Paul Lara, marketing manager for the Video Toaster product line at NewTek, Inc., a developer of video editing software based in San Antonio, Texas, likens the role of a video switcher to that of an orchestral conductor. “The switcher is the conductor that guides all of the players, and it determines the drum beat or tempo so everything comes out harmoniously on the other end,” he explains. “A video switcher is any device that will take multiple sources – whether they are cameras, videotapes, still images or computers – and allow the user to either cut from one source to the next or, as is more typically the case, to transition using smooth fades, page peels, curls and wipes between sources. Electronically, the switcher is necessary because most video equipment dances to its own drum beat. Switchers synchronize all of that and play it back.”
A scaler, on the other hand, allows users to transform small images into material that can be clearly displayed on a large presentation surface. “A visual problem appears when you get a small image that looks beautiful on a small TV and you blow that image out to a really large screen. It starts to look bad,” Lara says. “The function of the scaler is to mathematically go in and smooth [out the image] to create ‘in-between’ areas where none previously existed.”
Churches must first determine in what applications this technology will be utilized. “For example, if the church is doing a live feed of a very small camera shoot with a few cameras and not a lot of effects, then a fairly small production switcher [with one or two mix effects and eight to 16 inputs] would probably work fine,” says Richard Paulson, product manager for production switchers Thomson Grass Valley, a video products manufacturer with U.S. headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon. “On the other hand, if they have several cameras and tape machines, and they want to run clips and insertions during a live presentation, or if they have graphics and many more sources, they will be looking at something larger. They might want to go to 21/2-3 mix effects – sometimes even more – depending on the size of their production.”
Some switchers enable the user to perform production effects on the fly. “They can overlay a PowerPoint presentation, but if they have a pastor coming in for a service, they can add the name of the pastor to the screen,” explains Ludovic Mellot, vice president of sales at Analog Way, a manufacturer of switching and scan conversion technology based in France. “The high-end churches with larger budgets have the signal in high resolution to display on different projection screens [throughout the church], and they will also have it in low resolution to broadcast the information to another church through a videoconferencing system. They would use a scan converted to do that.”
“If you want to get the sound and images from the sanctuary into other parts of the building, then you would start with a simplified set-up. You may not need all the bells and whistles,” Lara adds. “If, however, the board determines that they want to create a professional-looking production that can be put on a videotape and sent out to the homebound, that is a different level of complexity because you would be interjecting supporting messages, themes and graphics.” Internet streaming of services adds another level of complexity, Lara notes.
NewTek has developed computer-based switching technology that is included in its Video Toaster editing package. “We refer to the Video Toaster as a TV studio in a box because all of the live production and post production needs that a church would ever think of are ready to go in this one box, and this really does replace a physical switcher. All kinds of physical hardware have been boiled down to onscreen modules.”
Traditional switcher manufacturers are also working to make their products more compact. “We’re seeing a lot of integration of things like machine control and internal DVEs in production switchers now,” Paulson says. “Thomson Grass Valley [did it] with the introduction of Kalypso – a very large-scale, high-end production switcher with six channels of internal DVE. We also have a built-in store [feature] now for still images , animation or short clips so we actually have RAM storage in the production switcher.”
While today’s sophisticated technology allows users almost limitless possibilities, Lara cautions against letting the technology drive the message that you are trying to get across. "One thing I see among people that are new to video is that they tend to get carried away with the special effects,” he insists.
At the same time, churches are placing more demands on their video systems, mainly because their congregations expect slicker presentations. “The demands are getting higher and higher, and it’s sort of a double bind for churches,” Lara observes. “All but the largest churches must rely on volunteers to make the purchasing decisions, integrate the whole system and run it. In some ways, it is rocket science – it’s not an easy task, especially when you are dealing with a team of volunteers that may frequently change.”
Churches must therefore take staffing into consideration when deciding how complex their productions – and the systems supporting these productions – will be. “It encourages me that churches have realized that video and the internet are the new literacy, and it is a very dramatic way to spread the gospel. The challenge is: how do we stay on the edge while keeping it useable, so if our main guy is out of town or falls ill, someone else can run it?” Lara points out. “With training, anybody could go to the local TV station and run the control room and direct the newscast, but it takes a little training.”
Kent Morris, president of Cornerstone Media, an A/V integration firm based in Atlanta, Georgia, cautions against being too frugal when it comes to purchasing certain equipment, such as switchers and scalers. “In your typical church environment where you are working with very constricted budgets, a church will determine a budget and then make the need fit the budget instead of the opposite, which is to [lay out] the needs of the church and then develop a budget around that,” he says.
However, technology prices continue to decrease, making sophisticated systems more accessible to even the most budgetoriented church. Part of this is due to the fact that more technology can fit into a smaller package. “The trend is to tie more and more equipment together,” Paulson says. “There are possibilities of having cameras communicate with production switchers. There is the potential for starting to build certain effects capabilities beyond what they already have in the cameras, where you would be doing upstream effects out of the camera before it even gets to the production switcher. Because of advanced technology and the ability to build so much functionality into a single piece of silicone, we’re seeing it spread throughout the production frame.”
While Lara warns against allowing technology to be the singular driving force behind a production, he emphasizes the important role it plays in church services. “Churches are now seeing video, multimedia, graphics and PowerPoint as a more powerful way to reinforce the ministry,” he says. “It was initially threatening to a lot of congregations that somehow the technology would dilute or cheapen the message. I encourage churches to dive in, because once they do, they’ll discover that they have complete control over the message as long as it’s done with sincerity and with belief. Then it can be incredibly powerful.”
Carolyn Heinze (carolyn@carolynheinze.com) works from her office in Vancouver, Canada.
