@jesuslovesbethel
Bethel Church, Austin, Texas
For the past several months churches have struggled their way through the process of reinventing worship and community while protecting the safety of the members of that community. Most churches adopted or dramatically increased their utilization of live streaming as a primary channel to build those connections and experiences.
Unfortunately, it’s becoming increasingly clear that this strategy, initially intended as a stopgap solution, will not be something that can be jettisoned moving into the fall. Even as ministries begin to reengage public worship services the process will likely be a slow one, and many of the most vulnerable members of our congregation will be left behind without the continuing live stream experience.
As churches continue to utilize this broadcast ministry strategy for the foreseeable future, the overall quality of the content will matter more than ever before. New live stream viewers will evaluate within a matter of seconds whether what’s being offered will be a good investment of their time, simply by evaluating its overall production quality. For better or worse, they’ll judge the book by its cover.
Fortunately, utilizing the right gear can help dramatically and immediately improve a church’s live stream. Better still, this type of equipment can represent a minimal investment for a maximum long-term return. Here are three items that can make that type of real impact.
A Good Microphone
Probably the single most important piece of gear that church broadcast ministries will want to consider upgrading is the microphone capturing the live stream’s primary audio source. Contrary to conventional wisdom, live stream viewers will be far more tolerant of sub-optimal visuals than they will be of poor audio quality.
Investing in the right microphone can make a dramatic improvement in a live stream’s intelligibility. For most pastors a traditional lavalier or headset mic will be ideally suited for sermon-style settings, such as preaching to a large- or medium-sized venue.
For teachers or presenters filming in more casual settings, or within a controlled studio environment, the use of a shotgun mic will allow for even higher-quality audio capture. While these mics require careful placement via a boom stand, they provide the additional advantages of operating outside of the live stream’s visual frame and allowing for more freedom of movement.
Churches utilizing a podcasting-style live stream may choose to move in the opposite direction by incorporating a large-diaphragm condenser mic, which maximizes the audio quality of the presenter’s voice. These mics are larger in size and need to be three inches or less from the presenter’s mouth in order to function optimally, creating a radio-style visual aesthetic that may actually enhance the stream’s look, depending on the broadcast team’s visual approach.
A Lighting Kit
Likely the biggest visual upgrade churches can make to their current live stream is to incorporate an LED light kit designed specifically for video. The advantages of LED lighting technologies include a good luminance-to-power-consumption ratio, the ability to "tune" the lights to match existing ambient light and their affordability relatively to other lighting technologies. Most LED lighting fixtures are also both durable and reliable over the long-term.
Ideal light kits include at least three light panels, stands for each light, and power sources. This type of lighting kit allows for a standard three-point lighting setup that will help create a flattering, professional look for your presenter. An additional consideration church broadcast teams will want to consider includes some time built-in ability to soften or diffuse the light as a part of the setup.
A Video Switcher
Many smaller and mid-sized churches initially made the jump to live streaming by simply setting up a video camera and routing that signal to a computer set to stream to the final destination. As live streaming becomes more of a ministry mainstay, upgrading to a professional video switcher designed for live streaming can make an immediate difference in its overall quality.
The first advantage of a professional-level video switcher is the enhanced creative possibilities of utilizing multiple video sources into a single live experience. For instance, instead of viewers being locked into a single camera feed, a switcher will allow multiple camera angles, as well as additional media such as slides, video, and video overlays for titles and text, such as scripture, to be incorporated. These additional visual sources make broadcasts far more captivating and lead to much better viewer retention.
Professional switchers also offer enhanced AV quality and reliability. The quality of a church’s stream will always be as strong as its weakest link in the signal chain; pro-quality switchers ensure broadcast teams are sending the best possible audio and video quality to its destination, every time out.
As hard as it may be to accept, returning to “normal” is going to take more time than everyone first anticipated. For members of our congregations in higher risk categories, that return will take even longer.
Live streaming lets churches build and strengthen spiritual communities. And improvement to the quality of that live stream is one of the best investments a church can make into its ministry today, as well as its effectiveness moving into the future.