OW2con'22 Conference Speaker Guide

Contents

OW2con'22 presentations must be pre-recorded
Recording your presentation video
Send us your presentation video
Questions

The OW2con'22 conference is online

Your contribution to OW2con'22 as a speaker is greatly appreciated.
Do not hesitate to spread the word around you, posting about your talk at OW2con on your favorite social networks, blogs, shared agendas and websites (hashtag #OW2con and mention @ow2).

OW2con'22 presentations must be pre-recorded

A crucial characteristic of OW2con'22 is that all presentations must be recorded before the event. We want to have all presentations properly filled for broadcast to ensure a smooth unfolding of the conference.

We need your help to make it happen and we trust you will understand our hard requests:

Presentations must be delivered before May 6th to OW2's event-team.
They must be recorded with audio in mp4 format (Full HD: 1920x1080).
The duration of the presentation must be under 15' (13' to 14' is best).
Name your file like as LastName_FirstName_Your_Org.mp4 and then upload your the file to https://l.ow2.org/videos-upload

Recording your presentation video

This section provides various information that should help you to create a nice video of your presentation.
Note that all indications below are only recommendations. Feel free to adapt them to what is actually realistic and doable regarding your situation and your knowledge.

Reach out to us if you need further assistance

Recording hardware and environment

The most important thing is do to the recording in the quietest environment possible in order to minimize background noise.
We recommend to use an headset for sound recording. Your mic should be as close to your mouth as possible in order to only pick up the sound of your voice.

Also use a dual screen setup if possible. This will let you have your presentation on one screen and speakers notes/recording software on the other.

And, finally, here is a checklist to run before you start recording:

Turn off your phone
Close all software that you don't need: this will avoid unwanted notifications and also might prevents computer fan from spinning (limit CPU usage/heat)
Make sure that your computer is plugged in (this avoid "Power Save" modes that can reduce performance)
Don't forget to hit the record button!
Do a couple of dry runs to make sure video and sound are recorded properly

Video resolution, encoding, etc.

We recommend to follow YouTube video settings recommendations (https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/1722171?hl=en) and some additional specific settings.

Here is an overview of the most important settings:

Resolution: 1920x1080 (or at least a 16:9 ratio), it should match the resolution of the screen you are recording
Container: mp4
Audio codec: AAC-LC
Video codec: H.264
Frame rate: 30 FPS (Frame Per Second)
Video bitrate: 8 Mbps
Audio sample rate 48kHz

Software to use

You are already familiar with a recording software

If you have experience with a software (video recording, screencast, etc.), pick up this one.
Don't bother learning about OBS that is documented below. Purpose of the section below is to provide a reference for speaker who don't have any knowledge with video recording software.

If possible make sure your software settings match what is mentioned in the previous section.

You never used a video recording software and want to give it a try

If you don't have any experience with recording a video of your presentation, you will find here some guidance in order to do so.

We will use Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) to do the recording.
We assume that you have a dual screen setup and that your headset is plugged in.

Install OBS

First step is to download and install OBS.
You can download OBS from the official website: https://obsproject.com/
For the installation, just follow the instructions available from OBS website: https://obsproject.com/wiki/install-instructions
On first startup, OBS will ask you if you want to use a configuration wizard. Answer no.

Configure OBS

The first step is to configure OBS in order to capture the video from the appropriate screen:

In OBS main window, in "Sources" section, click on the "+" button
In the list select "Display Capture" / "Screen Capture"
Keep the default name and click on "OK" button
Now select the appropriate screen in the drop down list
Click on the "OK" button

Next step is to configure audio/video settings:

Click on "Settings" button
In the menu on the left select "Output"
At the top, select "Advanced" in the "Output Mode" drop down list
For "Encoder" make sure that "x264" is selected
Set "Rate Control" to "VBR"
Set "Bitrate" to "8000"
Still in "Output" category, switch to "Recording" tab
Select "mp4" for "Recording Format"
In the menu on the left select "Audio" (just below "Output")
Set "Sample Rate" to "48kHz"
In the menu on the left select "Video"
Make sure that both resolution are set according to your screen resolution (ideally 1920x1080)
Make sure that "Common FPS Values" is select and value set to "30"
Click on "OK" to close settings window
Restart OBS

Now OBS should be properly configured for recording.

Record a video

Before your start recording make sure that you follow the recommendations provided in Recording hardware and environment section.
Also make sure that in OBS window you can:

See the appropriate screen to record
That Mic/Aux VU meter correctly pickup your voice (it should be moving in the green range)

You need a simpler solution

Another alternative to record your presentation is to schedule an online meeting with the event team (e.g. Jitsi/Zoom).
During this meeting you will be able to run your presentation live and the OW2 event team will make sure to record it.
Because quality of this solution heavily depends on internet connection bandwidth, it is recommended if possible to record your presentation on your own.