I am researching a way to create a better on line streaming service for our church and came across VMix. It looks great but I am not sure if it will work. Is there anyone who can chat and answer a bunch of "dumb" questions for me? I can email or text. Email will be best to start butI need to actually talk with someone who uses the software and knows some of the ins and outs. Thank you
Basics:
Is it worth the price?
How many ptz cameras can you control with the upper level version of the software
Can this be operated by one person who controls the cameras and is in charge of lyrics and bible verses that go up on screen.
can the screens be operated and still create a streaming event where we can move back and forth between the pastor/musicians on stage and the words/lyrics/verses on the side screens?
how easily are the ptz cameras operated?
is it best to use two screen (using and extension screen from the laptop)?

just a start to the millions of questions. I used to (before being retired) teach broadcasting in a school where we used tricaster software and I kept over 8 students active per broadcast. our church is not able to have that capability besides we do not have the volunteer staff to run such a production. we are lucky to have two personnel for a service but mostly just one.

Looking for help and ideas. Thank you all
gary
goconnor4@gmail.com

Answers!

Price? I think it's an absolute bargain for what vMix can do. I have several Pro licenses/computers - all together still much cheaper than one TC2Elite and much more capable.

PTZ? The 4k, Pro, and Max versions can conceivably control up to 1,000 cameras, the limit of inputs in vMix. They would need to be IP based control, as serial control is limited to 7 I believe, at least in one serial chain. I use 8 IP based PTZs with no problem. I believe the computer power to process the total number of cameras will limit you long before the control will. All of that being said, I prefer to have camera operators completely outside of vMix control. They use specific control surfaces to make camera shot position changes. Sometime I have one human/surface per camera, other times one human/surface may control up to 4 camera heads, but I draw the line there. Every show has its own needs and we change accordingly.

Control of vMix depends solely on the skill level of the operator. Some do the one man band thing quite well, others not so much. Having hardware like a switcher panel or stream deck helps immensely. Automating is a must for a one person show. Until you are in the higher skill level set, splitting the workload is highly recommended, and the way lots of groups operate even with non-skilled personnel.

I run a 3 screen desktop on my system, vmix show in 1, audio/scripts in another, and the 3rd shares any other windows I might want to see and doubles as a full screen output view. My system can generate up to 6 outputs for content, so feeding a live stream and 2 screens each with unique content would be no trouble.

as for your last question, you can use anything you want to generate any kind of content. it's just a matter of presenting it as an input to vMix, after which can be directed anywhere you might need it. Whether it be a direct connection, a screen capture from another computer, or other means of signal vMix doesn't care where it comes from.

overall vMix is an incredibly capable platform once you have proper hardware underneath it and learn how to use it. plenty of online tutorials, or people that will even give you one on one instruction. good luck which ever way you go.

I'm unfamiliar with MediaShout, so I looked it up.

This is their help article for OBS--the "how" will be different, but the "what" still applies.

Their suggestion in that article is to use 2 machines, one solely running MediaShout, but say that you can use a desktop capture system.

Another thing you might be able to do, depending on which MediaShout features you use & how you use them, would be to drop MediaShout entirely & create a similar product entirely within vMix, using custom designed titles and a spreadsheet.

You also mentioned switching to PowerPoint, which is another option, as you can use PowerPoint natively within vMix as well.

So you do have options, including sticking with MediaShout, but it would be more complicated--with any third party streaming software, not just vMix, as it's not integrated, like some options are.