Hi Adam,
I hope all is well out west.
I will avoid anything related to trying to get a new person to enjoy contra
by stepping by themselves around their living room -- I can't imagine how
that might be accomplished -- and focus on technical aspects.
1. As you point out there may be issues with sharing video on a Zoom screen
and, as you would know, the likelihood of trouble-free video is inversely
proportional to the percent of the screen that is displaying video (i.e.
the larger the percentage of the screen that is moving, the higher the
bandwidth required and Zoom server processing power). Thus, everyone should
also ditch the virtual background of the palm trees on the beach blowing
around with the waves rolling in. :)
2. I did share a movie on Zoom with family a few months back with some
success but the quality definitely improved after I resized the VLC window
to about half the screen. The connections just did not support a
full-screen video share. Note: Do not share only the video window (which, I
believe, will show up on the other ends as full screen), share the entire
screen with a small-ish video window displayed on that screen.
3. I am taking uni courses on-line at the moment, using both Zoom and
Teams. Last Friday I presented on Teams, window-in-window, a powerpoint
presentation covering the entire screen (but having low bandwidth needs)
and my smiling face in an inset window (about 25% of the screen) that pops
up using (free) OBS software, which actually worked incredibly well. So,
you might try putting a youtube video on one side of the screen (that would
mean the actual video would cover about 20-25% of the screen and the OBC
window (or other s/w that gives you a selfie window) of desired size
elsewhere on the screen. Then share the entire screen. Try that out with a
friend first and see how that would work.
Last note, it is minimal functionality that is needed in OBS to accomplish
this, so the learning curve is about 2 minutes long. Send me a note if I
can be of any help. I use a current, mid-range Win 10 laptop.
Also, let me add my YouTube contra playlist link to the one Sarah offered.
(I had a memorably magical Flurry dance with "Sarah from Asheville" a few
years ago! Don't know if that was with this Sarah or another. :) )
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLx7Z10fR2aZWriPSfVubZLSsjN7c6vpNb
Bonne Chance!
Ken Panton
Saguenay, QC née Ottawa, ON née YVR (SEA)