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.