Online Streaming Guide

Here's a guide on how we handle online streaming from source video to the enduser.

Video Booth (Hardware)

Video signal for the online stream originates in the main production booth at Bethany South Campus. The program feed is sent over SDI to the streaming booth. The feed can come from our main switcher or a video router. The booth is standardized to SDI video everywhere.

UltraStudio HD (Hardware)

The incoming SDI video feed goes straight into a Blackmagic UltraStudio Mini.

The Ultrastudio takes the SDI signal and converts it on the fly so the streaming computer & software can read it. The Ultrastudio is connected to an iMac by USB-C. This powers the box as well. The Ultrastudio will ONLY receive SDI video.

iMac (Hardware)

The iMac runs the streaming software that will handle the actual broadcast and is connected to the UltraStudio by USB-C. Currently the specs of the machine are:

CPU: 3 GHz Intel Core i5
Memory: 16GB 2667 MHz DDR4
GPU: Radeon Pro 560x

This setup runs under 20% resources when sending out one stream. The video compression is handled by the CPU and NOT the GPU.

Wirecast (Software)

The streaming software used is called Wirecast. There are free open source alternatives available (OBS for example). This software runs on the iMac that is dedicated to streaming.

Wirecast will see the video signal from the Ultrastudio and allow you to stream that as your source. You can also playback any media file or use images, slides, etc. Wirecast is similar to a video switcher albeit software-driven and simplified.

Wirecast will stream to multiple endpoints as well. For example, you can stream to YouTube and Facebook directly from Wirecast. Each endpoint you add, however, creates more overhead for the computer to process, and more network bandwidth is needed.

We currently send one stream point to our paid streaming provider to simplify the streaming process at the originating point.

Castr (Streaming Provider)

Castr is our streaming provider that is used to deliver the stream to the end user and various platforms. Castr has the ability to connect to multiple platforms on our behalf and send our feed to them.

For example, we send one video feed to Castr, keeping our local network and processing overhead at a minimum, Castr then serves up that feed to multiple points:

An HLS stream (used for Roku & Apple TV)
A Web Embed (provided by Castr)
Facebook & YouTube (Castr connects on our behalf)

Castr supports connections to every major platform that provides streaming.

User Experience

For viewers engaging at Bethany.com we use Online.church, the free service provided by Life Church. When a user visits bethany.com/live they are redirected to https://bethanychurch.online.church/ for the web viewing experience. The Online.church platform provides a wrapper for our stream giving us tools and extra features not provided by traditional embeds.

With Online.church we are able to:

Moderate chat & interactions
Provide one-on-one ministry
Manage volunteers and moderators
Provide additional resources related to the stream (Notes, Bible, etc.)
Track attendance and online salvation

Have any questions? Just drop us an email at dev@bethany.com!