Your first Sunday with ChurchTranslator

The big picture

ChurchTranslator listens to the same sound your congregation hears, translates it while the speaker talks, and sends captions and a translated voice to every phone that scans your QR code. Your part is getting a clean audio feed to one computer at the sound booth.

Before you start

You need:

• A ChurchTranslator account that can open the dashboard: the owner, or someone added on the Team members page.
• A computer at the sound booth that can stay on for the whole service (see the options below).
• A way to get the service audio into that computer. Step 2 explains the options.
• Internet at the booth. A wired connection is the safest choice.
• One or two phones and a pair of headphones for the listening test.
• A printer for the QR code.

And two decisions: the language your preacher speaks, and the language or languages your visitors need.

Set it up in seven steps

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   Step 1: Send a feed from the soundboard

   ChurchTranslator can only translate what it hears, so give it a clean feed of the voices you want translated.

   1. Pick a spare line-level output on the board: an aux or mix send, a matrix output, or a record (2-track) output.
   2. Put the speaking microphones in that mix: the pulpit or lectern mic, plus any others used for announcements, readings or prayer.
   3. Keep speech clearly louder than the band. Music doesn't need to be in this feed at all.
   4. Stereo or mono both work. If you pick more than one channel in the capture app, it combines them.
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   Step 2: Connect it to the booth computer

   Use whichever of these matches your setup:

   Analog board, or any spare output

   Run a cable from that output into a USB audio interface, and plug the interface into the computer. Install the maker's driver if it needs one.

   Digital board with USB audio

   Plug the board straight into the computer over USB. Its channels show up as an input device.

   Network audio

   For example Dante or SoundGrid: install and start the virtual soundcard on the booth computer, then pick the channels carrying the speaking mics.

   The computer already plays the service

   A livestream or video call? No cable needed: pick the computer's system audio in step 4. On a Mac this needs macOS 14.2 or newer.

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   Step 3: Install the capture app and sign in

   On the booth computer, sign in to the dashboard and open the Capture app page.

   MacWindows (beta)Browser Capture (beta)

   1. Click Download ChurchTranslator.AI.dmg.
   2. Open the downloaded file, drag ChurchTranslator.AI into Applications, and double-click it. If macOS asks whether you're sure you want to open it, click Open.
   3. When macOS asks for microphone access, click Allow.
   4. In the app, click Sign in with browser, sign in with the email you use for ChurchTranslator, then come back to the app. It now shows your church's name.
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   Step 4: Choose the audio input and check the meter

   MacWindows (beta)Browser Capture (beta)

   1. Open gear, then Settings…, then Audio.
   2. Under Input device, pick your interface or board. The computer's own sound is listed under System audio (loopback).
   3. A device with several channels shows a channel list with a meter on each row. Have someone talk at the pulpit, tick the channels whose meters move, and click Save (it reads Apply while you're streaming).
   4. With system audio, macOS asks for System Audio Recording permission the first time you press Start. Allow it. The meter stays still until you press Start.

   Check the meter

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   Step 5: Choose your languages

   In the dashboard, open the Languages page. It starts with the speaker's language, then your translated languages, with the engine and voice settings further down.

   1. Set the speaker's language under Sermon language (source). It saves as soon as you pick it and doesn't change your bill. Visitors who choose this language get captions of the speaker's own words.
   2. Pick the languages for your visitors. In the full list, click a language's name to turn it on or off. Where you see ▶, click it to hear a sample voice first.
   3. Save. A Pending changes card appears with how many languages are selected and whether your monthly price changes. Click Save languages. If you're over your plan's language limit, the card says so: remove a language, or upgrade your plan on the Billing page first.
   4. Check the result. The Currently enabled card lists the speaker's language, marked source · always on, and every translated language.

   Engine and voice. For your first Sunday, keep the engine your church already has. For most churches that's Natural Voice (V2) — Recommended. You can also pick Live Interpreter, which follows the speaker's own voice and tone. With Natural Voice or Live Interpreter, the Steady voice card offers one consistent voice for the whole service; leave it as it is for now. Some churches also see a Bilingual service or an Arabic card: leave those alone unless they apply to you.

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   Step 6: Rehearse with a headphone test

   Do this on a weekday with someone reading or preaching at the pulpit.

   1. Start. In the capture app, click Start streaming. The app's status bar reads “streaming”; in Browser Capture the status reads Live.
   2. Watch the dashboard. On the Sunday dashboard, the status card changes from Idle to Starting, and to Live once a phone or a caption screen opens a translated language.
   3. Open the listener page on a phone. Use the Welcome screen link under Listener URLs to share on the Sunday dashboard, the Direct listener URL on the Branding & QR page, or your QR code if you already have one. Under Choose a language, tap a translated language.
   4. Check the captions. They appear as the speaker talks and follow what's being said.
   5. Turn on the voice. Plug in headphones and tap the headphones button in the bar at the bottom. It's labelled in the language you picked (in English, listen, then listening). Audio stays off until a visitor taps it, so everyone starts with captions only.
   6. Try the speaker's own language with the globe button in the same bar. You should see captions, and the headphones button is greyed out: there's nothing to translate.
   7. Test a second phone on another language if you have one. The Live now card on the Sunday dashboard shows how many listeners are connected, and on which languages.
   8. Stop. Click Stop in the app (Stop streaming in Browser Capture). Streaming time counts toward your plan's hours, so always stop when you're done. The phone's status changes from Session live to Waiting.
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   Step 7: Print and post the QR code

   1. Optional, first: on the Branding & QR page, add your logo and tagline. Visitors see them on the Welcome screen.
   2. Scroll to QR & signage. From the Sunday dashboard you can also click Customize and print → next to Printable QR.
   3. Under Customize, set a Headline and Subhead or keep the suggested wording, then choose a Layout:
      • Poster (8.5×11) for the back of the room or the hallway;
      • Card (3×4) for bulletin inserts and handouts;
      • Pew strip (8×3), three per sheet, for the back of each pew;
      • Slide (16:9) for the projector or announcement loop: pick the languages to list, then Download light or Download dark.
   4. Click Print. To keep a copy, choose Save as PDF in your browser's print dialog.
   5. For bulletins, slides or your website, Download the QR code gives you a PNG image or an SVG (any size). Direct listener URL has a Copy URL button for email and social posts.
   6. Scan your printout with a phone before you post it. It should open your church's listener page.
   7. Post it where visitors will see it: at the entrance, at the back of the sanctuary and in the bulletin.
   8. Back on the Sunday dashboard, click Mark done next to Print + post the listener QR.

On Sunday morning

• Before the service, open the capture app and check that the meter moves when someone speaks.
• Click Start streaming before the part of the service you want translated.
• Check on a phone, with headphones.
• Click Stop when the service is over.

Hand the person running the booth the one-page Sunday volunteer card. It covers Start, listening, monitoring and Stop, plus what to do about no sound, a wrong language or lag.

Troubleshooting

More Sunday-morning fixes, including lag, are on the volunteer card.

Next steps (optional)

Already streaming through software, a hardware encoder or a Zoom meeting? You can send that audio without a capture app: see the Streaming, Zoom & Meet page and the Zoom and Meet guide.