Thursday, November 4, 2010

Video Booth Upgrade Update

Hi Team,
After months of research, discussion and deliberation we have chosen a vendor for the upgrade to High Definition video. We went with Church Solutions Group out of Chicago. They are owned by the same guy who designed all of Willow Creeks tech set ups, Bruce Smith.
If you're interested you can check them out @
www.churchsolutionsgroup.com

So here are the basics right now...(which are subject to change)
3 High Definition Panasonic HPX-370 cameras. 2 of which will sit at the back of the auditorium floor, on risers, against the back wall.
One of these will be equipped with an 18X lens with a Lens doubler, effectively making it a 36X lens. This will be the pastor close up/follow cam.
The second one will have a 17X lens and will follow pastor wide, probably head to toe, maybe even wider, but we'll see.

The third Panasonic HPX-370 will be a side view (probably baptistry side but exact location hasn't been determined yet) and also have a 17X lens.


The 370's will have tally lights, nicer zoom and focus controls, return video(which means you'll be able to push a button and see what is in program)

Next, there is a 4th camera which is a smaller Panasonic HPX-170 which can be a hand-held camera or we can lock it down somewhere, we will use it most likely on stage. This camera will very closely match the 370 b/c most of the electronics are exactly the same only the body is different.


We will be using a Panasonic HS450 video switcher which can mix HD and SD sources but ultimately puts out a full HD image.


Also replacing our current projectors which are 3200 lumens(measure of brightness) with 15,000 lumens High Def projectors. They are going to look AMAZING!


Along with the technical changes, we'll have a chance to change some aesthetics in the booth, probably a coat of paint, possibly removing some or all of the counters and maybe make the booth a better place in which to hang out. The new equipment will take up much less space and we should be able to turn the current work space to where the director can just look to his right to see the stage.

Anyway, at this date it will be very tough to get this comfortably done by the Christmas show. So we are pushing it back to start in January. In order to keep the bid down we will need some volunteer help when we start pulling out old gear and installing new gear and cables etc. We think it will take one to two weeks to completely make the change over. I will keep you all up to date right here as more and more details get sketched in. I am really excited to see this project get started. This is a HUGE puzzle piece in leadership's plan for macro and micro sites and we will continue participate in what God is doing through the church in Cincinnati. Exciting isn't?

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Sounds like FUN! And it will give us more purpose to the efforts.