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12Stone Church’s 70,000-square-foot Sugarloaf campus in Duluth, Georgia, is one of the church's seven vibrant campuses that, together, reach more than 17,000 worshippers each week. Recent technology updates to Sugarloaf’s 800-seat worship center and production facilities have made the campus a key location for the church and the creative hub for 12Stone’s streaming and production activities.
For in-person events, the facility's flowing physical design enables the building’s use as both a church and as the home of the John C. Maxwell Leadership Center, which houses easily configurable training and conference spaces …
For in-person events, the facility's flowing physical design enables the building’s use as both a church and as the home of the John C. Maxwell Leadership Center, which houses easily configurable training and conference spaces, similarly equipped with the latest technology and a full AV production staff. Enabled by its flowing design, the busy conference facility hosts community organizations, as well as top-flight industry conferences including the upcoming Capture Summit 2022 in July, a three-day conference where church filmmakers will engage with the staff and the facility to learn and refine their craft as Christ’s storytellers.
Pandemic pivot and production specs
As worship teams turned their attention towards more online efforts during the pandemic, the creative teams at 12Stone realized that productions at the church’s 2,400-seat Lawrenceville auditorium were struggling to achieve intimacy, an important ingredient in the church’s online strategy.
“It was hard to create intimacy in such a big room,” as Jeremy Epps, director of 12Stone Creative puts it. As a result, the smaller Sugarloaf worship center was redesigned to be more flexible, he reports, and more of a box—with ample control rooms, studio space, and more focus on sets and set design. A goal of the redesign included making the space more conducive to and focused on an intimate experience. This rethinking of worship during the pandemic culminated in the creation of 12Stone Home, an online initiative that successfully fuses remote streaming and in-person worship.
In its current end-on configuration, the system comprises nine Leopard compact line array loudspeakers per side, with two 900-LFC low-frequency control elements flown behind each main array.
Working closely with systems integrator Clark, headquartered in nearby Alpharetta, Georgia, and Meyer Sound, a new Meyer Sound Leopard speaker system was flown inside the main worship auditorium, where a rapid renovation reconfigured the room to serve as a hybrid combination of live worship space and video production studio. In its current end-on configuration, the system comprises nine Leopard compact line array loudspeakers per side, with two 900-LFC low-frequency control elements flown behind each main array. Seven 1100-LFC low-frequency control elements were also installed on the ground, with two ULTRA-X40 as side fills and six compact UP-4slim added as front fills.
“We have enough Leopard elements and subwoofers to change the room to in-the-round configuration with four arrays,” notes Taylor Davis, production director for the church. “Plus having used the system at other campuses makes us very nimble, so we can work in any room configuration.”
The room is currently configured with three distinct areas: a cafe teaching environment on one side, a performance area center, and a living room teaching environment for the pastor’s teaching on the other side. However, with all the production gear installed “touring-style” with portable decking, the setup allows Davis to turn the room or put the stage at center. “It gives us extraordinary flexibility,” as he puts it.
Sugarloaf added two new Digico Quantum 338 digital mixing consoles for FOH and broadcast audio and reassigned an existing Digico SD5 as a monitor desk. “These new desks from Digico are the perfect combination of size, ability, and I/O for what we needed in this multidesk application,” Taylor says. “We integrated the desks and Optocore loop fiber audio solution into the existing video system via MADI with an Optocore DD4MR. This gives us full functionality with room to expand as the system grows.”
“We took a page from a more theatrical standpoint in order to help support the multiple small sets in the space. This has allowed us to be more intentional with people who engage with our 12Stone Home and Online experiences.”
Taylor Davis, Production Director, 12Stone Church, Sugarloaf Campus, Duluth, GA
Lighting moves
For lighting, Taylor and his production engineers rely on 14 Martin MAC Encore Performance automated lighting fixtures for front light. Martin MAC Viper high-output fixtures, Chauvet Pro Rogue Washes, GLP Impression X4 bars, and MAC Quantum Washes over the stage. “We went with a performance moving head front light in order to dial in to an exact small area or set with the shutter capabilities,” notes Taylor. “We took a page from a more theatrical standpoint in order to help support the multiple small sets in the space. This has allowed us to be more intentional with people who engage with our 12Stone Home and Online experiences. Altogether, it creates an environment that feels more comfortable and in line with the environments where viewers will be experiencing the service.”
Video for flex
Installation of a new video wall in the worship center provides Sugarloaf creative teams more flexibility for 12Stone production and incoming special events and conferences. A 9m x 3m Unilumin Upad III 2.6mm video wall sits on the main deck upstage at center along with 3 0.5m x 3m lyric strips. “This configuration allows us to create endless possibilities for atmospheric content during worship moments,” says Taylor. “At the same time, it gives our art department and teaching team a canvas to explore; to see what it looks like to use content differently than the typical screen or teaching TV. We can fill the entire camera frame and surround the teaching pastor with visual content, and that has greatly changed the way we deliver content paired with a teaching.”
“Something we did differently for this application was to integrate all the gear in the room in a touring style instead of it being set permanently and fixed. All the decking is portable, all power and data lands on a distribution panel on the upstage wall, all desks are on wheels, etc. This gives us the ability to completely move the room around whenever we need for a new design or for special events,” says Taylor.
Hosting Capture Summit 2022
In addition to a large event space with professional sound, lighting, LED wall and video production capabilities, 12Stone’s Sugarloaf campus offers visiting conferences ultra-modern meeting space and classroom setups. This, along with the building's free-flowing design, makes it ideal for creative conferences like this year’s Capture Summit.
To learn more about church filmmaking, streaming, IMAG, and video production at Capture Summit 2022 coming on July 25-27 at 12Stone’s Church’s Sugarloaf Campus, visit CaptureSummit.com.
Now in its sixth year, Capture will feature 40+ sessions, 25+ speakers, and in-depth product demonstrations. This year’s event will also feature pre-conference workshops and an evening screening of select Church Filmcraft Festival submissions. The worship center’s large stage and wide LED wall will provide the ideal venue for inspiring keynotes, as well as the Church Filmcraft Festival viewing and awards ceremonies. Outside of the larger venue, Capture attendees and event sponsors will enjoy moving about freely and engaging with one another in classes, hands-on demos, worship, and connecting around the Sugarloaf campus.
For this year’s Capture Summit, the staff at 12Stone will be fully engaged with guided production and FOH tours, as well as a variety of creative and technology breakout sessions. A highlight for many will be a new book signing by filmmaker and author Phil Cooke. A working Hollywood producer with a Ph.D. in Theology, Cooke’s client list includes major studios and networks, as well as Joel Osteen and The Salvation Army. He has helped some of the largest Christian and nonprofit organizations use media to tell their story.
