The Best Encoder for YOUR Churches Livestream

[@RylandRussell]

Want to "Level Up" your churches livestream? Checkout my new course! rylandrussell.com/next-level-livestreaming/

[@Andrew-ch9kc]

I was literally was just looking for a video on encoders 2 days ago because we're trying to research options for the church I work at. Was struggling to find any good comparison videos. God's perfect timing coming in clutch ig 😂

[@RylandRussell]

Hope this one was helpful. :)

[@ZachBrownMedia]

the Web Presenter and Box Cast are definitely the best bang for buck options. Still happy with our Web Presenter.. been a workhorse for years now. Some of those features on Box Cast look nice though!

[@CalebMakiko-lz8wo]

thanks alot for the videos its really been helpful to us and getting the good news out there

[@RylandRussell]

So glad I can help! Thanks for the encouragement.

[@Matthew.Ball.]

Currently we are using ProPresenter 7 for the Livestream and ProTools for the audio. My personal preference would be OBS with the multi stream and verticle plugins and a submix out of our X32. I love playing with OBS and some of the cool things you can do with it. Like recording in vertical with automatic text overlays, flashback recording and Instagram streams. BUT the professional standard would be the Boxcast with the submix

[@stevansheets]

Really appreciate your thoroughness, Ryland! We're still an ATEM -> OBS setup and haven't yet mastered our audio settings from the X32, so we're staying put and working to get better each week with what we've got!

[@RylandRussell]

For sure! Audio is huge, and we can always work on improving it :)

[@lp.church8600]

I've been using ProPresenter as our encoder since it was made available. We are using a Mac Studio and ProPresenter to send to our screens as well as our livestream. While there have been a few bugs, it is a great option. I also love the option to schedule the Capture Start and the ability to have a different themes on our livestream from our screens and they automatically follow. I also like using Props for name lower thirds, etc. along with many other features. We also use NDI from ProPresenter to send our video feed to our preschool room TVs

[@RylandRussell]

Is the Mac Studio dedicated to encoding? Good to hear it's working well!

[@lp.church8600]

@@RylandRussell No, it's also running all of our screens (6 total) using a Blackmagic QuadLink card.

[@cnex101]

One option if you wanted to get more technicial is you can create an RTMP Relay using NginX to copy the stream to multiple outputs. I still do this from time to time. Another option is to use OBS and their multiple RTMP output plug-in to send from OBS to multiple destinations. Both of these options require the location to have enough upstream / Upload speed to handle stream bitrate times number of destinations. (sending rtmp at 5Mbps to three destinations means you need 15 Mbps or more for upload). Since you are replicating the stream in-house and sending to the platforms. I'm not saying this is the best way, but it is an option.

[@TheElijahMarkins]

Love the Boxcast system. We've only dealt with a few minor hiccups, but overall it's been great!

[@bandersonmatrix]

I recently got the Ultra Encode AIO from Magewell and I am super impressed. No subscription, 4k60, scheduled recordings and livestreams, HDMI, SDI, NDI, optional cloud management, all for one upfront cost

[@RylandRussell]

This guy? bhpho.to/46K4Wjr Looks interesting!

[@bandersonmatrix]

@@RylandRussell yessir!

[@RylandRussell]

Also, can you schedule going live & recording to the SD Card ?

[@bandersonmatrix]

@@RylandRussell Yes! You can have different schedules for live and recording. You can also have it auto upload the recording to google drive or a file server

[@Francisco.Spadafora]

Hi Ryland, great video, thank you very much! I think it would be great if you could do a real quality comparison of a streamed input using the different encoders at the maximum quality settings for each one. No one has done a comparison like this, but it would be very helpful to evaluate the encoders' quality.

[@danielfmyers]

Wirecast has went downhill in their support and moved to a subscription model, I’m kinda glad you didn’t even mention it. We’re using version 15.4 with no plans to update.

[@RylandRussell]

@@danielfmyers man everyone I talk to about wire cast has nothing but issues.

[@danielfmyers]

@@RylandRussell I have a stable system that works every time, we treat it like a windows xp ATM. “It’s working, don’t change anything!” 😂

[@Sound.Church]

Our Wirecast system has been solid but the subscription model change is frustrating.

[@LanreEshofilms]

You didn’t mention LiveU. Whats your your take on it ?

[@RolandsZeltins]

I am really looking for 4K HDR and AV1 encoder, but am unable to find. Want to future proof.

[@Shep______]

Very Helpful!!

[@goddyab]

Thanks for the Video i learnt quite a lot. I noticed that you didn't mention OSEE GO STREAM in the Hardware Encoder Category? it's allows you to Stream to 3 locations simultaneously, with two usb-C one for recording and 2nd for Output, two Mics/Line inputs, and Headphones for monitoring Audio, all these amazing Features are in a small form factor the same size like the Atem Mini. One of the gribe i had with it was the lack of Companion App/Software they just had it, last time I checked the Software was in beta. I have been Streaming for event with it, I think you should take a look at it.

[@RylandRussell]

I have one and have messed around with it. It seemed like an ok option as well. So many viable options nowadays. As we struggle with bandwidth some on upload it didn't solve our problems.

[@lfisher8154]

Thanks for the info. Be careful to have a reasonably fast computer if considering software based encoding. Did you find any differences in audio quality? For what it is worth I use the AJA Helo and it has worked flawlessly for years.

[@RylandRussell]

Agreed on software needing decent computer. So, surprisingly I have heard from Resi users that audio is defaulted to 96kbps and you have to request an upgrade on that to 128. I can't personally confirm that, but was told that by a user and friend.

[@alexaguilar5994]

Ryland, have try Switcher Studio? If you, what are your thoughts about it?

[@RylandRussell]

@@alexaguilar5994 I have not tried it. I have talked to a couple of churches that seem to really enjoy that workflow but for me I don’t think it would be the best solution as it’s all wireless ya?

[@LogisticAtom]

OBS is amazing! If you have a pc with any Navida card form the 20 series u can game on it and stream! U don’t need 2 pc anymore! Just so unnecessary! For example on my 3060 I stream to 5 platforms at the same time at 1080 and still get 100+ frames on fortnight for example! On my 2060 was the about 60/70 frames! If I can ever afford one a 4080 be able to encode 2k on 8 platforms over 100 frames! Lots of options out there but u have a 20/30/40 card you all ready have an amazing encorer

[@RylandRussell]

@@LogisticAtom nice! You must have fiber internet.

[@LogisticAtom]

@@RylandRussell I don’t! I have sim card wireless internet so Iv stable 8mps download but 12-14mps upload!

[@soundxajay]

Great help full ❤

[@KLRCAT]

I use a "URayTech HEVC H.265 H.264 video Encoder" which does; SRT, RTSP, RTMP, UDP, ONVIF, HLS etc. The main reason I got this is cause it's not too expensive, it's quite versatile, and allows me to use my ATEM extreme ISO to get "Hyperdeck High" recordings even if the stream quality has to be 720p. I had issues in the past with the ATEM encoder having lots of dropouts or too much caching, so now I just use a dedicated encoder, or have a Laptop with OBS as a backup to run the stream.

[@RylandRussell]

This one? amzn.to/4cnPlqX How do you start/stop the stream?

[@KLRCAT]

@@RylandRussell Yeah, that's the one. I use an Inline 12V DC On/Off Switch to turn the encoder on and off. Or, I connect a laptop to the same network as it, and pull up it's control settings in a browser.

[@DauntaLong]

How do you feel about Wirecast?

[@RylandRussell]

@@DauntaLong I’ve had a lot of people I’ve done consults with be unhappy with Wirecast.

[@ethanb1992]

We are portable and have been using resi through Pro7. Most of the time it’s good but we have had weeks were the stream might yo-yo between speeds. Have tried to talk the Pro7 and Resi and they just blame each other which is frustrating.

[@ZeusPropofol]

Any budget options for churches who have limited upload speeds? I can only send one livestream without dropouts. Need a service like Dacast or Restream who will restream my stream to multiple social video platforms. Which one can you recommend?

[@RylandRussell]

I believe OBS has a setting in the advanced tab where you can "enable stream delay" and tell it to use the computers memory to add however many seconds of delay to compensate for bandwidth.

[@RylandRussell]

Oh and Restream is great. Link in description.

[@richardbaker5486]

Been using Boxcast at our church for about a Month now. Would like to know the best settings for the Spark. We haven’t dropped or lost Streaming which is awesome the BoxFlow is great. Streaming can seem alittle grainy not sure why, any advice??

[@RylandRussell]

@@richardbaker5486 we use 8000 kbps for video and 256 for audio.

[@richardbaker5486]

Okay I’m at rookie at this I see the highest kpbs on Boxcast is 900.

[@jjmmfi]

Vmix is free for churches.

[@RylandRussell]

Nice! I haven't used windows in 14 years so I can't say I have much experience with Vmix. That's great though. Here is a link where the state there is a "limited number" of free licenses available 😉 www.vmix.com/purchase/churches.aspx

[@fabian3265]

I’ve been using mix for many years now. I don’t think it’s free…. It’s very very cheap, just pay them to support them! ❤️

[@aaronwerner830]

@RylandRussell I use Resi for live streaming and to let you know we pay $317 for resi and push pay that 317 includes our ray encoder that we paying on for 2 years then our price goes back down to 275 a month

[@RylandRussell]

@@aaronwerner830 so you make payments on the encoder and eventually own it?

[@aaronwerner830]

@@RylandRussell yes. right now, we pay $317 for everything. Resi On-Demand Resi Live Streaming our Church App, giving, which has app giving text to give and giving on our website. and the ray encoder.

[@aaronwerner830]

@@RylandRussell yes that is correct