Live Stream your Service

Live Stream your Church service diagram

Here is a listing of what you will need to live stream your Church services or ministry events to the Internet. Please note that your equipment may vary. If you only have one camera you will not need the video mixer or the preview monitors. You can go:

******Definition of Bandwidth - Bandwidth refers to how much data you can send through a network or modem connection. It is usually measured in bits per second, or “bps.” You can think of bandwidth as a highway with cars travelling on it. The highway is the network connection and the cars are the data. The wider the highway, the more cars can travel on it at one time. Therefore more cars can get to their destinations faster. The same principle applies to computer data — the more bandwidth, the more information that can be transferred within a given amount of time.

2. Video Mixer -

The video mixer is the device your church will use for multiple cameras to switch between the different camera views. This can be monitored in the preview monitors so you can see the camera view before you switch to the next camera shot. This part is not necessary for your church if you only have one camera. Some video switchers will allow your ministry media team to put transition effects and other special effects to your video. This all depends on what brand your media team decides to use, the more features – the more money in most cases. This part can be costly to your media budget so shop wisely. I would not recommend buying an old switcher because of technology changes. You can buy used but make sure it is not an antique.

Basically your ministry media video feed will input into the switcher using RCA or S-video (or whatever connections you are using). Then you should have a preview out for each camera. You will also have an output for your final picture. See the video switcher owners manual for exact details on the configuration of this part.

3. Video adapter (camera to computer) -

This is a long description but you can use the link to purchase this product. I have tested several and the Canopus ADVC-110 Video Converter is a must have for quality media.

ADVC-110 A/D Converter for Mac,WinUse ADVC110 to connect all analog and digital video cameras, decks and editing systems. ADVC110 is the ideal device for capturing and outputting analog video from any FireWire equipped notebook and desktop computer. There are no drivers to install and ADVC110 does not require a power supply when used with a 6 pin FireWire cable. Features include: Intelligent Input/Output ADVC110′s intelligent usability allows for easy setup and connection in any video environment. Front and rear connectors provide analog and DV signal pass through and ensure that connecting cables is neat and simple. ADVC110 also features a color bar reference signal generator to further enhance its integration into any video production environment. Proven DV Codec Technology At the heart of ADVC110 is Canopus’s proprietary DV codec chip, providing the industry’s best picture quality preservation during analog to DV and DV to analog conversion. Locked/Unlocked Audio Support Other converters can lose audio/video sync when converting longer segments of video. ADVC110 supports locked audio when converting from analog to digital, assuring perfect audio and video synchronization. ADVC110 also allows conversion of analog audio signals only, when needed. Long product life The broadest video equipment and editing software compatibility ensures ADVC110 provides a long product life and a high return on investment. Compatible with leading editing and DVD authoring applications including Canopus EDIUS, Canopus Let’s EDIT, Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere Pro, Vegas, iLife, Ulead MediaStudio Pro, and Windows Movie Maker

4.Your Media Computer -

This is fairly strait forward. Here is a list of the system requirements needed to stream video:

Global Ministry Media recommends the following:

*Multiple output streams means streaming to desktop and iPhone simultaneously.
To test upload Internet connection speed: http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/

5. Streaming Media Service for Your Ministry

Click this to sign-up or to get more information.

- This can be a challenge. You will have “free” services out there but keep in mind they have to make money too. They will put ads on your ministry video and the site the viewers use to view the webcast. That is how they pay for your ministries “free” time. Keep in mind you and your ministry media team do not have control of what is being advertised on your ministry streaming page. That could have very bad results. I have seen “free” services being streamed using well known free services with an ad for sexual content on the same page. I think we can agree that a small price is worth it to avoid this harmful content being added without your knowledge. We recommend ComF5. Here is the excerpt from the ComF5 website –http://www.comf5.com/helps

MediaF5 -

Source: http://www.comf5.com/helps

Sharing made easy with media hosting and publishing

Our robust MediaF5 is packed with some of the smartest features in publishing. Easily publish video and images within any web page or email. The MediaF5 interface provides you simple one-click access to HTML code that you copy and paste into your web page. Or simply add video to your email.

Our MediaF5 provides tools designed to allow churches and ministries with little knowledge of programming languages or markup languages to create and manage content with relative ease. This is commonly known as a “CMS” Web Application, meaning a Content Management System that is web-based. This allows you to manage your church media in one location and distribute your ministry media with convenience to the rest of our F5 products.

Your Ministry media where ever, when ever.

6. Finally The Harvest -

Your Viewers – Now you are streaming (webcasting) your church service or ministry event live to the Internet. All you need to do now is put a link to the webcast in your website or embed the live stream directly on your Web-page. You can add custom graphics and donation buttons as you want so the views of the streaming have an easy viewing experience. The choice is yours on how to make it the best user experience possible. Keep in mind you will have people that have issues on the user end of the live webcast and it is important to know that the Internet speed the user subscribes to will also make a difference in quality. Most standard internet speeds are just fine to view a live stream. The users that will have difficulty are those still on dial-up Internet -as you know this is becoming rare these days. Overall you should get great webcasting results with this setup and it will not cost a fortune.