Howe+1242+Audio

Conference Composer Howe 1242 has a unique audio setup. Instead of having physical knobs for each of the audio channels, the mics run though a program called Conference Composer. This program runs on the far right computer at the Howe 1242 encoder station. Student producers can control individual audio levels with Conference Composer and adjust the master audio for Wirecast using the mixer (big black thing on the table with sliders and a small screen). If Conference Composer is ever not running in Howe 1242, these instructions will guide you as you set it up.

Starting from Scratch • Starting from an Existing Project

=Starting from Scratch=


 * 1.** Start a New Project
 * Double click on the Conference Composer icon and select ‘Auto Scan for Devices.’
 * A progress bar will pop up as the program scans for microphone inputs.


 * 2.** A project hierarchy will be displayed in the panel on the left side of the program window. Click on the project name at the top, and look at the bottom right of the right panel for a button that says ‘Online.’ Make sure the bar beneath it is green.


 * 3.** Farther down the hierarchy on the left panel, find the tab that says ‘Mic/Line Inputs.’ This will display all the different inputs connected in the right panel.
 * The only inputs of interest are inputs 1-6, which should be labeled Instructor 1 and 2 and Student Mic 1 – 4.


 * 4.** Look toward the top right of the right panel and find the button that says ‘Levels.’ Click it to make the bar beneath green, and the audio bars on inputs 3 – 6 and whichever instructor mic is on should start moving.
 * To the left of each audio bar is a gain slider. Lower the gain on whichever instructor mic will be used (input 1 or input 2) to about -10db.

=Starting from an Existing Project=


 * 1.** Open the desired project in Conference Composer
 * Notice the red X on the project name in the project hierarchy on the left panel. This means that the project does not read any inputs at the moment.


 * 2.** To scan for inputs, click on the project name in the hierarchy and notice that the ‘Online’ button in the lower right of the right panel is not green. Click on it, and then select ‘Scan for Devices’ in the window that comes up. Wait for the program to finish detecting devices.