Church Live Stream

Event Date

August 2020

Role

Video Technician/Switcher

Equipment

Audio:
Behringer X32 Compact & S16 Stage Box
4 Sennheiser EW Wireless Microphones
EV FOH & Monitors

Video:
Analogue Way Pulse² Video switcher
Blackmagic Web Presenter & OBS running on a MacBook Pro
QLab Pro bundle running on 2 MacBook Pros
2 Lumens PTZ Cameras & Hardware Keyboard
Canon Static Camera
Sony manned Broadcast Camera
Atomos Samurai Blade SDI SSD Recorder
Mac Mini with Teams Producer
Decimator MD/HX SDI convert/scalers
4G Backup Internet connection

Timeline

Prep and testing the day before including test streams
Build onsite, show and derig all on the same day.

Overview

The brief was to live stream a funeral for a popular member of a small town. Due to restrictions within the venue a much larger audience was expected to view over the live stream.

Due to the short nature of the event it was decided to stream to two different platforms simultaneously, in this case YouTube and Microsoft Teams live events. These were sent over redundant internet connections that used both the venue’s own connection along with a 4G backup. Local recording was also handled by an Atomos Samurai Blade SDI recorder for the highest quality recording possible for uploading after the event.

A static wide shot was mounted at the rear of the church, along with 2 PTZ controllable cameras that were able to be remotely moved during the event. This allowed for discreet camera angles without needing operators at the cameras themselves. Another 4th camera was operated by a professional camera operator allow for more creative shots.

All the switching was handled by the Analogue Way Pulse² switcher. This allows for all the inputs to the seamlessly switched and for effects such as bringing in the service sheet/graphics on the output video possible. A hardware switcher was chosen for the highest quality and reliability compared to a software solution. Any video, audio or static content was played out using QLab with the professional bundle on 2 MacBook Pros for redundancy.

Audio was handled by the X32 Compact with different mixes for both the house PA, monitor for singer and stream audio. An operator was able to mix on the surface within the church while a different mix was made by the extensive iPad application in video world. Monitor mixes were also setup for the singer using the iPad app simultaneously. The S16 stage box allowed for a single cable to be run to the front of church to carry all inputs and outputs without needing a larger multicore.

The singer used a Sennheiser EW G3 handheld microphone and the Vicar was on a Sennheiser headset microphone for the cleanest audio. A spare handed was available for any issues. Ambient condenser microphones were placed in the church for ambient effect on the stream and to capture the singing and organ during hymns.

Outcome:

The installation and event went without any technical issues with a very positive result. Within 48 hours the high quality version from the Atomos recorder was re-uploaded and a downloadable version provided to the family. The YouTube stream had just over 300 live views with more views afterwards due to some viewers being on different time zones.

An amazing outcome for a project on short notice of the event date and with a small team of 4.

Comedy Event Market Harborough

Event Date

February 2019

Role

Sound Engineer/System Technician

Equipment

L’Acoustics Kiva, SB18, 8XT Fills
Behringer X32 Compact + Behringer S16
QLab for Playback
EV Monitoring
Sennheiser G3 RF

Timeline

1 Day Build & Show
1 Day Show & Derig

Overview

Market Harborough joined Leicester in hosting a comedy festival. The market hall was chosen as a venue which brought its own challenges. Images and dimensions were provided to be able to build the venue in L’Acoustic’s Sound Vision software. This allowed me to choose the best equipment and deployment for the venue.

A small stack of 4 Kiva on top of an SB18 sub was chosen for FOH as the SB18 was only for tracks and sound effects. A further delay stack of 2 Kiva were deployed for the tiered audience. This was chosen due to the reflective nature of the venue and reaching the top of the tiered seating.

8XTs were used as front fill and additional 8XTs were used as out fill due to the venue being at capacity for both nights. This meant that every seat had perfect audio within a venue that typically doesn’t host these kind of events.

Time alignment and toning was completed using Smaart V8 and L’Acoustics Network Manager software. The mixing console chosen was a Behringer X32 Compact and remote S16 stage box meaning only a single network cable had to be run to stage. Wireless handheld mics were Sennheiser G3.

The event was sold out on both evenings with complements on how the venue was transformed. The decision to go with the SB18s over the SB15s were proven when sound effects of gunshots and explosions were used on on the evenings. The finished setup was neat and efficient with only 3 amplifiers being used to drive the whole system while still having control of each element separately.