Integrating NDI Sources From Conferencing Platforms

Managing NDI Feeds in the Room Controller

After you have started the meeting from the Room Controller app on your smartphone or tablet, you are ready to begin outputting NDI video from the Zoom Rooms for Conference Room desktop application using the following steps. The Room Controller app is responsible for assigning any video/audio stream in the Zoom meeting room to an NDI output.

1. After you have used the Room Controller to join the Meeting ID assigned to your Zoom Room, the screen changes to display meeting controls (Figure 15, below).

Figure 15. Meeting controls within the Room Controller app

2. Tap the More … button to open the More Features options, and tap the Participants button to see the connected participants. Make sure the presenters are available to assign to an NDI slot.

3. Exit back to the main meeting menu on the Room Controller app, and tap the View button (Figure 16, below).

Figure 16. Change View & Live on NDI screen

4. In the Change View & Live on NDI screen in Figure 16, you can assign up to three outputs over NDI. Tap the first Add Output box, and in the Select Output Live on NDI screen (Figure 17, below), you can choose the camera/microphone from the Zoom Room desktop or a connected participant.

Figure 17. Select Output Live on NDI screen

5. You can also choose Active Speaker if you want a single NDI feed that automatically switches to the participant speaking. If you select a participant, that person will be presented with a notification window informing them that their feed is being distributed over NDI (Figure 18, below). The participant can choose to leave or stay in the meeting.

Figure 18. NDI notification displayed to participants

6. Continue to assign additional participants to other NDI outputs as necessary in the Live on NDI screen. If you have more than three participants who need to be output over NDI, you will need to reassign the participants in the Live on NDI screen. You can use the Active Speaker feed to also accommodate multiple presenters in one feed. You should now be able to see your NDI outputs in your preferred NDI video-switching application.

In summary, you can utilize NDI output from Microsoft Teams or Zoom Rooms into your own video-switching workflow. I highly recommend that you practice the setup several times before tech rehearsals at a live venue.

As with any NDI setup, you should set up your own private LAN and WLAN just for your production use. Don’t rely on a venue’s Wi-Fi or LAN for NDI output, as the additional traffic can greatly reduce the speed for anyone else connected on the network.