TrueConf Server Documentation

# How video layouts work in TrueConf

You can flexibly configure how participants' video windows will be arranged. This feature is available both during a TrueConf conference and before its start. To help you find the most convenient video layout option, let us take a closer look at how a layout is formed and what types of video windows can be included.

# Types of layouts and video windows

There can be three types of video layouts:

  • for all participants

  • for SIP/H.323 devices and WebRTC (browser connections)

  • individual video layout for a participant.

All video windows (slots) in each layout can be one of the following types:

  • Fixed — a specific conference participant is displayed.

  • Random — the first participant, who has not been included in the video layout, will be displayed in such a slot. This is the default window type for all layouts, except for the smart meeting.

  • Time-based shuffling — this window is reserved for the participants who are not continuously displayed in the layout and are alternated (rotated) at a specified interval.

  • Active speaker — the participant, who is speaking or sharing content, is displayed in the video window. If several participants are speaking simultaneously, priority is given to the one who is speaking louder. This type of slot is assigned to all video windows in smart meeting mode. In smart meeting mode, if the owner has not created custom layouts (and the default layout is used), the owner can pin speakers in specific slots to prevent them from being replaced when they stop speaking. For more details, see the client application documentation.

  • Content — displays the content shared by one of the participants either in his/her window or in a separate stream. There can be only one window of this type in the layout.

# Unique video windows and limits

The number of unique slots for a conference cannot be greater than the number of podiums for the selected conference mode (for example, 16, if a moderated role-based conference with 16 speakers is selected). The following rules apply:

  1. Every slot, except an empty one, is unique. For example, if you assign the participant Smith to a slot in the video layout, the slot becomes unique. If a new participant Jones is selected in another layout, the corresponding slot will also become unique because this person was not previously selected anywhere. As a result, we have 2 unique slots used across all video layouts.

  2. The same slot will be reused in different video layouts, for example, the content slot. This approach ensures more optimal use of server resources without increasing the number of media streams.

  3. If a slot of a certain type is already used in one of the layouts (for example, in the layout for all participants) and is specified in another layout, this slot will be reused. In this case, the same video stream will be displayed in both layouts for this slot, even if it is not of a fixed type. For example, if a random slot is created in two layouts, the video stream will be reused and the same participant will be displayed in both layouts.

Let us consider some examples.

Example 1

We are scheduling a conference in "all on screen" mode with 49 speakers and this event is expected to have 49 participants. This means that there can be a total of 49 unique (different) slots in all video layouts, for example:

  • One common layout for all participants with 40 fixed slots (participants were explicitly selected from the list for each video window); besides, there is a content window and 8 slots with participants who are rotated (alternated) at a certain interval.

or

  • One common layout for all participants with 20 fixed slots and one layout for SIP/H.323/WebRTC with 29 fixed slots.

or

  • One common layout with a content window and two individual layouts with 24 different fixed slots for each.

Example 2

A “moderated role-based conference” with 16 speakers (podiums) is scheduled and 20 participants are invited in total. This means that in all video layouts, there can be a total of 16 unique (different) slots, for example:

  • One common layout for all participants with 10 fixed slots (participants were explicitly selected from the list for each video window); in addition, there is a layout for the moderator with 6 slots where participants are alternated (rotated).

or

  • One common layout for all participants with 10 fixed slots and one layout for SIP/H.323/WebRTC with 6 fixed slots.

or

  • One common layout with a content window and one layout for SIP/H.323/WebRTC with a content window and 15 slots with alternating participants. In this case, there will be a total of 17 slots (15 with alternating participants and 2 with content), but in total, 16 slots will be unique because the content slot is reused in the second layout.

# Limits in conference modes

For smart meeting mode:

  • When a layout is created, all video windows are set to the Active speaker type by default.

  • The maximum number of reserved slots with the Active speaker type is limited to:

number of spots on the podium - 3

  • There must be at least 2 slots of the Active speaker type in each video layout.

  • If there are no more than two Active speaker slots, it will be impossible to change their type.

For moderated role-based conference mode:

  • There is no option to select Time-based shuffling and Active speaker types for the slot.

In video lecture mode layout customization is not available because the layout is generated according to a fixed rule: the lecturer (speaker) sees all participants, while each participant sees only the lecturer.

# Settings of video windows with alternating participants

For the slots of the Time-based shuffling type, one can change the parameters for alternating participants (general settings for all slots and layouts for each specific conference):

  • The sequence of rotation (alternation): from the first participant available in the video layout to the last one, or vice versa

  • The interval at which participants alternate (rotate) in the slots

  • Alternation type:

    • Replace — a user is replaced with another participant who is not in the video layout.

    • Move — participants are moved from their slot to the nearest one with the type Time-based shuffling.

# Changing slot types when switching modes

If the conference mode is changed, and some layouts have already been created, certain slots will change their type due to the restrictions described above:

  • When switching to moderated role-based conference (from any mode), all Time-based shuffling and Active speaker slots will change their type to Random.

  • When switching to smart meeting (from any other mode), in other words, there must be at least 2 video windows for active speakers:

    • if the layout includes multiple slots of the Random type, then 2 of them will change their type to Active speaker.

    • If there is not enough slots of the Random type (less than two), other slots will be randomly selected for switching to the Active speaker type.

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