You’ve probably seen some of the mega-churches broadcasting their worship services and wished you could do the same. For years, I wondered if we would ever be able to afford the technology ourselves.
As a church of 200 or so, it didn’t seem possible until we stumbled onto Mevo, an out of the box option that makes it easy to broadcast just about anything.
How It Works
The Mevo camera is small–about the size of a baseball. It connects to your wifi signal and to your phone, which enables you to stream video to Facebook and Youtube (as well as other services).
If you want to take your production to the next level you can send the signal to LiveStream, Mevo’s software solution that allows you to create a professional production by integrating other cameras, graphics, and social media into the feed. The battery lasts about 1 hour and charges via USB. Additional add-ons are available that allow for 10 hours of battery life.
Automation Makes It Professional
The most amazing thing about Mevo is the automation that comes with the software. The camera is able to detect faces and make flawless transitions between people that are on stage. For example, if you have a 5 piece worship team on stage, the Mevo will figure out how many people are involved and cut back and forth between them, all the while including group shots throughout. It seems unbelievable but it looks really professional! See an example of this.
Mevo Is Affordable
The price is $399 at Amazon for the starter setup. Truthfully, this is all you need to go live. If you want to extend the battery life and add a few bells and whistles to your setup then you can grab the “Pro Bundle” which includes the power boost and a case.
Considering the cost of an average professional camera these days and anything less than $1,000 seems like a steal.
If you decide to stream your worship services live then check out Mevo. So far it’s been working great and we plan to unveil our streaming worship service in about a month. For the cost, I think it’s a no-brainer. Check on your internet connection, you’ll need at least 1.5Mpbs to broadcast in standard mode, and about twice that to broadcast in HD.