Or… “Things you need to know before buying your first camera.” I’ve heard it said that some churches purchase three PA systems before they get the right one for their needs and space. The way the story goes… the first PA system is purchased when a congregation builds a new church building or launches a […]

• Cameras

Humheads (sound/audio engineers), Sparkies (electrics), Rug Tuggers (convention expo workers), Vidiots (video engineers), Nail Benders (carpenters), Laundry Lepers (wardrobe department), Squints (lighting) … One thing is for sure, people in the technical arts trade have always found endearing terms to describe their colleagues. The terms are meant to poke fun at our associates with, well, a wee bit of truth. One derogatory […]

• Numinous

Many churches doing Imag on a budget turn to the Blackmagic Design’s ATEM as their switcher of choice. It’s an affordable option with a great deal of features. The Journey We purchased ours almost 4 years ago for use in an all-volunteer, 5-camera Imag setting.  We launched Imag after being in our building for a […]

• Switchers
• Systems

It’s 8:55 AM and your church service is about to start. Before your livestream begins your AVL team’s camera operator zooms in and frames a the tightest shot he can framing your worship leader’s microphone grill and adjusts the focus barrel on his lens. The camera operator then zooms out very wide setting up his […]

• Cameras

Can you imagine having to listen to the same person for 5 hours? Even if it was a great speaker – that’s a long time. Now let’s make things worse by starting that listening session early on a Sunday morning. Ugh! But, that’s exactly what some of our tech people (for example, camera operators) go […]

• Leadership
• Teams

Even people that work with video cameras all the time are often confused with the function and the interdependent relationships iris, f-stops, aperture, depth of field, gain, shutter and lighting levels have on each other. In this post I will attempt to unravel these terms and discuss how their functions are used, practically in a […]

• Cameras

Things I Like: Aside from the Bible, if I could make only one book required reading for those involved in church tech and performing arts it would be Francis A. Schaeffer’s Art and the Bible. Schaeffer offers “a Christian perspective” on the arts.  Not just arts within the confines of the church but within the […]

• Things I Like

One of the questions I often see posted from Church Tech people, particularly regarding new video camera purchases or recommendations is, “I am thinking about getting new I-Mag or sermon capture cameras for my church auditorium. Will the (insert: large sensor camera model du jour) work well in this application?” I guess the first question […]

• Cameras

This week’s “Things I Like” is a book, The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires (Unabridged), authored by Tim Wu. Wu, trained as an Attorney has held positions as a Columbia Law School professor, contributing opinion writer for the New York Times, Obama administration Senior Advisor to the Federal Trade Commission and National […]

• Things I Like

Twenty five years ago America was obsessed with the most publicized criminal trial in United States history.  On trial was the former Heisman Trophy honoree and running back for the Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers, #32, O.J. Simpson. “OJ” was accused of the double-murder of his former wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. […]

• Numinous