Tutorial: How to Produce Broadcast-Quality Events with the NewTek TriCaster 40, Part 1

Configuring Audio Inputs

Now I’ve got all my video inputs covered. Let’s look at the audio side. The TC40 has two external audio inputs, one stereo Line level input and one Microphone input (Figure 16, below). I’m using the Microphone input for this presentation.

Figure 16. Audio inputs on the back of the TC40.

In the Audio Mixer (Figure 17, below), the stereo connector is Input 1; the mic Input 2. Next come inputs for the two network inputs, PPT and Net 2, plus inputs from the DDR and Graphics tracks. You can enable and disable all inputs with the icon indicated by the pointer in Figure 17.

Figure 17. The TC40’s Audio Mixer.

Note that the microphone has a trim control that lets me set levels for different microphones. Then I can adjust gain with the slider. By default, the microphone input is sent to both stereo channels for broadcast and streaming. The Talk checkbox lowers all other inputs by 20 dB when the Microphone channel is enabled, allowing the narration to take priority. The Follow checkbox fades out the sound when that input is not live. The Solo checkbox directs audio to the headphone port when the source isn’t currently selected.

This is useful for previewing audio before taking an input live. On the extreme right, the master output outputs all live audio outputs. The streaming output can output all sources as well, but can also output these discrete tracks or all solo tracks. This makes it possible to create one audio mix for broadcast and archiving and another for streaming.

All of our inputs are configured and we’re ready to go live. I’ll show you how in the next tutorial.

For more information about the TC40 contact this video’s sponsor, Videoguys.com, at 800-323-2325.