A Weekend at Trinity Fellowship Church
This last weekend, I spent time at Trinity Fellowship Church in Amarillo.
This church is one of SSP's earliest adopters and one that we have been working closely with on the DeckLink plug-in project. My trip was to do some testing of the plug-in on-site and identify any lingering issues before its public release. Mike Wells, Executive Director of Production, met me there. We worked closely for day testing the plug-in in both SD and HD mode, and comparing it to the output of their Inscriber. I'm glad to say we're on track for having a product that will produce an excellent quality text-over-video solution. I also worked with Mike showing him how to do lower-thirds using SSP slides and motion backgrounds. Presently they are acutally using (ack) PowerPoint for lower thirds, with the plan to migrate to the Inscriber. My hope is to demonstrate, using this plug-in, that SSP provides a better option than either of these other choices. There present plan is to use the plug-in to produce better looking song lyrics within their IMAG system.
Mike also gave me a tour of their facility so I shot some pictures.
Here are a couple showing SSP in action (each picture is can be directly opened for higher resolution):
Here is Gene, their long-time SSP operator:
A shot of their tech booth.
Their video switching and intercom gear which are presently housed in almost closet-like rooms:
The console for their recording studio:
The church is presently building a new 380,000 sq. ft. facility which will contain a 57,000 sq. ft. sanctuary with a 4,000 seat capacity. The new building will also contain a large common area and new auditoriums for children and teen ministries. Below is some of the new equipment they will be using:
Their new sanctuary is being build in-the-round. The platform will have two hydraulic lifts for raising and lowering instruments and other items that may be used during the service. A tunnel system exists below the platform for access to the lifts.
The church expects to complete the project early next year. Mike participates on the SSplash forum. If you have questions about his church' equipment and/or facility, feel free to post them in the comments thread. You can also contact Mike at MikeWells@tfchurch.org.
(BE163)