Live Input thru SDI

[cw4u]

What's the latency on the live input through a blackmagic card?

The only two inputs we use for FOH are the computer and our IMAG feed. If one computer can seamlessly switch between Lyrics and IMAG, is their a real need for a seamless switcher?

[RV Support]

Derek... If you use the Blackmagic card with our Alpha Keyer Module as a downstream keyer out to SDI, component, etc., the latency is virtually zero. If you use it with the Live Video feature out to VGA or DVI, expect 3~5 frames of latency.

[cw4u]

Is 3-5 frames considered acceptable for IMAG?

[petereit]

Possible? Probably. Reliably? I'm not so sure.

I spend a TON of time researching bleeding edge tech and interviewing media directors of chuches of ALL size. The general consensus among all the churches that do IMAG successfully is that the technology still isn't quite there to layer lyrics over live video on a computer without a seamless switcher. Almost! But not quite.

If anyone CAN do it, it'd be a combination of Mac Pro workstation, Blackmagic card and ProPresenter, which is why we invested in exactly that setup with that configuration of hardware and software. We tried, and tried HARD, but still ended up investing in a switcher.

But I will say this: the folks at Renewed Vision have done an outstanding job of pushing out many updates to ProPresenter since then, so it may be a viable solution now. I recommend at least giving it a shot. It just might work for you.

[cw4u]

Now that's interesting....I never even thought about using it to key over lyrics. I was just thinking live video only when needed. But that's an excellent idea.

We hardly ever use IMAG except for special occasions due to the complexity (and lag) of getting it switched over. If this works, we might be able to use it more often.

[petereit]

Careful! IMAG is something you use because you should -- not because you can. Don't fall into the old desktop publishing shtick of the 80s-90s where folks used lots of fonts "because they could" with no thought to design.

I say this mostly because, after all the investment into the technology to give us the ability to key lyrics over live video, we now never use it. We found that it's mostly just distracting. Tech for the sake of tech, instead of tech as a solution to a real problem. Lyrics over motion backgrounds that compliment our lighting and the mood of the song just seem to work better to set the appropriate atmosphere for worship.

And the only time we use IMAG now is when it makes sense: when Pastor is ministering in an area of the sanctuary out of view to most of the congregation or during baptisms and baby dedications. The rest of the time we display our standard logo screen, occasionally transitioning to scriptures as Pastor uses them.

We feel that putting Pastor up on the screen all the time might confuse people as to who the REAL start of the show is.

[dilbert3000]

I am trying to get our blackmagic intensity pro to bring in component video from a vaddio ptz camera into a mac pro for overlaying messages across the video to solve a problem with our new building. Our new building does not have the proper rake in the upper balcony for people to see the pulpit area. We tried firewire into a pc running pp4, but we had issues because with the video freezing at times, possibly because we need more than 4 gig of ram, the XP limit. We have tested PP4 on Window 7 but understand renewed vision doesn't support Windows 7 at this time.

I have installed the card but cannot get any video from the vaddio camera input into the mac pro. If we can get this solved, we plan to use a couple extra monitors for solving the balcony viewing issue because the vaddio single ccd doesn't have the color depth for christie projection, but looks okay on monitors we now use in the foyer and overflow areas. We also plan to use the PP4 video for web streaming and the overflow.

Later we plan to add additional cameras with sufficient quality, a mixer and final distribution to the christie projection.

[RV Support]

Dilbert... We do support and highly recommend Windows 7.

As far as your Blackmagic Intensity input question goes, we invite you to . Please indicate your input signal (SD/HD and resolution) and include screenshots of the Blackmagic System Preferences panel (all tabs) as well as ProPresenter > Preferences > Display and Live.

[Jason McKelvey]

Originally Posted by petereit

Careful! IMAG is something you use because you should -- not because you can. Don't fall into the old desktop publishing shtick of the 80s-90s where folks used lots of fonts "because they could" with no thought to design.

I say this mostly because, after all the investment into the technology to give us the ability to key lyrics over live video, we now never use it. We found that it's mostly just distracting. Tech for the sake of tech, instead of tech as a solution to a real problem. Lyrics over motion backgrounds that compliment our lighting and the mood of the song just seem to work better to set the appropriate atmosphere for worship.

And the only time we use IMAG now is when it makes sense: when Pastor is ministering in an area of the sanctuary out of view to most of the congregation or during baptisms and baby dedications. The rest of the time we display our standard logo screen, occasionally transitioning to scriptures as Pastor uses them.

We feel that putting Pastor up on the screen all the time might confuse people as to who the REAL start of the show is.

I completely agree with all of your advice on keeping God the center of focus throughout the service. I would like to expand on the IMAG issue. IMAG is the magnification of sight, just as audio systems are the magnification of sound. I wouldn't say using IMAG throughout the sermon to magnify the pastor's image and facial expressions is any more distracting or takes the focus off God any more than a sound system does, if done transparently without fanfare or sudden movements. Both, if done correctly, simply bring the pastor closer to each member of the congregation. Both, if done bad, distract. They both do the same thing... magnify.

Jason McKelvey

[petereit]

Originally Posted by petereit

Careful! IMAG is something you use because you should -- not because you can. Don't fall into the old desktop publishing shtick of the 80s-90s where folks used lots of fonts "because they could" with no thought to design.

I say this mostly because, after all the investment into the technology to give us the ability to key lyrics over live video, we now never use it. We found that it's mostly just distracting. Tech for the sake of tech, instead of tech as a solution to a real problem. Lyrics over motion backgrounds that compliment our lighting and the mood of the song just seem to work better to set the appropriate atmosphere for worship.

And the only time we use IMAG now is when it makes sense: when Pastor is ministering in an area of the sanctuary out of view to most of the congregation or during baptisms and baby dedications. The rest of the time we display our standard logo screen, occasionally transitioning to scriptures as Pastor uses them.

We feel that putting Pastor up on the screen all the time might confuse people as to who the REAL start of the show is.

Wow! What a difference a year makes!!

I read this today and couldn't believe I actually wrote it. We use IMAG all the time now. I think we do it more now because we have twice the seating we had then, our sanctuary is wider than it is deep and Pastor walks fully from side to side in front of the first row and sometimes down the aisles as he's preaching, so probably only a third of the congregation can actually see him at any one time. And he's quite expressive when he preaches, so if you can't see him, you miss a lot.

[tdangelo]

Originally Posted by petereit

Wow! What a difference a year makes!!

I read this today and couldn't believe I actually wrote it. We use IMAG all the time now. I think we do it more now because we have twice the seating we had then, our sanctuary is wider than it is deep and Pastor walks fully from side to side in front of the first row and sometimes down the aisles as he's preaching, so probably only a third of the congregation can actually see him at any one time. And he's quite expressive when he preaches, so if you can't see him, you miss a lot.

Thank you Petereit. I very much appreciate your follow up post. I have heard the comment in Christian circles many times that "I-mag should be used be used because you should, not because you can." Well, if there is any truth to that then the same is true for pews, lights, air conditioning, projected lyrics, sound amplification, etc."

I-mag is one of many tools we can employ. We don't have to employ it. It's perfectly ok to not employ it. But it's also perfectically ok to employ it as well.