How to livestream the service with lyrics on screen: OBS, ATEM and green screen

The easiest option is to send the livestream the same thing that's projected in the sanctuary. It works, but it has a cost: during the song, whoever is watching from home sees a full-screen slide and loses the people, the worship team and the preacher.

Television solved this years ago with the lower third: the text goes in a band at the bottom and the picture stays fully visible above. For a church, that means the online congregation can sing and feel part of the service.

• The camera is fully visible; the lyrics don't cover faces.
• Verses appear with their reference while the Bible is read.
• Announcements and videos can still go full screen when it makes sense.

A service with a livestream usually has three different audiences, and each one needs to see something different:

In AdoraSync all three come from the same live program. When the technician advances a slide, all three change at once; nobody has to copy lyrics into another program or sync anything by hand.

With OBS (the most common)

• A computer with OBS Studio and your camera connected (via USB or a capture card).
• The service program built, with the songs and readings.
• A stable internet connection for the livestream.

With an ATEM or another HDMI switcher

• A computer with a free HDMI output (or an adapter with several).
• A free input on the switcher to receive the lyrics.
• The cameras already connected to the switcher, as usual.

OBS can show a web page as if it were one more layer of the scene. That's the key: the broadcast output is a web page with a transparent background, so OBS only draws the lyric.

1. 1Open the live program and tap Outputs.
2. 2In Fixed link for OBS, copy the Broadcast link. That link always shows whichever program is live, so you set it up only once.
3. 3In OBS, in the camera scene, add a Browser source, paste the link and use 1920 × 1080.
4. 4Leave the browser source above the camera. You don't need filters or color keys.

Optional: let OBS switch scenes on its own

If you have a wider shot scene for songs, OBS can switch to it automatically when there's a lyric on air and go back to the normal scene afterwards. Turn it on in Outputs › Switch scenes in OBS, with the WebSocket server built into OBS.

An HDMI switcher doesn't understand transparency: it receives a full image. That's why the lyric is sent on a solid-color background, and the switcher "cuts out" that color with a key.

1. 1Connect an HDMI output from the computer to a free input on the ATEM.
2. 2In Outputs, on the Broadcast card, choose that screen and tap Open. It opens full screen on the HDMI.
3. 3Leave the background on Automatic (black over HDMI).
4. 4On the ATEM, turn on an upstream key of type Luma with that input. The black disappears and only the white lyric remains.

It's the most common question, and the answer depends on how you key the lyrics:

The Automatic background chooses for you: transparent when the output is inside OBS and black on any other screen. If you need green, change it in Outputs › Broadcast › Background › Green.

Not everything projected in the sanctuary makes sense on the livestream. That's why the output has ready-made modes:

• Lyrics below: songs and Bible in the bottom band; announcements and videos full screen. It's the recommended starting point.
• Lyrics only: songs and Bible at the bottom; the rest of the time the camera stays clean.
• Mirror: the same as the sanctuary, for those who prefer to stream the screen as it is.
• Customize: you decide for each type of content whether it goes at the bottom, full screen or isn't sent.

The choice is saved for the whole church, so the next technician finds everything the same.

• Duplicated audio or echo. If the lyrics page plays the sound of the videos, the livestream hears it twice. The broadcast output is always muted; the audio comes from the sound desk.
• Lyric too large. A full-screen verse covers the camera. In the lower third the size adjusts on its own to fit in the band.
• Changing the link every Sunday. Use the fixed link: it shows whichever program is live and waits if it hasn't started yet.
• Green that doesn't key well. If the chroma key leaves edges, try the black background with a luma key or the transparent one in OBS.

1. 1Open the live program and tap Outputs.
2. 2Check that Main screen, Stage display and Broadcast say Connected.
3. 3Advance a test slide and look at the OBS or switcher preview.
4. 4Confirm that the livestream audio comes from the sound desk and not from the lyrics.