Basic Live Streaming

An Introduction for Affiliates by Mitchell Salmon

If you are aiming to share your regular community gatherings with people who are isolated, or want
to replace your gatherings entirely with an online option for a period, this guide will give you some
tips and advice for how to achieve this. This guide is not exhaustive, and it is not composed by an
expert (it’s barely composed by an amateur).

This guide assumes two things which may not be true for your community: Both your church and
your congregation have access to stable, good quality internet connections in their homes; and your
congregation is confident enough with computers and smart devices to access sites like Facebook
and YouTube (even if they are not regular users).

Thought needs to be given to how your church will include people who are elderly, cannot afford
internet in their homes, or have other barriers to entry to participate in the online world.

Before you broadcast or record musical worship, check your license agreement with CCLI or
wherever you license music. You may or may not be allowed to broadcast songs under the license,
and so sharing music to Facebook or YouTube may be a breach of copyright. Don’t breach copyright!
Check with your licensor or someone who knows about these things before streaming or recording
musical worship (I don’t know the answer!).

First Things First

Some basics. Whatever you choose to set up test it at least two days before you need it. Do not try
and set anything up for the first time on the day you need it, you’re just setting yourself and
everyone else up for headaches. Do a practice run with all your tech days before your first stream so
you can work out the issues.

When you use a piece of software, check its tutorials to learn how to use it. Most software has good
documentation explaining how to use it, usually on the site you download it from. If you can’t find
anything on the site, use Google or another search engine to find tutorials on how to set it up.

When you start using new software, you are going to have to learn how it works and not expect it
to conform to your expectations of how it should work. Be ready to put in the time. On the plus side,
streaming is something that is incredibly common, and there are heaps of tutorials written and
recorded on how to set things up.

If at all possible, designate someone to manage the stream, and preferably don’t just throw it onto
the existing sound/projection/AV person to manage in addition to their service responsibilities.
Periodically checking that things are working as expected throughout the service, not to mention
engaging with comments on the streaming website, can be an attention-consuming job, as can AV.
Don’t overload your tech team!

Ask around your community to see if anyone has existing experience with streaming. If you have
young adults or teenagers in your congregation, there’s a chance some of them are doing this kind of
thing already: it’s very popular and very easy to do!

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Some Terms
Live Stream: The near-simultaneous upload and download of video or audio as it happens.

Recording: Capturing video or audio at one point in time to create a file, then editing and
distributing that file at a later time.

Both live streaming and recording can be shared through Facebook and YouTube. Streaming is more
immediate, and allows people to partially participate live, but is more challenging, and you have to
be more prepared. Recording your services allows you to edit, meaning you can remove problems
and have a greater level of control over the final product, but there can be zero interaction with the
service as it unfolds.

Video Conferencing: Interactive audio and vision where everyone watching can be equally seen
and/or heard. Best for interactivity.

What’s Your Goal?

When deciding what solution is best for you, it comes down to the outcome you want.

I want my people to be able to watch the service as it happens, and interact via comments on a
website (click here) (Best for services)

I want people to be able to watch the service whenever works for them (click here)

I want my people to be able to hold discussions and interact via voice (click here) (Best for small
groups and meetings)

Index
Live Streaming 3
Basic Options 3
Phone Streaming 3
Webcam Streaming 4
Advanced Options 4
Streaming With Broadcaster Software and Webcam 4
Streaming with Broadcaster Software and Camera 5
Broadcaster Software, Camera, and Audio Mixer 5
Broadcaster Software and Multiple Cameras 5
Recording 6
Video Conferencing 6
Zoom 6
Skype 7
Conference Calls 7

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Live Streaming
Live streams of your services and gatherings can be hosted on YouTube or Facebook for free.
YouTube is more designed for video, and is probably the best option for high quality streams. If you
want to use YouTube, create your church’s account ASAP, as there is a waiting period of about 2
days before you can use that account to Go Live (create a live stream). Facebook is probably more
commonly used among your congregation already, and the difference in quality is probably only
noticeable for the sticklers. To set up a stream on Facebook, you need to be an administrator or
editor of the church’s Facebook page.

Here are some different possible set ups you could use, arranged from simplest to most complicated
(but most professional result). Remember, it’s okay if your live streams aren’t perfect. You’re
probably scrambling to put together a response to a global emergency. People get that. Choose the
solution that you are most confident with. A basic set up done well is better than a professional set
up done poorly!

Basic Options
Phone Streaming
Recommended option!

The simplest option is also probably the best for most churches. You need: A smartphone (the
newer the better) and a tripod.

Simply set up your tripod and phone to capture the best view of your service, then press the Go Live
button from your church’s Facebook Page or YouTube channel*. Make sure your congregations
knows when you’re going to go live, and where (ie. on Facebook, or on YouTube, and how to find
your church on that platform).

* To Go Live from your phone on YouTube you need at least 1000 followers. Most churches won’t
have this, especially if you just set up your account recently, so use Facebook instead.

In this day and age, a modern smart phone has a good enough camera and microphone to do the
whole job in one go! Be sure to have a charging cable on hand, just in case the phone’s battery life is
poor. And have someone set up a computer to monitor comments and engage people in the service.
Just because you’re not in the room doesn’t mean you can’t talk during church!

One of the key downsides to this approach is that you cannot schedule your stream ahead of time.
People will need to find your stream on Facebook at the time your service starts, and are likely to
miss the first few minutes. This is very minor, in the scheme of things, but an annoyance for clear
communication.

Go Live on a Page on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/help/pagesmanager/1721382298096251?helpref=uf_permalink

YouTube Live on Mobile:

https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/9228390?co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid&hl=en

Example Smartphone Mount for Tripod: https://www.amazon.com.au/Manfrotto-Accessories-

MCLAMP-Smartphone-Connections/dp/B0169SORDW?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&psc=1

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Webcam Streaming
If a smartphone isn’t a good option for you, or you are determined to use YouTube to stream, or you
want to schedule your stream ahead of time, a webcam stream is your best bet. You need: A
webcam with built in microphone, a computer, and a tripod or stable mount for the webcam. Many
computers have a webcam built in, but that will usually be facing you when you’re looking at the
screen. A USB webcam will be a lot easier to position, if you can afford it.

Set up your webcam and make sure it has a good view of the service. Connect it to your computer
and go to facebook.com/live/producer or youtube.com/live_dashboard. Make sure your input is set
to Camera and not Stream Keys (more on that later, for the advanced class!).

From here, you should be able to schedule your stream for a time and date in the future. The main
reason that you would do this is that it creates a permanent link straight to your video that you can
send out to your congregation before the service starts that can be emailed, texted, or messaged out
to everyone. If someone clicks the link, they will see a holding image until the stream starts. As soon
as the stream starts, they will be watching live. No delays!

Webcam Stream on YouTube: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/9228389

Going Live on Facebook Tutorial: https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-go-live-on-facebook-

from-phone-computer?r=AU&IR=T

Stream Scheduling on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/help/publisher/2087325741287572

A Decent Webcam (Shop around! This is just one option! But get something that captures 720p or
1080p): https://www.jbhifi.com.au/products/logitech-c922-pro-stream-webcam

Advanced Options
You absolutely need to practice with all these options well before you need to use them, or bring
someone on to manage them who has used them before! Don’t get caught out! The more complex
you go, the more things that can go wrong!

Streaming With Broadcaster Software and Webcam

Phone and webcam streaming are great because they are easy! The drawback is, they show
whatever the camera is pointed at for the whole time the stream is running. If you start the stream
early, or accidentally leave it running when the service ends, or have a coffee break and fellowship
time during the service, you are left broadcasting an awkward empty stage to the world. And that’s
fine, because remember, you’re probably just doing this as a stop-gap during this uncertain period.

But, if you’re a stickler for quality, or just love learning new ways to communicate with the world,
you can take a greater level of control by folding broadcasting software into your set up.

Broadcasting software like OBS (Open Broadcaster Software) are programs that take all the media
inputs such as video cameras, microphones, pre-recorded video, and slides and mix them into one
output which is then sent to Facebook or YouTube for display, all live.

The most basic use of this software is to set up a holding slide that you can switch to whenever
there is going to be a long period of silence or something that isn’t interesting to watch or listen to.

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OBS uses a stream key to talk to Facebook and YouTube, so that it knows where to send the video
data it creates. You need to set up your Facebook or YouTube stream first at
facebook.com/live/producer or youtube.com/live_dashboard, and copy the stream key (a string of
meaningless text) into your OBS settings. Then click Start Streaming in OBS to start sending data to
Facebook or YouTube. Your stream is not visible until you click Go Live on Facebook or YouTube.
‘Start Streaming’ just means ‘start sending information’. Start streaming on OBS, check everything is
working on Facebook or YouTube, then click Go Live on Facebook or YouTube to start sharing your
service.

OBS (free, safe broadcaster software): https://obsproject.com

Streamlabs OBS (a different recommended software): https://streamlabs.com/streamlabs-obs

OBS Help: https://obsproject.com/help

Facebook Live Help: https://www.facebook.com/help/publisher/167417030499767

Streaming with Broadcaster Software and Camera

Let’s be honest: Webcams are not the best tool for this kind of thing. They’re designed for close up
video of your face sitting at a computer. They tend to struggle to capture detail and good audio
when you point them at a distant stage. An SLR camera or proper video camera would be better. The
problem is, proper cameras don’t tend to talk directly to computers: if you plug them in you can’t
normally record through them (some computers and some cameras do talk to each other, so lucky
you if you have one!). To capture camera audio and vision to a computer for your stream, you need
a capture card that converts a HDMI signal from your camera into a USB signal for your computer.
These can be costly, so don’t invest unless you’re sure you need it. But, once you have it, it should
make your camera behave basically like a webcam, and you can use it as described above.

Elgato Capture Card: https://www.jbhifi.com.au/products/elgato-cam-link-4k

Broadcaster Software, Camera, and Audio Mixer

If you run all your audio through a mixing desk (including drums, if you’re playing music!), you can
set up an output from your desk into your streaming computer and use the mixing desk audio as
your audio input in OBS or whatever broadcast software you are using. The pros of doing this is that
you’ll get strong, clear audio of people speaking into microphones and minimal background noise
(good for talks and sermons). The cons are that if you’re broadcasting musical worship, the desk will
be mixed for the room you’re in, not mixed for broadcast, and you may not enjoy the difference. A
workaround could be to set up one scene in OBS for music (camera video, camera audio) and one
for speakers (camera video, desk audio). Be ready to switch between them on the fly!

Broadcaster Software and Multiple Cameras

Let’s be honest, a single static shot of the whole stage does not make for interesting viewing. If you
have access to two or more cameras, two or more capture cards, and a whole bunch of cables, you
can set up multiple cameras and switch between them on the fly using OBS scenes. This set up
potentially involves a lot of money, and a lot of headaches but, if you’ve got a good tech team and
the budget, give it a shot! For a basic two-camera set up, put one camera on a wide shot of the band

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for musical worship, and one camera on a tight shot of the place speakers will stand (and make sure
the speakers know not to move about!).

Recording
You can use any of the streaming options above to record rather than stream. Just ignore all the
stuff about Go Live on Facebook or YouTube, and click the Start Recording button in OBS rather than
Start Streaming, or the record button on your phone.

You could record sections of your service separately, without the pressure of nailing the technology
side on the first go, and upload them to Facebook or YouTube, then send them out as links in an
email on Sunday morning as a kind of digital liturgy for people to work through in their own time.
This process will involve a little editing of the videos, and a bit of admin to make sure everything is
uploaded and linked correctly, but is easier to do than advanced streaming.

For your elderly, non-internet users, or non-tech-savvy folks, you could save files to a USB stick or
DVD (old school!) to be delivered to their homes each week, with instructions if required.

Video Conferencing
If you want people to be able to interact with one another from a distance, such as for small groups,
Bible studies, or meetings, streaming will not work. What you want is video conferencing. Video
conferencing lets people interact equally, with everyone able to share voice and video.

Some basic tips to make sure everyone knows before using video conferencing for the first time.
Please comment with your own advice.

● If you are not speaking, mute your microphone. You can usually do this by clicking the
microphone icon in your software. In person, people are good at tuning out background
noises to focus on voices. Microphones are not good at that, and will broadcast any and all
noises you make when you shift your chair, take a drink of water, cough, etc, and these
noises will be loud and disruptive. Mute yourself if you’re not talking.
● Sit facing a window, not with a window behind you. If you sit with a window behind you,
the glare will make it very difficult for others on the call to see you clearly.

Zoom
Zoom is probably one of the most feature-rich and reliable video conference suites available. It is
free for one-on-one calls, but has a 40 minute cap on the length of calls with more than two people,
so if you want to use it for small groups the host will need to have a paid account (~$25 per month,
month to month, cancel whenever) (the host is the person who sets up the meeting).

Zoom meetings can be scheduled ahead of time, creating a link that can be sent around to the
group. People can join the meeting before the host arrives, so you don’t have to perfectly coordinate
everyone’s timing (just like a normal small group!).

Zoom works on Mac and PC, and on most phones and tablets too, so it’s easy for most people to join
in. It also has options to dial in using a conventional phone call and participate using voice only,
which may be more suitable for less tech-savvy people.

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Zoom: http://zoom.us

Zoom Help: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/categories/200101697

Skype
Another option for video conferencing is Skype, but I can’t give much advice on that because I
haven’t used it in years. Zoom has always worked for me!

Skype: https://www.skype.com/en/

Conference Calls
Many smart phones and office phones support conference calling. Particularly for less tech-savvy
people, or people who don’t have internet in their home, conference phone calls may be a suitable
solution. Check guides for your phone to see if you can set up conference calls.

If you have followed the above advice and still need assistance, limited help can be sought from
Sam Young via [email protected].

Please understand that this is an unprecedented situation, and this is above and beyond Sam’s
role, so he may not be able to assist you immediately. We thank in advance for your patience.

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