Question / Help Stream Video and Record - Newb Needs Help

I was pointed at this project as a possible solution. I am looking to broadcast events live and then also record them for posting on our website to be viewed later.

What hardware/setup would you guys recommend to accomplish this?

We currently have a sound system with microphones in place. We have no video recording capability at all right now.

Any help you can provide to point me in the right direction would be appreciated.

What kind of events are you wanting to broadcast? Multi-camera events with several angles and such, with a video switcher? Or is it something that can be managed by webcams? It would be nice to know more about what you are doing.

It would be church services. So, I was thinking just one video camera in the back of the church as that would be the best place to have it out of the way (mounted above the doorway in back) and have a nice straight on view.

Our sound equipment is located off the right side behind a half wall and that is another possibility but the camera angle would not be as good there. It would provide a better way to interface with the sound equipment though and be a good place to keep the computer that would power all of this.

Do you already have the camera, or are you wondering what you should buy? If you already have one, what kind is it?

We just have the audio system and microphone right now. No video equipment at all.

So, we are a blank slate as far as recommendations etc.

Well, I don't know what your sanctuary looks like or how far away from the door the pulpit is or how the stage is lit or anything, so you're going to have to do some research into cameras. Whatever you do, though, you're going to have to know how to capture the camera's output, whether that's analog composite 480i, HDMI 1080p, or USB. If it's USB, you'll have to make sure it shows up on your computer like it's a webcam. If it doesn't connect via USB, you'll have to get a capture card that can capture the output type of the camera. Once you know what kind of output the camera has, I can give recommendations on capture cards.

The recording/streaming computer itself will need a good CPU, though it depends on what quality you are streaming/recording at (which probably depends on the resolution of the camera you get). In general, a Sandy Bridge i5 or i7 or newer should be plenty. I recommend you get a motherboard with an integrated GPU, though make sure it's a good integrated GPU...the HD 3000, 4000, and 5000 are all good, I believe. (This is all Intel land...I don't know much about AMD hardware.)

Hopefully that should give you a start. The biggest thing for you to find is the camera, which will define a lot about your stream quality, and consequently the power needed to stream/record it at good quality.

If I put the camera in the spot I'm thinking of in the back of the church, it would be about 50ft away from the pulpit. The spot I was thinking about on the one side of our space where the audio equipment is would be about 20ft from the pulpit.

One question I have is how would I get the video from the video device on the shelf above the doorway that I'm thinking of, back to the computer that would be broadcasting/recording it. I was wondering if I could use a PoE IP camera for something like that. Otherwise, I suppose a video balun but that would add price.

I need to figure out the audio interface as well because I don't think the audio will sound great if we just use the built in mic from the camera.

I'm thinking that I might need to locate all the equipment on the spot over to the one side with the audio equipment at least to start with. That should be much more straightforward I would think.

If that's the plan, what kind of camera would you recommend? That would be 20 to 25ft away or so. Could you link to an example of the type of capture card you are talking about?

Unfortunately, I don't know much about cameras for live events. Most of my broadcasting uses webcams, so I don't need actual cameras for the stuff I usually do. So you're on your own there.

I do recommend either splitting your main audio mix or using an aux mix to send audio to the Line-in port on the sound card of the recording computer. That will give you much better quality sound. Don't use the camera's mic! :)

If you go the IP Camera route, the tricky part might be getting the camera into OBS. If you have IP camera software that turns the camera into a Directshow device (so that the computer thinks its a webcam), then it should be possible. Otherwise, you would have to do something like Window capture the IP camera output. But honestly, you're going to get a lot better video quality if you're capturing the camera output directly.

A camera will usually output using one or more of these formats:

• Composite
• S-Video
• Component
• HDMI
• SDI

(I doubt a camera will output in DVI or RGB, since those don't carry audio.)

Your cheaper cameras are going to output in Composite or S-Video. This will give you the lowest video quality, standard-definition 480i. You'll need to deinterlace it in OBS so you don't get the "combing" effect of interlaced video.

Component and HDMI are your consumer-level options for HD video. You're more likely to find HDMI output on cameras rather than component, but I wouldn't be surprised to see a camera with component-out somewhere in the world. Just make sure you know what resolutions the camera is capable of outputting, and if it's interlaced or progressive scan.

SDI is used in professional video equipment, and once you step into the land of SDI...well, I hope you have a generous budget.

So the capture card you get depends on what the camera outputs. Here are some good ones to take a look at:

AVerTV HD DVR - This can capture Composite, Component, S-Video, and HDMI up to 720p or 1080i. It's a pretty good card at a good price. It's biggest downside is that it can't capture 1080p, which you might not care about if you don't get a 1080p camera.

AVerMedia Game Broadcaster HD - Don't be thrown off by the "Game" name, that's just how AVerMedia markets their 1080p capture devices. This card can only capture HDMI, but it can capture up to 1080p. If that's all you need, then this is an affordable way to get it.

AVerMedia Live Gamer HD - The Live Gamer HD is a slightly upgraded version of the Game Broadcaster HD. The main advantages of it over the Game Broadcaster HD is HDMI passthru (you can still use the HDMI signal after inputting it into the capture card), on-board 1080p60 -> 720p60 downscaling, and an on-board encoder so that if you record with the AVerMedia RECentral software, CPU load is greatly reduced (can't use OBS with it though).

Micomsoft SC-512N1-L - This is a top-of-the-line consumer-grade capture card. It can capture pretty much everything mentioned above and more (except SDI) up to 1080p. If you're looking for a really solid card that is very flexible and reliable, this is the way to go. It is pricier, though.

DeckLink - These are the models of cards you'll want to get for SDI capture. If all you need is a simple, single SDI input, the Mini-Recorder is probably all you need. Features and prices accelerate very quickly after that.