Grace Church, located just outside of Erie, PA, was founded in 1895 in Erie, PA. In their nearly 130-year history, Grace has outgrown their building a couple of times, embraced a multi-site strategy, and continued to adapt and change for the purpose of spreading the gospel. Their website states: “We’re constantly changing how we do church so we can continue to present the unchanging gospel to our neighbors. The scriptures demand it and so does our history.”
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, like many churches, Grace Church was faced with new challenges. The shift was bringing up questions like: “How do we create dynamic weekend services when few people can be in the room, and what content will continue to serve the church’s attendees being completely digital?” Their studio space was temporary and for each shoot, they were setting up and tearing down before the pandemic, which was creating wear and tear issues on equipment, and forcing staff to use valuable time away from coaching, training, and discipling volunteers. The results of a temporary space were also giving less than desirable results. Each shoot had different lighting levels, and different visuals, causing their editors to use more time in the edit when color grading and sound editing. The extra time, and desire to have a consistent look/feel to their content was building up concerns about the health of their staff and volunteer teams.
Though online church is a point of contention for many churches, Grace views both physical and digital gatherings as opportunities for community, discipleship, and growth. Digital experiences are seen as outreach and Grace is empowering leaders to organize micro-sites supported by the resources of a digital on-demand platform as well as the educational opportunities created by the Grace Leadership Institute School of Ministry. Determining the appropriate application for technology for this growing community of believers requires careful consideration and evaluation.
To help accomplish this task, Grace Church Creative Director Stephan Hay engaged Mankin Media Systems in their 4D process (Dream, Design, Deploy, Defend). Mankin helped Grace develop a five-year strategic plan to identify their long-term goals, clarify a clear path forward, and activate a comprehensive plan with definable goals. The first phase was a dedicated studio space, complete with audio, video, and lighting systems. The space’s focus had to serve their top priorities: ease of use, being volunteer-friendly and creating consistent visuals with little to no setup time. The recommended physical space for capturing pre-produced video elements as well as live broadcast experiences for their online church services, which happen simultaneously over YouTube and Facebook.
Digital experiences are seen as outreach and Grace is empowering leaders to organize micro-sites supported by the resources of a digital on-demand platform as well as the educational opportunities created by the Grace Leadership Institute School of Ministry.
Grace Creative Director, Stephen Hay had nothing but good things to say about Mankin Media. “First and foremost, the quality of service provided by Mankin Media is unparalleled. They took the time to understand our vision and specific needs and then translated that into a meticulously designed studio space that not only meets but exceeds industry standards. The attention to detail in every aspect of the construction, from acoustics to lighting to technological integration, is simply remarkable.”
Mankin worked with Grace’s staff and project architect to develop all of the necessary drawings including building infrastructure, electrical upgrades, structural requirements, and acoustical treatment for the refurbished space. The space was half gym, half youth space, and needed significant attention to turn it into a content creation space. The new studio space consists of 800 square feet of open studio floor space, a dedicated video & audio control room, and a separate machine room that helps isolate sound and heat from the studio floor. Once the infrastructure design was completed, detailed equipment lists and schematics were created to account for every gizmo and widget was created.
The studio needed highly flexible systems that could change and adapt to the needs as the creative needs shifted. The lighting grid with DMX-enabled lighting fixtures that could be adjusted both in color temperature and brightness from an iPad while standing on the floor, acoustical materials in the studio to tame the tall ceilings and parallel walls, and video systems to facilitate the routing and capture of video signals. This space also doubles as an audio monitoring location for live broadcast experiences.
At the heart of the video system is an AJA Kumo 32×32 SDI video router. The router facilitates all sources and destination low-latency video routing for the video plant and provides low-latency transmission. The router was chosen for its size, reliability, and its industry-leading 5-year manufacturer warranty. The Kumo router was the clear winner for its balance of inputs/outputs and budget. Its robust web-based GUI ensures that anywhere on their Production network, they can make routing updates simple and volunteer-friendly.
The creative studio includes:
- AJA Router Kumo 32×32 SDI Video Router controlled via Software GUI
- Ross Video Carbonite Ultra w/ TD1 Control Surface
- Cameras included Canon C500 MKII & C300 MKIII bodies and an assortment of Canon Compact Cine-Servo lenses
- Sachtler Tripod Support Systems
- Kessler Crane Cineslideramp 2.6mm LED wall
- (4) Litepanels Astra 6x Bi-Color & (3) Gemini 2×1 Full RGBww fixtures all controlled over DMX
- The Light Source Mega Batten Pipe Grid
- ETC ColorSource 20AV Lighting Control with iPad controls
- ClearCom Encore Intercom System with wireless IFB for on-screen talent.
- Cyanview RCP for shading and color control of their Canon Cinema cameras
- OpenGear frame with Cobalt 9363 Reference Generator & Ross Distribution cards
“Moreover,” Hay added, “the team at Mankin Media is composed of true experts in their field. Throughout the project, they demonstrated a depth of knowledge and skill that instilled confidence. Communication was clear and transparent from start to finish, deadlines were consistently met, and they went above and beyond to ensure that we were delighted with the final result.”
