If I was building a new facility I would…

*warning tech blog ahead*
I was asked to write down my thoughts on what a new building a/v wise would look like. It is all subjective to your space and your needs so it's kind of vague in a lot of areas.

If I was building a new facility I would…

Infrastructure:

• Accessible lighting positions, either by catwalk or motor lift trusses.
• Enough power potentially run my equipment (mainly lighting) , foreseeable/unforeseeable expansion and have enough power to run outside events with little to no problems.
• Run lines not only to where I want cameras now, but expansion in the future.
• Pipe grid over the stage for easy access and multiple hang locations.
• Stage wise, depending on how modular you want to make things I like the portability and flexibility of using breakout boxes rather than floor boxes so I can just drop my inputs near my audio sources. (Modular power is a huge plus as well)
• I would make sure that my audio booth is out in the sweet spot of the room so that the mix is as even as possible.
• Build a couple isolation cabinets somewhere off stage to throw your guitar amps. No need to give antsy old people another complain point and it gives you more head room on your DB range.
• Inputs to your video system from the stage. DVI, 5pin BNC (any other host of signal inputs you can think of.
• Plan for people. Dream up of a couple staff members you’d like to see in place to take care of some things, even if they are part time positions. What would the dream look like though? Someone to do lights full time, audio full time, video full time, staging full time?
• Set up a volunteer infrastructure. Develop a way to plan, schedule and get people involved. The biggest sell to keeping people in church is getting them and keeping them involved and taking ownership of the services. It’s a huge reward watching people get gratification out of what they’re doing. (sometimes you may sacrifice a little bit of quality or consistency, but in the scheme of eternity what is that?) planningcenteronline.com is a great resource to track, schedule and plan worship services.

Equipment:
I’m not going to specify to many brands because a lot of the stuff is totally subjective to your needs and your budget.

• I love the Digico boards just because of their flexibility in the mix environment and sound. Their effects plug ins aren’t so great though so I would make sure you have a good selection of outboard gear with digital i/o for loss of integrity. I would definitely go digital for the flexibility you gain for having multiple services (helps with different service styles, etc.) The Yamaha M7CL is a good midsized board. . Go with something that is expandable, you want to be able to grow beyond your current needs. Whether you buy something that has more channels than you would ever imagine using or you buy something that can add i/o modules. Also you want something that is going to be easy to train people to use, and practically dummy proof. Shop around, this is a huge needs based product.
• Buy something with aviom support(or other IEM capable system) Killing your stage volume is a huge must. It will save people’s ears and take care of the mud that you end up with in the FOH.
• Cabinet wise I would find an audio guy you trust (a lot of A/V guys take churches for a ride) to spec out your room. Some venues are going to sound amazing with a line array, and others are going to sound great with a specific cabinet set up. So again I’m not going to specify a ton in this area, except invest in a professional. Meijer make some killer install sound though, and the more wattage the better. I’d rather have a killer system that I scale back on a regular basis than a system I have to push and worry about frying every Sunday.
• Lighting console, I like Jands Vista. It’s again a very flexible piece of equipment without a huge learning curve. They have a huge spread of devices to choose from, and its both a mac and pc based platform, so If you want to take work home with you, you can. One thing I would suggest investing in if you’ve got the extra money is a CAD visualizer so when you’re programming offline you can see what you’re doing a little easier.
• Buy a hazer, CO2 based hazers hang around longer in the air because it chills the solution. Oil based sticks around in the air longer too, although there aren’t many oil based that are considered to safe.
• Video again is subjective; you definitely want something with big expansion capabilities. You don’t want to get something that is going to limit you in 2 years when you decide you want 3 more cameras in your service. I would also think very hard about the HD/SD issue. I would get a board that is compatible with both (we’re getting ready to install a grass valley kayak). In a church environment especially the HD components are not practical at the moment. HD projectors do not come with enough lumens for the buck to support a bright stage environment versus a SD projector.
• Renewed Vision’s Pro-presenter software is something I’d seriously recommend to anyone for words/graphics. It’s simple to use, robust for almost any need you would have and wit h it’s modules like the triple head to go system you can get some pretty sweet video effects (triple head to go is an inexpensive way to do a seamless video across a triple projection system).
• Depending on the ceiling height I would consider using all intelligent lights for my lighting. (minus house lights) Martin makes a nice looking intelligent light with a conventional bulb so you have great lighting for video and have the versatility to throw that light anywhere you need it.
• Projection the big names are Eiki and Christie, same company, different names. Sanyo is the same too. 16x9 in my opinion is better. People are getting used to seeing that everywhere, and it just looks better. High contrast. High contrast high contrast. There is nothing worse than looking at a washed out image that isn’t actually washed out. (10,000:1? Yes please). DLP is better for cinema projection LCD technology is best for graphic reproduction. So again, venue & purpose come into play here.
• Cameras are a ballpark that I am not to experienced in so I don’t want to touch to heavy on that. Full cameras are easier to work from a ‘broadcast’ perspective than a handy cam or portable cam. The most expensive part of the camera is the glass. So depending on your venue size make sure you’ve got enough zoom capability in whatever lenses you buy. Cameras that work well in low light are a plus too. That way in worship settings you’ve got more flexibility in how you light and how you shoot.

Take Aways:

• The biggest take away is expansion. You can always build for your needs now, but then in 4 years when you’ve outgrown your current potential you’re in a pickle again. So go big that way you don’t have to go home.
• The second is budget. Make the church budget committee realize that the building isn’t the big cost, A/V is. To do it right you need money. Radio Shack does not qualify as decent A/V.
• Third is time. Take the time to get some professionals you trust in to go over your new space with you and build the best system possible for what you need. (worship style, culture, and current needs vs. future growth)