Retiring aging SDI cameras for a single-network NDI workflow — fewer operators, one cable per camera, everything we already own kept.
Prepared by Fred Book · Niantic Books AI churchav.nianticbooks.com
Where we are today
2× JVC SDI cameras — manned, sensors wearing out
2× Blackmagic Studio Micro 4K — fixed wide shots
ATEM 1 M/E — does all switching & macros
ATEM Mini — separate box just to stream
ProPresenter on a Mac Mini — lyrics/slides
Dante — audio on its own dedicated network
Sanctuary Video Upgrade · Today
Why now
Hardware is dying
The JVC camera sensors are degrading. This isn't optional maintenance — the picture is on a clock.
Two boxes, three people
An M/E and a Mini, plus a camera operator per camera. Hard to staff every service.
Aging backbone
Point-to-point SDI. Every new source is another coax run and another input on the switcher.
The goal: fewer moving parts, fewer operators, and a backbone that grows over the network we already have — without throwing away the PC, the Mac, the audio system, or the screens.
Sanctuary Video Upgrade · Why now
What we considered — and ruled out
✗ FoMaKo KC800 all-in-one
An attractive one-box switcher + PTZ controller + streamer. But its video inputs are HDMI-only — it cannot take camera video over the network.
Only 4 inputs — 3 cameras + slides fills it; no room to grow
Long HDMI runs need extenders — the exact problem we're trying to leave
No FoMaKo switcher ingests NDI video (verified across their line)
✓ NDI over one network
Cameras send video and receive control over a single Cat6 run each. The switcher is software on the PC we already own.
One cable per camera — power, video, control
Unlimited inputs; grows without new hardware
Manual joystick control — AI tracking optional, per-camera on demand
Being honest about the box we didn't buy is how we know the one we did buy is right.
Sanctuary Video Upgrade · Options
The proposed workflow
Every camera home-runs one Cat6 to the switch: PoE power, NDI video out, joystick control in. The PC pulls all feeds, keys the lyrics, and streams.
Sanctuary Video Upgrade · Workflow
The idea that makes it work
Camera control and camera video are two independent lanes on the same network. They never touch each other.
Control lane
KC608 joystick → cameras. You physically drive pan / tilt / zoom, recall presets, pick shots — manual by default. AI tracking is a per-camera toggle: flip it on for a roaming speaker on one camera while you hand-run the others.
Video lane
Cameras → vMix. The same cameras stream NDI video straight to the PC, completely independent of where you point them. vMix just receives clean feeds.
Because they're separate, the controller can never crash the switcher and the switcher never fights the joystick. This is why the whole rig stays calm during a live service.
Sanctuary Video Upgrade · Control vs Video
Two outputs, two jobs
Internet stream
Live camera cut with lyrics keyed over the video (alpha lower-thirds) → YouTube and Facebook at once.
In-house screens
Plain full-screen lyrics for the congregation — or a live camera shot (IMAG) when wanted — sent over NDI from the switcher into the screen controller.
Note: the switcher owns both outputs, so the house can show a live shot — not just lyrics. Independent outputs need vMix 4K (or OBS with a second-output workaround).
Sanctuary Video Upgrade · Outputs
What we keep · what we retire
✓ Keep & reuse ($0)
Ryzen Windows 11 PC — becomes the vMix switcher
Mac Mini + ProPresenter — now feeds NDI
Dante audio system & board — untouched
In-house screens
ATEM 1 M/E — kept as an emergency fallback
✗ Retire
2× JVC SDI cameras (failing sensors)
2× Blackmagic wides (SDI, static)
ATEM Mini (vMix streams instead)
SDI cabling to the camera positions
We replace the cameras and the plumbing — not the brains, the audio, or the screens.
Sanctuary Video Upgrade · Keep/Retire
Estimated cost
Item
Cost
K20UH×3 + KC608 Pro bundle (NDI)
$1,519
vMix 4K license (lifetime)
$700
Dante Virtual Soundcard
$50
Core total
≈ $2,269
On-hand / reused ($0): Ubiquiti PoE switch, 2nd NIC, Ryzen PC, Mac + ProPresenter, Dante, screens. In-house feed → NDI into the existing screen controller (no decoder; else NDI→HDMI ~$299). Controller: KC608 bundle $1,519 vs KC800 bundle $1,845.56 (+$327, an unused HDMI switcher). Save $700 with OBS vs vMix 4K. Prices July 2026, confirmed.
Sanctuary Video Upgrade · Cost
Grows without a rebuild
+ Cameras
Add another K20UH ($449) — plug in one Cat6. vMix sees it instantly. No new switcher.
+ Guest HDMI
A laptop or extra source? One Magewell HDMI→NDI encoder ($399) puts anything on the network.
+ Recording / SRT
vMix already records and can push extra destinations — nothing else to buy.
Everything new joins over the network. The backbone we lay now is the last one we lay.