Many congregations have turned to platforms such as Zoom, Skype and Google Meet to continue online Bible classes. However, some members of your congregation may not have the technical skills to download an app or create an account to participate – they simply want to watch the Bible class on your website or social media platform the same way they watch your worship service.
The good news is that this is simple to accomplish with vMix.
Zoom to vMix
For the past two Sunday mornings, I have live streamed our adult Bible class – which meets via Zoom, to our congregation’s Facebook page and YouTube channel (the YouTube player is also embedded on our website.) You can see this past Sunday’s live stream here:
To do this, I need two computers – one for Zoom and the other for vMix.
The Zoom computer can be either Windows or Mac. It needs the Zoom app and a free app from vMix called vMix Desktop Capture. This app allows the computer to send video and audio over your internal network via NDI, a revolutionary IP video transport technology.
Once your Zoom meeting is up and running, start the vMix Desktop Capture app.
Note: you may need to modify your Zoom computer’s audio settings to distribute audio from Zoom instead of the computer’s default microphone. On my Mac I use a program called Apowersoft Audio Recorder. This allows me to route Zoom audio instead of the default built-in microphone.
Your other computer needs to be a PC running vMix. You will simply add an NDI input, then select your first Zoom window (I sometimes see four Zoom windows) or Display #1. The audio will be embedded in the video signal.
You can see a detailed setup tutorial here.
At this point, your computer’s Zoom meeting is an active video / audio source in vMix, just like your cameras, microphones and other video and audio sources.
Some important notes:
- Your internal network needs to be strong. I recommend both computers be wired to a Gigabit network switch or router. If you do use WiFi, put the computers as close to the WiFi transceiver as possible.
- Make sure you also have a strong internet connection. This requires a decent amount of activity, both inbound and outbound.
- Test and test again. Don’t wait until 15 minutes before to try this.
- Have a plan B. As I learned years ago, plan A will fail someday because it’s live television. What is your backup plan?