Benefit of Google Hangout?

Hi all, Brand new to Roll20 here. I ran a test of the Roll20 video chat with a friend, and everything seemed to go smoothly. I also putzed around with starting Roll20 in Google Hangout. So please tell this noob: What is the benefit of using Google Hangout rather than just the integrated video chat in Roll20? Is there a marked performance difference? Thanks! -Andy

In my experience, Tokbox (which powers the integrated voice/video) is kinda hit or miss. I've only tried using it once, but it had a slightly delayed echo which made it pretty much unusable for our group. I've heard of people using it successfully, and I think it might be neat to be able to use it, but I also like having a second channel of communication in case one goes down (as will happen from time to time regardless of what platform you're using). There was a big survey that someone did on this subject a while back. You can read about lots of people's experiences here: <a href="https://app.roll20.net/forum/post/1023496/audio-slash-video-survey" rel="nofollow">https://app.roll20.net/forum/post/1023496/audio-slash-video-survey</a>

Fewer people seem to have issues with google hangouts. However, if you do use google hangouts, launch it in a separate browser window. Don't launch the game inside google hangouts. You'll lose precious screen space by launching r20 in google hangouts.

@Paul, that's true, you lose screen space, but you can't see people while you're playing, if that's important to you. I suppose if you have a second monitor this is not an issue. I like seeing people's faces, but that's just me.

Thanks, all. I'll try to play in Google Hangouts with Roll20 in the same window, at least at first. We're going to only use the grid sparingly anyway, and getting the dice rolls and the facial expressions are most important. Thanks for the input!

Gozer the Gozerian said: @Paul, that's true, you lose screen space, but you can't see people while you're playing, if that's important to you. I suppose if you have a second monitor this is not an issue. I like seeing people's faces, but that's just me. Can't you run hangouts in one window and roll in another and just resize them so you can view both?

You can, but then you're still losing screen real estate, or size, which you could also resize the map in the Google Hangout as well. I usually just leave it as is, and scroll the map. Usually, the actual area where the action is taking place is quite small anyway.

I've ran audio though hangouts, no video, in one tab while running the game through roll20 on another tab. I just disabled the A/V in roll20 but some one mentioned they like the video also so that would not work for them.

There is actually a Suggestion posted, which you can add your +1 if you agree. This Suggestion post asks for being able to use the Roll20 (tokbox) webcam video without audio so you can use audio from another program in another window (Mumble, skype, Google Hangouts, etc) and still be able to see the facial expressions within your Roll20 window. The suggestion is titled "Disable voice chat only".

Is it primarily the voice chat part of Tokbox that is giving people problems?

Andrew M. said: Is it primarily the voice chat part of Tokbox that is giving people problems? Not really. Tokbox works perfectly for a lot of users. Thousands of people are using it on here. Some use audio-only, some use audio-and-video. Video uses more bandwidth so, if anything, some groups (or some peoples' internet connections) have problems with the video & have success by limiting Tokbox to audio-only and ditching the video. Some percentage of people have problems with Tokbox overall and switch to Google Hangouts or other. Some people switch for other reasons (preferring features offered by the alternatives). In an earlier post in this thread, Manvetti mentioned his Tokbox audio test produced a light echo sound. This is normally fixable. If there is an echo in Tokbox, it's probably because someone is using Speakers instead of Headphones. If they switch to Headphones, or reduce the volume of their speakers so it doesn't feed back into their microphone, that will normally eliminate an echo. Echo is not inherent in Tokbox but occurs due to people's setups. However on the other hand, alternative programs like Skype or Hangouts may have better "echo cancellation" technology, thus avoiding that problem for you automatically without needing to tell players to adjust their speakers. Another point is volumes. Tokbox doesn't really give you granular control of the different volumes of different players. It's supposed to auto-level everyone to the same volume but sometimes one person is quiet or loud. Some of the alternative programs let you adjust volume for each participant (not sure if Google has this).

Gold said: (not sure if Google has this). Not that I've been able to find...

Google Hangouts does allow one to adjust the volume of each participant individually; this only affects their volume on the user's system, not overall. It's a sub-program you can load up within Hangouts, called "Toolbox" if I remember correctly. In my group, we have one situation where two players are using a single microphone. This makes their voices somewhat quiet, and this ability to amplify their volume really comes in handy. -Phnord

Tokbox has worked for me from time to time, but if you value a trouble-free experience, I would recommend avoiding it. Google and Skype are the most popular platforms, but if you only need audio, Teamspeak or a similar voice-only program would be an excellent choice, as they are made for low-bandwidth, and low-latency, games. Currently, I'm experimenting with Dolby Axon, and loving the 3D "space" it creates for each voice. It simulates each voice coming from a different part of the room.

Quintus said: Teamspeak or a similar voice-only program would be an excellent choice, as they are made for low-bandwidth, and low-latency, games. TS is what we use. I couldn't stand it if everyone had open mic like skype or google with our 10 players. that would be background noise madness. I dont see how people do it for tabletop. Of course In my old age I only use skype for work, more than 1 person on skype feels like a 1990's "party line' phone call..sooo many random noises from open mics..my friends once in a blue moon call me on skype and I go "why you calling me on skype? log into TS Ill join you there".

The biggest benefit for me of Google Hangouts is running in a Hangout on Air to get a recording of the session automatically uploaded to YouTube. From there I can download the mp4 file and then strip the audio out to mp3 for archiving.