Like lots of churches at the moment, we're looking to livestream from our building, and OBS seems the obvious choice. We need the system to be as simple as possible once it's set up, so volunteers can use it with minimal training.
The main needs are a video input, and an overlay from our worship software (think PowerPoint, but for churches). I've thought of three different ways to get this overlay into OBS, but am not sure what is best:
Option (3) would only work if OBS could be run fairly unattended, because the operator would be concentrating on using our worship software. In this scenario I'm thinking of using an Elgato Stream Deck to control OBS, while the mouse/keyboard controls our worship software. Would that work?
Ideally, in addition to our main video input, I'd like some alternative camera angles. A small PTZ camera would be ideal, but I can't afford to spend $1,000s on professional kit. Are there discreet, cheaper alternatives. I've thought about a eufy 2k security camera running an RTSP stream, for example.
Finally, there's the question of hardware. I'm considering something like:
The main needs are a video input, and an overlay from our worship software (think PowerPoint, but for churches). I've thought of three different ways to get this overlay into OBS, but am not sure what is best:
- Output from another PC via HDMI, and capture it on the OBS PC using a capture card.
- Output from another PC via NDI, and capture it on the OBS PC using the NDI plugin.
- Run the software on the same PC as OBS, and output it to a virtual screen, and capture the screen natively in OBS.
Option (3) would only work if OBS could be run fairly unattended, because the operator would be concentrating on using our worship software. In this scenario I'm thinking of using an Elgato Stream Deck to control OBS, while the mouse/keyboard controls our worship software. Would that work?
Ideally, in addition to our main video input, I'd like some alternative camera angles. A small PTZ camera would be ideal, but I can't afford to spend $1,000s on professional kit. Are there discreet, cheaper alternatives. I've thought about a eufy 2k security camera running an RTSP stream, for example.
Finally, there's the question of hardware. I'm considering something like:
- Ryzen 7 2700X
- 16GB RAM
- A cheap 1TB NVMe drive
- An Elgato HD60 Pro for video capture
- Do I need a decent GPU if I'm only streaming, and have a hardware decoder?
- Of the three options I listed, how would you recommend I get a feed from my worship software into OBS?
- Would using Elgato Stream Deck allow me to use OBS without a mouse/keyboard?
- What's the best solution for PTZ cameras?
- Will OBS use the GPU if I'm only streaming?
- What my suggested spec powerful enough?