the be above the noise floor to be detected as valid. Lower value means quicker detection but more potential errors.
  6. Far End Audio Detection Threshold
    1. Sets the Threshold far end audio signals have the be above the noise floor to be detected as valid. Lower value means quicker detection but more potential errors.
  7. Zone Hysteresis
    1. Amount in degrees a new zone needs to be away from the current active one.
      1. A blue LED instead of red will indicate that a zone is valid, but the angles are too close to the current zone to be switched.
      2. Works only for Angle Microphones.
  8. Load Settings from Other Plugin
    1. Will migrate settings from another (usually v2.3) plugin.
 
 

If using Discrete Mics, review Channel settings

  1. Each ‘channel’ is equal to a microphone in the system
  2. Each ‘zone’ on a channel tab is the camera and angle that will be recalled when that microphone is active
  3. Select which primary camera will be used for that zone
  4. Set the primary and secondary camera coordinates per zone.
  5. Deactivate any unused zone (not necessary, just best practice)
  6. Priority Switch Button behavior:
    1. For this zone only, if both cameras are currently not in use, the secondary camera will be recalled over the primary camera.
 
 

If using ATND1601, review camera settings

  1. Starting in v3.0, there is no need for the separate mic plug in.
  2. Enable "Camera Control Notification" in the network settings of the microphone (see ATND deployment guide).
  3. You now have a pin on the block to wire in the audio from the mic(s)
  4. Nothing on the setup tab changes
  5. Mic XX tab
    1. Type in the multicast IP address and port of the mic

      Note

      As UDP commands are used, the multicast IP address and port must be unique for each mic.

       
    2. Current HA and VA are shown at the top as well as local and FE signal status.
    3. HA and VA get set to define a zone (separated by a comma or space).
    4. Order is important since you can go from 300 to 30 if needed
    5. Choose total number of zones by checking the Active button is engaged on the desired zones.
    6. Choose Primary cameras for zones.
    7. Check primary and secondary coordinate settings.
    8. If using the Crossover Zones, ensure the correct mics are selected and the data input is correct for all fields.
  6. Expert Controls are the same
 
 

If using MXA920, TCC2, or TCCM; review camera settings

  1. Starting in v3.0, there is no need for the separate mic plug in.
  2. You now have a pin on the block to wire in the audio from the mic(s)
  3. Nothing on the setup tab changes
  4. Mic XX tab
    1. Type in the IP address (and if TCCM the username and password for the mic)
    2. Current HA and VA are shown at the top as well as local and FE signal status
    3. HA and VA get set to define a zone (separated by a comma or space
    4. Order is important since you can go from 300 to 30 if needed
    5. Choose total number of zones by checking the Active button is engaged on the desired zones.
    6. Choose Primary cameras for zones
    7. Check primary and secondary coordinate settings
    8. If using the Crossover Zones, ensure the correct mics are selected and the data input is correct for all fields.
  5. Expert Controls are the same
 
 

If using NM-T1, review camera settings

  1. There are now four pins on the component to wire in the audio from the mic channels. Ensure they line up (especially if using multiple NM-T1s).
  2. Nothing on the setup tab changes.
  3. Mic XX tab
    1. Choose NM-T1 from the drop-down menu (remember to set Script Access).
    2. Choose total number of zones by checking the Active button is engaged on the desired zones.
    3. Choose Primary cameras for zones.
    4. Check primary and secondary coordinate settings.
    5. Deactivate any unused zone (not necessary, just best practice).
  4. Expert Controls are the same.