What is the Best ATEM Mini Pro Live Stream Setup for Churches?

There are so many different video switchers out there to choose from. When it comes to building the right setup for your needs, figuring out which one is best for that purpose could be a challenge.

A lot of people recognize the Blackmagic Design name as being a premium brand in the video technology space. So, when you see the ATEM Mini line of video switchers, it might make you consider building your setup around one of those. If so, you probably want to know some creative ways to build your ATEM mini pro live stream setup.

The Best ATEM Mini Pro Live Stream Setup for Church

This is probably going to be relevant to anyone looking to build an ATEM-based streaming setup, but we’re going to focus on the house of worship use case specifically.

Which ATEM Should You Get?

There are basically four different types of 4-input ATEM Minis out there:

• The ATEM Mini
  • This is the original ATEM Mini, which is only a switcher.
• The ATEM Mini Pro
  • The ATEM Mini Pro and up include a built-in encoder, which enables the ATEM Mini Pro to both stream and record without the need of a computer.
• The ATEM Mini Pro ISO
  • The ISO version means each input can be recorded in isolation simultaneously. So, if you use all 4 inputs, you can record all 4 individual inputs at the same time.
• The ATEM Mini Pro SDI
  • This is the SDI-based version, which adds a couple of cool things we’ll talk about later.

How Many Cameras Do You Need?

This is a loaded question, because the obvious answer is, that you only need one. But the right answer is as many as possible: in the ATEM Mini Pro case, that means four. But, for churches, I would max out your cameras at 3, and here’s why: you need to save an input for a media player – like Pro Presenter.

Most churches utilize overhead screens for lyrics, sermon slides, and such. When the live stream can’t see those, it can often be frustrating. Consider when a speaker refers to something they are showing on their slides. If an online viewer can’t see what they are talking about, it can dampen their experience.

Most churches use Pro Presenter, which is the software we highly recommend, though there are many other alternatives. In this case, you should reserve one of the HDMI Outputs of the Pro Presenter machine to feed into the ATEM Mini Pro; even if that means using a splitter or HDMI distributor.

Then, I recommend at least two cameras. One camera can get you by, but it’s boring after a while. And if you have to move that camera (pan, title or zoom) it will feel really weird to the viewer. Having 2 cameras allows you to switch back and forth between angles. You can switch to Camera 1 while you reposition Camera 2, and vice versa.

In professional broadcasting, they are usually switching views every few seconds. Our attention span starts to wane when we look at the same thing for too long. In some movies, the view switches every 2-3 seconds. That is a bit extreme for church, but switching every 15-60 seconds is great, if possible.

Of course, if you have the budget for 3 cameras plus the Pro Presenter input, then we recommend maximizing the abilities of the ATEM Mini Pro.

What Kind of Cameras Do You Need?

For most kinds of broadcasting, I would say a mixture of static cameras and moveable cameras. If you have camera operators that won’t be in the way, you can’t match the value for the dollar that you can get from some cameras like the Canon or Sony lines – or Blackmagic’s Pocket Cinema or Studio camera lines.

For churches, there are additional considerations:

• Does the presence of a camera system intimidate people?
• Are the big tripods and camera operators in the way?
• Do you not have enough volunteers to operate every camera?

In these cases, using PTZ camera systems instead of static cameras is recommended. The great thing about PTZs is they mount to the wall, and really just disappear from anyone’s attention. They are very inconspicuous. You control them remotely, so the operator can be in the sound booth and not be an interruption or distraction. And, you can operate up to 255 of them with a single volunteer. That’s not a typo, a single joystick controller can really operate up to 255 cameras, though it’s probably never been done in a church setting.

Unless you have a large budget to purchase top-of-the-line PTZ camera systems from Sony or Panasonic ($10k + per camera), there are really two flavors of PTZ cameras to choose from in our opinion:

• PTZOptics
• BirdDog

We build pre-built streaming kits for both of these camera brands based on the ATEM Mini Pro.

Why Churches Should Not Use the ATEM Mini Pro

Now, I don’t want to start an argument. There are fans of the Pro, myself included. It’s a fantastic piece of hardware. But there are limitations in the church setting that make me want to recommend all churches upgrade to the ATEM Mini Extreme. At least, there were until the SDI versions were released.

Needing Headphone Monitoring

To monitor the audio going out to the stream, the ATEM Mini Pro kind of leaves you high and dry. There is no headphone output on the system. This can be fixed with a multiview monitor that has a headphone output. However, that can be cumbersome. Most churches that use the ATEM Mini Pro just monitor their audio from the house mixer. This method is fine if your sound engineer is savvy. If not, it can make your live stream audio sound pretty bad with no real direction how to fix it.

The ATEM Mini Extreme has a headphone port so you can easily hear exactly what the live stream is hearing.

Needing Multiple Video Outputs

The ATEM Mini Pro only has a single HDMI output, which you need for the multiview. For churches that want to send a video source to other screens as well as the live stream, the Pro is the limitation. The ATEM Mini Extreme features 2 HDMI outputs, meaning you can show any input or program on that additional output.

At our church, we use this to show our “confidence monitor” to the stage. Since we are a new church, we often lack a sufficient quantity of volunteers to run everything. This means, we’re sometimes doing our live stream production remotely and can’t see the screen to know for sure what’s going on. The 2nd output shows our program out (what the live stream sees) during these times. In other times, we simply show the Pro Presenter input on that second HDMI out. This allows those on stage to see the lyrics (confidence monitor) as they are singing, etc.

Needing More Cameras

If you want to scale beyond 3 cameras and a Pro Presenter input, the Pro will be maxed out. The ATEM Mini Extreme also features 8 total inputs in addition to the other advantages already named.

The SDI Version of the ATEM Mini Pro

The SDI version of the ATEM Min Pro features 4 SDI inputs and 2 SDI outputs. So, compared to the HDMI model, you get that additional output. However, you will need an SDI to HDMI converter to use with your normal tv screens and monitors. Screens with SDI inputs are often considered on the professional tier and can get pretty expensive. However, Blackmagic Design has SDi to HDMI converters for around $70, which makes it pretty easy and inexpensive to make the ATEM SDI work for you in those cases.

All of our PTZ streaming kits come with SDI capability. All the BirdDog PTZ and PTZOptics cameras have SDI outputs. So, if you’re going with an SDI version of the ATEM, you will only need converters for the monitor outputs.

What’s the Best ATEM Mini Pro Stream Setup

This is a subjective question. It really just depends on use case, and personal preference. However, I can show you which is one of our most popular ATEM Mini Pro streaming kits: The 3 camera PTZOptics kit.

Why? Because its good quality and affordable. You can check out all it includes here.

Do you have a special ATEM Mini Pro stream setup you would like to share with us? Send us some pictures or leave a comment and let us know!