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SCLD's avatar
SCLD
Active Contributor
5 years ago

Webcam positioning for presenters

Is there a better option then having a presenter’s webcam floating around the screen when they are presenting?   I have a presenter in an upcoming webinar who wants to be able to see themselves on ...
Question
  • Chris Droessler's avatar
    Chris Droessler
    5 years ago

    It looks different on the Attendee's computer.  The Attendees see a split screen between the webcam and the shared screen (PowerPoint).  The Attendees can drag a line between the two to make either part of the window larger or smaller.

     

    GoTo is not really set up so the presenter can see their own webcam, but you have found a workaround.

     

    Another workaround that I have used:

    I open QuickTime on the presenter's computer and set it to record a movie. That puts the webcam in a window on the computer. I do this on a Mac, I am sure there is a similar program on Windows.

     

    Then I setup my PowerPoint to show in a window, rather than full screen. This is found under Slide Show Setup.

    I then arrange the two windows, PowerPoint show and  Quicktime, on my computer's second display.

     

    I then share the computer's second display to the GoTo audience.

     

    Doing it this way, the presenter has compete control over how large to make both the webcam window and the PowerPoint window.  During the presentation, the presenter can change the size of the windows to emphasize one over the other.

     

    In the extra space on the second display that is not the PowerPoint Show window or the Webcam window, you could have the company name or logo, or just a colorful background.

     

Chris Droessler's avatar
Chris Droessler
Respected Contributor

It looks different on the Attendee's computer.  The Attendees see a split screen between the webcam and the shared screen (PowerPoint).  The Attendees can drag a line between the two to make either part of the window larger or smaller.

 

GoTo is not really set up so the presenter can see their own webcam, but you have found a workaround.

 

Another workaround that I have used:

I open QuickTime on the presenter's computer and set it to record a movie. That puts the webcam in a window on the computer. I do this on a Mac, I am sure there is a similar program on Windows.

 

Then I setup my PowerPoint to show in a window, rather than full screen. This is found under Slide Show Setup.

I then arrange the two windows, PowerPoint show and  Quicktime, on my computer's second display.

 

I then share the computer's second display to the GoTo audience.

 

Doing it this way, the presenter has compete control over how large to make both the webcam window and the PowerPoint window.  During the presentation, the presenter can change the size of the windows to emphasize one over the other.

 

In the extra space on the second display that is not the PowerPoint Show window or the Webcam window, you could have the company name or logo, or just a colorful background.

 

AESP's avatar
AESP
New Contributor
4 years ago

Hello everyone, 

 

Chris, you seem to have experience with the webcam position. Do you know if I, as an Organizer, can move the webcam position around at all, during the "webinar"? We are recording our presenters' sessions for a virtual conference, using GTW. While we can see the split screen of the presenter's webcam and their PPT (camera on the left of the presentation), I wanted to see if there was a way to move the camera around during the recording (so not all three individual presenters appear on the left of the slide deck, during their portion.) 

 

Libby, I am going to test your instructions as well. I know that a few of our presenters couldn't see themselves during our first round of recordings yesterday. 

 

Thanks for any advice!

Jennifer

  • Chris Droessler's avatar
    Chris Droessler
    Respected Contributor
    4 years ago

    You could mount a regular webcam on a tripod, which would give you some amount of movement, but not the most elegant solution.

     

    I use an ATEM Mini video switcher that goes into my GoTo presentation computer as the webcam input.

     

    This allows me to have up to four HDMI camcorders and use this switcher to decide which will be seen as my GoTo webcam.  You could use this switcher with just one camera if you wish.

    This allows you to use a better camera with pan/tilt and zoom features.  It's just a camcorder on a tripod you point wherever you wish.

     

    Some have had issues using the ATEM Mini on Windows with GoToWebinar, but it works great on a Mac.  Some have used an Elgato device on Windows to do the same thing. I have no experience with that, but you can search these discussions.

     

    • AESP's avatar
      AESP
      New Contributor
      4 years ago
      Thank you for your quick response! Sorry if I wasn't clear; I actually meant moving the image of the presenter on the screen during the webinar. Currently, the presenter's face appears to the left of the presentation. Is there a way to move the presenter's face to other locations on the screen?
      All of our presenters are remote and we don't have any control over their webcams.
      • Chris Droessler's avatar
        Chris Droessler
        Respected Contributor
        4 years ago

        The Attendees have control over on which side of the shared image the webcam shows.

         

        If you want complete control over the placement of your webcam and the shared image, here is what I have done:

        1. First, set up your PowerPoint by going to Setup Slide Show. Select the button next to "Browsed by an individual (window)."  What that does is runs the PowerPoint show in a window that can be resized rather than showing it full screen.
        2. BEFORE you start the webinar, if you are on a Mac, open Quicktime Player. From the File menu, select "New Movie Recording. This should open a window with your webcam in it. I am sure there is a similar video recording program on Windows that will allow you to ope  a window that will show your webcam in a window.
        3. You have to do this BEFORE you start the webinar. If not, then GTW will take hold of the webcam and not let you use it with QuickTime.
        4. You can now resize the two windows. You can resize and arrange the webcam image window and the PowerPoint image window.
        5. Share the entire display/monitor with the GoToWebinar audience.
        6. In order to advance the slides, the PowerPoint show window has to be in front of the QuickTime window. This does not mean they have to overlap.  Click once on that window to bring it to the front.  The keyboard and mouse work with whichever window is in front.