Installing the conferencing system components
When you upload a custom region to Breakroom, you will need to install the conferencing system to achieve full functionality. Learn how to set up voice zones, navigation tools, and more.
In this walkthrough, we will take a completely blank region and set up the Breakroom conferencing system from scratch, with all the tools necessary to run an event. By following the steps below, you can install the conferencing system components in any custom region that you have uploaded.
A completely blank conference region, with no Breakroom conferencing components installed.
The Breakroom conferencing system component source files are not available for individual distribution.
The core conference system components are included as part of the Breakroom Toolkit. While additional conferencing functionality can be added to your region (such as the Start Here UI and Emojis), for the purposes of this tutorial we are concerned with five key components:
The Breakroom Combined Media Core icon.
The Breakroom Combined Media Core is the backbone of the entire conferencing system, and is required for the conferencing system to function. It contains Breakroom's primary tools, such as voice chat, webcam and screen sharing capabilities, as well as the moderator controls.
The Breakroom Camera System icon.
The Breakroom Camera System controls all of the camera operations built into the conferencing system.
The Breakroom Gestures Standard icon.
The Breakroom Gestures Standard item contains all the gesture actions built into the conferencing system.
The Breakroom Navigation UI icon.
The Breakroom Auditorium 90 icon.
Finally, the standard 90-seat auditorium that features in several of Breakroom's default region templates is included for your use. This component is optional.
There is also a 200-seat auditorium object available, which you can find listed for free in the Breakroom Shop. For more information about locating the Auditorium 200 Seat object and purchasing it, please see our Starter Bundle documentation.
The Region Editor in an empty region, with the Inventory and Objects windows open.
To install the core components in an empty region, please follow the steps below. For more information about using the Region Editor or editing objects within the Region Editor, please consult the linked documentation.
- 1.Navigate to the empty region you want to edit.
- 2.Click on the Edit Region button located at the bottom of the screen. This will launch the Region Editor.
- 3.Click on the Inventory button located at the bottom of the screen. This will open the Inventory window.
- 4.Drag each of the core components from the Inventory window to the floor near your avatar. This will install them in the region.
- 1.Breakroom Combined Media Core
- 2.Breakroom Gestures Standard
- 3.Breakroom Camera System
- 4.Breakroom Navigation UI
- 5.When you are finished, click the Save button.
The four key components of the conferencing system, highlighted in an example Inventory window.
The positioning of the core components is not important. However, to keep things tidy, it is best practice to position them at 0/0/0. To precisely reposition an object, follow these steps.
- 1.While still in the Region Editor, click the Objects button located on the bottom right. This will launch the Objects window.
- 2.In the Objects window, click the > arrow located beside the Room Floor heading to expand it.
- 3.Click on one of the four core components listed under the Room Floor heading (for example, the Breakroom Combined Media Core). This will launch the Inspector window for that object.
- 4.In the Inspector window, click the > arrow next to Transform component to expand it.
- 5.Locate the Local Position property. This property contains three fields. Set each field to the numeral 0, for a combined position of 0/0/0.
- 6.Repeat these steps for each of the core components.
- 7.When you are done installing and editing the core components, click the Save button, followed by the Close button.
The Objects and Inspector windows, with the Local Position property highlighted.
After you save your work and close the Region Editor, you will notice that the conferencing system UI elements are now visible on your screen. This completes basic setup of the conferencing system. You can now edit and configure the conferencing system components to meet your needs.
We have simplified the setup of some common areas. This includes a 90-seat auditorium with built-in camera and screen positions, as well as its own Presenter voice zone. You can install this item in your region by following these steps.
- 1.Navigate to the region you want to edit.
- 2.Click on the Edit Region button at the bottom of the screen.
- 3.Click on the Inventory button located on the bottom right to open the Inventory window.
- 4.Drag the Breakroom Auditorium 90 object from the Inventory window to the floor near your avatar. This will install it in the region.
- 5.Click the Save button.
The Breakroom Auditorium 90 object placed in a region, as viewed through Region Editor.
You can now use the movement and rotation tools in the Region Editor to position the auditorium as necessary. When positioning is complete, click the Save button again to store your changes.
The Breakroom Auditorium 90 object, successfully positioned within an auditorium area.
The 90-seat auditorium is configured to work "out of the box," with the conferencing system's communication and navigation functions built in. After positioning the entire auditorium object, the only thing you'll need to do is edit the presenter seats to meet your needs. In a Presenter zone, only the individuals who sit on the presenter seats will be able to turn on their webcams or share their computer screens.
The Breakroom Combined Media Core, highlighted in the Objects window.
To edit the presenter seats, follow the steps below.
- 1.While still in the Region Editor, click the Objects button located on the bottom right. This will launch the Objects window.
- 2.In the Objects window, click the > arrow located beside the Room Floor heading to expand it.
- 3.Locate the Breakroom Auditorium 90 object. Click the > arrow to expand it.
- 4.Locate the Presenters object and click on it. This will launch the Inspector window for that object. Selecting this object will also isolate and highlight the presenter seats.
The location of the Presenters object, highlighted in the Objects window.
You can now move the presenter seats to your desired location by hand-keying values into the Transform component (as detailed above), or by using the Region Editor positioning tools. When you're happy with your changes, make sure to click the Save button.
An example of how presenter seats may appear, highlighted within the Objects window.
If you sit on one of the presenter seat tags while the Region Editor is closed, then open the Region Editor while remaining seated, your avatar will travel with the presenter seat tags when you position them. This is a useful quality check to ensure that your avatar is facing the right way and isn't sinking into the floor.
An avatar "seated" on a presenter seat while in Region Editor. Note the movement gizmo.
The conference system comes with 9 presenter seats. You can disable any seats you don't need by following these instructions.
The Presenters object, highlighted and expanded in the Objects window.
- 1.Click on the Edit Region button at the bottom of the screen.
- 2.Click the Objects button located on the bottom right. This will launch the Objects window.
- 3.In the Objects window, click the > arrow located beside the Room Floor heading to expand it.
- 4.Locate the Breakroom Auditorium 90 object. Click the > arrow to expand it.
- 5.Locate the Presenters object. Click the > arrow again to expand it.
- 6.Click the eye icon located to the right of any presenter seat you do not wish to appear in-world. In the example image above, seats six through nine have been disabled, leaving five presenter seats.
- 7.Click the Save button to store your changes.
You can add additional seats to a Presenter zone by installing one or more copies of the Breakroom Addon Presenters object. Learn more and access detailed instructions by visiting this page.
You can also restrict presenter seat access to only users who have certain region-level or world-level permissions. Learn more here.
Breakroom's prefab breakout rooms and booths, like the 90-seat auditorium discussed above, come pre-equipped with seats, gestures, voice zones, and teleport UI functionality. These convenient virtual areas are designed to set themselves up; all you need to do is add them to your region using the Region Editor. You can learn more about installing and customizing prefab breakout areas by consulting this section of our documentation.
Custom voice zones are blank voice zones that can be placed wherever you like in your region. They can contain any items or regional features you choose, and can even be nested. You can edit the RoomFurniture component so they appear in the Breakout Rooms bar, or you can direct any button in the General Navigation bar to teleport users to a custom voice zone by following the instructions below.
Round and square voice zones, being edited in the Region Editor.
The General Navigation bar offers guests the ability to teleport to different areas in your region with the click of a button. If seats are available in an area, teleporting there will also automatically assign users a seat.
The buttons, from left to right, are:
Button | Function |
|---|---|
Auditorium | Teleports your avatar to the auditorium. |
Information | Teleports your avatar to the region entrance or to a designated information booth. |
Networking | Teleports your avatar to the designated lounge or networking area. |
Floor | Teleports your avatar to the main "floor" of the event (e.g. vendor booths, game area). |
Note: The following instructions apply only to a General Navigation bar that you have installed in your own blank region. You cannot edit the General Navigation bars that come pre-installed in Breakroom's region templates.
You can remove one or more buttons from the General Navigation bar by following these steps.
The location of the General Navigation bar buttons.
- 1.Click on the Edit Region button at the bottom of the screen.
- 2.Click the Objects button located on the bottom right. This will launch the Objects window.
- 3.In the Objects window, click the > arrow located beside the Room Floor heading to expand it.
- 4.Locate the Breakroom Navigation UI object. Click the > arrow to expand it.
- 5.Locate the Crowd Manager Navigation UI object. Click the > arrow again to expand it.
- 6.Locate the Canvas object. Click the > arrow again to expand it.
- 7.Locate the General Navigation object. Click the > arrow again to expand it.
- 8.You will see the General Navigation bar buttons (highlighted above). Click the eye icon located to the right of any button you do not wish to appear in the General Navigation bar.
- 9.Click the Save button to store your changes.
- 10.Click the Reset Zones button to reset the conferencing system.
If you like, you can change the location that each button in the General Navigation bar points to. This can be done either by repositioning the landmark objects within Region Editor, or by editing a voice zone's RoomFurniture component. Both sets of instructions are offered below.
The Landmarks object expanded and highlighted.
- 1.Click on the Edit Region button at the bottom of the screen.
- 2.Click the Objects button located on the bottom right. This will launch the Objects window.
- 3.In the Objects window, click the > arrow located beside the Room Floor heading to expand it.
- 4.Locate the Breakroom Combined Media Core object. Click the > arrow to expand it.
- 5.Locate the Crowd Manager Core object. Click the > arrow again to expand it.
- 6.Locate the Landmarks object. Click the > arrow again to expand it.
- 7.You will see the General Navigation bar landmark objects (highlighted above). Click on the name of the landmark you would like to move (e.g. Entrance).
- 8.Physically reposition the landmark object within the region using the Region Editor tools, or by entering the appropriate values in that object's Transform component, as detailed above.
- 9.Click the Save button to store your changes.
- 10.Click the Reset Zones button to reset the conferencing system.
The invisible Entrance landmark object being moved. Note the movement gizmo.
The Objects and Inspector windows in Region Editor, with a custom voice zone selected.
Using this method, you can point any button in the General Navigation bar to a custom voice zone or a prefab breakout area of your choice.
- 1.Click on the Edit Region button at the bottom of the screen.
- 2.Click the Objects button located on the bottom right. This will launch the Objects window.
- 3.In the Objects window, click the > arrow located beside the Room Floor heading to expand it.
- 4.Locate the voice zone or prefab breakout area you want to edit, and click on it. The Inspector window will launch.
- 5.In the Inspector window, click the > arrow located next to the RoomFurniture component to expand it.
- 6.Locate the Zone Name property. Type in the name of the General Navigation bar button you would like to point to this voice zone (e.g. Auditorium, Entrance, Networking, or Floor).
- 7.Click the Save button to store your changes.
- 8.Click the Reset Zones button to reset the conferencing system.
If you use this method, the landmark object associated with the Zone Name (Auditorium, Entrance, Networking, or Floor) will be overridden. There is no need to manually disable it. However, if you would like to use that landmark object again, you will need to rename any custom voice zones or breakout areas using its name.
Breakroom's conferencing system contains multiple navigation tools.
- The General Navigation bar, located in the top left corner of the screen, makes use of landmark objects built into the conferencing system. By editing the position of these landmark objects (or by assigning their identifying names to custom voice zones), users can teleport to those locations with a single click. This editing process is described above.
- The Breakout Rooms bar, located in the top right corner, displays a teleport button for each voice zone that includes the prefix "Breakout" in its Zone Name property. (For example, Breakout 1, Breakout 2, etc.) When you add a prefab breakout area to a region, a teleport button will automatically appear in the Breakout Rooms bar. You can also edit the Breakout Rooms bar manually. You can find instructions for doing so here, and more technical details here.
In addition to these navigation bars, there is a third: the Areas of Interest panel.
An example of the Areas of Interest teleport panel.
This panel is visible on the right side of the screen when activated. The Areas of Interest panel can teleport users to any voice zone that has the "Zone Visible" option enabled in its RoomFurniture component. Zones already linked in either the General Navigation bar or Breakout Rooms bar will be ignored by the Areas of Interest panel. This makes it a flexible solution for offering additional teleport options to your users.
When speaking about these three navigation tools in aggregate, two new options emerge for advanced region configuration:
- Removing navigation tools from the region entirely.
- Activating and customizing the Areas of Interest panel.
The Objects and Inspector windows in Region Editor, with the Breakroom Navigation UI object selected.
To enable or disable the three individual tools that make up Breakroom's navigation system, follow these steps.
- 1.Click on the Edit Region button at the bottom of the screen.
- 2.Click the Objects button located at the bottom right. This will launch the Objects window.
- 3.In the Objects window, click the > arrow located beside the Room Floor heading to expand it.
- 4.Locate the Breakroom Navigation UI object and click on it. The Inspector window will launch.
- 5.In the Inspector window, click on the > arrow next to the RoomFurniture component to expand it.
- 6.You will see three properties listed under the RoomFurniture component:
- 1.Navigation Breakouts: This refers to the Breakout Rooms bar.
- 2.Navigation General: This refers to the General Navigation bar.
- 3.Navigation Others: This refers to the Areas of Interest panel.
- 7.If you want a menu to appear in your region, type "yes" into the corresponding field. If you want to remove a particular menu from your region, type "no" into the field.
- 8.Click the Save button to store your changes.
- 9.Click the Reset Zones button to reset the conferencing system.
The Objects and Inspector windows in Region Editor, with a Breakroom Voice Zone object selected.
If you choose to make the Areas of Interest panel visible to your users, you can follow the instructions below to populate it with clickable teleport buttons.
- 1.Click on the Edit Region button at the bottom of the screen.
- 2.Click the Objects button located at the bottom right. This will launch the Objects window.
- 3.In the Objects window, click the > arrow located beside the Room Floor heading to expand it.
- 4.Locate the breakout area or Breakroom Voice Zone object you want to include under Areas of Interest, and click on it. The Inspector window will launch.
- 5.In the Inspector window, click on the > arrow next to the RoomFurniture component to expand it.
- 6.There are two key properties listed under the RoomFurniture component that you will need to edit:
- 1.Zone Name: This is the name of your area, and the name that will appear in the corresponding teleport button in the Areas of Interest panel. (For example, "Coffee Bar.")
- 2.Zone Visible: This property governs whether the zone is listed under the Areas of Interest panel. Type "yes" into the field if you want the zone to be added to the panel. Type "no" into the field if you want to remove the voice zone from all panels.
- 7.Click the Save button to store your changes.
- 8.Click the Reset Zones button to reset the conferencing system.
Last modified 1mo ago