Presentation System / Software Advice Needed

[petdragon]

Hello, all. I just "stumbled upon" these forums and what a great resource they are turning out to be!

I do have a quick(ish) question for anyone who might want to take a stab at answering.

We are a small church looking to implement a "multimedia system" as we have come to call it (projectors and screens for the purpose of displaying song lyrics, sermon outlines, dvd video, etc). We are getting everything in order at this point and are determining necessary purchases having defined our scope and requirements. We haven't purchased anything as of yet.

We will be having two main projectors/screens (one for in front of each side of the sanctuary) that should have the capability of displaying different content simultaneously (i.e. Scripture on the left and sermon outline on the right). We also may want a screen in the back for the worship team/pastor to have things displayed for their benefit that would be independent of the two main screens.

Now, I realize we can use powerpoint for everything, but I've read quite a bit about presenation software like mediashout, easyworship, et al. Here's where I am deviating from my expertise...

Here's the actual question: With all this in mind, am I correct in assuming we'd want our computer to have four monitors (a "control" monitor that no one would ever see except for the user plus one output per screen to be viewed (three), each of these outputs being 'split' into one feed for the local display attached to the computer and one feed running to the control device that connects to the projectors)? And, if so, do these presentation software solutions work with this configuration?

I apprecaite any feedback you can offer. Thanks so much in advance!

[Mustangnaz]

Welcome to the forum! They have been an incredible asset in my ministry.

I beleive all programs offer two displays: one control and one display. I believe MediaShout was the first to offer a separate rear feed (stage display) but I think others have adapted it as well. As far as getting a fourth display to run two separate displays at the front I'm not sure if any of the programs can do that without a separate computer. I'd love to know as well!

[tpichler]

Welcome!

Yes, in general what you described is the "normal" way to connect multiple outputs. There is another way using a device like the Matrox triple head to go which will take a single high res image and break it into 3 separate vga outputs. This is nice if you don't have enough slots available to install high end video cards.

We use View from StageSoft (Full disclosure I am one of the authors. It supports as many outputs as your computer has video cards. We have been using 4 independent screens for many years (Audience Left, Audience Right, Back wall, and Local user). We use 2 dual head nVidia 3d gaming cards for the 4 screens that are connected similar to the way you described.

I have also used the ATI 5870 card that has 3 outputs from a single video card. Very cool!

[[Admin] osborn4]

I'm not sure what software will get you 2 different front displays. You may need to run 2 computers to do that.

ProPresenter may have something that would help with this. Currently, ProPresenter is only available on Mac.

You could use a dualhead2go to run the front 2 screens, but you'd have to create slide shows that would cross both screens, but you wouldn't be able to look up scriptures on the fly.

Or you could create graphics that would span both projectors with the content you want.

All the major players, ProPresenter, EasyWorship, MediaShout and SongShow Plus all have confidence monitor options.

All of them have free demos, so download and play! If you have specific question, let us know.

[jswaney]

Hello Sir,

SSP includes a slide show builder which is like power point but much more powerful. The program can be opened independently but is integrated seamlessly within SSP7.

In the slide show builder a pre-created template for a slide can be created. Once the slide is created, you can insert a different image or video within each text box. The matrox card will span the single slide across multiple screens. The margins can be adjusted for each text box to fit within each screen. Once a template is created you can insert any video or image in a text box. You can then project a different image or video on each screen.

I thought the info might help. Have a blessed day.