Unsplash.com; Jakob Owens
One of the greatest challenges for your church ministry clients is finding enough hours in the week to accomplish everything that needs to happen. For church technical directors, these challenges are further exacerbated by the expectation of high-quality results week after week. These demands are not arbitrary, as anything less than excellence distracts from the message and the mission of the worship experience.
The role of technical ministry has also grown in scope over the past few years. Many technical directors today are expected to oversee and manage new technologies such as digital signage, internet broadcasting and campus simulcasting, in addition to their more traditional responsibilities of audio, lighting, and IMAG within the auditorium itself.
As a result of these boot-on-the-ground interactions [by manufacturers], new and innovative tools are now being released to directly address some of the specific challenges faced by church technical directors.
Fortunately, a number of professional video gear manufacturers have invested deeply in a process of understanding the house of worship market. As a result of these boot-on-the-ground interactions, new and innovative tools are now being released to directly address some of the specific challenges faced by church technical directors. Savvy AVL designers can now help set churches and tech directors up for success by proactively incorporating the these types of tools into future installation and upgrade planning. Here are some of the most exciting tools designed to make a real impact on day one, from this writer's personal experience.
Hitachi Z-HD5500 Camera
With each passing year prices on LED stage lighting continue to fall, while feature sets and brightness continue to climb. While this has allowed churches to roll out significant lighting improvements over a staggered timeframe, one unfortunate side effect of the growth of LED stage lighting is the discrepancy between fixtures from various manufactures. Recognizing the unique challenges the inconsistent LED refresh rates can pose to broadcast cameras, Hitachi has recently developed the Z-HD5500 Production Cameras to specifically address these issues. In addition to boasting the kind of robust feature set one would expect from a world-class company like Hitachi, the Z-HD5500 utilizes a unique sensor that adapts to various flickering problems and chromatic aberration caused by budget LED fixtures.
Teradek Bolt 500
In the world of live production it’s one thing to waste time dealing with system maintenance and troubleshooting, it’s entirely another to have to address these kinds of issues when the event is actually taking place. Unfortunately, when your camera team consists of volunteers exclusively tech directors often find themselves stuck in the latter. Thanks to devices like the Teradek Bolt 500, remote cameras can now be paired with rock-solid wireless video output that eliminates much of the drama that often accompanies wired stage camera operation. With a latency of less than 0.001 second and rock solid performance at a distance of 500 feet, the Teradek Bolt 500 is the kind of device that solves real-world headaches without the real-world drama.
JVC KY-PZ100 PTZ Production Cameras
Robotic cameras have been a part of church broadcast environments for a while, but utilizing them often came with a number of drawbacks. With the introduction of the KY-PZ100 PTZ Production Camera JVC has addressed a number of these limitations head-on. For starters, the KY-PZ100 takes the concept of ‘remote’ to the next level with the ability to stream full HD from the camera directly over WiFi or 4G. The pan, tilt and 30X zoom functions can also be controlled directly from any web browser or standard camera control remote. These remote abilities allow for quick and easy repositioning of the camera so all tech directors need to worry about is making sure the camera have power at a new location.
NewTek TriCaster TC1
More than ever before, church tech and video directors are increasingly expected to produce quality iMag, simulcasting, live streaming and recorded video products on a weekly basis. Fortunately companies like NewTek are addressing these increasing demands with the release of products like the TriCaster TC1. Not only can the TC1 incorporate up to 16 separate video signals at up to 4K resolution, it can also be configured for up to for independent output video mixes and dual resolution-independent live streams. The Tricaster TC1 can also record camera- or mix-specific signals for creating products for viewing after the event. As an added bonus, the TC1 boasts native support of the JVC KY-PZ100 PTZ cameras for integrated camera control right from the switcher interface.
Hall Research HSM-44-BX 4X4 Matrix Switch
Another notorious frustration for technical directors is when video routing of the worship experience to other parts of the campus fails during the service. Or, even more predictably, fails five minutes before the service begins. Dedicated routing solutions like the Hall Research HSM-44-BX 4X4 Matrix Switch offer dependable performance with minimal operator headaches. The HSM-44-BX supports high-quality 4K inputs and outputs, and can be programmed for multiple context-specific output configurations, which can be changed with a single push of a button.
Wowza Clearcaster
One of the newest challenges (with the potential to become a reoccurring headache) is the opportunity to live streaming directly to social media destinations like Facebook. While this technology offers unique pathways to reach people outside the walls of a local congregation, it also presents its own set of technical requirements and protocols. By working directly with Facebook itself, Wowza has created a custom solution in its new ClearCaster, a near-turnkey solution for geting your live video feed up and streaming on Facebook in mere minutes. Better yet, when paired with Wowza Streaming Cloud services the ClearCaster will also stream to other popular social media destinations like YouTube Live and Twitch. Built on the proven technology and reputation of Wowza, the ClearCaster is a tool AVL designers will want to take into serious consideration moving into the future.
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