Stream Setup

Background

Over many years Metropolitan had its 11am service broadcast on the radio. During this time there was not a great need to also stream our services. However, in February of 2021 we learned that our radio broadcast would be ending in September of 2021. The need to develop streaming capabilities became a priority, especially with the pandemic repeatedly causing the congregation to have to stay away from the church.

We were lucky that we could start to experiment with streaming while the radio broadcast was still going on. This allowed us to start small and slowly add elements as we worked to improve how our stream was delivered to our congregation. 

We started by looking at setting up a YouTube account to stream to and then we looked at streaming software. The choice came down to two: OBS and Wirecast. OBS was free, but not particularly user-friendly. Wirecast needed to be purchased, but was much easier for people to operate. We wanted to set up our streaming similar to Lester B Pearson School for the Arts where a group of students operate a "Stream Team" to livestream events. 

Our stream is run by students from grades 7 to 11, and sound operators, who are also students.

The Details

We purchased an iMac computer to run the software and a single license of the Wirecast software. We did increase the amount of RAM to better handle the amount of video involved with streaming.

Cameras

We looked at a number of cameras and eventually settled on Aida POV (point-of-view) cameras. As well, we decided to use the latest streaming technology, NDI, which allows for the image signal, power, and control to all go over one ethernet cable. The latency with NDI is a little more than SDI (about a quarter of a second), but we are not worried about this speed difference as we are not streaming sports or game captures.

The camera comes with a wide angle lens, but we also purchased the 5mm to 50mm variable focus lens so that we could zoom in to the pulpit. One Aida POV camera was also put on the organ console so that the congregation could was hymns and the postlude. 

The church already had a Canon video camera, which was used to video record the sermons for archive purposes. This camera was added to the stream so that we could follow action that happened outside the Aida POV shots. 

In order to add a regular video camera to a stream, a video capture card needs to be used to change the regular video signal to a digital signal the streaming software understands. Other capture cards were tried before settling on the Datavideo  capture SDI to USB card. Although more expensive, this one is much more reliable.

Eventually we decided that we would like to add PTZ cameras to provide a larger variety of shots during services. We settled on PTZOptics cameras. The specific camera we purchased was the 30x zoom NDI camera. 

This type of camera is much simpler to use with a physical controller, so we also added that to our stream to control the three PTZ cameras we now use.

Screens and Monitors

Metropolitan already had projection screens in place for slideshows presenting information during the service. An Apple TV was added to the stream with an iPad to present the slideshow of hymns, readings and information our minister speaks about during the service. The Apple TV is also connected to the streaming software using a Datavideo capture card. 

One benefit is that our minister can use the Apple Pencil to draw on the slides, pointing out various elements he is speaking about. This appears on both the screens in the church and the stream at home.

The screens have now been configured to present the stream that is sent out to our audience at home. The people who are at the service see the same as the people at home. 

A video monitor TV was added between our main cameras so that the ministry team can see what is being sent out to our audience. They can look at this monitor and see when they are 'on screen'.  As well, if they are reading material from this screen they also appear to look right at the audience, as the cameras are right beside the monitor. 

We have also added an iPad as a monitor for the PTZ cameras right by the PTZ controller. This makes selecting the specific camera and preset shot much easier.

We hope that this page helps you with setting up a video stream of your service. Please email us at metropolitan.london.ca@gmail.com if you have questions. Here are some additional pictures of our setup.