Church Webcasts using YouTube Live Streams

[Mikerowaved]

I do worry that on Sunday there will be a lot more congestion on the network and make it much harder to hold a stable stream.

It's a valid concern for buildings with marginal Internet speeds. One solution is to ask the Stake Technology Specialist if he would shut off the WiFi to your building for the duration of your sacrament meeting. He has the tools to do that.

[rickdez]

So the bottom line as I understand it is that you need at least 5+ MB upload speed to successfully broadcast from the building? I am assuming you disable all AP's prior to streaming? We are working to come up with a good solution as we have been given clearance to meet physically in two weeks (following general conference). We will be testing a MEVO to see if that solution will work in our buildings. Looking for assistance from any who have been down this road... Thank you.

[russellhltn]

So the bottom line as I understand it is that you need at least 5+ MB upload speed to successfully broadcast from the building?

You can go with less, although at some point the quality suffers.

I'd suggest looking at the document Webcast Network Health and Encoder Settings.

I am assuming you disable all AP's prior to streaming? ... We will be testing a MEVO to see if that solution will work in our buildings.

That would be nice, but some solutions require the use of WiFi to stream. Note that Mevo requires an adapter to use a wired connection.

[donaldbrooksby]

Typically, if you use an encoder like the Teradek, your bitrate runs around 5Mbps in 1080p. in 720p your bitrate will be closer to 2Mbps upload - OBS requires more, with more latency. However, be careful messing around if you aren't the STS in your stake. You have a great stream in 720p where you aren't taxing the upload, that is if you have enough bandwidth. If you have a more limited internet at your building, have your STS turn off the WiFi for broadcasts and use the network at the podium. You will not be fighting with all of the members whose phone picks up the Liahona network - which will drop your available access to upload your stream.

A great tool is just using a Webcam and stream via the Webcam connection, like using a Logitech webcam with the mic built in. It will pick up a great cast for members who cannot attend church. the STS should be aware of the letter submitted by the church on Sept 25 about ward broadcasts. If you aren't an STS, seek their help, if you are an STS - use the tools the church has provided to help in all of these situations.

[rickdez]

Thank you for the input. I am the STS and have been reading the streams and documents on these topics throughout most of the day. We will be trying out the MEVO streaming to YouTube solution on our existing bandwidth at our three buildings this week. I plan to disable the AP and wire the device directly via ethernet to the switch so we can hopefully squeeze out every oz. of available bandwidth.

[josephchild]

We did have a successful stream of Sacrament today to Youtube. Like I said in a previous post, I downgraded my video output to 720p in OBS and set the OBS network settings to adjust the bitrate as needed. It seemed to handle everything on the 5mb Upload connection. I was worried about network congestion, but we purposely did not ask members to turn off their devices. I wanted to see how it handled with everyone still connecting. Besides, since we don't have hymnals out for people to use, they need to be able to pull up the hymns on their phones! lol. I am not the STS (I just do streaming as a hobby so I get pulled in to help out), but am in our bishopric, so I was able to sit on the stand and monitor the stream from my laptop. It was nice to be able to see the face of our speaker (via the video camera) for the first time in a long time! haha.

[cunhaka]

We will be trying out the MEVO streaming to YouTube solution on our existing bandwidth at our three buildings this week. I plan to disable the AP and wire the device directly via ethernet to the switch so we can hopefully squeeze out every oz. of available bandwidth.

May I ask how the stream went? We have been looking at the MEVO vs just a webcam and computer setup. Can you connect a receiver in the MEVO's 3.5mm jack as a mic?

[Jvb182]

I would like to stream to YouTube from my Stake Center via the VidiU device. When I attempt to connect to YouTube for VidiU to pull my stream I continually get a network response of "Broadcast-Error: "Connection:Cannot resolve address []" - The previous STS here was able to stream from this device a while back, so he believes it should still work. There is a direct ethernet connection to the VidiU device. I'm guessing the firewall might be blocking the device from reaching YouTube? Any ideas how I can debug this or get this to work? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[russellhltn]

"Broadcast-Error: "Connection:Cannot resolve address []"

The [] makes me think the server address hasn't been set up.

You might check what the filter level on the firewall has been set to. If it's any higher than the minimum, it might be filtering it.

[Jvb182]

We will be trying out the MEVO streaming to YouTube solution on our existing bandwidth at our three buildings this week. I plan to disable the AP and wire the device directly via ethernet to the switch so we can hopefully squeeze out every oz. of available bandwidth.

May I ask how the stream went? We have been looking at the MEVO vs just a webcam and computer setup. Can you connect a receiver in the MEVO's 3.5mm jack as a mic?

I'm using the MEVO Start in 2 buildings. Direct ethernet connection via the PoE adapter, that way WiFi & battery power isn't a variable. I am running an aux cable from the pulpit record out straight to the MEVO device for direct audio from the church system, and it sounds great. For songs and whatnot I just switch the audio device from the AUX input to the MEVO device to pick up more of the room.