Skip to content

NDI_AND_INTERCOM.md

Latest commit

 

History

History
45 lines (27 loc) · 5.63 KB

NDI_AND_INTERCOM.md

File metadata and controls

45 lines (27 loc) · 5.63 KB
Raw

NDI video and Producer intercom

These beta features are optional. ChurchBoard continues to run normally when neither is configured.

NDI® video

ChurchBoard dynamically loads the NDI runtime and discovers sources on the production network. It does not require NDI Tools. In Setup & modules → NDI video, enable NDI, select Save & find NDI sources, then add an NDI video widget and choose the advertised source name. The source name is used for configuration and accessibility but is not overlaid on the clean video preview.

Install the NDI SDK

  1. Open the official NDI SDK download page. Complete NDI's download form, choose Windows, macOS, or Linux, and use the link NDI sends you.
  2. Run the downloaded installer and accept NDI's SDK license. On macOS, keep the default /Library/NDI SDK for Apple location. On Windows, the standard SDK location is C:\Program Files\NDI\NDI 6 SDK. On Linux, follow the README/install script included with the SDK archive.
  3. Restart ChurchBoard after installation. Leave NDI SDK or runtime location blank and use Save & find NDI sources; ChurchBoard now checks the standard SDK and runtime locations automatically.
  4. If you used a custom install location, paste either the SDK's top-level folder, its lib folder, or the runtime file itself. For example, /Library/NDI SDK for Apple is sufficient—there is no need to locate lib/macOS/libndi.dylib manually.

The setup status deliberately reports two separate results:

  • Runtime found means the SDK/runtime installed correctly and ChurchBoard loaded it.
  • No sources advertised yet means installation is working, but no sender is visible. Enable NDI output in ProPresenter or another sender, place both devices on the same LAN/VLAN, and check multicast or Discovery Server configuration.

See NDI's SDK documentation for installation and platform details. Open-source builds can use dynamic loading without committing NDI binaries to this repository. A release builder who is authorized to redistribute the runtime can set CHURCHBOARD_BUNDLE_NDI_RUNTIME=1 and CHURCHBOARD_NDI_RUNTIME_DIR=/path/to/runtime before packaging. The build refuses to bundle it unless the required NDI license notice is present, and keeps both files inside ChurchBoard's private ndi-runtime folder.

Source discovery depends on multicast visibility between the ChurchBoard computer and the NDI sender. VLANs commonly require an NDI Discovery Server or network configuration beyond ChurchBoard.

NDI® is a registered trademark of Vizrt NDI AB. See the NDI licensing documentation before distributing a build with the runtime.

ChurchBoard-hosted Producer intercom

ChurchBoard includes and manages its own open-source LiveKit server for WebRTC audio. A church does not need a LiveKit Cloud account, another computer, Docker, a WebSocket URL, an API key, or a manually configured secret.

  1. In Setup → Producer intercom, enable the ChurchBoard-hosted intercom.
  2. List one party-line name per line. A new installation starts with Production.
  3. Save. ChurchBoard generates private credentials, starts the audio engine, and reports when it is ready.
  4. Open the Producer workspace, choose a channel, and select Join. Joining is also the user gesture that unlocks headset playback on iPhone and iPad. If iOS still blocks autoplay, select the displayed Enable headset audio button once.
  5. Hold the large Push to talk control, or turn on Lock mic open. The PTT control handles touch, pen, and mouse input and releases the microphone when the page loses focus. Administrators can select Close all mics to mute every connected ChurchBoard client.

The signaling connection is proxied through the same ChurchBoard HTTP/HTTPS address used by the Producer workspace. The private LiveKit signaling listener stays on the ChurchBoard computer. Browsers receive a short-lived, room-scoped token; the generated API secret never leaves ChurchBoard. Administrator mute-all commands are accepted only when the sender's signed participant metadata identifies an administrator.

Mobile Safari and Chrome allow microphone access only in a secure context. Use ChurchBoard's HTTPS settings or an HTTPS reverse proxy; plain HTTP on another computer or phone cannot use the intercom microphone. Chrome on iPhone uses Apple's WebKit media engine, so the same iOS playback-unlock rule applies to both browsers.

If PTT connects but reports that the microphone is blocked, allow microphone access for the ChurchBoard site in the browser's site settings. On iPhone, also check the browser's Microphone permission under the Settings app, then reload Producer and rejoin the party line.

On the production LAN, allow ChurchBoard through the operating-system firewall. The hosted engine prefers signaling 7880, TCP 7881 as a WebRTC fallback, and UDP 7882 for encrypted media. If another local program already owns any of those ports, ChurchBoard automatically chooses the next free coordinated set and reports the active ports in the Producer Intercom module. The browser-facing signaling proxy still uses ChurchBoard's normal dashboard or Producer-workspace address. Remote use across the public internet requires professional TLS, TURN, firewall, and network design; automatic hosted mode is designed first for devices on the same church production network.

ChurchBoard vendors the Apache-2.0-licensed LiveKit server and JavaScript client so the Producer workspace does not depend on a cloud media service during a service.