Atem Mini Pro By Itself?

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Atem Mini Pro By Itself?

Galant

Hi, just found your website. What with COVID etc. our church has had to figure out an online streaming solution and we were able to get going with just a Logitech c920, OBS Studio on a laptop, and an upgraded internet connection! I'm the guy tasked with figuring these things out and we've decided to upgrade somewhat.

We're a small church (about 40 members), based in Europe (Gibraltar) and our building is a converted small house. Our main chapel area is maybe 40 feet long.

We're trying to upgrade on a budget, maybe around $2000-$2500.

Our sound is decent, we've got everything going through a soundboard which for now is sending to the laptop via USB, although it has jack and other audio connections out.

We've got a second, older laptop, running OpenLP for slides on a VGA projector which send a second stream over the network to the OBS laptop. I'm looking at upgrading the slide/presentation software too.

I've got access to an Olympus Pen F for a lower price than usual (My Dad's a photographer) and that can apparently provide HDMI output but no audio, but should give us a camera with decent image quality. It would be mounted statically.

I may look at a second DSLR or camcorder as well.

I'm thinking of re-purposing the OBS laptop (Windows 10, i5 8th Gen, 8GB RAM) as the presentation software laptop. Since I suspect a switcher/encoder solution would be better.

I'm trying to figure out the best budget solution. I was thinking something like an Atem Mini Pro might work as an all in one solution but I'm not sure about the inputs. Someone else said they combined an Atem with an AJA Helo encoder. I figure I'll need a jack or USB input for the audio, two camera inputs, and an input for the laptop with the presentation software. I'm not sure if the Pro could handle all that, or whether the extreme would be necessary, or if we'd really need a separate encoder. We want to stream to at least two locations, Facebook and Youtube, although we could go with a subscription to a CDN that handles the multiplatform transmission. Oh, and lately we've been socially distancing people and putting Youtube on a smart TV upstairs. A direct feed to that TV would be ideal but not sure if possible. Lastly, I assume the local video to the projector would be direct from the laptop still.

Sometimes we might want to record material also. This would be separate stuff, like promos etc. I suspect we could just do this via camera direct to OBS on the laptop, but perhaps to the Atem would be better quality?

I've been going round in circles trying to figure all this out and it's a bit overwhelming, so if anyone has any spare time to help me out with this and making a wise decision, that would be appreciated. In terms of budget we might be able to go a bit higher than I mentioned if it will make the difference. We don't want to get stuck in a false economy of ending up with something substandard that needs replacing very soon. We just also don't need some big luxury setup.

joelwsmith

Galant

Welcome to the community!

I believe we may have discussed some of this last week in the Church Sound & Media Techs group on Facebook, correct? The Olympus Pen F was the clue. 😄

I would encourage you to start here (First Things First) as you begin planning and deciding what you need to accomplish. It will help you prioritize everything and make sure you're investing time and money in the proper places.

With that said, it sounds like audio is not a big concern and you're already doing decently there. So next step would be lighting.

How is your lighting?

Galant

Hey! I didn't realise it was the same Joel!

I don't know how to review our lighting. We have a couple of small spots. It's a very small stage. In OBS I often have to reduce the exposure because the person at the front can be a bit washed out.

During the mornings things are brighter -
In the evenings the lights are lower -

joelwsmith

Galant

Yep! Looks like you're stuck with me. 😆

Thanks for posting those examples. That really helps.

Do you have windows in the room? I'm assuming that is why it's brighter during the morning vs the evening?

I can see in the second video (evening) that it does look a bit noisy and there appears to be some flicker. So I would definitely recommend working on the lighting a bit.

When you have a small room and stage like this, it often helps to use softer lights made for video rather than stage lighting, like larger light panels or softboxes. But the most important part is that you have bright enough lighting for video. That will be the biggest noticeable factor.

I would also recommend working on audio some. The loudness between worship and speaking is pretty drastic, so I would advise you to work on getting more consistent volume/loudness.

Ultimately, I would personally prefer to spend some money on good lighting and just start off with the Olympus Pen F and an ATEM Mini Pro (or ATEM Mini Extreme). The ATEM Mini Pro will give you everything you need to add graphics, record video, and stream directly from the unit without the need for any additional hardware or software. Doing this will free up some of your budget to work on a better overall live stream and recording.

Galant

Thanks!

We don't have windows that affect the lighting. It's just that in the morning they leave more lights on in the room and in the evening they leave it more subdued.

Maybe we can add a filter to the stage lights and soften them.

The audio goes through what I think is a decent soundboard but if someone isn't monitoring the sound levels then yes, the speakers end up much lower. We're going to be getting some better mics too. The ones we have need to be help pretty close to the mouth, and we have some people who'll keep them low down.

When you say the Atem Mini Pro will give what we need for graphics etc. not needing software, do you mean in place of something like ProPresenter or other slide/lyrics software, or in some other respect?

Do you have any recommendations for CDNs to stream to Youtube and Facebook at the same time (I don't think Atem can do that directly, can it?).

Also, if you were to buy a camera for this sort of setting, aiming for around the $650 mark, what would you opt for?

Thanks for all your help. This site, and you, are an incredible resource and blessing!

joelwsmith

Galant

Thanks for your patience.

We don't have windows that affect the lighting. It's just that in the morning they leave more lights on in the room and in the evening they leave it more subdued.

Good to know. That's going to take some trial and error to find the right balance of lighting that works well in person as well as for video. It's a bit tricky to make darker in-person lighting do well on camera.

Maybe we can add a filter to the stage lights and soften them.

Usually softening stage lights just makes the light less intense and spread out more, which is sometimes the opposite effect of what is desired. This will take some testing as well.

The audio goes through what I think is a decent soundboard but if someone isn't monitoring the sound levels then yes, the speakers end up much lower. We're going to be getting some better mics too. The ones we have need to be help pretty close to the mouth, and we have some people who'll keep them low down.

I would recommend having someone constantly monitoring audio levels and the audio mix. The dynamic range (or loudness) of audio on a live stream is much less forgiving than in person. You want your audio levels to all be around the same loudness so viewers don't have to constantly adjust their volume.

When you say the Atem Mini Pro will give what we need for graphics etc. not needing software, do you mean in place of something like ProPresenter or other slide/lyrics software, or in some other respect?

What I mean is that the ATEM Mini Pro is all you need when it comes to recording and live streaming. Lyrics/presentation will still need to be done with a computer, but that computer doesn't have to do any processing of the camera and live stream when you use the ATEM Mini Pro. This diagram may help you understand how all the pieces work together in a properly designed system:

Do you have any recommendations for CDNs to stream to Youtube and Facebook at the same time (I don't think Atem can do that directly, can it?).

Of course. Below is a link to my recommendations for CDNs. Correct, the ATEM Mini Pro can only stream to one destination, so you will need a third-party CDN/platform to take that single stream and send it to multiple destinations like YouTube and Facebook.

The Best Live Streaming Platforms

Also, if you were to buy a camera for this sort of setting, aiming for around the $650 mark, what would you opt for?

If you don't end up using the Olympus Pen F, then the only camera I recommend for less than $650 USD is going to be the Panasonic G7. You may also be able to get the Panasonic G85 in that budget range. Below is a link to my recommendations for those cameras:

Panasonic G7

Panasonic G85