“Mostly, it’s about advising churches to make sure that they have the right infrastructure in place in starting with their IT network since live streaming is so dependent on it, in addition to other crucial areas in audio, lighting, and video.”įor churches new to livestreaming, Porter recommends Blackmagic ATEM Mini-series of products because they are high-quality production mixers and can easily embed video and audio to stream direct to Facebook Live or YouTube,įor churches that are just starting out, internet-based tools like Restream.io let you send a livestream to several online streaming services, including social media, and now offer their own web player to use. ![]() “When I started at Harvest as a volunteer, I came with a technology background,” revealed Porterfield. At the beginning of the pandemic, the first question Porterfield would get from churches was, “What should we go buy?” Porterfield was more concerned whether the church had the people and resources in place to put together a production, or to modify their current environment to produce a higher quality broadcast. Since most churches don’t have a support staff to produce a livestream broadcast, they rely on volunteers. Post-pandemic, I think most churches are working to fine-tune what was pulled together during the pandemic and transition everything to a more structured livestreaming platform.” At Harvest, we had a plan in place, and we were fortunate that we already had a basic setup to support a fully online church and playback for live simulated live services for the church. “It was like the wild west, trying to get cameras, audio and PCs – whatever you needed to try and produce something. “When the pandemic hit, it changed the whole format structure of going completely online, which forced even the smaller churches to adopt a livestreaming solution for their environment,” explained Porterfield. Large churches such as Harvest, had some form of a livestreaming production workflow, as well as people resources to help support a weekly broadcast, or an important event. Most small churches do not have a livestreaming solution in place due to lack of in-house expertise, budget constraints, and the simple fact that their congregation was already inside the church, so streaming wasn’t as essential before the pandemic. ![]() He also posts videos on his YouTube channel, JP’sChalkTalks, where he covers the livestreaming industry and hosts conversations with industry leaders.Īccording to Porterfield, livestreaming for churches is divided into three areas – small, medium, and large congregations. In 2014, he founded Social180Group to help create and deliver unique digital experiences in managed production services for livestreaming, which includes internet-based cloud technologies for video mixing and multi-streaming solutions. This led to an opportunity for Porterfield to work with other churches as an advisor/integrator for livestreaming and specialized services. At Harvest, which has three main campuses (Riverside, Orange County, Maui), he worked on multiple multi-stream broadcasts per week, campus to campus streaming, and major events. ![]() A Webcast Producer and Tech Streaming Specialist, John Porterfield has been working in the livestreaming industry for eight years and started in the field as a volunteer at his local church, Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, CA. They were able to reach people outside of their local area, as well as reconnect with former members who moved to a different location. During the pandemic, congregations were unable to get together but many churches were able to grow their audience through livestreaming.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |