Using the Roland VR-1HD to Live Stream For Worship

A lot has changed since March when the Covid-19 pandemic started. Especially in houses of worship. With the need for social distancing, houses of worship have been forced to reach their audiences through live streaming. The Roland VR-1HD has helped make live streaming for worship easy with high quality production. 

The VR-1HD AV Streaming Mixer  is powerful, affordable, and easy to use.  It lets you broadcast dynamic multi-camera livestreams, complete with amazing picture and sound that easily outshines ‘standard’ livestreams from a mobile phone or static webcam.  Live Streaming creates multiple opportunities for houses of worship and even if and when social distancing comes to an end, live streaming might be here to stay. 

Chris Holder, Editorial Director of Alchemedia Publishing gives tips and tricks to start live streaming. 

"Livestreaming can be as basic as opening Facebook on your smartphone, selecting Live Video, pointing your camera in the right direction, and relying on your 4G connection to stay solid for the duration of the sermon. If this describes the extent of your experience with livestreaming, you may already be aware of some serious limitations.

First up, you really need better audio quality. Clear, present spoken word communication is utterly crucial for those at home accessing your stream on a computer or mobile device. Bad audio will be the first reason people switch off or zone out. Your smartphone’s internal microphone can’t deliver the quality needed, and there’s no way to easily incorporate an external mic directly.

Secondly, you need to find a way of including sermon slides, such as verses of scripture and illustrations that would normally be projected on the displays in the auditorium. A smartphone can’t accept a second video input on its own, so you’re out of luck.

To achieve something more acceptable, you’ll need to invest in some hardware. But don’t panic—it won’t break the bank, and you won’t need an engineering degree to figure it all out!"

Finding a Video Switcher for your church is important in live streaming to bring your sources together. So what should you be looking for in your video switcher? According to Holder these features can make all the difference.

• Support for multiple image resolutions
• Enhance presentations with text and effects
• Easy connection with USB 3.0 webcam output
• Extra audio inputs

Live streaming is the best way to stay connected with your congregation during these times. And even long after social distancing has come to an end, live streaming might be here to stay. We understand all houses of worship have difference streaming needs so it's best to ask questions to find what the right solution for you is!

Check out the full article here! 

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