How-To Use Assistive Listening Devices for Translation

In Audio, home_page, Web Articlesby admin

There’s been a lot of talk about assistive listening systems in houses of worship, particularly when it comes to what your facility is legally required to provide by law (Assistive Listening and the Law, TFWM, March 2015).  Having an assistive listening system in place ensures that all your congregants have an opportunity to fully participate in worship, hear the message, and remain a vital part of your church community. However, listening assistive systems can be used for more than just helping your congregants with hearing loss; they can also be used for translation services – and, as the country continues to grow more multi-cultural, this use will become more important.
What would it mean for your facility if you could offer real-time translation of your pastor’s message for the non-English speaking members of your congregation?  For example, if you have a high-percentage of Spanish-speaking congregants, having someone who can translate the message and transmit that translation to them via an assistive listening device allows them to participate more fully in worship, and shows them that they are a valued member of your church community.
Many devices offer multiple channels and programmable receivers, so you could run both translation and assistive listening at the same time – just let your guests know what the channel assignment is for their specific need.

Sony Releases Next Generation of UWP-D Popular Wireless Microphone Series

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First announced at NAB 2019, Sony’s new UWP-D series wireless microphones have begun shipping.
The UWP-D21 wireless microphones are now available, with the UWP-D22 and UWP-D26 expected to ship in December.
In addition to superior audio quality, the UWP-D series wireless systems offer support for Multi-Interface Shoe™ (MI shoe) and a new Digital Audio Interface. The UWP-D series enables direct digital audio interface and delivers high sound quality with low noise by skipping the D/A and A/D process in combination with a new SMAD-P5 MI shoe adaptor and compatible camcorders including Sony’s PXW-Z280 and PXW-Z190 XDCAM models, using firmware version 3.0, as well as the α7R IV (ILCE-7RM4) 35mm full-frame camera.

Cleaning House: How to Handle Old Wiring Infrastructure and Other Systems

In Audio, Audio Product News, home_page, Web Articlesby tfwm

Cleaning-House-How-to-Handle-Old-Wiring-InfrastructureLayers of wiring infrastructure that have been around for years may lead to future trouble for your organization. It may not be the most glamorous of IT tasks, but it needs to be cleaned up, sooner rather than later. The best way to deal with this is to dive right in—locating, sorting, documenting, labeling, and clipping up the mess. Ignoring or procrastinating will only make matters worse and hurt your business in the long run. Here are some of the best ways to handle all those old wires.

First Baptist Church of Naples Upgrades Live Broadcast and Streaming with Panasonic AK-HC5000 Studio and AW-HE130 Pan/Tilt-Zoom Cameras

In Camera, home_page, Industry News, Install News, Video/Broadcast, Video/Broadcast Industry News, Video/Broadcast Install News, Web Articlesby admin

NEWARK, NJ (October 7, 2019)—First Baptist Church of Naples (Naples, FL) has completed a major renovation of its IMAG and streaming operations with the addition of three Panasonic AK-HC5000 studio camera systems and nine AW-HE130 pan/tilt/zoom cameras. These HD cameras support the live broadcast of three weekend worship services reaching 2500+ physical attendees and a growing internet audience.
Pastor of Media and Technology John Patterson, who manages worship center services for First Baptist’s 80-acre campus, explained that the AK-HC5000’s Chromatic Aberration Compensation (CAC) function makes it the ideal choice for camera placement 110-feet away from the worship stage. (CAC, a Panasonic proprietary and Emmy Award-winning feature, is capable of correcting even slight chromatic aberration at a lens’ periphery.)
“We have a very specific logistics requirement to place all three HC5000s on pedestals in the back of a 14,000 sq.ft. space,” Patterson explained. “Because of CAC, we are able to outfit the cameras with Cabrio 22x lenses (ZA22X7.6BERD-S6) with 2x extenders that run fully extended, with no lensing limitations or loss of focus.”
“The HC5000 addresses our criteria for simple, effective, reliable acquisition gear,” he added. “Specifically, we wanted separate tally/return, and a single SMPTE drop, all provided by the HC5000. We upgraded the cameras’ viewfinders (to the 9-inch AK-HVF100 FHD LCD model), and the VF focus assist has been a great help to our camera techs.”

Great Lakes Christian Church Demands the Natural Reproduction of Danley Loudspeakers

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Great Lakes Christian Church in Warren, Michigan has been in its beautiful 500-seat sanctuary for nearly forty years. Its outlook and services are decidedly traditional, with music performed by an all-volunteer orchestra of musicians from 17 to 76 years old. As it slowly became clear that the original sound reinforcement system’s many problems would be solvable with a new system, the Great Lakes Christian Church members came up with a cost-effective plan to install a new system by performing much of the labor themselves. Regional AVL integration firm Advanced Lighting & Sound, of Troy, Michigan, assisted with the design, installation, and commissioning, settling on Danley Sound Labs loudspeakers for their famously natural reproduction.

Danley Sound Labs Delivers Crystal-Clear Intelligibility on a Tight Budget at Saint Barnabas Catholic Church

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Saint Barnabas Catholic Church is a vital social anchor and community-builder in an economically-challenged section of Birmingham, Alabama. Its beautiful sanctuary was constructed in the early 1950s, and, although the room itself is still in excellent shape, the sound reinforcement system that went in fifty years ago was not. The room can accommodate 300 people, but congregants routinely avoided all of the middle pews because it was impossible to understand what was being said, and intelligibility toward the front and back was still challenging at best. Local AV integration firm ENG AV designed and installed a simple but remarkably effective Danley Sound Labs loudspeaker system comprised of two Danley SM100 loudspeakers and four small Danley Nano loudspeakers for choir and stage monitors.
“Many of our parishioners are older, and hearing can be a challenge for them even under the best of circumstances,” explained Father Douglas Vu, who, in addition to leading Saint Barnabas, volunteers his time as a sports commentator. Father Vu’s boundless energy and enthusiasm have made him a local celebrity in the Birmingham area. He continued, “Our parish is located in a poorer neighborhood of Birmingham, and money is always an issue. That’s why I was happy to work with Gary [Boackle] at ENG AV. I trusted that he would deliver a custom-built system that would solve our intelligibility problems for the most affordable price.”

Altman Lighting creates a balanced and colorful worship design at Bannockburn Church

In home_page, Install News, Lighting, Lighting Install News, Web Articlesby admin


Dedicated to creating a welcoming and authentic relationship with their congregation, Bannockburn Church is a sanctuary filled with encouragement and bonded through a common faith. Located near Austin, Texas, the church recently made the decision to renovate their outdated production design behind the worship environment, and they needed a partner to make the design a reality. With preparations of their own already underway for the opening of a new office in Texas, the design and integration specialists at 5 Words Media were ready to take full control with a design utilizing Chalice downlights and AP-150 LED Par luminaires from Altman Lighting.
“We were traveling a lot in Texas for a number of projects in the House of Worship market, so we began looking at the possibility of opening a new office,” began Daniel Gourley, CEO, 5 Words Media. “Strategically located in the middle of San Antonio, Dallas and Houston, Austin is a very progressive entertainment environment, making it an ideal expansion possibility. Since we knew Dustin Parker from our work with him at Life Austin Church, we did our best to convince him to join us and it’s been a natural extension for us as we continue to grow year-after-year.”
“When I first spoke with Daniel, I was doing a lot of in-house projects, but then also working on additional AVL freelance projects with other churches throughout the area,” added Dustin Parker, Sales Engineer, 5 Words Media.  “My true passion is to help congregations get the most out of the worship experience, so when I had the opportunity to join 5 Words Media, I really took it and ran with it.”
As discussions began with Bannockburn Church on how they would like to renovate their production design, it became clear that the architecture of the sanctuary was a valued aspect of the worship environment. Wanting to both highlight and accentuate the design characteristics already in place, the team at 5 Words Media would need to completely revamp the antiquated lighting technology.

Quick How-To Guide for Streaming Video

In home_page, Live Streaming, Video/Broadcast, Video/Broadcast Product News, Web Articlesby tfwm

Streaming media is video, audio, or text sent over the Internet and displayed by the viewer upon arrival or accessed later as a saved file. With live streaming media, a Web user does not have to wait to download a large file before seeing the video or hearing the sound. Instead, the media is sent in a continuous stream and is played as it arrives. When streaming media is stored and made available via a Web site, the viewer can play back and view the video at their convenience.

How Can Streaming Video Benefit My Ministry?
Internet streaming offers churches the opportunity to engage live with parishioners and potential members throughout the entire world. With Internet streaming, you can broadcast services and educational events to ill parishioners or the hearing impaired. Sermons can be broadcast to students or military personnel that are far from home. Streaming can also be used to expand your church beyond its physical walls by making your message available to potential members anywhere in the world.

How-To Lead Your Volunteer Team as a Volunteer

In Extras, home_page, Web Articlesby admin

By John Chevalier
Serving in the local church can be a joyful experience, especially in technical ministries where we get to apply our tech skills to mix our musicians as they lead our people in worship. But at times the leadership piece can be challenging. Most churches are too small to hire a technical staff to oversee services and have to rely on volunteers to get the job done. In most cases the Technical Director is also a volunteer and leading a team of volunteers – as a volunteer – can be challenging.
Your audio engineers have full time jobs and, in most cases, families. However, the need still exists to not only have a team ready to run audio, media, and sometimes video production, but there is scheduling and training that needs to be constantly happening. I find that there is a constant tension of balancing commitment with the understanding that those serving in technical ministries are making a sacrifice by being there. Along with the worship leader and musicians, your tech team spends more time at the church than do most other people involved in ministry at your church. Because of this, there is a huge need to build a team around you so that you don’t burn out yourself or others. I want to encourage you by sharing some things that have worked for me as a volunteer leader of volunteers in a ministry that requires a serious commitment.
The main thing you can do for people is support them. Support is more than just encouragement, although that goes a long way. If you want to have a team for the long haul, you should support your team in three specific areas: Professionally, Personally, and Physically.

Chroma-Q® Inspire MD™ Wins WFX New Product Award

In home_page, Industry News, Lighting Industry News, Lighting Product News, Web Articlesby admin

Featuring built in power supply using existing dimmer systems
Chroma-Q® was honored to accept the 2019 WFX New Product Award for the Inspire MD™ LED house light during the WFX Conference and Tradeshow in Orlando, Florida.
“This house light is a unique addition to the Inspire family.” comments Paul Pelletier, Global Brand Manager for Chroma-Q. “Not only is the Inspire MD a powerful lighting fixture for your House of Worship or anywhere dimmable LED’s are needed, but it also saves energy, which ultimately saves you money.”
The energy-efficient Inspire MD™ house light is a powerful LED replacement for conventional tungsten fixtures connected directly to a traditional dimming system. This fixture provides a beautiful warm white, with high CRI, a fully homogenized lens, and a choice of three beam angles. Inspire’s energy-efficient LED design reduces maintenance and running costs, with up to 80% energy saving.