We are streaming this year’s festival using a video player hosted by Vimeo. Their service should allow quality HD streams (up to 1080p) over high-speed Internet, and their video player supports Apple’s “AirPlay” and Chrome’s “Cast” services by default. See their instructions here:
https://vimeo.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360049772851-AirPlay-and-Chromecast
For other device and media player combinations, the following tips should help you to “Cast” or “Screen Mirror” to your SmartTV or Media Streaming Device (ROKU, AppleTV, ChromeCast, FireStick, or other 3rd-party devices) fairly easily.
Pre-Streaming Tips
Be sure you are connected to a strong WiFi signal, or even better, a direct-ethernet wired Internet connection. While your cell phone data plan may have a high quota or even be labeled as “unlimited data,” often these plans will still encounter throttled connectivity during peak usage. It is best to use a solid internet connection for full HD presentation without buffering.
Be sure the device you are streaming from is plugged in to prevent interruptions from battery drain. A low battery warning can really take the fun out of an effects-laden bloodbath.
Turn off Notifications & Auto-updates. Again, you don’t want some silly calendar invite or nominal software update to ping your viewing screen just when the vampire and werewolf lock eyes and realize their long-hidden desire to be with one another, do you?
To “Cast” to your favorite device, here are some tips.
iPhone/iPad or MacBook to AppleTV
Apple uses both the terms “AirPlay” and “Screen Mirroring” depending on the device – and by default, as long as your AppleTV and your iPhone, iPad, MacBook, or other Apple device are connected to the same WiFi, this icon will show on either the video player itself, or in the Menu Bar at the top of your Apple screen. Just click on the icon to select which AppleTV screen you want to send the video to. If the icon is on the player itself, you should get a full-screen video experience. If the icon is on your Menu Bar, you will get a mirror of your whole desktop and can then expand the video to fullscreen.
Android phone to ChromeCast or Roku
When using a ChromeCast device and both your device and ChromeCast are on the same WiFi, you should get the “Cast” icon on the video player itself. If you use a ROKU, then you will want to download the ROKU app to your device and make sure that it recognizes your ROKU Media Player. Once they see one another, you will need to go to one of two places to “cast” your screen. If using a Chrome browser, go to your browser settings and look for the option to “Cast” — it may be under “More…”. Additionally, or if not using Chrome browser, you can navigate to your Device Settings and browse for the Display option. Click into there, and you will see the option to “Cast” your device to the ROKU or ChromeCast you wish. This will mirror your entire device, no matter which screen you navigate to, so you will likely need to navigate back to the webpage of our festival videos and then click-to-expand the player to view in fullscreen mode.
Windows laptop or desktop to ROKU
Windows 10 uses a service called Miracast to mirror your display to another screen. Windows 8.1 does not include this service, but there are workarounds. Please follow the instructions provided by ROKU here:
https://support.roku.com/en-ca/article/208754928
Android or Windows to Amazon FireStick/Fire TV
Before attempting to mirror/cast your device to a Firestick or Fire TV, you will need to go into the settings for your Firestick/Fire TV and “Enable Display Mirroring”. After this step, again make sure that both your device and your Firestick/Fire TV are on the same WiFi network.
iPhone/iPad to Amazon Firestick/FireTV
Before attempting to mirror/cast your iPhone, iPad, or Mac device to a Firestick/Fire TV, you will need to add the “Airscreen” app to your Amazon device. Once installed, open Airscreen and navigate to the app’s settings. From here you will need to enable “AirPlay” (you can also use this app with Windows or Android by enabling “Cast” or “Miracast” if you prefer this to the default screen mirroring settings of Amazon from the step above). Once AirPlay is enabled, you can return to your Apple device and open your main settings (swipe down from top on an iPhone/iPad) to select “Screen Mirroring.” Alternatively, on a Mac device, look for the AirPlay icon in the Menu Bar, or on the video player itself – and then select your Firestick/Fire TV.
There are so many different configurations of media devices that we cannot test all of them, but a quick Google or DuckDuckGo search should help.
If our tips above did not work, search for “How to cast from _____ to _____” or “How to screen mirror from _____ to _____” – replacing the blanks with your Internet-connected device and your main viewing device, should provide more helpful instructions.
If you have any trouble, our good friend Levi at Beaver Media has offered tech support during our virtual festival. You can reach out to him via: https://linktr.ee/levianderson.
Enjoy the show!
TEXAS TERRORS FILM FESTIVAL 