Mixed camera environments often mean juggling multiple control interfaces. Instead of learning multiple systems, Iris users only need to learn one interface.
The biggest challenge in remote production isn’t connectivity—it’s camera control. Instead of learning multiple systems, teams can learn one interface.
Imagine getting a call from your church. There’s an event happening that needs video coverage, but no one from the production team is available to run cameras. Or maybe the call comes while you’re out to dinner with your wife. A volunteer is preparing for a service, but a camera in the sanctuary isn’t working, and no one knows why.
For many church tech directors, situations like these are increasingly common. Production systems have become more sophisticated, but the teams supporting them are often small—and frequently made up of volunteers.
Many camera control systems work well—until you try to use them across multiple brands.
A platform called Iris was designed to address exactly those kinds of challenges. Originally developed as a cloud-based camera control system and recently acquired by Audinate—the company behind the widely used Dante audio networking platform—Iris allows production teams to control cameras, monitor devices, and troubleshoot systems remotely from a browser. But one feature may matter more than any other: Iris is brand-agnostic.
Breaking Out of the Brand Ecosystem
Many major PTZ camera manufacturers already offer software platforms that allow users to control cameras remotely, automate movements, and manage presets. In many cases, those systems work well. The catch is that they are typically designed to operate only within that manufacturer’s ecosystem.
If a production environment includes cameras from multiple brands—a common scenario in churches where equipment may have been purchased over several years—teams often find themselves juggling multiple control interfaces. Iris approaches the problem differently. Instead of tying the software to a specific hardware ecosystem, the platform is designed to operate across multiple camera brands from a single interface.
The Iris system supports more than 300 camera drivers, enabling control of virtually any PTZ camera regardless of brand. That means organizations can unify control across mixed environments without replacing existing equipment.
For many churches, the challenge isn’t capability—it’s managing complexity with limited people.
At the same time, several manufacturers currently support the are going further by integrating Iris Enabled directly into their devices. With Iris Enabled cameras, Iris functionality is embedded in the camera’s firmware, allowing the devices to automatically appear within the platform, including once connected to the network.
Camera control has traditionally been tied to the brand of the device. Iris approaches camera control by sitting above manufacturer ecosystems instead of inside them.
Manufacturers currently supporting the Iris platform include AIDA, BirdDog, Bolin, BZBGear, Everet, HDKATOV, Lumens, Marshall, NEOiD, Telycam, and Z CAM, with additional integrations continuing to roll out.
That means a production team could control BirdDog cameras, BZBGear cameras, and others from the same control environment without switching between manufacturer-specific tools. “You’re learning the Iris interface,” explains Iris founder Noah Johnson, “not the Sony interface or the Panasonic interface.” For churches where volunteers may only serve occasionally, that difference can simplify both training and operation.
A Problem Discovered in Remote Production
The idea for Iris actually began with a different company Johnson founded several years earlier called Live Control. The intent of that platform, he says, was simple: “The goal was to democratize video production.”
Live Control allowed organizations to schedule productions online that could then be operated remotely rather than requiring an entire production crew onsite. But as the platform grew, one challenge kept surfacing.
“What we found is that the largest friction to doing a fully remote production is having graceful camera movement.”
Camera control—especially across different manufacturers—proved to be one of the hardest parts of the workflow. One reason was the fragmented nature of the camera industry itself. “Everyone has their own APIs, everyone has their own way of interacting with that device,” Johnson says.
That reality led Johnson to begin asking a different question: what if camera control software could sit above those systems instead of inside them? “What if I created a consistent UI that obfuscated all of that complexity happening in the background,” he says, “and made it simple to log into one platform and control any camera?” That idea eventually became Iris.
A Software Approach to Camera Control
At its core, Iris takes a software-first approach to controlling cameras and other video devices. Users log into a browser-based interface where connected cameras can be controlled, monitored, and managed from a single dashboard. “You can think of us as a software approach to device control,” Johnson says.
Within that interface, operators can control robotic camera movement, adjust framing, and manage image settings such as exposure or color. Just as importantly, the system allows operators to manage multiple cameras at once without switching between separate web interfaces. “Traditionally, you have to open one web UI per camera,” Johnson says. “Nothing actually allows you to do multi-camera in a single place.”
For production teams using multiple camera brands, that unified approach removes much of the complexity. Instead of learning separate control systems for each manufacturer, teams can work within a single platform.
Noah Johnson, founder of Iris, the camera control platform recently acquired by Audinate, the company behind Dante.
Designed for Remote Workflows
Because Iris grew out of remote production workflows, the platform was designed to operate across networks rather than requiring operators to sit in a control room. Users can log in through a browser and control cameras from virtually anywhere with an internet connection. At the same time, Iris is flexible in how it can be deployed—teams can use the cloud for distributed productions or operate entirely within a local network when they prefer to keep systems on-premises.
The biggest challenge in remote production isn’t connectivity—it’s camera control.
The platform is also beginning to appear directly inside camera hardware through a program called Iris Enabled, where manufacturers embed Iris functionality into the camera’s firmware. With Iris Enabled devices, cameras connect directly to the cloud, automatically appearing in your Iris account, significantly reducing setup complexity.
Johnson describes a scenario where cameras could be deployed in different locations and controlled remotely. “You could take a camera, ship it to someone in Japan, ship another camera to someone in Germany,” he says. “All they have to do is turn it on.”
Once connected to the network, those cameras appear within the Iris platform and can be controlled from a central location.your Iris account. For organizations managing distributed events—or simply operating multiple rooms or campuses—this approach can dramatically expand production flexibility.
A Practical Fit for Church Production
While the platform originated in remote production workflows, many of its capabilities translate directly to church production environments. Churches often rely on volunteers who serve on rotating schedules, and training those volunteers to operate multiple camera systems can be time-consuming.
Iris simplifies that process by presenting the same control interface regardless of the underlying hardware. “Everyone gets a login, and it’s a single platform that can do it all,” Johnson says. For churches operating multiple rooms—or multiple campuses—that consistency can reduce the learning curve for volunteers and make production workflows easier to manage.
Monitoring and Troubleshooting Cameras
Another capability of the platform involves centralized monitoring of devices. Iris continuously analyzes the status of connected cameras and can provide alerts when problems arise, such as a camera going offline or running outdated firmware.
“You could be home, you could be wherever you are, and get instantaneous feedback about what’s happening with that device,” Johnson says.
Instead of walking to a room to diagnose a problem, a tech director can log into the system and immediately see whether a device is offline, misconfigured, or experiencing performance issues. Johnson describes the concept as fleet management for video devices—an approach that can be particularly helpful for organizations managing multiple rooms or campuses.
A Larger Vision for AV Systems
The recent acquisition of Iris by Audinate places the platform within a much larger AV ecosystem. Audinate’s Dante technology has already transformed how audio is transported across networks in churches, concert venues, and broadcast environments.
The biggest challenge in remote production isn’t connectivity—it’s camera control.
Johnson believes the next step involves bringing together three essential elements of AV systems. “In any venue or AV space, there are fundamentally three core components,” he says. “You have audio, you have video, and you have control.”
Dante addresses the audio side of that equation. Iris focuses on the control layer, particularly for cameras and video devices. As those technologies evolve together, the goal is to make AV systems easier to deploy, manage, and operate across increasingly complex production environments.
For churches working with limited staff and volunteer teams, simplifying camera control can make production more manageable as expectations continue to grow.
