Screens and livestream

Going live on YouTube

PraiseAV can livestream the service itself: the congregation screen (the camera with the words, or the slides) and the sound desk's sound, straight to YouTube. No ATEM, and no other program to learn.

Once: the stream key

1. In YouTube Studio, click Create › Go live, then Stream.
   • The very first time, YouTube may ask you to confirm your channel, and it can take up to a day before live streaming is switched on.
2. Copy the Stream key with the copy button beside it, in the main (left) panel. If YouTube shows a second, Vertical key on the right (its Dual stream for Shorts), don't use that one: the stream would go to the vertical version and the main one would say No data.
3. In PraiseAV, click ◉ Go live at the top, paste the key into Stream key, and click Save.

The key is kept on this computer, protected by Windows, and is only ever sent to YouTube. Keep it private: anyone with it can stream to your channel. If it ever gets out, click Reset beside it in YouTube Studio and paste the new one into PraiseAV.

Finding your way round YouTube Studio

YouTube uses a few words of its own, and moves things round now and then:

• Encoder (or streaming software) means the program sending the video: that's PraiseAV. Nothing to install. If YouTube asks you to choose one, pick Other, or leave it as it is.
• Stream key: under the preview, beside Key:. Use the copy button (two squares) beside it. A key you keep using each week (the default one, or one you've named) is best.
• Who can see it (Visibility, or Privacy): click Edit beside the stream's title at the top of the page (sometimes a pencil, or in the ⋮ menu), then choose Private (only you), Unlisted (only people with the link) or Public. For a first try, choose Private.
• Can't find Edit? In Create › Go live, choose Schedule stream instead: its steps ask for the visibility as you go, and the broadcast waits for PraiseAV on Sunday.
• No data next to the preview just means PraiseAV isn't sending yet. It changes a few seconds after you click ● Go live now, then Preparing stream for up to half a minute, then the picture.
• Dual stream (under Stream settings: a vertical version for Shorts) can stay on. PraiseAV sends YouTube exactly the picture shape it expects, so both versions work. (Older versions of PraiseAV could sit on Preparing stream with it on.)
• Each time can be a new broadcast. When the last one has finished, YouTube starts a new one for the next stream, with its own settings: check Visibility each time, or set it up once with Schedule stream for Sunday.
• Which key is in use: the Key: box above the preview chooses which of your keys this broadcast listens to. It must be the same key that's in PraiseAV: if YouTube says No data while PraiseAV says ● LIVE, choose your other key there (for example Default stream key).
• Visibility is also shown in Content › Live. Check it there too: it's the one YouTube actually uses.

On Sunday

1. Click ◉ Go live.
2. Check Sound from is the sound desk's input, and the meter moves when someone speaks or sings.
3. Choose the picture quality to suit the church's internet:
   • Best: 1080p, the usual choice, and the best for people watching it back later (about 8 Mbps upload: most fibre broadband has that).
   • Good: 720p if the button often says · slow internet at 1080p (about 4 Mbps upload).
   • Slow internet: 480p if it still struggles (about 2 Mbps upload). Not sure? Start at 1080p. If the internet couldn't keep up, PraiseAV says so when the stream ends, and suggests the next one down.
4. Leave Also save a recording on this computer ticked, for a copy to keep (and to upload again if the stream had trouble). That copy is always full 1080p, even when the stream is smaller. It's saved in the recordings folder shown below the tick (see Where recordings go).
5. Click ● Go live now.

The button at the top turns red: ● LIVE and how long you've been live. What goes out is about 2 seconds behind the screen (PraiseAV sends it at a steady pace, as YouTube likes), and YouTube adds its own few seconds before viewers see it. Run the service as normal: whatever's on the congregation screen goes out, with the camera and words if Live video is on, or the slides if not.

Congregation alerts never go out. A parent called from the crèche, or a scrolling notice, shows in the room but not on the livestream (or in its recording), so children's numbers stay private. See Congregation alerts.

To finish, click ● LIVE, then ■ Stop the livestream in the question below it (Keep going if you clicked by mistake; the stream carries on while it asks). If Also save a recording was ticked, the recording's message has Copy to USB stick.

If the internet struggles

• · slow internet on the button: the internet can't keep up, so a few pictures are being skipped to stay up to date. If it happens a lot, use a lower picture quality next time, or plug the computer into the router with a network cable (much better than Wi-Fi).
• · reconnecting…: the connection dropped. PraiseAV keeps trying by itself and carries on the same broadcast when it's back. You don't need to do anything.

Sound and picture in step

The sound is held back to match whichever camera is on screen, as for recordings. Measure each camera once: see Sound and picture in step.

Facebook and others

In Stream to, choose Facebook and paste the stream key from Facebook's Live Producer. For another service, choose Another service and paste its RTMP address (it starts with rtmp:// or rtmps://) and its stream key.

With an ATEM, or OBS

You don't need them for this, but PraiseAV still works with both: see Livestream and ATEM.