Elite Studio is the ON24 system for presenting your live, Forums, Simu-live, or Sim-2-Live events. This user guide is for Presenters, Producers, and Q&A moderators to learn how to use Elite Studio to interact with attendees and present effectively. This article includes system requirements, user roles, and an overview of all the Elite Studio tools, including how to start and stop an event, answer questions, and move through your presentation.
This article covers both desktop/laptop and tablet users.
Things to Know
- Elite Studio is always in practice mode when not in live mode - rehearsals can occur as far in advance and as often as needed, so make sure you practice as often as you can
- Set up roles and duties during rehearsals, so everyone knows their job during the live event
- Looking for courses for presenters who don't have Elite logins? Send them to our ON24 Presenter Training for courses on using Elite Studio and leveling up their webinar skills.
Click on the tabs below for more information.
System Requirements
It's essential that all presenters meet the minimum system requirements listed below.
As a general best practice, close all unnecessary applications and clear your cache before logging in to each event. This will improve browser performance while ensuring all recent uploads and changes are visible.
| Operating System |
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| Browser |
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| Browser Configuration | Must accept cookies and have JavaScript enabled. |
| Connection | A stable, high-speed internet connection is required. |
| Connection Speed | 1Mbps or faster required for optimal performance. |
Connecting
Access Elite Studio through the Presenter Link or from the event's Overview page. If you do not have ON24 account access, the Presenter Link will need to be shared by someone who has an ON24 platform login.
- By default, a maximum of 10 users (mix of Producer/Presenter) may connect to Elite Studio simultaneously. The Q&A Moderator role does not count towards this maximum.
- An increase to 20 presenters is available as an upgrade - reach out to your Account Manager for more information. Increasing the number of presenter roles does not change the layouts available.
Your presenting team can log in as Producer, Presenter or Q&A Moderator. If you are running a webinar by yourself, log in as a Producer so you can access all of the webinar features, including the start/stop buttons.
From the login screen, enter your name and other details, choose your role under Join As, then click Login.
Below is a breakdown of user permissions for each role.
| Producer | Presenter | Q&A Moderator | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upload Slides and Videos | X | ||
| Add Poll Questions | X | ||
| Start/Stop Webinar | X | ||
| Arrange Presentation Materials | X | ||
| Change Webcam Layouts | X | ||
| Pin Presenters | X | ||
| Create/Push Lower Third Banners | X | ||
| Mute and Disconnect Presenters | X | X | |
| Advance Slides | X | X | |
| Push Poll Questions to the Audience | X | X | |
| Draw/Whiteboarding Tools | X | X | |
| Screen Share | X | X | |
| Team Chat | X | X | X |
| Q&A | X | X | X |
Once you've logged in, you'll need to choose your camera, microphone, and virtual background, if desired. Click Join Now to enter Elite Studio.
Elite Studio Interface
This is the Elite Studio Interface.
The Live View window corresponds to the Slides tool on the Audience Console and will be featured in Elite Studio's Main Stage for Producers and Presenters.
Use the Toolbar to open additional tools from the Menu, such as Team Chat, Attendees List, or Preview. You can also mute your microphone here, start a screen share (if on desktop), or switch between light and dark mode.
The Connection Panel can be opened at any time to update your connection to Elite Studio or change your virtual background.
Find more information on the Elite Studio Interface.
Starting an Event
To start a webinar, presenters will first need to join the event by connecting their webcam, PC microphone, or dialing in via phone.
Before the webinar starts, the connected presenters can speak with one another "backstage".
Note: The audience will not hear or see the presenters until the Producer clicks Start Event.
Fifteen minutes before the live start time, the Start Event button will appear at the top of Elite Studio, alerting presenters the audience console is open.
During this time, the audience will be viewing what is in the Live View window. We suggest pushing a title or opening slide for the audience to see while waiting for the webinar to begin.
Presenters should avoid advancing slides during this time, as the audience will see the slides advancing.
After pressing the Start Event button, a confirmation window will appear. Clicking Start Webcast will connect the presenters to the live audience and start the webinar recording. Only those logged in as Producers will be able to start the event.
Once the webinar has started, presenters' audio and video (if applicable) are live to the audience. If presenters need to communicate in a "back channel" amongst themselves, they can use the Team Chat feature in Elite Studio.
Someone on the presenting team (Producer or Presenter) must remain connected to the webinar by phone or webcam at all times. Otherwise, the live stream will stop and restart, resulting in two separate archives of the webinar.
If you are running a longer webinar and would like to take a break in the middle of the presentation, presenters can mute their camera and audio during that time. All presenters should maintain their connections during the break and make sure their computer doesn't go into sleep mode or restart itself. Following these proactive measures will ensure the live stream isn't disrupted and the webinar converts to on-demand format correctly.
Live View Window
Slides and other presentation elements can be shared and advanced through the Live View window, which shows what is being currently displayed to attendees in the audience console.
The Live View will be the default tool in the Main Stage area of Elite Studio for Producers and Presenters.
Use the Previous and Next arrows to move through the Storyboard. An element counter will also show, so you know which element of the Storyboard is currently being shown.
Hover over the Live View window to see the Live View tools (in the kebab menu), an animation counter (if your slide has animations), and the Reactions (if the Reactions tool was added to the Console).
Note: The Storyboard and Slide Notes toggles will only be accessible if the Live View tool is in the Main Stage. The toggles will be 'greyed out' if the Live View tool is in the right panel. Use the 'move to main' icon to allow for toggle and feature usage.
Toggle Slide Notes ON to see any notes added to the presentation before it was uploaded to Elite Studio.
Slide Notes can be moved to the top or bottom of the screen and resized with handles. Once you adjust the Slide Notes area, it will stay in that position until you choose to adjust it again. You can also update the text size if necessary.
Note: In order to see the buttons that allow you to move or resize Slide Notes, you must have a slide containing notes in the Live View. If the current slide does not contain notes, these buttons will not appear.
Note: The draw tool is only supported with a slide tool that is configured for a 16:9 aspect ratio within the console builder.
From the kebab menu, toggle Draw ON to annotate your live presentations using the whiteboard tools.
- Pen - utilize one of three colors and three sizes to draw
- Pointers - an arrow or orange dot will display for five seconds to focus the audience's attention
- Erase - select and erase individual lines
- Clear - clear all the lines and pointers at once
Moving to the next slide in the presentation will automatically clear all pointers and drawings. And the annotations made during the live event will carry over to the on-demand version.
Keyboard Shortcuts can be enabled for advancing slides. Keyboard focus must be in the side panel Storyboard to work. Click a slide and push it live in the Storyboard, then use your keyboard to advance and review.
- Next Slide - right arrow or page down
- Previous Slide - left arrow or page up
If the Reactions tool was added to the Audience Console and toggled ON in the Live View, you'll be able to see the reactions as the audience uses them.
There is also a Reactions counter. Hover over Live View to see a running total of reactions and see a breakdown of each reaction during the live event.
Media Player
The Media Player in Elite Studio corresponds to the Media Player on the Audience Console. Once the event has been started, presenters will be live to the audience. Attendees will be able to hear and see (if webcams are used) the presenting team.
Webcam video will appear for those connected by webcam, and a bullhorn icon will appear for those connected by their mic only. And the Media Player will open automatically in Elite Studio (if not already) to play any videos shared or any screen sharing sessions.
Presenter
- This is the default view in Elite Studio and will show all presenters connected to the event
- This is one place you can mute your camera and/or microphone from
- If multiple presenters are using a webcam, webcam layouts can be changed by hovering over the Media Player
- Choose whether or not a Presenter's name will be displayed in their video feed
Audience
- Click this to see the audience version of the Media Player
- There is a two-second delay in this view. Rest assured, audiences will not notice a delay
- Note: When using this view, keep the audio muted to prevent echoing. This does not mute the audio for the audience.
Webcam Layout
- If multiple presenters are using a webcam, webcam layouts can be changed on the fly by hovering over the Media Player and choosing another layout. This can be updated from either tab.
- You can also choose to display the presenter's name by checking the box. This name can be edited in the Presenters window.
Q&A
The Q&A tool allows your presenting team to collaborate on audience questions during a live webcast and corresponds to the Ask Question tool on the Audience Console.
This tool can be moved to the Main Stage by clicking the arrow icon in the top corner.
Click on the question to find answer options. Answers can be sent to the individual who asked, everyone in the audience, or pushed to the slide area for discussion. Questions will only be visible to the audience if they are answered. No matter how the question is answered, both questions and answers will remain anonymous in the audience's view.
Find more information on using the Q&A Tool.
Other Tools
You can choose which other tools you'd like to use in Elite Studio from the Menu icon in the Toolbar. These tools will appear in the right panel, which can be collapsed if you need more more in the Main Stage. You'll also find screen share, mute, and event info (start date and time, title, and event ID) in the Toolbar.
Note: Presenters connected via tablet are not able to share their screen.
Lists those who are currently connected to the event. Click the pencil icon to edit the name - this is the name that will appear in the Media Player if Display Presenter's Name is checked. You can also pin a presenter to place in the Media Player (Producer's only), mute the presenter's mic, or disconnect the presenter from here.
Note: Due to privacy issues, you CANNOT unmute others in Elite Studio. If a presenter is muted they must unmute themselves.
The Team Chat allows presenters to chat with each other. Messages may be sent to all presenters at once or privately to individuals. Messages will not be visible to the audience, but they will appear in the Webcast Intelligence report.
The Attendees List shows all attendees currently in your webcast. You will need to click refresh to see the latest numbers. The number of attendees will appear at the top in parentheses.
You can search for attendees and sort by Name, Company, and Login Time columns.
When sorting the list by name, attendees will be alphabetized by their first name.
To block an attendee and prevent them from viewing your webinar, click the Block Attendee icon.
Use this tool to draw attention to any of the Engagement Tools you added to the Audience Console. Any engagement tool added to the console will appear here. Hover over the tool to see the Highlight or Center option. All tools can be highlighted and some can be centered.
The highlighting and centering behavior will carry over when the live webinar converts to on-demand.
Note: The highlighting and centering of engagement tools are currently not supported for mobile viewers.
Highlight
- If the tool is already open on an attendee's console, it will glow for approximately 10 seconds. If it is minimized, the icon in the menu dock will glow and bounce. The highlight color cannot be customized.
Center
- This will center the tool in the console for the audience. If the tool is minimized in the console dock, it will automatically open and be placed in the center. If the tool is already open, it will be moved to the center.
- When a tool is centered, the rest of the console will be dim for 10 seconds to focus your attendees' attention on the center of their screen.
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- A tool that has been centered can also be minimized by the presenting team. Ten seconds after centering the tool, the option to minimize it will appear.
The Preview window is a personal view for each individual presenter. It does not affect what other presenters see.
The Preview window can also be used to preview the poll results while the poll question is being answered by the live audience.
Lower Third Banners can be pushed during your live event and will display in the Media Player. Click Push to activate the banner and Remove to remove it.
Note: Lower Third Banners can only be created by Producers, either before or during an event.
Ending an Event
Once the webinar has reached its conclusion, click the End Event button.
Events will not automatically stop at the end of the duration - the End Event button must be pushed. Elite Studio does have a 30 minute grace period after duration, so don't worry if your event runs a few minutes over, however this should not be used as standard. This period should not be used to extend the duration and 'Stop Live' should always be used at the end of an event. If you need to extend an event please contact support before the scheduled end of the event.
Once you click End Event, a confirmation window appears. Clicking End Webcast will disconnect the presenters from the live audience and stop the webinar recording.
Note: Stopping a webinar permanently ends the webcast. Once a webinar has been stopped (even if it has been accidentally or prematurely stopped), it cannot be restarted.
Tablet Users
Using a tablet to present is essentially the same as presenting from a desktop. Use the Presenter Link to access the session. Typically this will have been emailed to you.
Note: Presenters connected via tablet are not able to share their screen.
Tablet System Requirements
- Win OS 10 running latest version of Edge, Firefox, Chrome
- Mac OS 10, 10+ running latest version of Firefox, Chrome
-
iPad OS (version 16+) using Safari or the latest version of Chrome
- Connect via the device webcam, not FaceTime
- iPhone NOT supported
- Android OS latest version on a tablet running latest version of Chrome
Troubleshooting Tips
- Confirm all presenters are using a supported browser (Chrome, Firefox, or Edge).
- Make sure ON24 has access to your microphone and camera within the browser - see an example.
- Try connecting off of a Virtual Private Network (VPN). If the issue persists after troubleshooting, it is usually related to network configurations such as VPN or Firewalls.
- All presenters should have a stable, high-speed internet connection.
- Refresh the page by pressing F5 (Command + R for Macs) or try another browser.
- Refreshing the page will not end the webinar.
- When refreshing and reconnecting, the microphone and camera are automatically ON when the new connection loads.
- Clear your cache to optimize browser performance.
- Close all unused applications and browser tabs. This is especially true of collaboration apps (Zoom, WebEx, Teams) because they will use all of the available Central Processing Unit (CPU) resources.
- Reboot the computer if time permits.
- If these tips do not resolve the issue, please Contact Support so our team can work with you and your internal IT department to find a resolution.
Known Issues
- Someone on the presenting team (producer or presenter) must remain connected to the webinar by phone or webcam at all times. Otherwise, the live stream will stop and re-start, resulting in two separate archives of the webinar.
- If you are running a longer webinar and would like to take a break in the middle of the presentation, presenters can mute their cameras and audio during that time. All presenters should maintain their connections during the break and make sure their computer doesn't go into sleep mode or restart. Following these proactive measures will ensure the live stream isn't disrupted and the webinar converts to on-demand correctly.
- Elite Studio is available and currently supports live webinars including Broadcast Video and Live Video. Recording Simu-live, Sim-2-live, and On-Demand Presentations will continue to use the existing workflow through Elite Presentations.
- For Simu-live webinars, presenters will record in Elite Presentations but will use Elite Studio to monitor the live webinar. Webcast Elite will switch automatically from Elite Presentations to Elite Studio 2 hours before the live event start time. Presenters can watch the webinar as it plays to the live audience and respond to questions in Elite Studio (text only) in real time. There is no dial-in number for the presenters to call in to, but they can communicate with their fellow presenters using Team Chat. Team Chat is only visible to the presenters. Highlighting and centering the Engagement Tools will not be available.
- For Sim-2-Live webinars, presenters will record in Elite Presentations but will use Elite Studio on the live webinar day. Webcast Elite will switch automatically from Elite Presentations to Elite Studio 2 hours before the live event start time. Presenters use the dial-in number provided in Elite Studio at any time and speak privately behind the scenes while the live audience is watching the presentation. The audience will not hear the presenters until the rollover happens.
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