Theater mode lets you stream one-to-many, with up to 100 people in a live session. This can be useful for large company meetings or secure screenings.
Theater mode is available in Evercast for Chrome and in the desktop app (version 3.3 and higher).
Permissions managers can activate the feature in the Evercast Admin Portal. If your organization does not have Admin Portal, contact your Account Manager for assistance.
Attendees will either be contributors (able to speak, show their webcam, stream video, and screen share) or viewers (able to see and hear everything, but muted with no webcam video).
By default, people joining a room in Theater mode will be viewers. A room owner can change someone to a contributor using the Room access setting (see below for more information).
When you invite a special guest to a Theater mode room with a single-use link, the guest will join the room as a viewer.
Permissions managers can activate this feature in the Evercast Admin Portal. Here's how to do it.
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Select the Feature controls tab at the top of your window, then click Defaults. The Default features panel appears. Toggle on Theater mode. If you wish, you can set the feature to be room-specific.
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To enable Theater mode for a particular room, go back to Feature controls and select that room's name. The Feature availability panel for that room will appear. Toggle on Theater mode.
Note
Performance of a 100-person room will depend on the number of streams, the video resolution, and the number of contributors. For best results we recommend a maximum of 5 contributors and 2 streams with up to 100 viewers.
Credits managers can update the invite list from within Admin Portal. Note this only works for open rooms; private room invitees must be managed in the app using the Room access settings (see below).
Select the Room credits tab at the top of your window and click on the room name. The Credit information panel will appear. Scroll down to the Room invitees section and add people as either participants (contributors) or viewers.
Tip
You can copy/paste email addresses into the invite box. For bulk copy/paste, we recommend creating a group in Admin Portal, adding your contacts to the group, and then inviting that group to your Theater mode room.
Room owners and room admins can manage the room invite list using the Room access window.
From the dashboard, click on the "three dots" menu on your room tile, and select Room access.
From within a live room in the desktop app (version 3.3 or above), hover over the room name at the top left of your window and select Room access.
From within a live room in Evercast for Chrome, click on More in the bottom right of your screen and select Room access.
In the Room access window, you can invite people to your room and categorize them as contributors or viewers.
Here's how it looks in the desktop app:
Here's how it looks in Evercast for Chrome:
When you join a room as a contributor, you can unmute your microphone, show your webcam, stream video, and screen share.
The Participants panel will show you two groups of people, active contributors and viewers.
Here's how it looks in the desktop app:
Here's how it looks in Evercast for Chrome:
When you join a room as a viewer, the room lobby will look a little different. You will have the option to change your speaker/headphones but your webcam and microphone settings will be disabled.
Here's how the lobby looks in the desktop app:
Here's how it looks in Evercast for Chrome:
If there are no contributors in the room, you will see this message (in the desktop app):
or you will be directed to a waiting page (in Evercast for Chrome):
Once you are in the room, you will notice that some of the buttons in the lower toolbar (Mic, Camera, Draw, and Stream) are disabled. However, as a viewer you can still chat and share the video to Apple TV.
Here are some troubleshooting tips for using Theater mode.
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Low bandwidth or poor internet connection – you can turn off contributor webcam videos to save bandwidth. In the desktop app, you can hide thumbnails by hovering over the People button and selecting Hide webcams.
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Can't change speaker settings in the desktop app – currently on the desktop app, viewers can only change their speaker settings from the lobby. Simply exit the room, adjust your settings in the lobby, and then rejoin the room.
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NDI contributor showing up as a viewer – if you're using an NDI webcam but it's not receiving a signal, you will automatically be made a viewer (even if you are on the contributor list). Once you activate either microphone or camera, you will switch back to a contributor.
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My Do not disturb mode turned off – at this time, a room can either be in Theater mode or Do not disturb mode, but not both at once.