Video advice for a small church

[jklug2001]

My name is Josh, and I'm from a small church in Ft. Wayne, IN.

Currently I seem to be the "technical advisor" for our church since I work in the computer industry. I would like to supply, out my own budget, a video system to complement our current audio system.

Right now we have a PreSonus 16 run into a Windows 7 64 bit computer for our audio capture and editing needs.

I would like to add video features as well. Overall I would like to add 3 screens in other places in the church so people who may not be in the sanctuary could see the sermons/special events.

Ive looked at cameras and such, but I'm not really sure where to begin. I would like HD,but then again, since Im basically on my own budget, I need affordability.

Im looking at doing this in about 6 months or so, so there is no rush.

Any and all help/advice would be a blessing.

[[Admin] osborn4]

Looks like you want to do live remote viewing.

Can you expand on what you mean by "...add video features..."? Would that be for DVD distribution? Or Web distribution?

[jklug2001]

Originally Posted by osborn4

Looks like you want to do live remote viewing.

Can you expand on what you mean by "...add video features..."? Would that be for DVD distribution? Or Web distribution?

Probably just DVDs to our congregation.

The software part of that is pretty easy to handle.

[[Admin] osborn4]

I'll have to leave this to the video experts. I'm just trying to get the ball rolling.

Tell us about your set up. About how long of a shot will it be (distance, not time. )? How's your lighting? Things like that.

[sempei13]

Video and small churches are my specialty (oh and self-published books on podcasting for churches). Anyway, if you're doing DVD's you're looking at SD. How large is your room? Will you be doing live to tape or recording iso shots and editing later? How are you on personel? I wouldn't even think about it with less than three-five video people.

Let me know.

[jklug2001]

Originally Posted by sempei13

Video and small churches are my specialty (oh and self-published books on podcasting for churches). Anyway, if you're doing DVD's you're looking at SD. How large is your room? Will you be doing live to tape or recording iso shots and editing later? How are you on personel? I wouldn't even think about it with less than three-five video people.

Let me know.

We actually have 5 who rotate in the soundbooth. As far as the size of the room... not exactly for sure. I believe what we would be looking at is live to tape. Show it live in the other rooms, but make it available for later viewing via DVD.

[sempei13]

Great. I'd start by deciding where I'd put at least two cameras. I'd start with nothing less than Canon GL-2's all the way up to production cameras (depending on budget). Depending on the cameras you get, you'll want to pair them with good tripods at least Bogan/Manfrotto sticks with 501 or 503 heads (don't over buy, since a 3 lb camera will not work well on a $200,000 pedestal, but don't buy something cheap either).

You'll need to run the video signal from those either composite (in the case of SD cams like the GL-2's) or SDI for nicer cams. That signal should run into a switcher that will enable you to switch between your cams and possibly computer.

You need to run an audio feed from the audio board into your recorder (either a computer or DVD recorder, depending on the budget). Also send an output of the switcher to the overflow areas. If you're using projectors, you'll want to scale up. If TVs, you could get away with the on-board signal processing, although a dedicated scaler would likely be better.

You might need more light (and by might, I mean, almost definitely will). Make sure you include backlight to separate the subject from the background.

Hope that helps as a start.

Paul

[[Admin] osborn4]

I wish you could talk some sense into our church leadership. They think we can mount 1 camera on a tripod back in the sound booth with our current barely adequate for human eyes lighting and start cranking out DVDs and putting the sermon on our web site.

[sempei13]

Joel,

If you haven't started it, do a test run. Then show them why you want to upgrade. Sometimes seeing is believing.

Paul

[[Admin] osborn4]

That's probably the way to go. I hope I can encourge them to watch some of the other church services that are on cable here and see what they like and don't.

They are convinced that multiple cameras are not needed, so the initial budget will be to buy A camera. I've talked to them about getting the largest CCD they can with whatever money they come up with. And an audio line in.

Anything else we should look for in a camera in low - medium light with a 60' shoot?

[jklug2001]

Originally Posted by sempei13

Great. I'd start by deciding where I'd put at least two cameras. I'd start with nothing less than Canon GL-2's all the way up to production cameras (depending on budget). Depending on the cameras you get, you'll want to pair them with good tripods at least Bogan/Manfrotto sticks with 501 or 503 heads (don't over buy, since a 3 lb camera will not work well on a $200,000 pedestal, but don't buy something cheap either).

You'll need to run the video signal from those either composite (in the case of SD cams like the GL-2's) or SDI for nicer cams. That signal should run into a switcher that will enable you to switch between your cams and possibly computer.

You need to run an audio feed from the audio board into your recorder (either a computer or DVD recorder, depending on the budget). Also send an output of the switcher to the overflow areas. If you're using projectors, you'll want to scale up. If TVs, you could get away with the on-board signal processing, although a dedicated scaler would likely be better.

You might need more light (and by might, I mean, almost definitely will). Make sure you include backlight to separate the subject from the background.

Hope that helps as a start.

Paul

Thanks. That is quite a help. Since this was coming out of my own pocket, I was hoping to not spend $2k on the camera alone!
I shot some video last night from a small 720p pocket cam, and the lighting wasnt that bad at all.
Do you have any suggestions on what could be done to keep the ENTIRE project around $2k?

[sempei13]

The switcher is going to be your most expensive piece. I've been playing around with some software (like BoinxTV, but there are others) that turns a computer into a switcher. It's not perfect and does require a computer to use. The videonics mx-1 and mx-pro are entry-level switchers that aren't made anymore, but can often be found on ebay for a good deal.

Speaking of ebay, you can buy used and save $. This isn't a cheap endeavor. If you have a local tv station that's upgraded from SD, see if you can get their old gear. They might be happy for the write-off.

Live to tape costs more up front, but saves you TONS of time in editing. You could always record to the cams (with pocket cameras like the Flip) and edit later, but it will get time intensive fast. Also, you'll only be able to send one cam at a time to the overflow areas.

Paul