A field-tested runbook for streaming live school and community events with prosumer gear: a Sony PXW-X70, an OBS Studio machine, and either a StarTech USB3HDCAP capture card or a Blackmagic ATEM Mini switcher, with audio taken off a Zoom H5 recorder acting as a USB audio interface.
I wrote this because every time our volunteer AV crew streamed an event, the same three things broke: no audio, two capture paths configured the wrong way round, and nobody remembering which button on the ATEM was live. So I documented it once, properly, and handed it to the next person.
Most streaming tutorials online assume one camera, one USB mic and a YouTube account. Real venue streaming has a different set of problems:
- The camera outputs clean HDMI but no usable audio over HDMI on this capture path
- Two different capture paths (card vs. switcher) need completely different OBS setups
- Lavalier and camera-mounted mics need different signal chains for different event types
- The person running it next week is a volunteer who has never opened OBS
So this repo is a runbook, not a tutorial: numbered steps, known failure modes, and the exact setting that fixes each one.
| Doc | What it covers |
|---|---|
| docs/01-hardware-and-software.md | Full gear list and every download link |
| docs/02-capture-card-path.md | Wired streaming via StarTech USB3HDCAP |
| docs/03-atem-mini-path.md | Multi-camera streaming via Blackmagic ATEM Mini |
| docs/04-audio-lavalier.md | Wireless lavalier chain (speeches, prize-givings) |
| docs/05-audio-camera-mic.md | Camera-mounted mic chain (music, general events) |
| docs/06-obs-configuration.md | End-to-end OBS scene and audio setup |
| docs/07-troubleshooting.md | Every failure I hit, and the fix |
- Power the capture device and connect it to the streaming laptop before opening OBS.
- Open OBS → create a Scene → add a Video Capture Device source.
- StarTech: open Configure Video, cycle inputs, land on HDMI, close.
- ATEM Mini: no configuration needed, it presents as a single webcam-style device.
- Connect camera(s) by HDMI. You now have picture and no sound — this is expected.
- Plug the Zoom H5 into the laptop by USB, power-cycle it until the USB menu appears, choose Audio Interface → Stereo.
- Add an Audio Input Capture source in OBS for the H5. Mute everything else.
- Single mic? Advanced Audio Properties → tick Mono on that source.
- Check levels, then go live.
- Zoom H5 input 1 only. Input 2 is fine for a second mic, but never patch a phantom-powered transmitter into it while input 2's channel button is unlit — you can damage the input.
- Track buttons 1 and 2 must be lit red; L/R must be unlit. This is the single most common cause of "OBS sees the H5 but there's no audio."
- On the ATEM Mini, red = live to OBS, green = preview to the HDMI out monitor.
CUTswaps them. Only the red source reaches the stream. - The ATEM Mini accepts four HDMI inputs but this workflow was only ever verified with two. Treat inputs 3 and 4 as untested.
- Do a full dry run with real audio the day before. Every failure in docs/07-troubleshooting.md was found during an event, not before one.
Signal-chain troubleshooting, technical writing for non-technical operators, A/V hardware integration, OBS Studio configuration, and documentation that survives handover.
MIT — take it, adapt it for your own venue.