Streaming, be it sports or worship, has become part of our vernacular. What has become evident over recent months is that the consumer demand for streaming has made the tools available for anyone to stream live video. With more affordable and scalable avenues for distribution, high-quality video streams are no longer solely the province of large, tech-savvy churches with IT departments. So, if you have put off streaming events from your church until now, you may have just run out of excuses.
Starting to Stream
For those just jumping in, it's probably easiest to think of streaming as a two-part process: creating the stream and distributing the content. For those who are already streaming and want to improve their broadcasts, either aspect (video stream production or distribution) can be improved as required and as the budget allows.
With so many options to distribute content, a simple one-camera setup can go a long way. Webcams and USB cameras are typically inexpensive and are designed to work with computers and encoder programs, so—they're easy to stream. Some new video and Wi-Fi cameras can work wirelessly and connect directly to the Internet from camera. For those cameras without a direct connection, the Teradek VidiU is a useful piece of hardware that sends H.264 broadcasts directly to Ustream, YouTube Live, and Livestream distribution platforms without a computer. While good for a simple “set it and forget it” broadcast, an obvious downside of a single-camera broadcast is that you can't incorporate any other shots into your stream.
Adding Production Value
Video production software, like Ustream Producer and Wirecast, are programs that allow you to bring multiple cameras into your presentation. With the ability to switch back and forth between camera shots and add effects, these programs provide the tools to create more professional looking and engaging productions. This increased production value, however, comes at a price. Video programs demand a fair amount of CPU resources from your computer, require upfront planning, and necessitate someone to oversee their operation. Most churches find the greater production quality well worth the expense.
Tyler Riddle, AV director for Garden Grove Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Orange County, Calif., has been producing video content since 2008 and has been streaming HD since 2012. “These days, proof-of-concept is easy. Just start with the basics,” he advises. “You can step up pretty quickly to create professional-looking content using a better consumer camera and hardware encoder.” Riddle likes the combination of a quality camera, like the Canon 32GB Vixia HF G20 HD camcorder, and a hardware encoder, like Teredek's VidiU wireless streaming encoder to get started. “The addition of a hardware encoder can really improve video quality and performance,” he says.
In addition to starting with quality hardware, Riddle has some important tips for improving streaming video productions. First, pay attention to audio. “Even with a camera of minimal quality, you can still maintain engagement if you have good audio.” he says. “The reverse is not true.” In addition to taking a feed from the audio mixer, Riddle suggests that would-be video producers spend the difference to get a better tripod. “A good tripod will allow the cameraman better zoom control to frame shots and track with the action,” he says. “Smoother camera movement and zooming also improve engagement and reduce distractions.”
"Even with a camera of minimal quality, you can still maintain engagement if you have good audio. The reverse is not true."
Tyler Riddle
AV Director, Garden Grove Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Orange County, CA.
Getting Closer to Pro
While not considered to be professional video gear, the video gaming industry has contributed some noteworthy hardware and software innovations that have found their way into houses of worship and even into some commercial settings. This gear tends to be more affordable and while it may not be bulletproof, for many, the benefits outweigh the disadvantages.
Hauppauge's HD Personal Video Recorder 2HD is a good example. Initially designed for use with Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo's Wii U, Elgato's Game Capture HD-60 requires a PC connection, but can capture impressive 1080p streams at 60fps. With a price point well below $200, it has found a place in churches where budgets are tight.
Robert Kelm is broadcast operations manager, as well as producer of a nationally broadcast television program from Family Harvest Church in Tinley Park, Ill., called FHCTV. While Kelm's broadcast-quality Sony cameras and professional Blackmagic Design gear process his video, the producer has chosen the XSplit PC application to control his video streaming. Video output from his production system is captured with a Blackmagic DeckLink Quad 2 PCI Video card into XSplit software. “XSplit gives me 12 scenes to work with, control of video sources, and the ability to ‘logo bug' a stream,” he says. “Plus, it is reliable and very easy to operate.”
Kelm adds, “In addition to production work, part of my job is to try and save money.” He also reports that he has cut the church's streaming bill from nearly $3,000 per month for a completely managed content delivery and management platform to less than $200 per month, simply by learning what other options were available and how best to use them.
“Good advice for any church is to find someone who understands the technology,” he offers. “Reach out to other churches, and don't be afraid to ask.” Kelm even provides a seat in his control room specifically for anyone who wants to observe and learn how video production for the church service is done.
Learning the Video Landscape
Looking a bit deeper into how video streaming works, it helps to know the names of the major players of the video world—the protocols and formats.
H.264 is today's most popular method for streaming AV applications. It is a standard that has grown from a long line of previous MPEG standards for motion image compression. In fact, H.264 is also known in some circles as MPEG-4 part 10. One end of a streaming video connection, the H.264 standard defines an encoded stream of bits (hence, the term “streaming”). In addition, the standard specifies how decoders should decode it. That's an important feature of H.264. Because the standard's designers envisioned streaming to work well with simple and inexpensive decoders, decoders can be built more inexpensively into consumer products, like phones and tablets. Deploying a powerful standard like H.264 on a robust and expansive IP network is what has led to a boom of video on mobile devices.
A topic that often produces confusion is the difference between encoding/decoding protocols and container formats. We know container formats from the file extension names, such as AVI, WMV, MOV, and MP4. Container formats package, or wrap, encoded audio and video together into a file format that is readable by media players. One or many compressed audio and video data streams are held within a container file along with other data, such as metadata, and synchronization information necessary for cohesive playback. As an example, a Quicktime MOV file can contain video encoded with H.264 and audio encoded with AAC. In addition, container formats may also include subtitles, chapter information or closed captioning material. The most popular container formats are those from Moving Picture Experts Group (MP4), Microsoft (AVI, WMV), and Apple (MOV).
It's useful in both designing and troubleshooting streaming systems to understand that the protocols and standards we've discussed so far apply to the video devices that are at each end of a network. Once content is wrapped in a container file for streaming, a separate set of network protocols are then responsible for sending that data, as a stream, across the network. Network protocols, like TCP/IP, govern the operation of IP networks made up of Ethernet hubs, switches, bridges, and routers to help direct a data stream from its entry point in a network to its ultimate destination.
Improving Connectivity
Sometimes, delivering your live stream to a content distributor, be it YouTube Live or a Wowza media cloud implementation on Amazon Web Services, can be a challenge. Derek Hoiem, who serves on the tech team at Eastridge Church in Issaquah, Wash., is also the CEO of Rain On Me Productions that solves streaming challenges for video producers and churches of all sizes. “Getting your gear properly configured,” he notes, “is very important to delivering a quality video stream.”
Hoiem also advises setting outgoing streams to 1280x720p at your streaming media box or software. “That's good enough to look sharp,” he notes, “and doesn't tax your system [by] ‘crunching' pixels or eating up unnecessary bandwidth.”
In addition to configuring a reasonable resolution, Hoiem points to the importance of knowing the bit-rate your stream is demanding. “At 720p, streaming at 2MB/sec results in a fabulous picture,” he says. Hoiem's rule-of-thumb is to double the 2MB/sec demand in order to better guarantee a smooth transmission free of pixelation and other anomalies inherent in network transmission. Since most service providers advertise 5MB/sec uplink speeds, service in most areas will support quality streaming, but there are cautions. “It's best if you can isolate the uplink connection,” says Hoiem, “[since] other traffic, perhaps people at your location using bandwidth, can unexpectedly degrade the signal.”
In more professional environments, router configuration settings can be used to regulate or “cap” public use of Wi-Fi, thereby protecting the streaming data, but many churches don't have that luxury. In those cases, Hoiem looks for other options like pay-as-you-go cellular connections. Devices have also been designed to help. “I frequently look to the Teradek Bond to solve bandwidth issues,” he says. “Its real power is its ability to connect to multiple towers, effectively ‘bonding' multiple cellular connections into one larger ‘pipe.'” He finds the solution to be ideal for events where conference attendees have the potential to overrun available Internet connections.
Future of Streaming
While top-of-the-line equipment continues to address the needs of broadcast professionals, advanced features, like the ability to efficiently encode and switch video signals, are becoming available in downloadable software programs, as well as in less costly and less complex hardware systems like the new Wirecast Gear.
For churches with more experience, there are constantly evolving solutions for higher video quality and better distribution, many at lower price points than one might expect. Continuing improvements in networking technology, increasing bandwidth, wireless camera offerings and exciting developments, like 360-degree, or VR camera technology, promise to provide new opportunities for engagement with worshippers through live video streaming.
