The last few months have been busy….we’ve added a new baby, I’m changing roles in my day job and I’ve been a lot more hands-on with the AV needs of our “contemporary” worship service.  If anything this has renewed my goal for this blog….the need to use Technology in Church…well.

The title of this entry is flow…flow…flow your boat…. and the reason is you have to pay careful attention to the flow of the service to use technology in church and use it well.  Too much tech and media will overload the service and limit other aspects of worship.

Currently the “praise and worship” service we have is experimenting with different aspects of flow as our congregation gives both positive and negative feedback and weekly adjustments are made to either change or keep certain elements.   Currently we are focusing on added elements that enhance the sermon and this includes video, internet, live drama, CD or movie clips…
The goal is to rotate elements so that we don’t over use any one over the other….no so much as a set rotation but as it fits the sermon.

I say all that to once again talk about flow…based on my previous work in both TV and radio the one thing we don’t want in a contemporary setting is “dead air”. which brings us back to flow…our goal is to have as few interruptions by someone needing to explain what happens next….but the the “flow” of the service transitions from one part to another….Here’s an example of one service’s flow…

Announcements (in this case video reporter” style quicktime videos filmed by our youth)

2 Praise and Worship songs

A brief greeting usually by one of the praise band members while music is transitioned between songs

Another Praise and Worship Song

Kid’s Sermon

Applicable media lead-in to sermon

Sermon with applicable presentation slides (the fewer the better)

Communion ( with a slower, applicable praise and worship song)

Closing Song (usually upbeat)

We’ll update more about flow as we go….look for more on churchnology.com

Re-introductions are probably necessary but first let me explain the recent, longer than expected absence.  I’m now in charge in a more hands-on approach of the media ministry at my church.  This does two things, since its not my full time job and its volunteer, it  takes up alot of my “extra” time which takes away from the time I have to post tips and tricks to churchnology.com and it also gives me some current real world examples to use on churchnology.com.  So its kind of a wash…but hopefully the blog will grow to be better because of it.

now for the re-intros….I’m LG.  DC and I started this blog to help small and medium churches learn to use technology, whatever level of technology they have, in church….well.  My biggest issue with forcing tech on a church service is the level of non-commitment apparent from the lackluster end result.  So, between DC and my experiences both professionally and for fun we were aiming to put forth in this blog some tutorials, tips, tricks, do’s and don’ts and overall best practices, and then real life intervened and in the last year we’ve both had pregnant wives and other mishaps from our children that slowed our progress somewhat…but now we are back and to alleviate some of the burden we’ve added a web guru, BC.  I’ll let BC do his own intros and for mine and DC’s original intros, check the archives.  Plan on seeing at least 3 posts per week on the site…sometimes you might get 3 from each of us and sometimes you might do good to just get 3 total….

June 15th is the new target date.  We’ll go over some things that have been brought to my attention in regards to soundboards, volunteers and projection technology.  BC will sign on and cover some blog topics and DC will fill in the blanks in regards to Audio/Visual techniques and ideas.  so mark your calendars for June 15th for a new and improved churchnology.com

To be quite honest I really thought this would be easier. Between DC’s and my experience I thought this would be easy. Then life got in the way and to say the last year here on churchnology.com is what we wanted or expected would not exactly be an accurate description. We needed help and we have received some. I say all that to say as of May 15th we will launch churchnology version 2.0. We hope to have a better focus and more posts. DC will still focus on AV items and I will continue to post on presentation techniques and software but we also will welcome BC to the churchnology masthead posting mainly on blogging (duh?) and web 2,0 technologies (I’ll probably still do a little of that myself.)

The other change is we will also branch out away from “traditional” applications aimed at churches and show how commercial software can be put into place that on the surface may not seem to be useful in a church setting but hopefully you will see how it fits into our plan of “using technology in church…well”

As we ramp up for May 15th it will continue to be kinda dry on the blog, but soon these dry bones will walk.

Peace.

HDMI,DVI-D,DVI-I, VGA,RGB,RGBHV… What do they all mean to me? Which should I concentrate on? Is one better than the other? If you have begun working with video lately, the names may have changed but the same principles apply. Now you also may ask the question, What about composite and component? Oh yes, they are still in use. The AV industry just added a few more options.

So let’s look at what these new and not so new cable types are. First, we will look at VGA. This has a 15 pin connector that is often referred to as HD-15 or DB-15. The most common use for this type of cable is to connect your computer to your monitor. This was the first means of connecting computers to projectors. The length of cable you can use is directly affected by the resolution you use. For example, if you are projecting an image at 1024×768@60Hz, the maximum recommended length would be 10 meters or 32 feet. Now, the longer length of cable you use, the more resistance and signal loss you get which translates into noise in your video. I recommend the use of a signal amplifier or distribution amplifier if you plan to mount your projector in the ceiling and use more than 50 feet of cable.

The next type of cable is known as DVI. Often referred by the type of signal it passes, they are called DVI-A, DVI-D or DVI-I. So what does that mean? Well, DVI was the first on the scene. It is now referred to as DVI-Analog. DVI-A cables are used to carry a DVI signal to an analog display(CRT or cheap LCD). In this configuration, DVI-A carries the same signal as a VGA cable. Then there is DVI-D. This is used to directly connect two digital devices, traditionally a video card and digital LCD. DVI-I is the most versatile of the bunch. This type is capable of sending an analog to analog or digital to digital signal. Keep in mind that DVI is not interchangeable. You must use the correct DVI cable to connect your devices.

Ok, we have touched on the most common ways of connecting your computer to a projector, VGA and DVI. Let’s discuss the various ways of getting video signal to your projector or display.

The newest player on the field is HDMI. It is primarily used for HD devices such as HD LCD panels and plasma screens. DVD is the primary device that is connected to these screens and the HDMI cable is capable of sending audio as well so only one cable is needed for both your audio and video signals. The down side is that DVD, HD-DVD, and Blu-Ray are the only devices that have a HDMI port. Computer manufacturer are adding this interface to some laptops but it is still rather sparse.

One lesser known way of getting your computer signal to your projector is known as RGBHV. This is a series of 5 cables that passes the three main colors of video and a horizontal and vertical sync pulse usually terminated in a BNC connector. This type of cable traditionally carries a computer signal to a projector instead of a VGA cable.

A smaller signal such as video does not require the same number of cable connectors as a digital or computer signal does. Therefore, we can enter the world of RGB or component video. This has become a bit more mainstream with the use of DVD players as you found yourself connecting the red, green, and blue cable from your DVD player to your TV that had a component input. It’s still pretty basic but the video signal is divided into three colors so that more information about each can be transmitted to the display device. If you are sending video a long distance or just want a better overall picture, then RGB is the way to do it.

Lastly, there is the composite video signal. This signal can’t be used to transmit a computer signal without a scan converter and only has one small cable. It is the same type of cable used by the TV cable companies. It has every signal transmitted on one cable. Signal quality is ok but should be the last resort used to send video to your projector is you can help it.

Well, I hope this helps you decipher some of the alphabet soup that is video cables. It’s been a while since we have posted but thanks for reading and good luck in all you do. Email us any questions or comments you may have.

ok….maybe only 3 months…and its been a very busy 3 months. I have a couple of things in the pipes that will get posted to churchnology.com here in the next couple of days. dc has also been too busy to post with a recent new addition to his family with a new baby girl. But there is hope, as spring is approaching we will not only post more but expand churchnology to not only presentation software and audio visual support but also branch into blogging (and obviously, the time required) and also the basics of using the web to the advantage of the church both in promotion as well as ministry focused uses as well. So if you’ve been waiting on new posts they are coming and if you just now discovered churchnology.com read some of our older posts to get a feel for what we are….but the long and short of it is….We’re BACK!!!

Sorry for the lack of postings….it’s been a real busy month, my family have relocated to a new house, new neighborhood and new church. not necessarily in that order Posts should come a lot more often from here on out and may stray a little from just the A/V portion of technology.  In the pipe being finished up are articles on blog use, software, audio and video tutorials, projectors as well as the odd topics of how to plan a tech-savy service, and tips on what to do it if something goes wrong.  Some of these will be up in the next couple of days.  We are also planning on listing other places you can go for tips and maybe having a guest blogger or two.

I’m currently packing my family to move at the end of the month so time for blogging has been hard to find.

We have focused a lot on the presentation part of church technology so far but we have stayed away from product reviews or giving any preference to one piece of software over the other. We have chosen to stay vendor neutral for a number of reasons and we will strive to continue in that effort. I say all of that to say this I have found a new tool I didn’t know existed, and its free. Most, if not all, of the well known church presentation applications are both primarily for Windows and usually rather expensive. They all do similar things-lyrics, bible verses, some video formats, audio etc. They all allow added control not available with Microsoft Powerpoint. Mediashout had a Macintosh version when the company first released their software but later releases were Windows only. OpenSong is not only free and on Windows but also allows churches to present lyrics, Bible verses, as well, but on a MacBook , MacBookPro, and even the older iBook and PowerBook. Later, I will have a post comparing the different Church Presentation Applications for Windows, but for now if you are a Mac user….OpenSong sings for FREE

Most people who know me understand that I like to do a lot of things myself. Churches are the same way. We don’t want to spend money on things that we feel that we are capable of doing or we have a well meaning “friend” who can help us. While there are things that can be done by laymen in the church or someone who has worked with electronics before, there are just some things that should be left to professionals. Equipment that hangs from the ceiling is generally that type.

Take, for example, the hanging of speakers in the sanctuary or your youth building. One might think, “It can’t be that hard to do. I can take the speaker out of the cabinet, drill two or three holes in the top of the cabinet, place some washers on both sides and place an eye bolt to connect some chain that is connected in the roof. That should be sufficient to hold the speaker cabinet, shouldn’t it?”

What you don’t realize is that the most speakers are made of medium density fiberboard (MDF), GLUED together and held with a few screws in key positions. Unless you are spending BIG money (translation: thousands per speaker box) the speakers are wood pulp pressed together into sheets. While it works well for most applications, hanging from homemade mounting devices is not what these manufacturers designed the speaker box for. They were designed to be placed on stands or on a platform. Major manufacturers understand that some people are going to hang these speakers in a manner not unlike that described above. They, however, are responsible enough to manufacture the speaker box with enough strength to hold its’ weight for some time.

What happens though if a cheaper speaker is chosen, as often is the case, and they are not put together quite as well? Well, the weight of the speaker and the cabinet could cause the glue to fail and the cabinet becomes a 60 pound weight crashing to the ground, breaking a pew, chair, or worse. Or even the best manufacturer’s glue won’t hold forever. After 10 years, do you really want to have a speaker fall apart when you least expected it. Safety should never be sacrificed in the name of finances.

There are many things that you can do to save money for your ministry. You can run the cable yourself or terminate the cable ends if you have someone with that type of expertise. You can rack mount your amplifiers and support gear before the final installation.

If you must do it yourself, spend the money and make sure that you purchase speakers that have “rigging points.” These are threaded inserts that are engineered to support the weight of the speaker cabinet for the life of the cabinet. They are usually made of real wood or have cabinets that are reinforced internally to assist in the support of the weight.

Thanks for reading and as always, email us at Churchnology@churchnology.com if you have any questions regarding the use of technology in your church or ministry. We are here to help.

We have already covered a lot of different topics in the brief beginnings of Churchnology. The purpose of Churchnology is “Using Technology in Church…Well”, so for this post we aren’t going to talk much about church…or really technology….maybe a little, but really I want to focus on the last word in our tagline…WELL. The creation of this blog comes from two separate angles…first, DC and I both have a heart for using technology in worship services/ and programming events and secondly, we both are professional technologists in our day jobs and are very detail oriented when it comes to the use of technology and we are applying that to churches in this blog. Now, due to the fact we both recognize we are detail oriented (read: picky) to the “professional use” of technology, I feel led to report the following Churchnology axiom : Most people using technology in church, wait for it, are NOT PROFESSIONALS.

There used to be several over the counter medicine ads where a well known soap opera actor would be dressed as their character and be pushing this pill or that rub and had the tag line…”I’m not a Doctor, but I play one on TV…” That tends to be the same problem we have in the church…the person running the sound board might be a plumber, or the person loading the songs into the chosen presentation software might be a used car salesman….or worse might be gasp! the Pastor… These people are professionals but they are not professional media ministers or sound technicians or even presentation developers. In our need to make things perfect we need to focus on the people that make things happen just as much if not more than the actual technology being used. They are NOT PROFESSIONALS, so as DC has stated in previous posts this is where its really important to take Baby Steps….

Some suggestions-

Schedule training sessions-If you are including something new in to the tech mix train your people how to use it weeks in advance and have multiple people trained , just in case.

If you have enough people that are part of your media ministry team cross train if possible, show your computer people how to run the basics of your sound board and vise versa.

Make a detailed list that’s posted of “in case of failure” what can be omitted “on the fly”. An example- if the tape recorder fails mid service, let it fail but don’t let the house sound suffer. If there is a miscommunication on the song order on the slides stop the presentation go to black and resolve the issue with the congregation never knowing there was ever a problem…

I’ve been applying a little saying to my work for the last 10 or so years…Be A Duck!!!! ( no for you who know me does this have ANYTHING to do with a trio of movies about a kid hockey team!!!) To most people a duck is one of the most peaceful creatures floating on top of a lake or river…but drop the camera below water and you see the true story….on top peaceful floating, underneath paddling like crazy….that’s how technology should work…to everybody on top peaceful everything going off on cue and with no problems….below the water everything is moving 1000 mph and if it breaks you adapt and keep moving, quality never suffering….like a duck. It’s a well known fact both DC and I go into any project with not only a Plan A, and Plan B but also a Plan Y and Plan Z.

I say all that to say this…we strive to make technology work in church and work WELL…but some of that is reliant on training in most cases volunteers to do something well they don’t normally need to know how to do….and that will bring another post soon about training your volunteers to do both sound, video, web and other parts of integrating technology into church we haven’t even talked about yet.

Heads High, Stand Tall, Fly Straight