Q: What are some trends you are seeing among your worship customers right now?
A: Our customers are always looking to increase production value and provide the best experience possible for their members, whether that’s adding multi camera production, broadcasting in 4K, streaming their services to reach a broader audience, or simply upgrading outdated systems. With today’s professional yet affordable tools, anything is possible with the right setup. Blackmagic Design offers several great camera options, including Pocket Cinema Camera 4K for film quality and mobility, URSA Broadcast for studio or field work, and Micro Studio Camera 4K which can be mounted inconspicuously for multi camera productions. Blackmagic Web Presenter makes any SDI or HDMI video source appear as a USB webcam for streaming high quality video to the internet.
Q: How can houses of worship achieve broadcast quality video without a large budget or a big staff?
A: New, affordable products that help eliminate the guesswork of sources, formats and frame rates are becoming available. Blackmagic Design’s ATEM Television Studio Pro 4K is an eight-input switcher with independent format and frame rate conversions. There are also products available that help a single person do multiple jobs. Blackmagic Design’s new ATEM Camera Control Panel allows one person to control up to 20 different URSA Broadcast, URSA Mini, Blackmagic Studio or Blackmagic Micro Studio 4K cameras remotely with the four dynamic joystick controllers. While every system has different requirements, using products like these will help to streamline the overall process, saving time and money.
Q: How would you advise houses of worship to approach future proofing?
A: Some customers are concerned about future proofing when it comes to cost, efficiency and compatibility with existing systems. Ideally, they would like to invest in new technology, but don't have the resources to completely redo everything, and don't want their investments to quickly become obsolete. While some new equipment is usually required, future proofing can be very affordable. For example, Blackmagic Design makes numerous products that can handle SD, HD and 4K all in the same device. By investing in products like these, customers have the flexibility to work in SD and HD now with their existing infrastructure and can switch to 4K when the time is right. Find Blackmagic Design products here: http://www.blackmagicdesign.com