The reality is that streaming to mobile devices is a no brainer with Ustream.tv. There is nothing to build or code, just plug and play. So there are not secret recipes here, I’ll just list out the work flow we have going and you can tweak it to your needs.

Here’s the signal flow:

Auditorium a/v feed > TriCaster Studio (switcher) > Canopus ADVC 110 > iMac > Flash Media Live Encoder > Ustream broadcast interface > Ustream Viewer

Our main feed for the live page of our internet campus gets encoded and fed to Limelight Networks from the TriCaster. There are two analogue outputs on the unit and we send one of them to the ADVC 110 which converts it to digital and interfaces with the iMac via firewire.

Flash Media Live Encoder is a free download and will recognize a camera or in this case the ADVC 110 hooked up via firewire. If you were going to livestream with one camera or come straight out of your IMAG switcher this would be the same setup you would use.

If you have livestreamed using FMLE with Livestream.com or other SMSP there is a slightly different workflow with Ustream in that you have to also use the Ustream broadcast control panel. To do this, you go into the advanced settings for your show and download the XML file for it. Then open this file in FMLE. This is nice because you don’t have to worry about getting long RTMP URLs correct. We tweak the settings to make it widescreen at this point. Once you’re set, fire off the feed and then launch the Ustream broadcast control panel. iPhone note: encode h.264 using AAC audio otherwise iPhones won’t work.

UPDATE: Here’s a screen shot of the FMLE settings we use. Except the source is the ADVC 110 rather than the iSight.

This is important, FMLE must be up and running before launching the Ustream controls (which you launch by clicking the ‘broadcast now’ button). At that point you click the button to make it live.

Like I said before this is counter intuitive if you have used FMLE before, because in most cases it’s all you need. I believe Ustream does this for monetization since the control panel contains ads.

That’s it on your end. Users need to install the Ustream Viewer app from the Android Market or the iPhone App Store. From there, they can search for your feed to watch it. Not the best workflow for discoverability …but it’s FREE!

Let us know how that works out for you.

Click on the graphic to see it full size.

Looking at the stats for May of 2010 you can see that iPhone represents the overwhelming majority of mobile phone connections to Gateway Church’s website st 6 to 1 over Android. Blackberry also ran at just below 200 visits. I’m interested to see how this changes over the rest of the year as Android continues to rise in adoption and sales.

I put this poll up over at ChurchCrunch.com to see what other churches are doing, I’ll break down the results in a day or so. Head over to ChurchCrunch, vote and leave a comment while you’re at it.

Chat Highlights:

I miss my church (Gateway ) sooo much. Thank you for having this service for those of us that can’t be there. Without Gateway I feel so lost. Thanks for keeping me grounded and having this service online for us.

what a powerful message…I know the Lord is working in so many lives (mine included) thanks to the love and acceptance offered at Gateway!

Man, sometimes you hear messsges that just cut right to the bone. Thank you, God!

This is my first time attending the internet campus as I’m usually there, I must admit, it speaks volumes to the great ministries this church offers for wherever you are in Christ

I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect lesson for me today and I’m sure I’m not the only one

just back from “in person” service…gonna watch the live stream again…awesome message

“Wow, I have been living abroad for the past few years, and using that as an excuse to lose my faith. This is great that I can hear such a useful message in my own language. Thank you! From Helsinki, Finland.”

“Man this is so great! I feel like im right there in the middle of it all! And I;m singing along right here in my house!”

“This is an awesome idea… I am not feeling well and was sad that i was going to miss church then I remembered this live feed had started and I rejoiced”

“I like my home church and love my church family, but it looks like I will forever be a part of Gateway. Today our church is closed because of icy roads. I thank you for your ministry online”

“I’ve let anger and hurt to take over lately and boy have I gone astray. Thank you LORD for showing me clearly what I have been doing.”

“awesome, awesome, awesome! yet another way you guys are reaching out to ensure the relationship with God. it not about where you are, but that He is with you where you’re at.
YES!”

“LOVE the online experience!! Thanks Vince and team for getting this going and offering yet another way to experience God’s word and the great leadership of Gateway.”

“I wouldn’t have attended any service this morning. Thank-you.”

“joining online because i just had foot surgery and can’t make it in today. perfect timing for this launching if you ask me”

“I sense something profound has happened today! This could not have been easy, all the work that went into this was worth it.”

“Glad to see the whole Gateway experience go to the net. I have moved a little over 1 hour north and rarely get there, but going to gateway makes it hard to go to other churches.”

“there is an amazing anointing with this church model – a true sense of community, which is so difficult to truly get, virtually. i really felt like I was standing in a room bumping shoulders with bunch of people. thank you guys!”

“Ironic: I just shushed my 3 year old so I could hear John talking about not paying attention to his 3 year old. Whoops!”

With that said, it was a huge success. We saw visitor from seven countries outside of North America and we had some great chat going on during the experience.

I can’t wait to launch on January 17th!

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