Comments for Church Tech Arts » Church Tech Arts http://www.churchtecharts.org/Blog sound | lights | video: technical arts in the church Thu, 20 Nov 2008 13:37:39 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 Comment on Blinded by Tech Novelty? by Bruce http://www.churchtecharts.org/Blog/archives/503#comment-1109 Bruce Thu, 20 Nov 2008 02:27:25 +0000 http://www.churchtecharts.org/Blog/?p=503#comment-1109 Our church for sure is not a "feel-good-sensory-worship" church. We don't do much with candles or ambient music and we certainly don't do much video illustrations. But what we do have is a great Bible teacher. We could easily chastise those with all the "wiz-bang gaget monkeys" but we have something else that attracts and retains others to our church. Is that really any better? Is it the teaching of the gospel or is it what is used to teach the gospel? Some churches don't have a great communicator. Some may need visual support. Some may use visual support to enhance their message. I have no problems either one. No matter what you use (man or machine) the gospel should be clearly and unapologetically proclaimed. Our church for sure is not a “feel-good-sensory-worship” church. We don’t do much with candles or ambient music and we certainly don’t do much video illustrations.

But what we do have is a great Bible teacher. We could easily chastise those with all the “wiz-bang gaget monkeys” but we have something else that attracts and retains others to our church. Is that really any better? Is it the teaching of the gospel or is it what is used to teach the gospel?

Some churches don’t have a great communicator. Some may need visual support. Some may use visual support to enhance their message. I have no problems either one. No matter what you use (man or machine) the gospel should be clearly and unapologetically proclaimed.

]]> Comment on Blinded by Tech Novelty? by Chris Huff http://www.churchtecharts.org/Blog/archives/503#comment-1106 Chris Huff Wed, 19 Nov 2008 17:26:18 +0000 http://www.churchtecharts.org/Blog/?p=503#comment-1106 The bit of novelty that gets a laugh from me is "video behind text." Specifically, showing a looped video like running waterfalls or falling leaves as background for the song lyrics that are projected. I've probably seen the same leaf drop 500 times. I'd love to buy the new wiz-bang gadget with the twin overdrive monkeys...but I can usually talk myself out of it for these reasons. 1.) It's just too darn expensive. 2.) It wouldn't be helpful/useful/appropriate for our church. 3.) I have no idea how to use it and the manual is a one page pamphlet. I don't want to teach myself how to use a piece of gear. There should be tutorials, or great manuals, or the product should be easy to use. The bit of novelty that gets a laugh from me is “video behind text.” Specifically, showing a looped video like running waterfalls or falling leaves as background for the song lyrics that are projected. I’ve probably seen the same leaf drop 500 times.

I’d love to buy the new wiz-bang gadget with the twin overdrive monkeys…but I can usually talk myself out of it for these reasons.
1.) It’s just too darn expensive.
2.) It wouldn’t be helpful/useful/appropriate for our church.
3.) I have no idea how to use it and the manual is a one page pamphlet. I don’t want to teach myself how to use a piece of gear. There should be tutorials, or great manuals, or the product should be easy to use.

]]> Comment on Audience Participation by Mike http://www.churchtecharts.org/Blog/archives/501#comment-1105 Mike Wed, 19 Nov 2008 13:43:45 +0000 http://www.churchtecharts.org/Blog/?p=501#comment-1105 Great thoughts, Neil, thanks! Ryan--the typewriter effect is located in the animation pane of the inspector. Select the type block you wish to animate, go to the animation pane (the yellow diamond with lines coming out of it), and select the effect "Typewriter." You can alter the timing for the effect to suit the length of the text. We found 3.5 seconds per line was about right, but your mileage may vary. Thanks for reading! Great thoughts, Neil, thanks!

Ryan–the typewriter effect is located in the animation pane of the inspector. Select the type block you wish to animate, go to the animation pane (the yellow diamond with lines coming out of it), and select the effect “Typewriter.” You can alter the timing for the effect to suit the length of the text. We found 3.5 seconds per line was about right, but your mileage may vary.

Thanks for reading!

]]> Comment on Audience Participation by Neil MacLennan http://www.churchtecharts.org/Blog/archives/501#comment-1104 Neil MacLennan Wed, 19 Nov 2008 09:42:26 +0000 http://www.churchtecharts.org/Blog/?p=501#comment-1104 Sounds great Mike, Another possible idea to make it more accessible to *almost* everyone which we've tried here is to have folks text (SMS) their comments to a mobile (tr. cellphone) shortcode. That auto-magically populates the blog as a comment and can then be used as you describe with IM/Keynote/PP. The advantages are: No Twitter pre-setup/account required, Almost everyone has a mobile (at least here in Scotland anyway!), No need for zillions of computers/long queues, no tech training required -- most folks can text, No need to get up from your seat (unless you want to of course :-)). It worked for us as an instant-ease-of-use-the-response-mechanism-is in-your-pocket. Blessings, Neil Sounds great Mike,
Another possible idea to make it more accessible to *almost* everyone which we’ve tried here is to have folks text (SMS) their comments to a mobile (tr. cellphone) shortcode. That auto-magically populates the blog as a comment and can then be used as you describe with IM/Keynote/PP.
The advantages are: No Twitter pre-setup/account required, Almost everyone has a mobile (at least here in Scotland anyway!), No need for zillions of computers/long queues, no tech training required — most folks can text, No need to get up from your seat (unless you want to of course :-)). It worked for us as an instant-ease-of-use-the-response-mechanism-is in-your-pocket.
Blessings,
Neil

]]> Comment on Audience Participation by Ryan http://www.churchtecharts.org/Blog/archives/501#comment-1103 Ryan Wed, 19 Nov 2008 04:27:27 +0000 http://www.churchtecharts.org/Blog/?p=501#comment-1103 Great idea. We're doing something similar using text messaging. Tell me, where I can find this typewriter tool in Keynote? I'm having trouble finding it. Thanks! Love the blog. Great idea. We’re doing something similar using text messaging. Tell me, where I can find this typewriter tool in Keynote? I’m having trouble finding it.

Thanks! Love the blog.

]]> Comment on Audience Participation by Mike http://www.churchtecharts.org/Blog/archives/501#comment-1101 Mike Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:29:08 +0000 http://www.churchtecharts.org/Blog/?p=501#comment-1101 Great idea, Dave. I've been meaning to get in and play with Quartz composer for a while, just haven't had the time. Given the way we wanted these posts to run in the service, we needed a little more control over which ones and how they were presented. I could see many other applications, however, that could benefit from something as you suggest. I really want to start doing more audience participation type stuff, and that's a good tool to keep in the tech superhero tool belt! Thanks! mike Great idea, Dave. I’ve been meaning to get in and play with Quartz composer for a while, just haven’t had the time. Given the way we wanted these posts to run in the service, we needed a little more control over which ones and how they were presented.

I could see many other applications, however, that could benefit from something as you suggest. I really want to start doing more audience participation type stuff, and that’s a good tool to keep in the tech superhero tool belt!

Thanks!
mike

]]> Comment on Audience Participation by Dave Smith http://www.churchtecharts.org/Blog/archives/501#comment-1100 Dave Smith Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:19:23 +0000 http://www.churchtecharts.org/Blog/?p=501#comment-1100 That's a very cool idea Mike. I just wanted to throw out an idea to possible plus it. At the Echo conference they used quartz composer to create a screen saver/video from the RSS feed of twitter "tweets" about Echo. You could create a RSS feed from the blog posts, direct that feed into quartz composer. This will automate the text input and give you a lot of style/ visual control over how it looks. Quartz Composer is a free tool in OS X. I think it has to be installed with the developers tools. Anyway, just an idea... That’s a very cool idea Mike. I just wanted to throw out an idea to possible plus it.

At the Echo conference they used quartz composer to create a screen saver/video from the RSS feed of twitter “tweets” about Echo.

You could create a RSS feed from the blog posts, direct that feed into quartz composer. This will automate the text input and give you a lot of style/ visual control over how it looks.

Quartz Composer is a free tool in OS X. I think it has to be installed with the developers tools.

Anyway, just an idea…

]]> Comment on Outfitting a Building, Pt. 2 by Michael http://www.churchtecharts.org/Blog/archives/499#comment-1096 Michael Mon, 17 Nov 2008 00:24:52 +0000 http://www.churchtecharts.org/Blog/?p=499#comment-1096 great post...we aren't building a new building, just doing some major improvements. We went from a old 24-4buss mackie to a Roland V-mix with digital snake and new amps for the mains. The return of the high end and the reduced mud was amazing. We are on the third service with the board and still amazed. I think when making a new building or church, digital is the way to go! For the price point, the v-mix system is great and a great sounding board. It's also great for the analog techs to move from the mackie. Great points on either upgrading your system or building a new one. great post…we aren’t building a new building, just doing some major improvements. We went from a old 24-4buss mackie to a Roland V-mix with digital snake and new amps for the mains. The return of the high end and the reduced mud was amazing. We are on the third service with the board and still amazed. I think when making a new building or church, digital is the way to go! For the price point, the v-mix system is great and a great sounding board. It’s also great for the analog techs to move from the mackie. Great points on either upgrading your system or building a new one.

]]> Comment on Outfitting a Building, Pt. 2 by Chris from Canada http://www.churchtecharts.org/Blog/archives/499#comment-1091 Chris from Canada Sun, 16 Nov 2008 03:50:10 +0000 http://www.churchtecharts.org/Blog/?p=499#comment-1091 Great post. We made some good decisions very early in the process (similar to what you're outlining here) and then hired some very qualified people to help us match equipment to our needs. So far, so good! Great post. We made some good decisions very early in the process (similar to what you’re outlining here) and then hired some very qualified people to help us match equipment to our needs. So far, so good!

]]> Comment on Remote Mixing, The Next Day by Mike http://www.churchtecharts.org/Blog/archives/299#comment-1090 Mike Sun, 16 Nov 2008 01:16:41 +0000 http://www.churchtecharts.org/Blog/?p=299#comment-1090 Johannes, As far as I know, there is no midi control surface that will work with the Yamaha mixers. While they use MIDI for the interface protocol, it's done with their software, and there's no way to install any kind of driver for a surface. Your idea of double patching is intriguing, however. It would make it a lot easier to mix. You could use a post-fade matrix to send to your record booth, and mix with the faders instead of the little tiny matrix indicators. You are correct, however that as soon as you hit select, it also selects on the board. So you'd have to coordinate EQ changes. But once you get it set, mixing would be a breeze. I'm going to try that this weekend! Thanks for reading! mike Johannes,
As far as I know, there is no midi control surface that will work with the Yamaha mixers. While they use MIDI for the interface protocol, it’s done with their software, and there’s no way to install any kind of driver for a surface.

Your idea of double patching is intriguing, however. It would make it a lot easier to mix. You could use a post-fade matrix to send to your record booth, and mix with the faders instead of the little tiny matrix indicators.

You are correct, however that as soon as you hit select, it also selects on the board. So you’d have to coordinate EQ changes. But once you get it set, mixing would be a breeze. I’m going to try that this weekend!

Thanks for reading!
mike

]]>