About Funeral Live Streaming and FAQ
Mark recognised a profound need for families and friends to stay connected during the most challenging times, regardless of the distances that separate them. The mission is to ensure that no one misses the opportunity to bid farewell and celebrate the life of their loved ones, providing a bridge for those who cannot be there in person. With a compassionate approach and state-of-the-art technology, we bring people together to share in moments of remembrance, making every service accessible and meaningful.
What is a funeral live stream?
It is a live broadcast of the funeral taking place, which can be viewed at any location where there is internet. Read more on the benefits of live streaming a funeral.
We are content with achieving 5 connections and a bitrate of approximately 7 Mbps for optimal streaming quality. To ensure the funeral is live-streamed in full HD, a strong and stable connection is crucial. We achieve this by bonding our network mobile broadband SIM cards with the venue’s broadband WiFi, thereby enhancing the reliability and stability of the internet connection during the broadcast.
Will it be a distraction?
Concerns about live streaming being a distraction during a funeral service are understandable, but rest assured that it is handled with great care. There is no visible use of computers; instead, small and discreet cameras and microphones are used. Sometimes, the person managing the live stream even operates from a balcony or another out-of-the-way spot to ensure minimal presence. This setup ensures that the focus remains entirely on the service, allowing those attending in person to participate without interruption, while also providing a respectful way for remote participants to join in.
What if there is no connectivity?
We always request that guests turn off their phones or put them in airplane mode. It often helps to improve the bitrate.
In some locations there might not be network coverage and the venue wifi might be too weak to broadcast the quality we are aiming for. Thick stone walls, large crowds and rural locations can occasionally restrict the cell service we need.
Despite using bonded connections provided by LiveU TV, we can never guarantee that the broadcast will be successful. The event will be recorded in camera and is uploaded over the broadcast usually by the same evening.
How long does it take to set up?
Setting up a single-camera broadcast typically takes between 5 to 15 minutes, as it involves minimal equipment. We always allocate additional time for microphone setup to ensure optimal audio quality. For a two-camera stream, the setup is more complex due to the increased amount of equipment needed. This setup enhances the viewing experience by allowing us to switch between close-ups of speakers and broader overview shots, especially useful when attendees are standing.
To ensure everything runs smoothly, we aim to be on-site at least one hour before the broadcast commences for single-camera setups, or two hours prior for multi-camera setups.
Our Equipment
We use high-quality broadcast cameras with excellent lens quality, amazing auto-focus and zoom capabilities to capture every emotional detail.
Additionally, we bring a compact pocket camera to provide a bonus angle, enhancing the coverage and seamlessly integrating it into the master recording for a more complete and respectful viewing experience.
4G Network Bonding:
Our LiveU Solo Pro 4G bonded network modem/encoder is what enables us to do this work. We can use up to 4 network sim cards at a time in addition to the venue wifi connection to ensure that there is sufficient upload speed for a high quality video broadcast. We monitor the broadcast by mobile phone and use a second phone as back-up or if there is need to hotspot from it. If a clear HD cannot be achieved in a blackspot area, the master recording will be uploaded to the player as soon as possible.
We use two different types. The DJI Mics are good for recording audio at the same time as transmitting, in case there is magnetic interference. These mics are easier to put on the vicar and therefore preferred as they are held by just a magnet and clip with no wire involved. The wired lav mics are used in bigger venues where the speaker is farther away from the camera.
The portable device is for switching between our audio and video channels during the live broadcast.
Hosting the live stream
The webcast will be hosted on the Boxcast platform, which is much more reliable than YouTube and social media websites. The health of the stream can be monitored and the number of viewers tuning in can be seen. There will be a one minute delay in the stream due to the signal transmission and encoding.
Promising option of unlimited viewers, our record to date has been as many as 12,500 mourners watching a single broadcast.
Keepsake Recording
Two hours of editing is included on the same day of the event. We aim to have your master recording available to download by evening. This will be available for a month.
Booking Procedure
It is very easy to book. Pre-payment is made to hold the date. We stream only one event per day. Pay by cash, cheque or bank transfer.
Please give full details of what is required to receive an invoice. A link to the stream will be provided upon receipt of payment.
See privacy issues for those worried about the streaming being obtrusive.