Streaming church service with one computer

[Pastor Ron]

Hello all,
I'm newbie to the forum and have been using obs to stream our church services for almost a year now. We bought a new PowerSpec entry level gaming computer to improve the stream. It runs windows 10. We also run the presentation on Libreoffice. 3 cameras and the presentation are manages through a Black Magic ATEM mini pro.
My question is, can I do this on one computer? Currently the presentation is run on a separate computer.

 

[Lawrence_SoCal]

I run PowerPoint for Service Bulletin (windowed slide show), and bring USB webcam and NDI HX video feed from a PTZ camera, as I intermix a bunch of 4K pre-recorded videos (music, readings, announcements, etc)
With a i7-10700K and GTX 1660 Super, our PC typically is running about 12% CPU and GPU (using NVENC). My canvas, output, and local recording all at 1080p, with a re-scaled stream output of 720p. So current PC is overkill, but I also expect a 5yr life, (I got a 5yr next business day onsite warranty) and wanted a PC that could also edit videos,

all on 1 PC, single operator, dual monitor (especially needed for the PTZ controls, in our case)
Using the ATEM mini, your PC, I'm assuming has reduced load as it only sees a single camera

so... ymmv
ideally you'd have ordered your PC with a GTX 1650 Super or better (due to its Turing based NVENC). I wouldn't buy anything new that isn't 6-core/12-thread, and prefer AMD Ryzen Zen 3 based CPUs, but obviously I made due with a 10th gen Intel (11th gen desktop chips not out yet with hardware security fixes for Intel arch screw ups).
real-time video encoding is demanding. and then you add overlays, effects, filters and more, and that can get even more demanding. So it is possible to stream using a 5+yr old computer, or the most powerful workstation today can struggle, depending on exactly what you are doing (a LOT more technical details than what you've posted)

What is typically required is either
- way over-provisioning hardware (ie buying more than you need)
OR
- learning to monitor hardware (using Windows Task Manager (Performance tab) and/or Resource Monitor, and understanding what you are seeing

 

[Pastor Ron]

I run PowerPoint for Service Bulletin (windowed slide show), and bring USB webcam and NDI HX video feed from a PTZ camera, as I intermix a bunch of 4K pre-recorded videos (music, readings, announcements, etc)
With a i7-10700K and GTX 1660 Super, our PC typically is running about 12% CPU and GPU (using NVENC). My canvas, output, and local recording all at 1080p, with a re-scaled stream output of 720p. So current PC is overkill, but I also expect a 5yr life, (I got a 5yr next business day onsite warranty) and wanted a PC that could also edit videos,

all on 1 PC, single operator, dual monitor (especially needed for the PTZ controls, in our case)
Using the ATEM mini, your PC, I'm assuming has reduced load as it only sees a single camera

so... ymmv
ideally you'd have ordered your PC with a GTX 1650 Super or better (due to its Turing based NVENC). I wouldn't buy anything new that isn't 6-core/12-thread, and prefer AMD Ryzen Zen 3 based CPUs, but obviously I made due with a 10th gen Intel (11th gen desktop chips not out yet with hardware security fixes for Intel arch screw ups).
real-time video encoding is demanding. and then you add overlays, effects, filters and more, and that can get even more demanding. So it is possible to stream using a 5+yr old computer, or the most powerful workstation today can struggle, depending on exactly what you are doing (a LOT more technical details than what you've posted)

What is typically required is either
- way over-provisioning hardware (ie buying more than you need)
OR
- learning to monitor hardware (using Windows Task Manager (Performance tab) and/or Resource Monitor, and understanding what you are seeing

Thank you for a great answer. So, I'll need a dual monitor. The problem I've seen is, if the presentation is not on the screen, it will not progress from slide to slide. So, if it's on a second screen, it might work? I split off the output, before the ATEM to send it to 2 TV screens. Using Libreoffice impress, if the "working screen" is not visible on the monitor, I cannot change the slides. Do I need to set up a separate workspace in windows for the second monitor? (not sure what windows calls it).

 

[dinsdale]

Thank you for a great answer. So, I'll need a dual monitor. The problem I've seen is, if the presentation is not on the screen, it will not progress from slide to slide. So, if it's on a second screen, it might work? I split off the output, before the ATEM to send it to 2 TV screens. Using Libreoffice impress, if the "working screen" is not visible on the monitor, I cannot change the slides. Do I need to set up a separate workspace in windows for the second monitor? (not sure what windows calls it).

I don't think you will need a separate desktop/workspace, but you will need two monitors. The desktops could be helpful, but may just wind up complicating your workflow. The problem you're likely running into has to do with the active window. If the presentation is not an active window then it won't receive the signal to change slides (are you using a remote or something or just pressing the presentation buttons?).

So what I would do is put OBS and all your other tools on one screen and the presentation on the other screen and you should be okay. Just so you know, to a computer there are lots of things that can be considered a monitor: TV, Projectors and the like. It doesn't have to be a monitor on the desk, the computer just has to think the presentation is an active window on a monitor

 

[Pastor Ron]

Thank you!

 

[Pastor Ron]

Fyi the computer runs Windows 10 (because I haven't been able to load a Linux distribution yet). Intel ASRock B460 M pro/4ac mother board, Intel core i5 10400F, 12mb ram.

 

[Lawrence_SoCal]

The problem I've seen is, if the presentation is not on the screen, it will not progress from slide to slide. So, if it's on a second screen, it might work? I split off the output, before the ATEM to send it to 2 TV screens. Using Libreoffice impress, if the "working screen" is not visible on the monitor, I cannot change the slides. Do I need to set up a separate workspace in windows for the second monitor? (not sure what windows calls it).

2nd monitor is simply an extension of the desktop (not a workspace, though you could, but I don't see a reason to)

not sure what you mean by

if the presentation is not on the screen, it will not progress from slide to slide. So, if it's on a second screen, it might work? I split off the output, before the ATEM to send it to 2 TV screens. Using Libreoffice impress, if the "working screen" is not visible on the monitor, I cannot change the slides

not progressing slides... do you mean you don't have access to GUI controls for slides, hence you can't advance slides?

As I mentioned, I use PowerPoint. For me, as I've posted in detail on other posts here, I put our livestream monitoring web page (Facebook /Live/Producer in our case) on the upper right side of Screen 1. This way I can monitor comments (digital usher) and monitor stream stats, and see preview window. On the left side of this monitor (#1) is OBS. Underneath the Browser livestream monitoring, I have PowerPoint in a Windowed slide show (because I specifically want PPTx to be in Portrait, not Landscape mode). With the bottom portion of the PPT window visible, I can put my mouse over that area, NOT make the app the active window, and use the scroll wheel to advance a slide. Works nicely
So as to avoid OBS window/display capture re-scaling for our Service Bulletin (PPTX), I got monitor that are both more than 1080p... #1 being a 27" 1440p, the 2nd being a 24" 1200p monitor, both DisplayPort, and #1 supporting DP MST, so I can run both monitors from a single cable from the PC (and another DP cable directly between monitors.. this being desired as PC will be moving into choir loft, and have a 40ft cable run... I didn't want to have to run 2 cables, especially if we end up with in-wall conduit)
While in our current mode (no in-person worship), what I'd really like, as I have so many automated OBS scene changes (when a pre-recorded video ends), that I'd love a way (probably command-line based) for OBS (via a plug-in) to send command to PPTx to advance slide 1 page. But thanks to new security model for Office 365 (installed locally)... old methods don't seem to work (or at least that anyone has given me the decoder ring to). In any case, I mention this as I don't use LibreOffice, so not sure what methods it has available for slide controls. Maybe a hotkey type setup, or ?? The fact that you can't see the GUI doesn't mean you can't control it... but doing so isn't obvious
is this an option? Using the Presenter Console (libreoffice.org)

To clarify regarding why I have s dual Display setup, I am using PTX camera software controls (free) rather than a PTZ joystick controller (much smoother camera control). Having to switch to that PTZ control app when it was in the background on Monitor #1 was too much hassle for me, and I was expecting and had budgeted for a 2nd monitor to begin with