Simple systems for church media teams
Slides, sound, video, livestream, and the workflow behind it all. Everything here comes from what we actually run at our church on Sunday, built so volunteers who don't do this for a living can run it without you standing over their shoulder.
Blackmagic ATEM Television Studio HD: Everything You Need to Know (2026 Update)
What I'd buy in 2026
This post is from 2021. The ATEM Television Studio HD is still a good, reliable switcher, and everything below still applies if you own one or find one used.
If you're buying today, I'd look at the ATEM Constellation ME1 or ME2 instead. Similar price range, better move now.
Two other things have changed since I wrote this.
On computers: the machines I recommend below are dated. Right now the two I'd actually consider are a used or refurbished M1 Mac Mini from 2020 at the cheap end, and the base model M4 Mac Mini a step up from that.
On streaming: I don't recommend running your stream out of software anymore if you can help it. We've run a hardware encoder for about five years and I've restarted it twice, maybe three times. Here's the full breakdown of why we switched.
Everything below is the original guide.
Everything You Need in Order to Use the Switcher
First off I want to go over EVERYTHING you actually need in order to use this switcher. And if you want mor...
