In March 2009, Pastor Curtis Parker and Associate Pastor Allen Reid, both with Central Baptist Church from Kannapolis, NC, were searching fora way to stream their services LIVE and publish them on-demand on the Internet. They were currently recording their services on DVD for duplication with one camera, but they knew that with the Internet they could reach around the world and make it easy for anyone to watch. “After researching for months about LIVE Streaming Video, we thought that this avenue of ministry may be a few years away for us due to the financial cost and the technology needed, but we were introduced to Tech Werks EZcaster encoder and their program and in March of 2009, we knew this was the answer we were looking for,”said Senior Pastor, Curtis Parker. Several weeks later, Central Baptist Church ordered the EZcaster encoder and requested that Tech Werks assist with the installation and training on the EZcaster, the “SMART” on-line management software, camera operation, and other equipment operations.
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They were currently using one Sony DXC-537 camera with a M7 camera control unit. The video from the camera was already going through a video distribution amp to the DVD recorders and to their in-house video projection system. For audio, they split most of their microphones to a PA mix point and their TV/record mixing consoles, 2 - Yamaha O1V96s in a sound booth in the top of the balcony. Pastor Reid arranged for the installation and training with several members of the church. They already had a hard wire Internet connection available in the room. After unpacking the EZcaster and connecting the AC power and Internet, a new video cable was run from the second output of the M7 Camera control unit to the EZcaster. Two audio cables from the un-balanced output of the audio console to the EZcaster were also installed. At that point, installation was complete! That Sunday, the service was streamed LIVE. Over 20 graphics were added to the video using the EZcaster’s Auto Graphics feature. The LIVE video stream was played to the video projectors for the congregation. At the end of the service, they used the EZcaster’s Auto-Publish feature to instantly publish the service on their web site for on-demand playback. Central Baptist Church of Kannapolis, NC has now been streaming for 5 months and many of their ondemand videos have had over 500 hits. “The set up of the equipment is very simple and doesn’t take up a lot of space. We have numerous people who run the encoder including a 12 year old boy that said he wanted to help in this ministry for the Lord.” said Associate Pastor Allen Reid. The church has recently contracted with Tech Werks to upgrade their equipment adding 3 remote control cameras, a video switcher and intercom system. |
