Ebenezer Evangelical Church adopts live streaming solution

Thanks to the expertise of audio-visual integrator Vaughan Sound, Ebenezer Evangelical Church in Neath Abbey now benefits from an intuitive live streaming system – facilitating remote, online services.

Situated between junctions 43 and 44 of the M4 motorway, the church approached Vaughan Sound looking for a means of streaming their services during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Lockdown guidelines and restrictions had greatly restricted the number of participants that could physically attend this small worship venue.

Previously, Ebenezer Evangelical Church had been pre-recording services and homilies, before uploading them to their YouTube channel for members to play back on Sundays.

However, it became apparent that the feeling of communal worship was missing, so the venue wished to explore live streaming solutions to curate real-time services and events.

A site meeting and survey was arranged to ascertain the full brief and requirements of the system. Following this, Vaughan Sound proposed a high definition moving camera (PTZ), which would utilise pre-configured pre-sets to allow smooth switching between the altar and pulpit, in addition to zooming in on the pastor/reader as a service progresses.

The PTZ camera has been paired with a Black Magic Design ATEM Mini Pro, which captures the video and audio feeds before broadcasting them directly to the church’s channel of choice; whether that be Facebook Live, Microsoft Teams, Skype, Twitch, YouTube, or Zoom.

Existing sound equipment was incorporated into the new setup, including fixed and wireless microphones. Together, these provide high quality audio – a crucial element of any live stream.

An Edis broadcast camera with 30x optical zoom and 8x digital zoom was specified and installed, enabling the various pre-set focal positions to be managed with ease. This camera also supports HDMI output, 3G-SDI, and features an IP/network output too. All camera parameters can be configured easily via the included remote control, or alternatively the onboard web server.

Due to the distance involved, Vaughan Sound’s streaming solution included sending the camera signal over 36-SDI, before converting this to HDMI at the ATEM Mini Pro.

The system has been very well received by all at Ebenezer Evangelical Church, with the intuitive nature of Vaughan Sound’s solution and the simplicity with which users can start the stream before a service being key to its success.

To complete the project, Vaughan Sound configured the system to enable recordings of all services to be available on demand via the church’s YouTube channel.

Full user training was also provided, which involved conducting a test stream to ensure that everything worked as it should and church representatives were absolutely confident in using the live streaming system prior to launch.

Since lockdown restrictions and social distancing measures were eased, the ecclesiastical venue has continued to use the live streaming system each week to expand on its network of channel followers and support those who cannot attend church due to illness etc.

Church trustee, David Christopher commented: “Many thanks again for all the help given right through this process.

“We are delighted with the results – it really has been a pleasure to do business with you.

“Please pass on our thanks to all who have been involved.”

Please visit www.vaughansound.co.uk for further information.