3 Inexpensive Tools for Church Live Streaming

It’s never too late to start live streaming your services. Many churches who were not live streaming before the nation-wide shut down, are now. But how are they doing it?

Live streaming can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be. 

Who is this setup for? 

• The church that’s been streaming from a phone but wishes to step up the quality.
• The church with a tight budget for media.
• The church that wants to connect with its members via online services.

So, where do we begin?

First, you’ll need a camera. 

There are hundreds, if not thousands of cameras from which you could choose. There are several different types of cameras, including DSLRs and Camcorders. But, what’s the main difference? To put it simply, a DSLR was originally made for photography, not videography. They have several limitations that can affect your purpose. The main limitation is they can only record up to 29 minutes at a time; meaning, that if you are recording a service longer than 29 minutes, it will shut off. So, for your purpose, we would recommend investing in a Camcorder. With a camcorder, you can record for as long as your SD card can hold. 

Here’s a great Camcorder that we have recommended to many pastors:

• https://amzn.to/3dson3r 

Second, you’ll need an audio source. 

In my opinion, as well as many others, audio can either make or break a video. Chances are, your church has already invested in a microphone. Most of the time, any external mic will be better than the built-in camera microphone. So, let’s take advantage of your microphone. The device I’m about to show you is extremely handy in making sure that you have good, quality audio to accompany your video. To use it, you’ll simply connect your microphone to the device and then connect the device to your new camcorder you just invested in. Simple as that. 

Here’s the device: 

• https://amzn.to/2yvlLmP 

Third, you’ll need a capture card.

Now, you’re probably wondering: “What in the world is a capture card?” 

It’s simple. You’ve got the camera. You’ve got the audio source. Now you need to GO LIVE. A capture card is what allows you to send the video feed from your camera to your computer. It’s extremely simple to set up, especially with the device we recommend. 

Here’s the device: 

• https://amzn.to/2SMYdjX 

Here’s how to set it up:

1. First you’ll connect Camera into the capture device via an HDMI to HDMI mini cord.
   1. NOTE: If you already have a regular HDMI cord, you can simply purchase an adapter: 
   2. NOTE: If you do not already have an HDMI cord, here’s one we recommend:
2. Second, you’ll connect your computer to the capture device via a supplied USB 3.0 cable that comes in the box of the capture device.
3. Lastly, you’ll need to use a piece of software to get your feed to your Live Stream destination. Here is a FREE encoding software we recommend: 
   1.  https://obsproject.com/ (Windows and Mac)

That’s it. It really is that simple.

Here’s the deal. No one is asking you to provide national news-quality broadcast of your service. The most important thing is now the quality of the feed, but the message being told. 

Hope this helps!