Hey, Let's Live Stream Our Services!

Everyone is excited - every service is going to be live streamed to the Whole Wide World. But where to begin, what else do I need to know?

Here are some considerations that I believe every church should address before launching an online ministry.

Technical

Well, we know we've got to have a good camera. Brother Smith knows a guy down at Best Buy who knows all about cameras and can hook us up with a good deal. HD for sure! But... let's pause and take a look at what it really takes to stream "watchable" internet video. I say "watchable" because if it is not very watchable then it would be better to just stream audio only - eliminating the distraction of poorly shot video. (Note: In a post to come I will discuss creating your own internet radio station.)

Here are some facts we have to work with:
• An internet live stream is basically a small form factor medium - meaning a great percentage of viewers are watching on small screen smart phones or tablets.
• The highest quality of stream(s) you can deliver is determined by the upload speed of the internet service at (or 'in') the church building.
• Shooting good video is like shooting good still photography - Lighting is the most important thing.
• Also like still photography the lens matters greatly.
• The audio will sound different online than at church if corrective steps are not taken.
• The person that knows how it's all setup may not be the same person that's best at creatively "producing" the video stream.

Let's drill down into each one of these facts.

The Small Form Factor

Since most of the viewing audience will be watching on a personal device with a relatively small screen you will need to provide a viewing experience that provides as many close up shots as possible. This will necessitate either purchasing a camera with a long zoom lens or placing the camera close enough to the platform to get a tight shot. This will also mean that the camera will not be in a set-it and forget-it configuration. A camera operator will be required at all times to pan, zoom and tilt the camera as the action demands.

Some churches opt for a robotic camera that can be hung from the ceiling closer to the platform. This type of camera will also need a full time operator. The trade off between the robotic camera and the tripod manually operated camera is in the smoothness of following a preacher who just might be running from one side of the church to the other. The robotic camera is very challenging to operate in these type of situations.

Stream Quality

As I mentioned "The highest quality of stream(s) you can deliver is determined by the upload speed of the internet service at (or 'in') the church building".  Most streaming applications can deliver multiple quality streams simultaneously to cover the needs of mobile, desktop, and high-definition viewing. In any case the amount of streams you can push to meet these needs are determined first by the upload speed you have available to you and, secondarily, by the computer processing power you have. Pushing  Mobile, Medium, High and HD streams would require constant 10Mbs upload capabilities. The processing power to generate these streams would require a high end Mac or PC.

Streaming over Wifi or Cellular service is never recommended.

Lighting

The human eye is very adaptable and much more "forgiving" than a video camera's sensor. The eye can distinguish detail in a subject that is poorly lit or even back-lit while the circuitry of a camera sensor has limited dynamic range and the brightest item in the shot (perhaps a white wall behind the speaker) will determine the overall brightness and detail of the entire shot.

When we add a video camera to the church scene we then need to assess the platform (and possibly the altar area) lighting. You might say "we have plenty of lighting over the platform!". The real issue is not necessarily the quantity of lights but the quality and the angle of the lights. Direct overhead lighting lights mostly the top of a person's head but create uncanny shadows under the eyes and chin. This is why all stage lighting is in front of the stage and come from a high and angled (45 degrees up) position. Additionally back lighting (a light or lights shining on the back of the presenter) is recommended as it helps create visual separation of the subject from the background.

The thing to remember is that bad lighting will always create bad looking video.

Audio

One of the things I most often hear is "why does my mix sound bad on the video stream when it sounded good in sanctuary?". This usually tells me one thing - they are sending the same mix to the web stream as they are sending to the house sound system. Why doesn't that work? Mostly it's because the house mix is adjusted to compensate for room acoustics, stage monitor volumes and naturally projected acoustics. For instance on the steam audio one singer (or instrument) is way louder than all others. This is likely because in the sanctuary the audio operator was hearing all of the other singers (or instruments) well because the stage monitors (and room acoustics) was adding to his house mix except for that one singer or instrument. His natural response was to turn that singer up in the mix. Since the stream audio sits outside of these natural room acoustics and additive nature of the stage monitors the result is one louder singer.

There are two ways to overcome this problem. The first, less effective but cheaper, way is to use an Aux mix just for the web stream. This requires the sound operator to pay attention to two simultaneous mixes - the one in the sanctuary and (by headphones) the one sending to the web stream. Adding a second sound operator for the web stream would be best.

The better and more effective way is to add a second mixer in an isolated room that also receives all inputs from the stage exclusively for the web stream audio mix. For older analog sound systems this would require adding mic splitters at the house console and running a mic snake to the new web mix room. For some digital systems the digital stage boxes (and head amps) can be shared by two consoles requiring only the running of additional Cat 5 cable.

This solution, obviously, also requires a second sound operator per service.

Who operates the Camera?

A lot of the time the type of people that are attracted to media systems are the computer and technical types. This is good in one sense. They have a natural ability with  and understanding of technical things and can keep the systems in order and troubleshoot if necessary.

In another sense it can be problematic. Media systems are by nature both technical and creative and some of the time it's difficult to find folks with an equal measure of technical ability and creativity. The techies are normally linear thinkers who do not, generally,  like to get "outside of the box".

This will put a damper on some creativity. However, the more important thing in producing good video is having someone who understands why we are showing what we are showing - not necessarily how.  Most always it's not about what you show but it's about what you should not have shown. Please let the camera operator be the person that understands that.




(Coming soon Multi-Cameras - why do I need more than one?)



 Glenn Stewart is a multi-media consultant and trainer with over 35 years of experience in the corporate and church markets. For questions or discussion email gs@gspromedia.com.