Live Stream Documentation

We are using OBS on an iMac to ingest video & audio and stream to Youtube. The video signals are input using Blackmagic SDI->Thunderbolt input interfaces. OBS is configured with a few scenes that should cover the basics for any regular service. If you have unusual requirements, feel free to add new scenes to handle whatever the people up front want.

We have two PTZOptics video cameras in the sanctuary, mounted above the sanctuary double doors. They're named PTZ 0 and PTZ 1 in both OBS and PanTiltZoom. You can find the PanTiltZoom app on the A/V iPad, which should be sitting near the iMac.

Lyrics and presentation material are presented using Proclaim on a dedicated Mac mini. The presentation visuals are brought into OBS for the live stream using NDI output in Proclaim and NDI input in OBS.

Audio comes from the Presonus 32S sound board to the iMac over USB.

We have OBS scenes that cover the needs of most services:

• “Logo” for pre-service
• “Main” for camera video by itself
• “Lyrics” for embedding lyrics during worship
• “Black” for fading to black/muting audio at the end
• Full screen proclaim, with and without audio

The Main and Lyrics scenes are duplicated per camera, so that you can cut between cameras by transitioning between OBS scenes. We use OBS in Studio mode so that you can compose your next shot before transitioning. You should also utilize Multiview to give you previews of all scenes simultaneously.

Using PanTiltZoom, you can create 9 presets per camera. When saving presets, you can use a descriptive name to identify them. Here are suggested framings:

• A couple framings of the preacher
• Full shot of the cross, to use during greeting time
• Worship leader, whole band, and individual band member lyrics shots. You'll want one centered on the worship leader for welcome time and some lyrics shots for during songs. The lyrics from Proclaim are white, so lyrics shots need a space on the darker side for you to place the lyrics.
• Any special shots for that particular service/more band members/whatever you need

Each camera has its own presets. To avoid confusion I suggest configuring both with the same shots so that you can recall whatever you need regardless of which camera is inactive.

We mix the live stream audio separately from the sanctuary, using mix 15 on the sound board. You can use UniversalControl on the iMac, A/V Kindle, or a tablet of your choice for control. The stream is mix 15 (labeled Stream in UniversalControl) – make sure you select it, not the main (house) mix!

The stream audio volume is critical. Folks online are listening on devices that have much less ability to deal with a wide dynamic range than we have live in the sanctuary. So, the audio volume needs to mostly stay as close to clipping as possible, without clipping.

We have a compressor and limiter configured on the stream output to assist with this. When monitoring the stream audio, ignore how loud it sounds in your headphones. The audio meter in OBS is the only place you should look to determine whether it's the right level. Try to keep the audio between -1 and -10 dB, that is, mostly in the red meter area with some dip into yellow.

If your headphones are too loud, adjust the headphone level (Mac OS system volume), not the stream output level.

1. Schedule a new live stream in Youtube

1. Open the scheduled stream in Live Control Room view in a browser
2. Open OBS and confirm camera/lyrics/graphics/etc. are all set up and working as expected
   1. Lyrics are normally presented using Proclaim. If you need access, ask one of the A/V folks to invite you.
3. Update camera presets for the service

1. Confirm that audio is successfully making it from the Presonus 32S to OBS
2. Adjust band mix to be pleasing in monitor headphones connected to the OBS computer
3. Adjust camera presets to match the positions of the band members

1. Start streaming in OBS
   1. This should automatically also start recording. If it doesn't, start recording.
2. Confirm that Youtube Live Control Room shows you are ready to go

1. Set program scene in OBS to full screen Proclaim without audio, or the BFCC logo if we have no announcement slides
2. “Go Live” in the Youtube Live Control Room

1. Transition to one of the “Main PTZ” scenes when the worship lead is about to welcome everyone

1. Monitor the audio and tweak as things change on stage to ensure that the live feed sounds good
   1. Mute people when they are supposed to be unheard, e.g., preacher during songs
   2. Include congregation in mix to bring those online “into” the room and compensate for any times the leaders pull back from their mics
2. Transition between scenes per the order of service
   1. “Main” scenes include just camera video
   2. “Lyrics” scenes include camera video and embeds lyrics in the video
   3. Other scenes may be set up per the requirements for a given service, such as verse reference interstitials or prerecorded videos
   4. If you see a quirky or clickbaity pose from the preacher, take a note of the recording timestamp for later use.

1. Wait until any outros are played
2. Transition to “Black” scene
3. After the preview in Youtube Live Control Room fades to black, end stream there
4. Stop streaming/recording in OBS

1. Trim service recording in LosslessCut
   1. LosslessCut should already be configured for keyframe cuts and cut+merge export
   2. We usually make one cut. There may be more in special circumstances.
   3. Primary cut includes only the sermon
      1. Start at first keyframe before the sermon really starts/after announcements and that sort of thing
2. Pick a quirky/clickbaity frame out of the video to use as the thumbnail
   1. Open one of the cuts in IINA (a media player app that's on the iMac), scrub through, and when you find a decent frame use Save Snapshot (Cmd-S)
3. Upload to BFCC's Facebook page
   1. Use Facebook's Creator Studio Upload Video to post the video. Don't create a post with a video.
   2. Title format: <Sermon title from teacher> - <verse reference> - Sunday Service. For example, So it Begins - Genesis 1:1 - Sunday Sermon
   3. Use thumbnail you found earlier
   4. Add to the appropriate playlist
      1. We use a playlist for each series, e.g., Daniel
   5. Schedule it to be public in about an hour, to give Facebook time to process the HD version before it goes live
4. Upload to BFCC's Youtube channel
   1. Title format: <Sermon title from teacher> - <verse reference> - Sunday Sermon. For example, So it Begins - Genesis 1:1 - Sunday Sermon
   2. No, it's not made for kids
   3. Use thumbnail you found earlier
   4. Add to the appropriate playlist
      1. We use a playlist for each series, e.g., Daniel
      2. Plus, everything public goes in the BFCC Podcast playlist.
   5. Schedule it to be public in about an hour, to give Youtube time to process the HD version before it goes live

These are a couple examples showing the end result we post online.

About as simple as it gets: full service/sermon only

A much more complicated service than normal: full service/sermon only