[Editor's note: Article updated 11/20/15 with additional detail from the writer.]
At first glance, the workflows and technology choices used by large-budget megachurches may not seem directly relevant to a small- or mid-sized church operating on a limited budget.
Big house of worship operations can rival broadcasters or professional production companies in the quality of the final product, the number of trained staff members, and the equipment and technology deployed. Some produce both an inspiring live event and impressive final productions for replay at remote locations, for broadcast, and for streaming applications. Main deliverables may simply be a master CD of a sermon, which can be copied for distribution. Even if this is the case, applications such as Web streaming are probably on your radar.
If your production consists of volunteer staff, and your equipment hasn't seen an upgrade in a few years, are there potential lessons learned from these megachurches? The answer is ‘Yes.' Technology trickles down, and it never hurts to investigate how others in your craft have solved problems and deployed new equipment and techniques.
Sometimes it's easier to dwell on the differences between a smaller facility and a megachurch than to focus on the similarities. The core goal is the same for any size operation: Expand the reach of your service and message through high-quality production, which can be made available through multiple distribution methods.
Quality without Complexity
As with all audio/video productions, the quality of the final product is key. Quality here refers both to the technical sound and imagery, as well as the production values using modern equipment and workflows.
Modern, comprehensive multichannel recording devices, like the Video Devices' PIX 270i and PIX 250i, record very high quality HD images and multi-track audio in an edit-ready file format that expedite the post-production editing process.
Eliminating the need to transcode files is particularly important in a HOW environment populated by volunteer crews of mixed experience levels. The entire workflow is greatly simplified when a an event is recorded in file formats that are native to common non-linear video editing software. Video recorded in common file types, like Avid DNxHD or Apple ProRes, may be pulled quickly right from a recorder's removable hard drive for editing and post-production. This workflow allows for fast and easy completion of final content. A device that records in both the low and high bit rates of these formats as well as multichannel audio is also an extremely efficient way to ‘feed' multiple outlets ranging from broadcast channels to streaming sites.
The benefits of having video recordings with multichannel audio go beyond a visual impact. The ability to record multiple channels of audio can greatly enhance a final product, particularly when a church has upgraded to Dante audio networking for easy distribution of audio files over Ethernet infrastructures.
For many, gone are the days when just setting up a couple of mics around the room was acceptable. Today's consumer of video productions demands intelligible, clear sounding audio that conveys a real sense of being at the event. One solution is to use a device capable of recording multiple audio, allowing for mixing and optimizing of those individual tracks for video.
If a church has a more modern audio infrastructure that allows a recorder to interface with the house audio mixer, via a Dante network, then audio may be pulled off the network in multiple tracks. Using this technique, the recording is not limited to a stereo two-track recording, but Individual instruments, voices, and individual ambient microphones are all separated into individual tracks that may be mixed optimally for a truly professional end product.
When recorded along with either a single camera output or a single camera switcher output, the video and audio are already synchronized within the same file. This means AV sync doesn't need to be done in post anymore, saving time and money.
Instead, these multiple, individual tracks can be quickly mixed to achieve more professional sounding audio for final distribution. It's a better sounding production that is more easily achieved. The ability to record video with multiple channels of audio simultaneously no longer requires a big budget, nor the previously required complexity.
Simplicity of Operation
Producing a consistent product can be a challenge for church productions that have different volunteers with varying levels of experience contributing on any given production day. Setting expectations and adhering to high standards for the finished product is a true test for the workflow and infrastructure.
Removing complex steps, such as transcoding or syncing the audio and video, from a house of worship workflow is a major benefit, but so is usability of production equipment. Non-engineers don't want to go through a series of drop-down menus to find something in a hurry, so simple, easy-to-learn navigation is paramount. A small preview monitor on a record device to confirm an incoming signal can also be helpful, but really, anything that offers feedback to non-professional operators is useful and can make the process more efficient. When you're recording, a recorder should look like it's recording, with a nice big Record button, a big Stop button, and a big Play button that are all easily identified and accessible.
Reliability & Redundancy
Another challenge stems from the fact that any ‘acquisition' or capture of a live event, like a service is by its nature a one-time opportunity to capture the required video and audio. You have one chance to get that day's content, so it's vital that equipment and workflow enhance reliability without undue expense or complexity.
Devices and technologies that can help maintain consistency and reliability, regardless of the operator, are now available and very accessible. In today's world, most small and mid-sized house-of-worship productions can attain a more productive workflow through the application of tapeless, file-based recording technologies capable of operating on a network.
What is possible today? Multi-drive recording for one thing. And while the ability to record to more than one portable drive is great for backup purposes, drives can also be removed and delivered to other rooms or facilities as needed without having to wait for copies to be made, post capture. While network file transfers are great, sometimes holding and handing off physical media better fits a workflow.
Purpose-built as key
The right tools, designs, and workflows pay off with real benefits — purpose-built AV equipment that has been designed with feedback from real end-users is always a good investment. Using purpose-built equipment is important.
There's a lot of equipment designed to serve a wide variety of markets. Invariably, the ‘jack of all trades, master of none,' approach requires adaptations that make a production more difficult and often less reliable. Well-designed equipment that serves the role for which it was designed just makes sense.
