Over and over, I hear the same misconceptions about live-streaming. Some of them are technical, some artistic, and still others are financial. Sometimes they keep churches from live-streaming, and often they keep churches from being as effective as they could be. Let's look at a few and try and lay them to rest for good.
“I just need to capture the video and embed it into our website and people will watch that.”
In 1999, I wanted to live-stream my wedding. I soon realized it was too early in the game and the technology was not feasible to do that. Still, at the time I thought I could just take the video and put it directly on a website (or even email a link) and the person on the other end could somehow watch it.
Even if you could figure out the technical details of streaming directly to each member of the online congregation, you probably wouldn't want to, though. If you have upload speed of 5 mbps and stream SD video at about 500 kbps, that means you could have a mere 10 people watching at a time. Some churches would love that many, but that's a pretty low upper limit.
“We'll throw a camera in the back of the sanctuary and that will give a great shot for the live stream.”
It's one thing to temporarily get by with a single camera shot, but for the sake of engagement and flexibility, using multiple cameras is a better way to go. A single camera gets really boring if it doesn't move, no matter the content.
“We can take our IMAG feed and put that up online for our stream.”
Since the people watching IMAG are in the same room, they don't need a wider perspective. They have their eyes. The online congregation doesn't have that luxury. Close shots, like you use with IMAG (it is called Image Magnification, after all), provide detail, but no context.
Wider shots are great for context, but unnecessary for IMAG.
The close shots that you wouldn't want on the screen (audience and reaction shots), help the online congregation feel like they're part of what's going on in the room, too. You really need a separate video feed designed with the online campus in mind.
“We don't need dedicated hardware; we'll do everything with computers.”
Computers are “anything boxes” that can do a lot of things really well. They way they do it is with software. Updates, viruses, malware, and even other legitimate software can interfere with some of these functions. Software tends to be less expensive than dedicated hardware, but it's also more susceptible to glitches, too. How often have you had a problem and simply restarting the software or restarting the computer fixed it?
By contrast, purpose-built hardware like encoding boxes and switchers tends to be more reliable, if less flexible.
This is both a positive and a negative. You may not be able to get hardware that you bought for one purpose to do something different, but no one is going to install a random piece of software on it that breaks the function you need most, either.
“We can't live-stream because it must cost millions of dollars a year to do and we can't afford that.”
For the kind of streaming that most churches need to do, this isn't the case at all. In fact, live-streaming can be much less expensive than other things that your church already does. Student ministry is probably very pricey compared to live-streaming. A mid-range drum set can cost about the same as a good encoder. A video switcher, depending on your needs, may cost about the same as a digital sound board, etc. Starting from nothing, it may seem like live-streaming is expensive, but compared to these other things or the monthly costs of present ministries, it's just not so.
“If we live-stream, people will watch.”
Maybe in the movie Field of Dreams people came when Kevin Costner's character built a baseball field in his corn field, but online there are just too many other opportunities.
Some people may discover your live-stream by accident, but if you want the most people to join you online, you'll need to tell them about it. The most effective way to do this is through advertising it.
“Live-streaming will make us relevant.”
Like video, and contemporary music before it, live-streaming doesn't make a church which is more proud of its traditions than excited about changing lives relevant.
The Gospel is relevant to everyone's lives. Dry traditions which have the appearance of Godliness without its power (see Colossians 2) aren't.
Live-streaming is just a method to enable people who are separated geographically to gather to hear the Good News. If your church doesn't proclaim that News, having the latest tech won't help.
“I'll just encode with an old XP box that we quit using when the church admin got a new one.”
I hear this one a lot. Maybe the computer model, age, and who used to use it changes, but the idea that encoding is a simple thing that any old computer can do never changes.
Encoding is processor intensive. The idea of taking HD video in and converting it in real time to a stream that's viewable on multiple devices over the internet is pretty complex.
“I can use a webcam or security camera to take video for our live-stream.”
The problem with these types of cameras is that they're not exactly right for live-streaming. It's not a problem with resolution (although that may be a problem, too). The problem here is the lenses. Webcams are created to show things that are a foot or two away. To do that, they have a wide angle lens. Now, imagine that you have a wide angle lens at the back of your sanctuary. The pastor is going to be teeny-tiny.
Security cameras don't have great controls. They also don't tend to have zoom lenses. Imagine buying a security camera and setting it up in a room. Someone breaks in and you capture te image because the camera is zoomed in too far. That's the problem with a zoom on a security camera. Don't be confused with digital zoom either, that just makes pixels bigger (and blockier).
“Pan/tilt cameras will solve all our live-streaming issues.”
If you don't have enough people or if you don't have space for an operator and a tripod, a pan/tilt will help. This comes at a cost, though. They can cost more than an equivalent camera that is operated directly. PTZ's are getting better all the time, but the other cost is an artistic one. Robotic cameras have movement that's…robotic. If you've ever tried to operate something via a remote control, you know that you often over-correct. You'll go a little too far and then back up. For a live stream, this can really be distracting.
“We shouldn't have a live-chat because people will get distracted.”
There are things that are universally distracting, but live-chat isn't one of them. It helps people engage with the service and get their questions answered. If they don't want to participate in the live-chat, they don't have to either, so it's a great thing to have as an option. You can actually use chat to engage the viewer in what's going on, as well. Have a moderator “take notes” along with the pastor. That way if the people in the chat do get into side conversations, they have a chance to come back.
“YouTube is the best platform for live-streaming.”
YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world, so it can be tempting. The thing is that YouTube's live-streaming platform still has some issues to work out.
First, there's copyright. This won't affect everyone, but it's possible that despite having the right licenses, you'll get dinged for copyright every week. I know churches that have even been pulled mid-service because of a question about copyright (even though they had the right license).
Secondly, it's not really designed for a weekly event. You can get around these limitations, but the fact is that YouTube's interface is better for the rare live-stream, not a regular one.
I'm sure they'll figure these things out, but I don't think they have just yet.
These aren't the only myths about live-streaming, but it really comes down to doing your homework and laying assumptions aside. If you're church has never live-streamed before, document all your questions then talk to other churches in your area (remember, we're all on the same team). Once you've researched the process you'll be ready to make a plan. You'll likely be pleasantly surprised (and amused) about some of the myths you once believed.
