Sovereign Grace Church in Apex, N.C., installed a Tascam VS-R265 to replace its software-based encoding solution.
The sudden restrictions on all public gatherings due to the COVID-19 outbreak left many churches scrambling to start streaming their services--the only means to continue ministering to their congregations. Sovereign Grace Church in Apex, N.C., is one of those churches.
“Streaming our services had been on our to-do list,” comments John McLeod, executive pastor at the church, “especially as some of our members have recently become home-bound, unable to attend in person. When the restrictions on public gatherings went into effect, we had to scramble to make it happen. We did already have a video camera set up to provide a feed into our lobby and mother’s room. We just needed to get it out to a streaming service.”
McLeod started with using a computer-based system to capture the video and audio and upload to YouTube’s live streaming service. However, the church was not happy with the quality of the stream. “It always looked blurry and jumpy,” McLeod states.
“The first weekend we used the VS-R265, we saw a significant improvement in the quality of our video stream." John McLeod, Executive Pastor, Sovereign Grace Church, Apex, NC
After a few weeks of struggling to get a quality video stream, McLeod had the opportunity to install a Tascam VS-R265 to replace the software-based encoding solution, as well as ordering a Blackmagic Design ATEM switcher to improve the video workflow. Audio for the video stream is taken from an aux send from the Allen & Heath GLD-80 front-of-house console. The VS-R265 installed easily and required little configuration out of the box beyond connecting it to the church’s YouTube channel, according to McLeod.
The VS-R265 installed easily and required little configuration out of the box beyond connecting it to the church’s YouTube channel.
“The first weekend we used the VS-R265, we saw a significant improvement in the quality of our video stream,” McLeod states. “The device’s control panel automatically sees the currently available streams we have on our YouTube channel, and we just need to pick which one we want to stream to and press the Stream button on the front panel. YouTube immediately picked up the feed from the Tascam unit, and it worked flawlessly.”
“We also started recording the services to an SD card right on the Tascam RS-V265 itself. This makes it easy for me to edit the service after the fact and create a more polished version...." John McLeod, Executive Pastor, Grace Sovereign Church, Apex, NC
Sovereign Grace is streaming at 1080P, 60 frames per second—a higher resolution and frame rate than they were able to achieve with the software solution, using the same Internet connection.
“We also started recording the services to an SD card right on the Tascam RS-V265 itself,” adds McLeod. “This makes it easy for me to edit the service after the fact and create a more polished version of the service for posting during the week. Adobe Premiere had no problem working with the recording.”
McLeod concludes, “Our production team has really liked how easy it is to use. They appreciate that all they have to do is select the YouTube stream for that Sunday and press the stream and record buttons. And unlike our software-only setup, it doesn’t feel like it might break on us during the service. The feeling of reliability we have with it puts us all at ease."
