This is how I have been doing graduation video streaming at Lake Holcombe School using:
- Polycom Group 700 conferencing system (no network)
- StarTech HDMI to USB 3.0 video converter
- Windows 10 with Wirecast to stream the video
- Behringer X32 digital audio mixer board
- Laptop with a projector for video presentations
- Shure wireless microphones / receivers
Many years ago the state of Wisconsin set up a managed video-conferencing network across all schools, originally using Polycom HDX 7000 equipment on mobile video conferencing carts.
Someone at another district figured out how to adapt it for graduation video streaming, and I ran with it and expanded on the concept.
The Polycom mobile carts provided by the state were short to fit through doorways. People standing by the cart during graduation would block the camera view.
I found a way to put the camera on top of a Peavey speaker tripod so the camera can be 8-10 feet tall and people can't block the view, even with their hands in the air.
The tall speaker tripod also allows me to put the camera in the back of the gym behind everyone, so that it doesn't block the audience view of the stage.
Included with each Polycom distance learning classroom was a box of spare parts that were left over from state video network contractors setting up the conferencing rooms, including some 10 meter long camera cables.
I would take apart the cart provided by the state, put the camera on the speaker tripod, and use the 10 meter cable to connect it to the conferencing system, which was also removed from the cart for graduation streaming.
In about 2015 the state decided they were no longer interested in running a statewide video network, so management transferred to the local CESA districts. But the head-end management equipment was very old, so eventually it was phased out and replaced with the Google Chromebox around 2019 or so.
All of the Polycom hardware was technically obsolete junk by about 2020, but I saved it from going to tech recycling, and figured out a way to use it standalone without any other Polycom devices.
I talked with other districts removing this equipment in the CESA-10 region, and went around to Bruce, New Auburn, and Auburndale to remove this old hardware and save it from the trash.
It would be possible to eliminate the Polycom Group 700 and replace it with a motorized USB camera from PTZOptics. But a high quality remote steerable camera like this would cost about $2000.
Meanwhile this camera setup is really only used for graduation, so I get by doing it this way, and save the school district some money that can then be used for something else more important.