LIVESTREAMING 101 – GETTING ONLINE

Live Streaming and Content will become a critical means of communication and connection, so here’s a quick primer on what you’ll need to adapt your Tech Arts team into a content machine!

1. CONTENT

Some organizations are just going to want to keep it simple and do what they know by “live streaming” their services from an empty room, some may want to use the opportunity to commission and assemble bits of content from around the community into a vibrant online expression of togetherness. Whatever the vibe you’re going for, set some basic ground rules for content development:

CAMERA

Shoot on phones if you don’t have a DSLR or Cinema Camera setup. iPhones 10/11 and Google Pixel 3/4’s are really great cameras. If your team’s got them, use them. There’s no need to go out and buy a DSLR or an expensive cinema camera.

STABALIZE IT

LIGHTING

Yes, most cameras today do well in natural light. Use available light to ensure your subject is a bit brighter than the background. This will help your viewer’s eye relax and naturally focus on the subject. You may want to purchase a small LED panel light to have for moments when the available light isn’t enough.

#4. Sound. Mobile phones can capture decent audio if the conditions are right. Shoot close to the subject indoors in a quiet room and your audio will probably be workable. Add some distance, take it outdoors or into a noisy environment and your audio will be unusable. In the next section, I’ll recommend a mic you can attach to your phone for great audio within a 5’~8’ range from the subject.

SOUND

CONTENT WORKFLOW

WORKFLOW You’re going to want to develop a content workflow for your organization. You’ll need time to plan (1D), capture(2D), edit(1D), review(1D), and post your video(s). Its at least a 5-day process so you’re going to want to meet Monday/Tuesday to make your content plan.

CONTENT FINISHING

Edit in Premiere Pro or Davinci Resolve, and export for H.264 in 720p with ACC audio for posting to Facebook/Youtube/Vimeo or live streaming…

2. EQUIPMENT

For content, production grab a phone stabilizer/gimbal, a Rode VideoMic-Me Android, iPhone and a video light which can make all the difference in the world if you end up with less than ideal lighting conditions. If your organization would prefer to just “stream” your services, there’s a couple of ways you could quickly get set up to get this done:

Tier 1: Single Camera + RTMP Wifi/LAN Streaming Appliance
$3100

This package is the cheapest way to get it done at a reasonable level of quality. You’ll need an audio feed from your mixer, and decent wifi or wired connection to the internet. Everything else is here. RTMP is the standard way to stream to most free or low-cost CDN’s like Facebook, Youtube or Vimeo. While RTMP is the industry standard, it takes a lot of equipment and experience to deliver a truly resilient live stream. On big shows, they’ll use enterprise-class encoders costing $10K each, have redundant encoders, ISP’s, CND’s, etc. and they can still experience the odd failure. The Teradek Vidiu has served us well over the years. It is a great place to start if your budget is limited.
Tier 2: Single Camera with Living As One Resilient Streaming Appliance and IMAG though ProPresenter.
$4495

I can’t say enough about Living As One. They have changed the live streaming gaming for churches. By using a proprietary encoding and transport system, they can offer the best in class resiliency end to end. This is the way to go if you can muster the extra $1500. This package is built around the mighty but small ATEM Mini switcher to bring your camera and ProPresenter feeds online.
Tier 3: Upgrade your existing SDI camera system
$7825
Upgrade your existing SDI camera system with ATEM TV Studio Pro, ProPresenter integration, including Lower 3rd’s keying of graphics, Living As One Resilient Streaming Appliance, and Projectors through your switcher. If you’ve already got a tired but functional camera package, this upgrade will get you everything you need to vulcanize your live streaming system and get a reliable stream out into the world!

3. DISTRIBUTION

Go where the people are. Then direct people to where you need them to go.

Live Streaming is a wonderful way to virtually gather your community to worship and engage each other. You’re going to want to have a destination to send your people to go to watch your live stream. If your site is not ideal for that kind of thing, we recommend churchonlineplatform.com as a really amazing free player you can quickly deploy to have a customized place to send people to watch your stream and interact in chat. You’ll also want to stream to Facebook or Youtube, or anywhere you’ve posted content before. Most CDN’s (content distribution networks) can be set up to simulcast to a Social site from within their settings. But in the end, it often makes the most sense to direct everyone to your player where you can build in an opportunity to give (PushPay) and interact with your staff.

While streaming to Facebook or Youtube is free, its also a noisy environment to watch content in, and you’ll be challenged to integrate opportunities for people to give. Vimeo Premium is an affordable platform to stream to your own Website or ChurchOnline, it affordable ($75/month) and you’ll be able to archive your content there, and set up a VOD channel as well. Living As One is ONLY a live streaming platform, but in concert with VIMEO for VOD content, it is the best solution we’ve found for a complete online presence.

Please check out Living As One. https://livingasone.com/ We’ve been delighted to set up a number of our partner churches with them over the past couple of weeks. They offer the most resilient streaming service I’ve ever seen, they are built from the ground up to serve churches, and they have an exceptionally great support team.

KEY BLOCKING DECISIONS

There is a handful of decision your team is going to need to make quickly:

What kind of virtual gathering do we want to create, if at all?
What budget do we have to immediately release to do this?
When do we want to “Go Live”
What platforms (Youtube, Facebook, our website, ChurchOnline) do we want to show up on?
Who is going to do the work?

Friends we are here to support you as you get your live streaming plan together.. We are set up as a dealer for all of this gear, as well as Living As One. So we would be delighted to order you a complete working kit to get you on the air as soon as possible. We can connect you with staffing resources at competitive rates to help you set up, configure, implement and/or produce your next virtual gathering. We have audio mixers and sweetening capability, video editing capability and live streaming equipment and rentals ready to deploy. Please let us know how we can help you build your community online.