Put a live camera on your screens
Add a camera, show its picture behind or in front of your lyrics, choose which screens display it, and switch between cameras smoothly.
On this page
A camera plugged into the presentation computer can go on your screens as a live feed: the stage on the back wall, a wide shot of the room in the lobby, a close-up during the sermon. ChristChant treats the camera as its own layer, so it sits with your lyrics, scripture and slides instead of replacing them.
Add a camera
- Plug in the camera, then open Settings and choose Camera.
- On the Sources tab, pick your camera under Add a source and add it. If it isn't listed, click the refresh button beside the list.
- The source marked MASTER is the one that goes on air.
Each source owns exactly one connected camera, and a camera that already has a source isn't offered again. To change which camera is on air, click Make master on another source. Use the arrows to reorder sources, or the bin to remove one.
Put it on screen
- Click Camera in the header at the top of the window.
- Switch it to ACTIVE. The button shows a live dot and the name of the master source.
- Under Target Screens, tick the screens that should show it. The congregation screen starts ticked.
Until you've added a source, the switch won't move. The panel says so and gives you an Add a camera source button that goes straight to Settings.
In front of your words, or behind them
In the same panel, Layering decides what sits on top.
- Content in front: lyrics, scripture and slides sit over the camera picture.
- Camera in front: the camera covers the content.
With the camera behind your words, turn on Dim behind lyrics (Settings, Camera, Image) to darken the picture so text stays readable. It has no effect when the camera is in front.
Tune the picture and sound
The other tabs under Settings, Camera shape what the screens receive.
| Tab | What you can set |
|---|---|
| Image | Mirror flips the picture horizontally. Fit chooses between filling the screen (cropping the edges) and showing the whole frame. Capture resolution and frame rate are here too; higher settings cost more CPU on every screen the camera is sent to. |
| Audio | Camera sound sends the camera's microphone to the screens with the picture. It's off by default, because a camera mic in a room that already has a PA tends to feed back. Choose the input, the one screen it plays on, and its level. |
| Switching | How the screens move between cameras when you change master: Fade, Cut (instant) or Dip to black, with the time in milliseconds. |
If something isn't working
My camera isn't in the list
Click the refresh button next to Add a source. If it still isn't there, check that your computer is allowed to use the camera: on Windows, Settings, Privacy & security, Camera; on a Mac, System Settings, Privacy & Security, Camera.
The Camera switch won't turn on
No camera source has been added yet. Click Add a camera source in the panel, or open Settings, Camera, and add one.
The camera is active but nothing shows
Open the Camera panel and check Target Screens. If no screen is ticked, the panel warns that the camera is active with no screen targeted.
Want the camera in your live stream? See Stream your service: NDI, SDI or go live directly.
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More in Streaming & cameras
- Send a screen out over SDI with a Blackmagic cardPlay any screen out of a Blackmagic DeckLink or UltraStudio port, with embedded audio and fill-and-key for a switcher.
- Choose what sound each NDI source carriesGive every NDI screen its own audio mix, so the stream gets the sound it needs and the room stays quiet.
- Stream your service: NDI, SDI or go live directlyThree ways to get your service out of the building: NDI over the network, SDI out of a Blackmagic card, or Direct Live straight to YouTube and Facebook.
- Stream to YouTube, Facebook and more at the same timeAdd extra destinations to Direct Live so the same picture and sound go out to several platforms from one encode.