Sound and video in church

 I am very close to having a complete video recording setup in our church in Gran Canaria. 

Why has it taken so long?

I started recording services in November 2025 in sound only using my phone close to the lectern. But sound from the altar was too far away to pick up. I tried putting a second phone on the altar to record the sound there, but the job of synchronsing the two in my editor was a nightmare. 

Firstly I was using Adobre Premier Elements on my main computer but I couldn't load it onto my laptop due to the fact that Adobe wants subscriptions these days -too expensive. So, I looked around and now I use Pinnacle Studio Ultimate which I bought for €95 and I shared the cost with the church.

Since the church gave me approval for my quotation, I have bought various items such as cameras and a video mixer. The latter was a disaster! It had a noisy fan so I sen it back. Fortunately most of what I have bought is from Amazon and they have a very generous returns policy. Unfortunately, being in Gran Canaria means that there is a huge delay in receiving shipments from the Peninsula. I can use OBS Studio as a vision mixer, so I saved the church €280!

Since Novemeber 2025, I have been recording services, sometimes in video (imperfectly), sometimes in sound. And they are all available on the website.

So, despite my experience in sound (most of which dates back to a different epoch) I have been re-learning what one can do these days.

Another dilema was from where to shoot the video and operate the equipment without distracting people. On the right there is power,  but two friends also occupy the pew. On the left is no power, so I am having to make everything battery-operated. And the left-hand pew is always empty. Waiting for me!

Another dilema was whether to make it part of the church sound reinforcement system. After all, there are microphones in the two vital locations: the lectern and the mobile altar. I decided, no. The requirements of each system are different.

I am nearly there! This week, I received a cute little audio mixer and two more C2 microphones. The setup will be:

My laptop running OBS Studio (which is a free app to enable streaming or recording a service.)

Three cameras, UBS connected to OBS Studio. One, with a screen, for the lectern but pannable by me if required. Two fixed cameras (very small - no screen), one for the altar and one in the pulpit for an overall view. I plan to have a pair of C2 microphones in the pulpit to give a nice stereo ambient sound. 

The Behringer audio mixer with UBS digital output which feeds into OBS Studio. 

 

 I will record the services "as live", so there will be no need for editing afterwards. And, if I want to stream services - that is easy too with OBS Studio.

Because there is no power on the left-hand pew, I have ordered an 18v battery for the mixer from Worten, which should arrive this week.

So... don't hold your breath, but we are nearly there!