Every so often, a piece of technology comes along that is so overengineered you have to wonder, "What was the manufacturer thinking?" Every so often, this happens in a good way. The AJA Helo Plus is, on the surface, nothing special, there are plenty of products on the market that do the same thing, or so you would think.
However, the Helo Plus brings more to the table than you would expect, and some use cases will put this product in a class all by itself and make it something that churches with small switchers should consider.
The Helo Plus separates itself in the 20-image still store and composite engine, which opens up many possibilities…
What does it do?
At its core, the Helo Plus is an H.264 streaming encoder, but it also has an SD card and USB port for simultaneous recording while streaming and can record right to a thumb drive or hard drive. You can set the primary and secondary recording to either USB, SD card or a network share. These functions are pretty obvious when looking at the device from the front because the onboard controls are just two buttons, "Stream" and "Record," and they do just that. The buttons themselves have a gratifying tactile response. Press the buttons and the indicator lights tell you all is well. Next to the controls are audio meters so you can confirm your audio input. The Helo Plus separates itself in the 20-image still store and composite engine, which opens up many possibilities; more on that later.
I/O
The back of the Helo Plus is riddled with ports, including an HDMI in and out, SDI in and out, and 3.5mm audio in and out. There is also a USB port for configuration and the standard RJ45 connector for streaming to the internet. While that doesn't sound like a lot of I/O, considering it's a streaming encoder, it is a lot. The outputs on the device are not simple loop-outs but rather program from the device, which makes them great for local monitoring. The configuring and control are handled through an intuitive web interface; you can set streaming locations, schedule start and stop times, select inputs, set up layouts, and recall them.
The built-in scheduler on the Helo Plus is capable of being a set-and-forget device
How does it fit in the Church Market?
The Helo Plus fits into the church technology market in a few different ways:
- Its primary function is streaming; since it's capable of streaming to two discrete locations, you can stream to multiple providers or send a primary and a backup to your main streaming provider.
- The onboard recording is excellent for archiving or rebroadcasting VOD.
- The built-in scheduler on the Helo Plus is capable of being a set-and-forget device. Once it's set up, all it needs is power, and it will handle everything.
... the Helo Plus isn't just volunteer-friendly; it could be volunteer transparent. The built-in scheduler means your volunteers don't ever have to interact with this gear piece.
As we all know, it doesn't matter how good your gear is if the person running it doesn't know what to do. The church is more aware of this than any other market because we rely heavily on volunteers. Any device that is volunteer-friendly is always a win for the church, but the Helo Plus isn't just volunteer-friendly; it could be volunteer transparent. The built-in scheduler means your volunteers don't ever have to interact with this gear piece. The scheduler uses an industry-standard ICS calendar, so setting up the schedule is as easy as adding a calendar event. However, if you want your volunteers to interact with the device for some reason, there are only two buttons, which is about as volunteer-friendly as it gets.
Lastly, and most interestingly, because of the onboard still store and composite engine, you could use this downstream of your switcher to add a DVE to your live stream. This could be particularly helpful for churches that jumped on the bandwagon and purchased a small four-input switcher that doesn't have much processing power. Here is where the Helo Plus becomes more than just a simple streaming device. The multiple inputs and composite engine allow for picture-in-picture, mixing HDMI and SDI inputs and anything from the still store. All these can be stored in one of 10 preset layouts, which can be changed as needed for the final output. That really undersells it. It is possible to control the Helo plus using a StreamDeck and Companion to make the control easy. You could radically and dynamically create a streaming feed that is very different from your IMAG feed. This is important because having audience-specific content is vital to growing the audience. If you are repurposing your IMAG feed for your online audience, at least one of your audiences is getting content that doesn't matter; best case scenario, more likely you are short-changing both audiences. The most straightforward example is wide camera shots which include the crowd; these have no place in IMAG but are essential for your online audience to feel like they are a part of the experience. With a Streamdeck, one button push could change the layout from your IMAG feed on one input to a dedicated wide/crowd camera on the other and back again. Sprinkling in those crowd shots for your online audience without getting the jumbotron effect for your live audience. This is just one example; it would be easy to fill those ten layouts and give your online audience an experience tailored to them.
On top of streaming, recording, and adding a discrete DVE to your stream, the Helo Plus is a steal at $1,699.
Final Thoughts
We all have budgets that we have to stay under, and we have all purchased cheap gear; there are some places where sacrifice is acceptable. However, when you need a product that just works, no one skimps on that piece of equipment, and this is one of the things AJA brings to the table, reliability. I have called their customer support before and had a representative take my mistake, make it their problem, and then fix it. It's one of the reasons I go back to them whenever I can, as anyone who has spent quality time on the phone with customer support knows, a good customer support rep can make or break a company. In my experience, AJA does this very well. The Helo Plus is not only backed by customer support but a three-year warranty as well. On top of streaming, recording, and adding a discrete DVE to your stream, the Helo Plus is a steal at $1,699.
