Every live stream needs a few basic things: a video source, a capture device, an encoder, an Internet connection with adequate upload bandwidth, and a live-streaming host/CDN.
These might be all combined, so that your phone camera (video source) captures the video (capture device), which it sends directly to an app (which encodes it, but might not tell you it's doing so), and then sends it via your data plan from your cellular provider (assuming you have adequate upload bandwidth) to YouTube, Facebook, IGTV, or some other live-streaming host--who not might advertise that you're live-streaming or might not call themselves a live-streaming host, because that's just a small part of what they do.
When it's all bundled together like that, it's easy to think of it as a single thing. "I hold up my phone and the video shows up on Facebook," when it's actually several steps going on in the background.
Whether you're going live on Insta or are a part of a complex live production with multiple cameras being switched before they're captured, encoded, and sent via a carefully managed dedicated internet connection to a CDN, it's all the same thing, really. It's just different in the amount of equipment and control you have.
Online communities are filled with advice about which computer, which capture device, and which software to use, but too often, they neglect to consider the option of a dedicated hardware encoder.
When people move past using a phone or tablet, they're often confused about the next steps to take. Online communities are filled with advice about which computer, which capture device, and which software to use, but too often, they neglect to consider the option of a dedicated hardware encoder.
With computer-based encoding, you have three devices. With a hardware encoder, you have one. As a result, you've got a simpler integration to your live stream. Simple, here, means "fewer devices," not easier to use. Although, depending on the encoder, it might be easier to use, too.
So, which should your church use? As is often the case, it depends.
Price
It's easy to think that using a computer is the obvious choice when it comes to a budget-focused solution, but that might not always be the case. If you're thinking, "I'll just build a $1,000 machine," hold up right there. Having a capable computer isn't the whole story. Remember that you need to capture the video, so add in at least one capture card. You need encoding software, too, even if it's free. Depending on the choices you make, the capable, future-proof computer might cost in the range of $2,000. That's adding in a few things that are nice to have and not absolutely necessary, but it's not hard to get there.
It's easy to think that using a computer is the obvious choice when it comes to a budget-focused solution, but that might not always be the case.
Likewise, while there are $2,000 encoders, there are also encoders that cost just a few hundred dollars.
It depends on your needs and what you're trying to do. If you've already got the computer, it gets murkier still. Assuming the computer isn't a donated Windows XP machine, but a more recent, more powerful model, the capture card(s) and software are where the money needs to be spent.
While inexpensive capture cards exist, it's better to buy one for a couple of hundred dollars that will last than the no-name one you can pick up for $20 on Amazon or Ebay.
With software, you might want to start with Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) or even the most basic offering from vMix (if you're on Windows). If you need more, either upgrade vMix or go for one of the other paid solutions.
While inexpensive capture cards exist, it's better to buy one for a couple of hundred dollars that will last than the no-name one you can pick up for $20 on Amazon or Ebay.
For this category, depending on your needs, it could go either way--so let's call it a tie.
Ease of use
Whether you're going to have staff run it or volunteers, you probably want something that's not hard to use and set up, but you also don't want it to be so simple that it can't do what you need it to.
That's always the fine line you walk with technology: power vs. ease of use.
Here, of course, it depends on which of the many possible encoders you go with. The SlingStudio is pretty easy to use and set up, but you won't be sending a live-stream directly to several live-streaming hosts with it, either. The hardware that LivingAsOne uses can send a buffered live stream to multiple campuses AND individuals online, but you don't just click a single button to set it up, either.
Aim for a system that is powerful enough for now and can grow with you into the future, but isn't burdened down with features you'll never use.
Dedicated hardware might have a tactile interface that includes a red button that you press to start your live stream with predefined parameters, or it might require you to log into a web-based interface that's only as good as whoever programmed it.
Aim for a system that is powerful enough for now and can grow with you into the future, but isn't burdened down with features you'll never use.
Here, there are so many possibilities that either could win. This is a tie, too.
Flexibility of the hardware
This is a double edged sword. While you'd normally want more flexibility, more upgradeability, and familiarity, which a computer certainly wins, cash-strapped churches could view that flexibility as a temptation.
Imagine that you've built or at least configured a live-streaming computer to your liking. It works well and you're able to get the stream running without a hitch week in and week out ... until disaster strikes. A staff person's computer dies and there's no money for a new one. Suddenly someone suggests what to them seems reasonable, but to you is courting disaster, "Why not use the live-streaming computer during the week, instead of just on the weekend?"
The problem isn't that the encoding computer isn't capable of word processing, creating spreadsheets, etc. The problem is that it's now open to the possibility of misconfiguration, whether as a result of an accident or purposeful, but ignorant, action.
[A hardware encoder] can't do many of the other things that computers do, but it can encode a live stream. That's a limitation that helps ensure that it works reliably.
Contrast that to a hardware encoder. It CAN'T do word processing. It CAN'T create spreadsheets. It can't do many of the other things that computers do, but it can encode a live stream. That's a limitation that helps ensure that it works reliably.
Because of the fact that inflexibility is, in this case, a security feature, the advantage here goes to the hardware encoder.
Upgradeability
We live in a time marked by change. In the time that these articles have run, live streaming has gone from something you had to work hard to ensure worked on mobile to something that does so by default. The largest player in the space, Adobe, whose Flash Media Live Encoder was the default choice for many, if not most, churches who live streamed back then, is now a distant memory.
... you should ask how your encoder will grow and evolve as technology advances.
So, in light of changes like these and many others, you should ask how your encoder will grow and evolve as technology advances. For hardware encoders, the answer is "not well." A recent example is Facebook's switch from RTMP live streaming to RTMPS. Some of the hardware players issued an update and were good to go. Others just didn't have the power built into the hardware to do so.
That meant that while computer users might have been able to just download an update to their software or even switch to another piece of software, users of hardware encoders were sometimes out of luck.
Here, we've got to give this category to computers with software encoders.
Which do you choose?
If you're looking for an entry-level system or a high-end one, dedicated hardware is going to be tough to beat. It won't, of course be the same hardware in both situations, but if it's purpose-built, it can either be very inexpensive or very powerful.
If you're looking for an entry-level system or a high-end one, dedicated hardware is going to be tough to beat.
If you're in the middle, where you want a couple of sources and can't buy a video switcher, but know that your computer won't be double-used during the week, maybe a computer and the right software IS the way to go.
Either way, compare features and benefits. There's no one-size-fits-all choice, but the variety of choices means that if you do your research well, you might just find the one that fits your church better than you believed possible.
