Hey Everyone,

There have been some massive changes in the way that we do things when it comes to video and how we are presenting our messages across all campuses and we realized that you guys and gals may want to know how everything functions.  It a pretty complex process so I will try not to overcomplicate it.

We used to play the message from a computer in the control room using a program called Pro Video Sync controlled by a playback operator.  We now have video servers called Omneon that has a standard def (side screens) and a new high def (center screen) compression called JPEG 2000 that is better quality than ever before.  

Generally we are about 4 minutes or so behind whoever is hosting Andy live that morning so that there is time for margin.  We have the ability to go completely live with less than a second delay and may utilize that in the future.  We also have communication with the other 2 campuses via our clearcomm system.  It was a pretty big deal the first time we talked with North Point on coms and could see their entire stage on our big high def screen, pretty cool moment.  

The technical side consists of the Tech Director telling the Omneon when to record and when to playback.  You could look at it like a glorified Tivo.  We start recording, and a few minutes later we begin playing.  The scary part is that we are doing what you will hear called “Loading Live”.  That means that we are playing a video that is obviously not complete yet.  We are playing the message while it is still going on…again kinda like pausing American Idol for a few minutes while fixing some ice cream and then playing it while it has been going on live for a few minutes before.

Anyway, there is a lot of new equipment and new names and terminology that comes with it.  So if you hear us calling for something that is unfamiliar, please dont hesitate to ask what it is.

I hope I got all of the technical things accurate so as not to confuse anybody any more.  

As we add new systems we will try harder to keep you updated on the changes so everyone is in the loop.

Thanks for all you do.

Shove

1. John Folsom says:

   April 15, 2009 at 6:22 pm

   What is the model of Omneon y’all are using?