PraiseAV Help

Setups and hardware

Example setups

Every church is different, but most fit one of these. Start with the simplest that does what you need. You can always add to it later, and practice screens let you try a bigger setup before buying anything.

For what to buy, see Hardware.

1. One laptop and a projector

The simplest setup, and where most churches start.

You need: a laptop with an HDMI socket, an HDMI cable long enough to reach, and the projector or TV.

In PraiseAV: nothing to set up. The projector gets the congregation view by itself.

Good for: small churches, house churches, halls, a first try.

2. Add a screen for the preacher

The preacher sees their notes, the next slide, the clock and the timer on a TV at the back of the room.

You need: a laptop with two video outputs (usually HDMI and USB-C), a USB-C to HDMI adaptor, a TV (40 to 55 inch), and a long HDMI cable or an extender (see Hardware).

In PraiseAV: the second screen gets Preacher by itself. Check in Screens….

Good for: preachers who use notes, worship leaders who want the words without turning round.

3. Two front screens, a back wall TV, and a timer

A larger room with screens on both sides of the platform.

The two front projectors show the same thing, so a splitter feeds both from one output. Windows sees them as one screen.

You need: a desktop PC with a graphics card with three or four outputs, an HDMI splitter (1 in, 2 out), and extenders for the long runs.

In PraiseAV: in Screens…, give each output its job: Congregation, Preacher, Timer.

4. Livestreaming with an ATEM Mini

Viewers at home see the camera with the song words along the bottom. The ATEM Mini Pro streams straight to YouTube or Facebook, without a second computer.

You need: an ATEM Mini Pro, one or two cameras with HDMI out, HDMI cables, an Ethernet cable from the ATEM to the router, and an audio cable from the sound desk.

In PraiseAV:

  1. In Screens…, give the ATEM output the Livestream job, with a Black background.
  2. Click ATEM…, connect, choose Downstream key 1, and tick Turn the words on and off by themselves.
  3. On Sunday, press ● Go live at the top of PraiseAV.

Full steps: Livestream and ATEM.

5. Livestreaming on a budget with OBS

No ATEM: the free OBS Studio does the mixing on the same computer.

In PraiseAV: Screens… › Open a view in a window › Livestream, with a Green background. In OBS, add a Window capture of that window with a Chroma Key filter, above the camera.

You need: a more powerful computer (see Hardware), a capture device, and an audio interface.

Good for: trying a stream before buying an ATEM. A webcam works to start with.

6. A camera on the big screen, and an overflow room

In a large room, a camera on the preacher shown on the screens helps people at the back. An overflow hall or café gets the same picture on a TV.

In PraiseAV: open Live video, choose Capture device, and Words in a strip along the bottom. See Live video.

The overflow room needs the service’s sound too: a feed from the sound desk to a speaker there.

7. Cameras from donated phones, and a recording

No money for cameras or a livestream yet? A couple of old phones and the PraiseAV laptop.

In PraiseAV: add each phone with Live video › Phone camera › + Add a phone camera, then switch between them as needed. Press ● Record to save the service to a video file, and upload it to YouTube or Facebook afterwards. See Live video and Recording the service.

You need: old phones (any from the last few years), phone chargers and long cables, small phone tripods or clamps, and good Wi-Fi in the room.

8. Setting up at home

The AV volunteer can set everything up at home, with no church equipment.

  1. In Screens…, click Open practice screens to see every view side by side.
  2. Make the themes, alert groups and logo, and plan which screen does what.
  3. Save a Church setup to OneDrive or a USB stick, and open it on the church computer. See Church setup.

This is also how to show a church what PraiseAV can do before they’ve bought any screens.

Where to put the computer