Necessity and a global pandemic with the mother of invention.
Say you want to video and optionally live stream your spiritual service with little investment and fuss.
Where do you start?
The Good News is that you can produce a very good recording of your service with little more than a cell phone or two and good internet.
StreamYard, riverside.fm, and Ecamm Live can all do amazing things for recording and broadcasting show, events, and services.
StreamYard is the easiest way to produce a live show.
riverside.fm allows you to have an interview or show with a quality that adjusts to the internet quality while recording the individual cameras in HD and even 4K for editing later.
Ecamm has a lot of Producer features to create very professional-looking shows while recording to a local drive.
For most services, StreamYard is where I would start. You can test easily and can create professional productions even with the free subscription.
How to Record and Broadcast with StreamYard
StreamYard runs in a browser and you could livestream a service with your phone. It takes a few minutes to signup and test out your first broadcast.
StreamYard is unique in that it does not record the video to a local device. Instead it streams to a range of destinations such as Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Periscope, Twitch, and custom RTMP outputs.
Linking to the platforms is very easy. The paid version allows you to stream to multiple destinations at the same time. The free subscription allows you to choose one at a time.
Facebook is best if you want a live audience. YouTube is a little easier to download the video recording for future editing.
Two Camera Production Setup
Although you could start with one or two smartphones, the ideal is to have someone produce from a laptop. It is easier to see what is going on and change cameras to solo, overlay banners, play videos, and more.
By the way, you are not limited to smartphones. Any camera that can connect to a computer or mobile device will work. I will make some camera suggestions at the end of this article. Same with microphones.
The producer can be on a computer anywhere in the world as long as there is a good internet connection. Likely the person will be in the room, providing the option of using a third camera.
The producer sends invitation links to the two people running the smartphones.
When connected the producer can see all of the cameras and has easy options for selecting solo cameras or arranging in the screen.
The process is surprisingly simple and you can probable do a reasonable job with little practice. More practice will make for a very professional job,
Here is a good review and overview of StreamYard:
Camera and Microphone Options
Although I think you can do a simpler setup with StreamYard, this video has good insights into audio and video options to improve your production.
One takeaway from this video is that it is possible to connect almost any camera or microphone to a laptop with a few low-cost adapters.
For example, any camera with HDMI out can connect to a laptop that has an HDML adapter. From there it can be used as one of the cameras used by StreamYard or other production software.
Here is a good article on camera choices with a range of prices.
The 4 Best Camera Styles for Streaming Church Services in 2021 by Kevin Purcell.
Final Thoughts
I have shot video of hundreds of church services from Vancouver to Nashville. And countless hours editing and posting those videos.
I currently download and edit the Unity of Nashville videos from their Facebook Live broadcasts and post on YouTube and https://www.unityofnashville.org/videos.
The first broadcast started with Reverend John McLean in his office with the video from his phone sideways.
The production now includes multiple cameras, excellent sound, and a small studio audience within social distancing guidelines.
You can start there with software like StreamYard and a few smartphones or cameras connected to laptops.
Better production with far less work and expense. I love it!
I am available to consult on your production and even produce it remotely if needed.
Greg Dixon
gregdixon@sharedvisions.com
