What recording settings should I choose for a church service?
Pick practical video settings for volunteer-led church recordings without overloading phones, storage, or upload bandwidth.
Before you start
- Make sure you are signed in to NodeCam on the phone you are using.
- Open the correct recording session before changing settings or recording.
- If you are working with volunteers, confirm who is the session owner and who is contributing a camera angle.
Steps
- For most services, start with 1920x1080 Full HD at 30 FPS.
- Use 1280x720 HD if phones are older, storage is tight, or upload speed is limited.
- Use 4K only when you need extra crop room and all phones support it.
- Choose H.264 for the safest compatibility with editors and volunteers.
- Choose HEVC only if your editing workflow supports it and you want smaller files.
- Use ProRes only on supported iPhones when you have plenty of storage and plan a professional edit.
- Keep MP4 for H.264 or HEVC. NodeCam switches ProRes sessions to MOV because ProRes requires it.
- Choose a bitrate from the options NodeCam shows for the selected resolution.
What to expect
- NodeCam only shows options your current device reports as supported.
- Some options, such as 60 FPS, 120 FPS, 4K, HEVC, Cinematic Mode, Apple Log, or ProRes, may not appear on every phone.
Common gotchas
- Higher quality creates larger files, longer transfers, more heat, and more battery drain.
- A mixed team should use settings supported by the least capable phone.
- For sermon and worship documentation, clean 1080p is usually easier than risky 4K.
If you still need help
Contact NodeCam support with your session name, device model, iOS version, and a screenshot of any warning or error message. Do not delete recordings until upload, export, or transfer has been verified.