The Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, located in Rapid City, South Dakota found the Covid lockdowns as frustrating as other churches. But with no previous means of streaming installed they had to start from scratch.
“Back in March, we were shutting down like many other people were and trying to figure out how we could continue to connect with people,” Fr. Brian Christensen explains. “Sunday Service was our top priority, and initially we set up something via Wi-Fi with an iPhone. That was our first line of connection, but while it was easy it wasn’t that reliable, and as we realized that the situation was going to become longer-lasting, we started to think about a solution and an investment that would continue to work in the future.”
They hired Stream Dudes and systems integrator KT Connections, to install a Broadcast Pix FX6 integrated production switcher and upgrade the Cathedral’s existing audio system to include video for the first time.
“Normally we work in commercial buildings with drop ceilings and stud walls, so this was very different,” says Dunn. “The Cathedral is full of marble, imported specially from Italy, and you have to be very careful and sensitive with any installation there; so, when we did the audio installation, we actually had artists come in and paint our speakers to match the marble.”
KT Connections has an ongoing relationship with the Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, by assisting in looking after its IT needs among other things, so it was natural for the church to turn to them when it came to specifying a streaming solution for Sunday Service and outreach. It was this connection that led them to Broadcast Pix and Stream Dudes in turn.
“I was familiar with Broadcast Pix, it was really the only system that I’d ever used in the commercial streaming world, so I reached out to them and they put me in touch with the guys at Stream Dudes,” says Dunn. “We worked with them to find the right solution and agreed that the FX6 switcher was the best fit for the Cathedral. We wanted several cameras to provide multiple views and the FX6 has the functionality, the features, and the tool set required, enabling us to design the production exactly how the church wanted. It gave them everything they needed to do the job.”
The Broadcast Pix system installed at the Cathedral consists of the FX6 integrated production system with BPswitch live broadcasting and streaming software, a 1000 hardware control panel, and three RoboPix PTZ IP cameras. Fortunately, a lot of the cable pathways were already in place — some future-proofing was done at the time of the audio installation — while the use of IP network cabling also helped speed up the process.
“The installation went really smoothly,” Dunn adds. “It was a learning experience for everybody involved, but the support from both Stream Dudes and Broadcast Pix to get everything up and running and programmed, and the availability to get us trained on how it functions and operates, was great.”
“We are using it all on a daily basis now,” Fr. Christensen comments. “We have Mass, every morning at 7:00 am, so we’re broadcasting to Facebook live every single day. When we do that, I don’t need anybody operating the system; I just turn on the main camera and we’re up and running. On Sundays we have our main celebration, Mass at 10:30am, and because the system is so easy to use, we now have about eight or nine people trained to produce the service using the three cameras system, particularly using camera angles and movement.”
Weddings have also been streamed around the world, with military personnel on deployment, for example, they are now able to attend, thanks to the new video capabilities. The cameras are switched using the Broadcast Pix control system in a back room of the Cathedral for the larger-scale events and the volunteers manning the system are getting more and more ambitious in the way they use it. Fr. Christensen talks of a recent baptism when one camera came over the top to see the faces of the parents, while other groups are starting to get curious about the capabilities of the system and have even started to think about scripted content as the church’s outreach program grows.
The FX6 will serve their growth plans with plenty of additional I/O capability and Fr. Christensen is also looking at using some of the unit’s more advanced features, such as DVE to produce a more engaging transmission. “It’s not about adding to the system, it’s about fully using it,” he continues. The KT Connections team, meanwhile, is also looking at the possibility of routing feeds to other locations in the Cathedral for overflow, once crowds and congregations become possible again.
“Now that we’ve gotten through the emergency section of all this and have it functioning to meet our immediate needs, we’re becoming more creative,” says Fr. Christensen. “The solution has surpassed my expectations. What I thought we could do for the price — and what we can actually do — is better than I imagined. It’s been tremendous for us and, for me right now. I’m excited about moving forward because I know that people are enjoying this opportunity and we have the capacity to draw people into the life of the church in a whole new way.”
