Finally after 2 years of wishing and hoping, the production team at Brookwood Church finally got the green light to upgrade our aging video system in the main auditorium to new, high definition equipment. We had originally planned to only step up to digital video, fearing that going HD would be too costly for a church that is not currently, and has no plans to, broadcast over television. We had the opportunity to acquire an old digital production truck that would have been a steal but the deal fell through at the last minute, prompting us to re-evaluate the direction of the project. We then went back to the drawing board and began to discuss the possibility of easing into high definition by not going all out and buying equipment just for the sack of having it, but rather having every piece be a calculated move, being there because it has a specific purpose to fulfill within the scope of how we operate at Brookwood.
After discussing all the options, we found some incredible deals on equipment and, through partnerships with manufacturers, decided on a Grass Valley Kayak HD switcher and fiber connected Hitachi cameras with Fujinon lenses as the backbone to our new system. One way we saved money was by not buying crazy long lenses for every camera. We wrote down what kinds of shots each camera currently hits and then chose a new lens to better accommodate those types of shots, while giving the ability to be versitile. We are also adding a fourth camera at the back of the room, designating it as the “close up cam” with a 42x lens, almost double the length of the other lenses on the four main camera.
One of the most exciting parts for me personally is that we will finally be able to add some lighting fixtures and correctly light the stage, going from about 5-15 footcandles on stage with little to no backlight to around 50 footcandles, even all the way around. This might sound geeky but when a stage is correctly lit, it really makes shines, no pun intended.
We have finished the design phase and are almost through with ordering everything. There was some light construction to renovate existing space in order to utilize space most efficiently. We opted to do all this in-house and are putting together the final touches on the room before installation of gear begins at the beginning of October. I will post more details about the project and our progress as we move along this fall. We go live on November 21st!