Magewell has been in the business of making video capture devices for about eight years now. In that short time, they have become one of the most recognized brands in the video capture device companies in church A/V and streaming circles. Magewell has made it possible to make any HDMI or SDI device NDI capable with a browser configurable plug-n-play box. Magewell’s Pro Convert devices allow you to plug into a POE connection on one end and an HDMI/SDI input or output on the other end. NDI cannot get any simpler. There are several applications these devices can be used for in a house of worship. Let’s explore three ways you can use them to make your job easier.
Streaming
One of the primary uses of the Pro Convert is connecting a Camera or Video playback device to your streaming software without the need to use capture cards and HDMI/SDI cables to connect them to a computer. Maybe you have a camera that needs to be brought into EasyWorship, and OBS or VMix at the same time. Converting the HDMI connection on your camera to NDI gives you the freedom to not only bring that camera into EasyWorship as a feed, but also stream it to the internet at the same time through OBS or VMix. Some of the Pro Convert models have loop out functionality. This means you can not only convert the video signal to NDI, but connect it to Monitor to see the output that is being sent out over NDI. Maybe you have a video switcher that you use for switching between multiple cameras and your Presentation computer. You can connect the switcher to the Pro Convert to get the content coming out of the switcher to your streaming encoder, and use the loop out to feed video distribution for front of house IMAG. There are tons of possibilities one of which is using Pro Convert for the stage.
Preaching
It has become customary in many churches to have a TV screen on stage for the pastor to use while preaching. Until now, you would have to run a SDI cable to that TV and most likely convert it to HDMI at the TV. This is a great solution, but with two Pro Convert devices you can also make this happen. Connect your front of house output to the HDMI in on the Pro Convert Encoder. Connect the loop out to your video distribution for your projectors. Connect the network cable to the Pro Convert Encoder. On the stage, connect the Pro Convert Decoder to the closest network jack, and connect the TV to the HDMI out on the Pro Convert Decoder. Set the decoder to receive the encoder’s NDI feed and you’re all set. You’re ready to send presentations to all the screens. This configuration can also be used for transmitting EasyWorship’s foldback (stage display) to other screens. A similar, but simpler implementation of the Pro Convert devices is for digital signage.
Signage
Let’s say you have a computer that controls multiple TVs throughout your building. You can load up EasyWorship on that computer. Then set the output to use the NDI output on EasyWorship. Connect a Pro Convert Decoder to each TV and plug it into the closest network port and set the NDI source. Now your TVs will be receiving presentations from one centralized computer. The EasyWorship presentation can be easily updated each week or daily to reflect the latest video and slide announcements. The cool thing is that you can select different NDI streams on each TV. Changing NDI inputs is as easy and pressing a button on the side of the box.
These powerful little boxes are great devices to have in your bag of tricks when it comes to making the magic happen in the tech booth. If you have the right tools and know how to use them, the possibilities are endless. Check out the full line of Pro Convert devices at http://mobilevideodevices.com/product-category/magewellproducts/ .
