How to set up simulated live streaming with Church Online Platform for free

[@BiGn4givN]

This was a really helpful video. Thank you so much for posting this. You are right. Many people are trying to figure this stuff out quickly. Thanks again for taking the time to put this tutorial together and letting us know what's possible with the Church Online Platform.

[@pastorjeffc]

Thank you, Matt. This is a huge help. Bless you, my friend.

[@LunchtimeHeroes]

Glad it’s helpful Jeff! Hope you are well!

[@salvaduarte88]

I'll give this a shot! Thank you so much, be bless!

[@brentgibson68]

Hey Matt. We are using church online platform for the first time this Sunday, and I need to do some host training. Do you have, or do you know where i could find some Host Guideline, and operating procedures? Thanks

[@jakebradley2001]

info.life.church/host-team-hub/training-0

[@LunchtimeHeroes]

Sorry I didn't catch this sooner. Message me your email and I'll send you the document I send out to hosts.

[@LunchtimeHeroes]

Crossroads Kids Long Beach :: I decided to create a page on our site so it would be accessible to anyone. www.highdesertchurch.com/hdc-online-hosts/

[@j1jh002]

Very helpful! Thank you so much!

[@thepottershousesunshinecoa2209]

Very helpful and practical. Once I upload to KZbin is there a way I can upload a graphic that has the church bank details?

[@LunchtimeHeroes]

Typically images like that would be added on KZbin. When the video hasn’t started, that image will be the thumbnail for the video. When your services aren’t playing, you can create a background image with information on it that people can see as well.

[@southsidemcjax]

Outstanding! Helpful!

[@michaelcampbell8815]

What about a live stream event? I think you added a pre recorded link...any suggestions? We use Vimeo as well.

[@LunchtimeHeroes]

Sorry for the delay getting back to you. If you are using a live service, they will have an embed code that you can paste into the field. You'll want to select "livestream" instead of any of the other services. There are a few highly recommended services out there at varying costs. We use Resi.io (formerly Living As One), and have been thrilled with them.

[@JoelStevensTRBC]

Thanks! Such a boost for us!

[@LunchtimeHeroes]

Awesome!

[@wbeck1971]

Matt, thank you! Do you use Vimeo to avoid the 1000 subscriber limit on KZbin? God Bless!

[@LunchtimeHeroes]

We just happen to use Vimeo for our video storage. I’ve read that some people have issues with live streaming when the video is hosted by KZbin, but I don’t have any experience with that personally.

[@SilasMajgaard]

Hey - awesome video and tips! Where do I find the link, that can be shared with people for them to find the "livestream"?

[@LunchtimeHeroes]

The link will be your account name followed by .online.church. So it will look like: accountname.online.church.

[@bethe9323]

this is super helpful! Thank you very much!

[@LunchtimeHeroes]

Great!

[@johnnyharrington232]

Can you get a plug in to make it AUTO stream to Facebook and KZbin church accounts?

[@LunchtimeHeroes]

Deciding where a stream goes is handled somewhere other than Church Online Platform. If you use a service like Boxcast or Living As One, you can choose different multiple destinations (KZbin, Facebook, Church Online platform, etc).

[@terrie8121]

I am using media fusion to connect from OBS - However, when pasting the embed code I am not getting any video or audion can you kindly assist..

[@LunchtimeHeroes]

Unfortunately I’m not familiar enough with either of those tools to troubleshoot. Sorry!

[@VoiceChurch]

Nice! Do you know how to strip the KZbin controls if you are using a KZbin link?

[@LunchtimeHeroes]

I don't think there is a way to disable it as the video will still need controls for users to pause or play. Some browsers don't autoplay reliably, so removing the controls would present an issue.

[@RevolveChurch]

@@LunchtimeHeroes If you upload it to KZbin and set it as a premiere it will look live on KZbin and they couldn't fast forward through the video.

[@LunchtimeHeroes]

Revolve Church :: I’ve been reading that KZbin tends to have some limitations when using it with other platforms. Thanks for the info!

[@bethesdachurch1666]

thank you for simplifying it.

[@LunchtimeHeroes]

So glad it was helpful!

[@bethesdachurch1666]

Can this work with OBS or what do you recommend for live streaming?

[@LunchtimeHeroes]

@@bethesdachurch1666 I believe it can work with OBS, but I've not used that pairing together personally. We use Church Online Platform for our live streaming on weekends, but we use a streaming provider (Living As One).

[@mrprotojoe1]

Thanks so much! Question, can this be embedded in a page on my church website?

[@LunchtimeHeroes]

Church online functions as its own site, so it can’t be embedded. You can embed a KZbin video on your site directly though.

[@sspiff75]

Thank you so much for this video. We are uploading to COP from Vimeo (pre-recorded). When the video starts it is muted and the user needs to tap the "unmute" button. Is there any way to change that so it is not automatically muted?

[@LunchtimeHeroes]

There is not. It’s usually a browser issue, actually. Many browsers don’t auto play video with audio. We just know that and let people know they need to unmute it if they are having technical difficulties. The vast majority of users do it intuitively.

[@sspiff75]

@@LunchtimeHeroes You rock man! Lifesaver for me today. Another question. When people access our COP page early (ie: 10 or 15 minutes before our scheduled service starts) is there any way to make the black area of the screen (where the video will play) show a graphic of any sort? We have some older people that aren't very tech savvy and would love to reassure them that they are in the right place and the video will start at 10:00am.

[@katrinatompong9995]

Hi how do you go LIVE? is that possible instead of just uploading a video? Thanks for the info!

[@LunchtimeHeroes]

It is definitely possible, but I don’t have any videos to walk you though that. Many use a streaming provider, but it’s sometimes difficult to get that up and running quickly. Other streaming options would include KZbin live or Facebook live. Sorry I don’t have more advice for actual live!

[@jayrod1998]

How to make this work with a live stream? The pastor wants to do live instead of prerecorded.

[@LunchtimeHeroes]

This video won't help solve that. You'll need to work with a live streaming company to provide you with the URL to stream. You can do this with other methods beyond a company, but I don't have enough experience with those options to be helpful here. Sorry!

[@danomies]

Thank you!!!!!!!!!

[@creativecontentondemand]

If our video is uploaded onto Vimeo and set in private before it's actual live scheduled time; would that pose any issues while sitting in private mode?

[@LunchtimeHeroes]

I’m pretty sure we’ve streamed private videos before, but it would be worth creating an event with a start time way early to test it. I usually set my event to start a few minutes from when I start setting it up just to make sure it all works.

[@creativecontentondemand]

Thank you!

[@ignitekennedale387]

So this is simply a pre-recorded service that starts at a particular time to simulate live event? So you can basically do all your prep work and editing and then make it a video then place on this to simulate a live video?

[@LunchtimeHeroes]

Yes! That is exactly it. The advantage is that you can do all of your preparation and execution outside of the live context, but still have the collective watching to simulate a gathering online.

[@ignitekennedale387]

fibinachi this is awesome. we are a small low budget church. this will work for us. thanks. is there a video editing software you recommend for mac?

[@LunchtimeHeroes]

IGNITE KENNEDALE :: iMovie will probably do a sufficient job for you and should be free as it comes with all Macs.

[@lifechurchgt]

@@ignitekennedale387 if you want a pro and free software, try with DaVinci Resolve, The free app is awesome!

[@JaredHuntsinger]

I'm experiencing a glitch, whenever I add an 8:45am service for Sunday March 22, it automatically changes the date to Saturday March 21st. Other dates work fine and I can schedule services further out but this glitch is preventing me from scheduling a service at this time for this week? Any ideas?

[@LunchtimeHeroes]

Jared Huntsinger :: hmm. The main thing I double check is that my time isn’t PM, but I haven’t encountered this. I’d suggest reaching out to support.

[@ignitekennedale387]

What do I put in as Platform Subdomain? Anything I put in there says is not valid?

[@LunchtimeHeroes]

You don’t need to put anything there if you aren’t setting a custom one up.

[@ignitekennedale387]

I guess I am an idiot on this stuff, but I got through signing up. How do I get back to it. whenever I go to the church online platform it tells me to sign up again.

[@LunchtimeHeroes]

IGNITE KENNEDALE :: it should be the account name you created. Account.online.church is what it should look like.

[@MikeNewburgerJR]

So simple. I hate live. Problem solved. Thank you.