*This is a quick guide on what you will need to set up a live stream.
*This is not all-inclusive and may not cover all situations but should give a general overview.
Live Streaming on a budget. How to spend the least amount of money to get a decent live stream up and running. This guide will help you get a live stream set up on a reasonable budget. Following this guide and with a little shopping around you should be able to set up a professional looking live stream for around $2k OR LESS. (maybe much less) Remember that prices may vary and are subject to change.
This guide is intended for a person that is fairly computer literate and is a "jumping off point" to get started with research and shopping not a step by step guide.
Things you will need: (I will link to a list of ideas on amazon - this is not a product recommendation but just examples of the kind of items you should consider.)
A computer ( intel I5-3rd gen or better 8gb+ ram MIN - 4th gen or better 16GB ram and a dedicated GPU Recommended)
A Camera or multiple cameras
Worship software (see my links to free worship software)
Possible adapters for connecting everything
The computer specs are listed above - you can usually get a decent refurb with those specs on amazon with a warranty for under $500 if you shop around. I recommend buying a desktop computer instead of a laptop so you can upgrade it along the way to extend the life of your investment.
OBS Studio. This is the software that will let you bring everything together and produce a professional looking stream. this software is used by thousands of youtube and twitch streamers and even used by multi-million dollar companies. Best of all - it's free. Not only free but open source so it will always be free. There are other programs out there that may look nicer or have some odd feature built in - but most churches will never need to extra features of vMix ($350 - plus pay again for updates after one year).
Camera. (A more in-depth guide to cameras is available Here.) While a webcam is probably not good enough you don't need a multiple thousand dollar camera. In fact, you don't need a thousand-dollar camera. That being said the camera should be the largest budget item here (even though it's not the most important - more on that later). A good rule of thumb is to get a camera that (a) has a higher resolution than you are going to stream in (for example if streaming to facebook the max is 720p so get at least a 1080p camera) and (b) has a zoom of at least 1x + 1x for every 5 feet your camera will be from the stage. So if your sound booth is 55 feet away from the stage you would need a minimum of 12x zoom. This is only considering OPTICAL zoom as digital zoom distorts the picture. Most churches won't be doing high-speed movement or playing professional sports in service so high framerate cameras are not needed - But having a 60 or 90fps camera is good if it meets other needs and you can afford it. But as long as it's at least 30fps and high enough zoom/resolution you should be fine.
On Cameras you have a couple other things to consider as well. Our church uses a Pan/Tilt/Zoom (PTZ) camera but this may not be the best choice for some churches as they cost more and require a volunteer that is attentive and has a good eye for when to move and how to zoom and when to not show the video so as to avoid causing motion sickness while panning (The fastest way to have people turn off your stream is to have it moving and bouncing like a 90's camcorder held by a 10 year old). The advantage is you can use only one camera to get multiple shots and can mount it on the wall for a better view and still be able to adjust the aiming. Many churches however would be better off buying a couple of camcorders that have a "clean" HDMI output (no camera interface visible), placing them on tripods, and connecting via HDMI adapter. This will require the operator to manually set each camera zoom and aim before service but will give multiple shots and zoom levels without possible motion sickness inducing panning in the video. Just adjust the camera that IS'NT on screen at the time then switch to that camera! And for Cheaper than the PTZ Cam. Do your research on which option is right for your church.
Adapters. You will need an HDMI to USB Adapter (with a loop out) or an HDMI capture card for capturing the output of the worship software computer if running on a separate computer (Recommended setup). You may need HDMI to USB for connecting some types of cameras.
You will also need some way to get sound into the live stream - audio adapters to connect your soundboard is the best option but requires careful setup. An easier option is a dedicated microphone connected to the PC (this is what we are currently using at my church). Audio is THE MOST IMPORTANT PART of your live stream. If you have crystal clear video but scratchy, screechy audio your members MAY endure it but no one else will. If your video is not perfect but ok and your audio is crystal clear more people will stay. Audio is not expensive so get it right.
So if you set up things per these recommendations your setup should be something like this:
Worship software PC connected to HDMI/USB converter and out of converter to sanctuary screen, Converter connected to live stream PC, Camera(s) connected to live stream PC, Audio connected to live stream PC, Live stream PC running OBS and any camera control or audio control software needed, Live stream PC connected to the internet.
Amazon List Church Livestream Equipment
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