Feature Request: Livestream Delay Workaround

[TRIVI]

I was just thinking about an issue at work for somebody and it made me think of a new feature that could be a good work around for the Lag issue…

What about a ‘Crowdpurr Delay’ option. Where if I turn on Livestream, I can set a Delay. Once I figure out the lag on my live stream, I would enter it into the settings.

This would then delay any action I take by the lag I entered. Click Next Question… waits 4 seconds, then goes.

That would eliminate the need for a second person to be listening for triggers, or trying to keep time in your head while also trying to rock the hosting.

I can’t have a second person right now (no money to pay them!) so it’s all me. Anything I can do to keep my focus on the game at hand would be awesome.

Not sure what this would involve on the Crowdpurr side to make happen, but would make a pain point less painful in the meantime.

[RossN]

This is a good idea and suggestion, and one we’ve had before, unfortunately it doesn’t work.

The problem is even when you add a delay like this, the latency will still creep back into the “feedback loop” and affect the host. Here’s an example:

Let’s say your YouTube latency is 5 SECONDS. So pretend Crowdpurr has a Latency Delay setting that we can set to 5 SECONDS. Let’s say a question is 15 SECONDS. This is what will happen:

Host says “Let’s start Question 1” and they trigger Question 1. Crowdpurr then delays the question from actually starting for 5 SECONDS. The player than hears the host say “Let’s start Question 1” and Crowdpurr updates at the exact same time due to the Latency Delay. So far so good.

The problem has already occurred because now, the host had to stream for another 5 SECONDS waiting on the Latency Delay to kick off the question. This “waiting” of the host then gets streamed and sent on to the player. The result, from the player’s perspective on the stream, is they see the host doing nothing for 5 SECONDS, then when the 15 SECONDS of the question is up, the host is now behind by 5 SECONDS, and they’ll see the host saying something like “Okay, the Question Timer is almost up, hurry up 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…” even though they already finished the question 5 SECONDS ago.

So the Latency Delay just moves the delay, it doesn’t solve it. Anytime the host is then waiting on the players’ answers (i.e. their feedback) they’ll still be affected by the 5 SECONDS latency delay.

We’re thinking the solution to this will be likely rolling our own embedded real-time streaming WebRTC solution that is zero-latency (same technology as Zoom, WebEx, or Teams) and works right within Crowdpurr. More on this later in the year.

Check out this thread post for a more detailed deep-dive into mitigating latency:

[SOLVED] Mitigating Streaming Latency When Using Crowdpurr

EDIT: This topic and it’s advice are now outdated as Crowdpurr has released its own built-in real-time streaming solution that uses WebRTC (the same technology behind Zoom) that allows near real-time streaming. If using Crowdpurr’s streaming, there is no longer a need to “mitigate” any latency because it’s negligible! Crowdpurr works great for adding fun trivia competitions to virtual and hybrid meetings where you may want to “stream” yourself as a live gameshow host while your crowd follows a…

[TRIVI]

Damn, didn’t think far enough down the path.

Yeah, I’ve been through that article and every other article I can find online about reducing latency, just trying to think of other options LOL.

One day!

[jeff-TrashTalkTrivia]

Here’s what I do:

I tell my users that there’s a delay, usually 3-5 seconds in Twitch (in low latency mode). I tell them I will play a 5 second intro sound before the question appears. Because of the delay, I tell them that, if they hear that sound, they should be looking at their mobile device and be ready for the next question, because it will appear there before it appears on the stream.

I then show the question for 7 seconds, giving them an opportunity to read the question. I don’t read it to them.

After the 7 seconds is up, I start the timer and play a 20 second sting. I begin talking at about 3 seconds before the timer runs out, and then we look at the results, correct answer, and then leaderboard.

I have all of this set up on a macro button on my Elgato Stream Deck, including the delays and sound clips. If you are interested in looking at what this feels like, see twitch.tv/trashtalktrivia . I do not have any “live” players in this situation - everything is prerecorded.

When I’m doing “live” over Zoom or Webex, the entire situation is different - I read the question, manually start the timer (and sounds), etc.

Note that Elgato has a mobile version of the Stream Deck software, so you can remote control from your phone - which, for the record, I have never tried myself. But, for those “live” situations, it might help with being out in the crowd instead of at the DJ stand.

Not that this is the perfect answer, but it’s how I’ve “conquered” (really, “dealt with”) the latency delay.

Good luck!

[dandeibert]

@jeff-TrashTalkTrivia ,

A bit off topic but… I have both a regular Stream Deck AND the Stream Deck XL. I keep the XL at home and travel with the regular version.

I also use an app called “Companion” for the steam deck that greatly enhances the capabilities of the SD. I use companion to control the audio levels of my mixer, my wirecast broadcast (which I use instead of OBS) AND it controls my audio and sfx which I run via QLab.

I know you are a SD nerd so I’m just wondering… have you figured out a way to start the question timers, reveal, answers, and otherwise control the crowdpurr dashboard via Stream Deck? That would allow me pretty much control everything via stream deck.

[dandeibert]

Ok. Now that I typed that out, I think maybe I was giving it way too much thought. :-). Probably just as simple as setting up a SD Button as a hotkey. I’ll work on that.

[jeff-TrashTalkTrivia]

I use the Stream Deck for EVERYTHING. I put my keyboard away when I stream the trivia game. (Mouse stays handy though…)

I use Multi-Action for many things… Below are a pic of my XL config and one of the Multi-Actions I have configured (This one starts the FIRST question… which has to be different than all of subsequent questions, because you use RIGHT ARROW to move to the next question, but there’s no keyboard equivalent for starting the game/first question.)

There’s also a third-party extension that lets you change the focus so that the browser window is active (so that the System → Hotkey button targets the correct window), which is handy in case I accidentally click outside of the Experience Dashboard.

Hit me with a DM if you would like more info!

Jeff

[jeff-TrashTalkTrivia]

Forgot to snapshot the extension: