Experts say a new comer to your church will watch the webstream/podcast six times before visiting. Therefore, it's important that your webstream be a positive representation of your church. It's increasingly easy and affordable for almost any church to begin streaming, especially when companies like Teradek make reliable, reasonably priced, easy solutions for your streaming needs.
The most recent addition to the Teradek family of streaming devices is the VidiU Mini HD streaming encoder (List Price: $499). This product lives up to its name; it's small. Really small. It's 2.9 x 2 x 1 inches and weighs 3.9 ounces. Don't let the size fool you. Just because it doesn't look out of place mounted to a GoPro doesn't mean it can't cut it in the professional environment. Despite the small form factor, this product really has a lot to offer.
To get down to this size the ports had to get smaller; the HDMI connects through a micro HDMI connector and power comes from a micro USB port. The choice of micro USB for power is a great option, because it means you can power the VidiU Mini off a portable cell phone charger. The internal battery life is just over two hours, but the fact that you can run it off a 9,000 mAh battery charger ($20 at Best Buy), means the actual run time could be almost unlimited.
The VidiU Mini functions on Wi-Fi, but if you are in an area with bad Internet access, you could also use the hotspot feature on your smart phone to get the signal out. In fact, the VidiU Mini utilizes bonding technology, so if you had a few other phones you could also use their bandwidth as well, making it possible to stream from virtually anywhere.
Ease of Use
One of the great things about the Teradek product line is its ease of use, and the VidiU Mini is no exception. For a typical product review, I usually try to get everything set up without consulting the user's manual. What's uncommon is for me to succeed. With the VidiU Mini, not only was I able to get it set up and streaming without consulting the manual, when I did finally consult it, I discovered the manual is very short—just one page. There just really isn't much to this product. It has one job and it does it well and is incredibly easy to use. Everything on the VidiU Mini is set up from a Bluetooth-enabled device and an app. After the app locates the device, it's a simple matter of entering the needed data for stream location. The app also functions like a confidence monitor, showing you a live preview of the content you are streaming.
Live:Air
One of the more powerful features of the VidiU family is the ability to utilize the Live:Air app. This app basically intercepts the streaming feed prior to going to air, and allows you to put titles and lower thirds on it, play prerecorded video and even switch between independent camera feeds. The app locates all the VidiU devices on the network and shows them to you in a multi-viewer, just like larger production switchers. In my tenure as a product reviewer I have had the pleasure of testing many video switcher and switching products. Some have been amazingly cool and some have been fantastic in concept but terrible in application. I got the opportunity to see Live:Air in action at NAB and even take it for a test drive. I found it easy to use, very responsive and really just an excellent all around product. The app functions on iOS devices, and sells in the app store for $99. This makes it one of the cheapest switching products on the market.
In the Church
The applications for the VidiU Mini and Live:Air are massive for churches. A small church for instance (too small to need IMAG) could stream a single camera, add titles, lower thirds, and even show opens and closes on the feed and produce a viable streaming product for the web. In larger churches that use IMAG it would be possible to tie the VidiU Mini into the program IMAG feed, but supplement it with one or two other cameras that have VidiU Minis—cameras solely for the streaming audience. This would give the streaming director the option to use reaction shots and wide crowd shots that have no place in the IMAG feed, but also allows the use of the IMAG feed for the majority of their streaming product. I especially like this scenario because it gives you the opportunity to separate the job of directing IMAG and the stream.
The VidiU Mini represents a huge advancement in technology. At the beginning of my career, I did some streaming events and the amount of tech required was beyond obnoxious. Now all of that is combined into a box that fits comfortably in my pants pocket. I think the VidiU Mini and Live:Air have a big part to play in the church world in the coming years. If you are in the market for a solution like this, I highly recommend it.
