There’s this guy you need to know about named Joel.

Joel Smith is the creative genius behind Thr-ve, a production company providing motion backgrounds, TripleWide loops, and mini-movies for worship. He has made some really quality stuff, like this, that, and this other thing . If you haven’t already checked him out, you really should do so now!

But one day, Joel got bored. And he saw a need…both for his creative expressions & for great art in the Church. So he went and started something new, and it’s called “SimpleBacks”.

SimpleBacks are collections of very simple, artistic & tasteful still images. And what does he use to take them? His iPhone! Yep. Everything you see on his site (www.simplebacks.com) was shot on his iPhone. Kind of makes you consider why you spent $1800 last month on that 7D, doesn’t it? ;)

He says he blames AT&T, but personally, I blame Apple. By golly, who wouldn’t? Apple made a little device terrible at making calls (thanks to AT&T), but wonderful at doing everything else, like taking photos!

I was pretty impressed when I saw them for the first time. The quality is pretty stunning! Now that the iPhone 4 is out, there’s no telling what kind of pictures we’ll be able to take on-the-fly. I can’t wait to see what Joel comes up with!

Speaking of the new iPhone 4, have you seen this new short film shot and edited entirely on the new gadget?

On the site, Joel talks about how he started SimpleBacks. The kicker? He “took pictures.” It’s such a simple idea. He just went out and did it. SimpleBacks is the result of that innovative effort. It’s awesome to see the pictures of buildings and cars and stuff that you have no idea what it is because its from a fresh perspective. His art really shows that it’s not the camera, the equipment, or machine, but rather it’s the person behind the camera/computer/brush/instrument that makes the art what it is. SimpleBacks proves that you can make great art with simple equipment. So what are you doing with yours? Quit making excuses that “I can’t do this, that, or the other” and START DOING. The best thing you can do is just DO.

So go do!

Oh, and one more little detail about SimpleBacks:

THEY’RE ALL FREE!

Nathaniel is Proctor’s awesome summer intern at Grateful Inconvenience. He does it all: somersaults, push-ups, and spit balls. Be careful: if you see him in the wild, he may walk up to you and give you a high five. Go ahead and follow him: @nathanielks.

Props to Allan White & Brian Holt for discovering the tools & methods necessary for making this happen. Here are a list of resources to help you set this up:

- Air Display app for iPad

- Brian Holt’s method for mirroring specific displays

- and obviously an iPad, Mac, WiFi network, & ProPresenter 4.

You can use this with virtually any software or simply create more desktop space for your work-flow. I can’t wait to try this out during an event and to see how ProVideoPlayer responds. What’s great about Pro4 & PVP is its simple UI & large thumbnails, which makes controlling via touch much more accessible.

Now the question for all of us is “How can I apply this?” One way I’ve thought of is if you want to take advantage of Stage Display but don’t have a back-wall projector or confidence monitor; the iPad can rest comfortable on a music stand right on stage with the band!

What other applications can you see involving this method?

Zach Fonville is one of the few media producers that “gets it”. He creates stunning, creative visuals to use in the church that aren’t distracting. I was SO happy when I heard Brad Zimmerman at CMDtv talk about Zach because it changed my church’s Sunday morning. Before RedFerrisWheel, we were using some cool loops, but it just wasn’t “there”. But after hearing about RFW (and USING them), it just wasn’t the same.

Why do I say he “gets it”? I think that Zach understands that it isn’t the visual that matters, but rather the emotion and message in the song and in the worship that matters. His visuals just reinforce that emotion and message. His use of color and visual simplicity is fantastic. He forsakes a focused image for blur and abstraction. I love that because even though the worshiper is watching a video, there’s nothing to attract your eye to the video, but rather focus on the words and the worship, while also being able to take in the color and the visual. I LOVE that.

One of the defining characteristics of Zach’s pieces are their use of color. They are usually pretty simple, kept to 1 or 2 colors, but some offer more a variety in hue. One of the greatest things that you can do with ProPresenter 4 or ProVideoPlayer is change the hue of the video. So even though his original piece was blue, you can change the hue to green or yellow to match the environment you’re setting as one of the worship leaders! (If you haven’t heard of “color theory”, I highly recommend reading the first part of Smashing Magazine’s mini-series HERE.)

If you lead worship, you need to understand how color and visuals both aid and detract from worship. As Stephen pointed out in his “3D Worship” post, worship is for GOD and not for us. Yes, God gives us an awesome gift in being able to enjoy worship, but we need to remember it’s for his glory and not our own. Our worship needs to reflect this in every aspect, even down to the visuals we use. Are the videos you use during your services aiding worship or detracting from worship? I challenge you to ask yourself this question:

Why are you using it?

Do you have an answer? If not, you need to be careful. The point of using visuals in worship is not just to do it. God doesn’t JUST put trees in the ground to look pretty. He also put trees in the ground so that they can grow, get big and develop leaves that produce oxygen for us to breathe. God has a reason and purpose for EVERYTHING he does. Do you?

Like I said before, I love Fonville’s work because of its simplicity. In many cases, his work aids my congregation in worship. I highly recommend checking him out and taking his stuff for a spin. =]

Zach’s website is RedFerrisWheel.com – he offers all of his visual creations on his site for FREE…there’s a lot of motions on there, as well as bundles of stills. So knock yourself out, and spread the word! You can also follow Zach on Twitter: @redferriswheel

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Nathaniel is Proctor’s awesome summer intern at Grateful Inconvenience. He does it all: somersaults, push-ups, and spit balls. Be careful: if you see him in the wild, he may walk up to you and give you a high five.

Recently, I finished the book “Flickering Pixels” by Shane Hipps. This is not a feat to take lightly as I am not much of a book reader. It’s a weakness I struggle with constantly. I really wish I loved to read books…I really do. But it’s just not a natural means of entertainment or enjoyment for me. People are constantly saying “Oh, you HAVE to read _______.” Sometimes I take their word for it and jot it down, but very rarely (like every Haley’s Comet orbit) do I actually read it. Mark Zurowski (who I met in Thailand) was one of those guys recommending a book, except he gave me his own copy…and the title was “Flickering Pixels”. Man, am I glad I read it!

The basic message of the book is that the medium is just as important as the message, so much that the medium becomes the message itself. The two can’t be separated. The medium Hipps chooses to focus in on is technology. The whole book is a journey of unveiling the stealth-like influence and power that technology has in our lives & faith. I felt as if I was led to the backstage of the Technology Revolution and was shown what was going on behind-the-scenes. Everyone’s all hyped up on media & technology these days, but very few go exploring through the back hallways & secret passages of this thing. Another good analogy might be “The Wizard of Oz” and the moment when the man behind the curtain was revealed.

There’s so much to process after reading this book. There’s no way this one little blog post can contain all my thoughts (good, bad & cautious). But I can tell you this, it has profoundly impacted my view on technology and it’s proper relationship to both my daily life, leading others in worship, & training others to lead worship. I’m not saying that I completely 100% agree with every word in the book…like I said, I’m still processing. But the overall message & many of the stories told definitely back up a lot of what I’ve been thinking and wrestling with lately.

Here’s an excerpt from the book, which has been the single most memorable section of the book for me:

“Information alone is strength without coordination. We become a danger mostly to ourselves when we have it. Understanding is the ability to coordinate that raw information in meaningful ways. Understanding creates a certain enthusiasm. We can direct our knowledge toward potentially useful ends — but we may also be a danger to others. Wisdom, however, is knowing how, when, and why we use our understanding; wisdom is settling into our understanding without being too enamored by it.”

I think this can be applied to so many areas. The Internet, social media, visual media, art, etc. Think about the area of technology you lead in your church, and read that excerpt again keeping that area in mind.

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Here’s something to think about: with access to all these new motion backgrounds, software capabilities, magic box devices, projection techniques, intelligent lighting, etc… that alone is like having “information”. But I think a majority of our creative church subculture is in the “understanding” phase right now. We are learning how to wield our knowledge/information/gear/creativity & apply it in meaningful, worshipful ways. There is a sense of enthusiasm & excitement when this happens. And we’re very enchanted by it all. However, we haven’t really obtained “wisdom”.

Hipps goes on to write that “unfortunately, [this] Age does little to encourage the development of wisdom. This requires time, experience, contemplation, patience, suffering, and even stillness to obtain.” And with the current fast-paced climate of our culture (and sadly, even some churches), things “never settle long enough to allow for the emergence of wisdom. We are left instead with ‘the conceit of wisdom rather than real wisdom.’”

I want this message to be an encouragement to the Church. It’s so easy to become critical and point fingers, but the reality is, we all need to slow down. I need to slow down. This means turning things off once in a while. Or choosing times to lead without all the bells & whistles. It’s in those times of silence when our souls are quieted, our creativity gets some breathing space, & wisdom is nurtured.  And I really REALLY desire this for all of us.

Well, there’s a few other dog-eared pages in this book that I might have to write about later. We’ll see. But for now, I highly recommend that you go and pick up a copy for yourself. Connect with others in your community that have read it. If you can’t find anyone, then buy your worship leader or pastor or volunteer a copy and initiate some conversations with them about it. It might just revolutionize the way you approach media. Just maybe.

Thanks Mark! You were right. :)

So you want to go to the Echo Conference.   Well, how would you like to go for FREE?! Now’s your chance!

I give you The Helvetica Challenge!

The basic premise is this: whoever captures & submits the most photos of the font “Helvetica” in use in the real world wins a free registration to ECHO! Here are the details/rules:

1) You must first watch the film doc “Helvetica”. It’s available on iTunes, Amazon, etc. I hear you can watch it online for free somewhere but I don’t know where exactly.

2) Take the test. “So you think you can tell Arial from Helvetica?”

3) Take pictures of Helvetica in use out in the wild. Streets signs, shops, magazine ads, TV, screens @ events, airports, etc. However, you cannot, I repeat, CANNOT take pictures of, print off or screen-grab shots of Helvetica on a computer or anywhere on that thing they call the “InterWeb”.  (the internet for those of you who don’t get the joke.) In other words, the subject has to be physical/tangible/out in the wild, not digital or online. Also, you cannot create or be involved any way in the creation of said subjects using Helvetica.

4) Upload your pictures to an online gallery. Your options are Flickr, Facebook, & MobileMe. Please submit them as an “album” which automatically counts the number of photos it contains. Only one photo per subject, too…no duplicates or different camera angles on the same thing. The album must also contain a picture of your receipt from purchasing the film or a picture of you watching it. You must also include a picture/screen-shot of your test results from the Arial vs Helvetica quiz. (scores don’t matter.)

5) Tweet the link to your online album of photos and hashtag it with “#HelveticaChallenge“. (If you aren’t on Twitter, then email your link to me at proctor@worshipVJ.com with the subject line “Helvetica Challenge”. Then go sign up on Twitter. haha… j/k!) You only need to tweet it once, and once it’s published, you can’t add anymore pictures to it.

DEADLINE: All tweets/emails must be posted by 10:00pm US Central Standard Time on May 19th (next Wednesday).

The winner will be announced the following day.

Simple enough? Any questions?

Ready.

Set.

GO!

Some time ago, I wrote a post called “Which Format Is Best?”, which walked you through my process of converting video files for more “VJ-friendly” playback. I should say right off the bat that this conversation only applies for Mac users. The short version is, when you download content (mini-movies, motions, etc), you are receiving a QuickTime movie that has been encoded with the H.264 codec (the industry’s standard right now). However, when pulling more advanced playback stunts like on-the-fly speed control & quick sporatic dissolves, this codec seems to struggle, resulting in choppy playback at the time of adjustment. And since I like my playback to be as smooth & seamless as possible, I’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen. So in that post, I highlight another codec that I’ve been using called “PhotoJPEG”; when exported at 50-75% quality (don’t ask), it results in a balanced combination of smooth playback, file size, & quality. #VICTORY

Last week, all of that changed.

When we were in the final stages of producing the Playback Drive, I asked the team the question, “Are we going to give people H.264 like everybody else, or are we going to go the extra mile and convert them all to PhotoJPEG?” The beauty of working together on a team is that there are other people more knowledgeable than you could ever imagine being yourself. Some liked the idea, and some didn’t. Why? Because they were never satisfied with PhotoJPEG to begin with. You see, PhotoJPEG compromises a fraction of quality when compared to H.264. The difference is marginal (even I cannot tell sometimes.) But to the professionally trained eye, you can tell.

So which is more important when VJ-ing? Pristine quality? Or seamless playback?

We thought about offering both codecs with a “read me” file explaining which format was for which situation. We didn’t want to compromise the quality of our loops, not even a fraction. But one of the guys on the team (Jason Norris, who’s been working w/ Nick Rivero on all sorts of crazy cool ideas) did a little research and experimentation.

What he discovered is this: if you export a video to QuickTime using H.264 but choose the option to KEY ALL FRAMES, it will result in seamless playback, just like PhotoJPEG…except that you’ve not compromised any quality! Here’s a snapshot of the advanced settings when exporting via QuickTime 7 (this should apply to other programs as well):

So…I have officially abandoned PhotoJPEG as my VJ codec of choice. From now on, it’s H.264 all the way (keying every frame along the way, of course.)

So what? What does this mean for you?

- if you’ve gone through all the work of converting all your loops to PhotoJPEG, then welcome to my camp. But I’m not that worried or frustrated honestly, b/c remember, the difference in marginal. Just select this compression type & setting for new loops that you’ve created or downloaded. Don’t re-export your PhotoJPEG videos back to H.264…it won’t help you regain that little bit quality. If it bugs you that you have lost that extra margin of quality…sorry…again, welcome to my camp. If you downloaded content from WorshipHouse Media, you can always re-download it in it’s original format via their new “My Media” feature.

- if you are new to all this, just know that this is for more advanced VJ playback & getting rid of the little things that most people won’t really notice. But if you still want to follow my lead, then whenever you download a loop/motion from a website, simply convert it to H.264 with the settings I described above.  (FYI: it’s already in H.264, but not with the “key all frames” option.) Also, this practice does not apply to “mini-movies” or any kind of video that you aren’t scratching/jogging/speeding up/slowing down/etc. To learn more about batch conversion, read my previous post and watch the video. Compressor works great, but for those without Final Cut Studio, I recommend Stomp.

A note of warning: when keying all frames using “Best” on compression quality, it will result in a much larger file size, about 4-5 times the size of a file using the default settings of H.264. For example, a 90MB video will now be around 400MB. The day after I posted this, Joel Smith of Thr_ve tested this compression method himself and found that if you use “High” instead of “Best”, you will find a much more conservative file size without compromising the quality. But in any case, you are going to be dealing with a larger file size, which is totally worth it to me. So if you’re thinking of getting a Playback Drive, you might want to consider the 2TB model! ;)   — And yes, the Playback Drive already has everything converted with these new settings. (the amount of content equals 33GB.)

It’s all about excellence. Even in the details. Thanks, Jason, Nick & Joel for working hard to find a better way for all of us!

Since our announcement, we have gotten an overwhelming response of positive feedback about the Playback Drive! We knew a few people out there might dig it, but to see how well it’s been accepted and to read the articles that have been written about it…we are humbled & blown away!

Through the process, we’ve asked potential users of the Playback Drive what they like & dislike about what they’ve seen so far. After all, we are almost a week away from our shipping date and want to make sure we refine this thing as much as possible to fit everyone’s needs. The biggest request we’ve received is to have a closer in-depth look at what exactly comes on the Playback Drive (beyond the promo-video and the thumbnails on the site).

Well, you spoke…and we listened. Here is a Guided Tour of the Playback Drive:

If you would like a more detailed overview of the Playback Drive and have 42 minutes to spare, then knock yourself out.

Here are some things to consider when deciding if the Playback Drive is for you:

- there is a vast array of artistic styles in the content…from animated CG loops to nature/creation scenes to abstract, sacred looking textures. You might not use all of the content in one venue; PBHD is a great multi-venue resource. Some content will work better for the adult service on Sunday morning while other content will work better in student/children environments.

- it’s always good to have a dedicated external hard drive for playback and media storage. It’s not the best idea to clutter and clog your internal hard drive full of media, as this can slow down performance over time. You are already going to spend $100+ for a 500GB hard drive (well, on one that is stable & reliable at least). So, you are only spending an extra $149 for over 320 images/clips.

- if you are an organization that is just starting to use visual media…or if you are entering into a new chapter of using visual media in your events, the Playback Drive is for you! Starting a new, fresh library of content can often be overwhelming and intimidating…there is a LOT of content out there, but sometimes one can get stuck on knowing where to start. Also, media is a hard-to-budget-for-item b/c there is always new content to buy. This is a way to get a good library with an affordable & fixed price-tag that you can go to the “higher ups” for approval.

- we all need more content. This is another way to help fuel your next experience.

- multi-screen video staging, Environmental Projection®, panoramic edge-blended canvases, etc…. if you are in the “Triplewide conversation” or are thinking of implementing a Triplewide setup in your event, then the Playback Drive is a great resource for Triplewide content.

I hope all of this serves you well, and whether or not you will ever own a Playback Drive, may all “this” be an encouragement to you & know that there is a community of visual artists who care about you and the direction the Church is taking.

Every time I VJ, I get the golden question. “Where do you get all your backgrounds?” If you’ve been around me long enough, you’ll know there are many answers to that question. Much of what I use I download from sites like WorshipHouse Media, and some have even come from 20-year-old DVDs that I’ve discovered across the years. But more and more, the content I VJ is being created by friends of mine or even myself. Time and time again, I point to a shiny silver box sitting next to my MacBook Pro and explain, “This is my external hard drive. It contains all the videos & images I could ever need.” I get varied responses, from “Is that for sale?” to “You better not walk away b/c I might steal that!” (jokingly, of course…I think.)

Well, what if you COULD walk away with a hard drive loaded with content?

Now you can!

For a long time, a few buddies of mine and I have sat around dreaming. This usually takes place over a burning fire-pit, a stack of pancakes, or chips & salsa after loading out an event. We dream about everything from high-end technology that doesn’t exist (or isn’t affordable and user-friendly) to our philosophies on visual worship to the direction the Church is headed and what we love/hate about it.

One of those dreams was to start creating more content…a fresh wind of creativity that would sweep the Church and cause a shift in thinking in how we approach visual media for worship. And another dream of ours was to see all of this packaged onto a hard drive…a “one stop” solution that we could share with the Church at large. And not just a heaping pile of random clips…but media we could actually see ourselves using! A carefully curated collection of our prized gems.

This is way more than a product. It’s our expression of community & relationships. This project is a collaboration between Orange Thread Media, Visual Worshiper & worshipVJ. Those are our business names & brands…but most of you know us by our real names…Luke McElroy, Camron Ware, Nicholas Rivero, Nate Griffin, Jason Norris & Stephen Proctor. And many of you in our community have spoken into our lives and helped shape the way we think.

We hope that the Playback Drive will be a simple & effective solution that will empower you as you journey on this road of “visual worship”. Because no matter what software you are using, how big your HD screens are, or how simple or complex your approach may be, at the end of the day, you’ve got to have good content. The type of content loaded ranges from artistic & abstract to film-based images & realistic. There’s also a good selection of fast & vibrant loops for more energetic contexts, as well as slow & reflective imagery for more contemplative times. We wanted to make sure that there is a wide variety that suits every situation!

More importantly, we hope that this will be a tool that creates community and edifies the Church at large. To read more about why we are doing this & the community behind it all, read what Luke McElroy has to say.

And for those of you on Twitter wondering what the heck “#pbhd” means (that is, if you haven’t already figured it out), it stands for “Playback Hard Drive”. :)

Pre-orders begins TODAY! We will begin shipping on April 30th, 2010. If you pre-order before April 28th, we guarantee to have you drive shipped on April 30th.

Oh, and there is just one more thing…

…all Playback Drive Users will receive a new clip every month for FREE!

What started as just another social media outlet has turned into a rapidly growing resource of VJ content…and the best part is, it’s FREE!

Various group members (such as SECCWorshipTech, Thr-ve & Everett Bowes) have started submitting their own visual media to the group and allowing it to be downloaded freely for others to use. And these are quality loops…I’m approving each one individually. No cheap crosses drawn in Microsoft Paint here. :) Thr-ve has even submitted Triple-Wide versions of their loops available on WorshipHouseMedia.com)…these loops are great for multi-screen VJ-ing as well as Environmental Projection.

Head on over to the worshipVJ Vimeo Group, and if you don’t know how to download the videos, just read “How to Download Videos on Vimeo” in the Forum.

ENJOY!

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• If you’d like to support us and keep things like the Vimeo Group and worshipVJ blog going, then you can support us a few ways:
  1) Buy our content that’s for sale at WorshipHouseMedia.com

  as well as playlist.worshipVJ.com.

• 
  2) If you are looking to purchase ProPresenter, ProVideoPlayer or upgrade to ProPresenter 4, then please go through us to get it. By doing so, we will be able to hook you up with more FREE VJ content! Go to gi-inc.org/store to find out more.
  

• 3) Spread the word!
  

• Thanks!

If you are in the Nashville, TN area and are a ProPresenter user, you might want to check out what’s going down next week. On March 3rd (Wednesday) I will be teaching a worskhop on ProPresenter 4 at the Apple Store. We will be covering everything from the basic purpose and functionality of ProPresenter, examples of how it can be used in a live environment, and the new, powerful features of version 4. Even if you aren’t a ProPresenter user, this workshop will be beneficial because you will see some real-life examples of how to creatively use video technology in a live event.

My friend Nick Rivero (former Student Life video director & wizard at motion graphics/Quartz VJ-ing) will be driving up from Birmingham to help with the session; both of us will be available at the end to answer any questions.

Here are some details:

Introduction to ProPresenter: Discover ProPresenter, the presentation system for lyric and media playback. In this workshop, explore the unique, dual-screen song display system of ProPresenter and learn about its multiresolution video mixing and multiscreen capabilities.

When? March 3rd, 9:00am – 11:00am

Where? Apple Store Green Hills (Nashville, TN)

To find out more, visit the Green Hills Apple Store’s website; if you look at next week in their “schedule of workshops & events”, you will see this event and can reserve a spot. If you are coming, I recommend reserving a spot, though it’s not required in order to attend…you just may have to sit in the back.

If you are interested in purchasing Pro4 or upgrading from Pro3, then visit our store site, make a request for purchase, and I can get you squared away. If you purchase through grateful inconvenience (my company), I can get you hooked up with a collection of free media.

- There is something powerful when people come together to create.

- Both of those guys (Camron & Nate) rank at the top of my list of creative people I know. … But as we focused on communication and our friendship, we all learned to die to our preferences and serve a greater cause.

- What happened in Thailand was probably one of the most creative worship experiences I have ever had.

- They wanted each of these nights to be set apart…very unique and special. So Saturday & Tuesday nights were our two main opportunities to bring all we had.

- Both nights incorporated Nate painting live during a segment of the worship while Camron and I took turns VJ-ing & running lyrics. As we dreamed together, we stumbled onto a few simple and innovative things that none of us had tried before. But what sent this experience over the edge was the participation of everyone else in the room…all contributing and leading through their own acts of visual worship. It was “co-creation” like I had never seen before.

- It’s all about relationships.

The Setup:

Saturday Night: Entering into Sabbath rest.

We wanted the worship space to be a sanctuary when people walked in. Lights dimmed, quiet & reflective music playing, and images/text on the screens that focused their hearts on God. People entered quietly and reverently.

The worship songs that night were played in a softer manner, and during a few of the songs, we didn’t even project lyrics. Instead, we projected various scriptures that focused on the Cross. The songs were well-known, so the need for lyrics wasn’t even there to begin with.

During this time of projecting scriptures, I felt the need (in the moment) to VJ scenes from “The Passion of the Christ”…slowed down to half-speed, saturation very low, and barely blended in with the scriptures. Then two people from the congregation got up and started reading scriptures while the worship leader lightly played his guitar. (For us, the scripture reading was a last minute add-on and someone else’s idea… a “curve ball” for us production guys…but we went with it.) It was POWERFUL. And the “Passion” scenes mysteriously lined up with what they were reading aloud. I love it when that happens.

Nate stepped on stage and started painting. No one could really tell what he was painting though…but we all sensed it was something profound. We continued to sing and hear scriptures. After a while, Nate turns the painting upside down and walks away. We were stunned as we made out the image…and overwhelmed given the powerful, scripture-filled worship moment we were in the midst of having.

Nate had also written out a beautiful treatment that I took and made into a video (all this was written and edited on the afternoon of). We also wanted to bring the experience back home for ELIC, and so Camron took his “Names of God” template and created a video of all the city names that ELIC is currently working in.

As you saw in the “setup” video, Camron had figured out in PVP (ProVideoPlayer) how to pixel-map the double-wide projection to fit exactly where the painting was hanging. This is an advanced setting in PVP and fairly easy to setup if you know what you’re doing.

And all at once, the elements came together. We captured this experience so that we could bring it back home and remember it, and we wanted to share it with you. (on the left, you’ll see the painting and what happened live, and on the right you’ll see what we projected on the side screens.)

And then we partook in communion.

Tuesday Night: The Sending Out.

This night was similar to Saturday night in that we had people enter quietly and reverently. However, this night was focused on the “sending out” of ELIC back to their cities.  This time, I VJ’d scenes of creation and people groups from all over the world. The music was less contemplative and more “other worldly” and “epic”…lots of movie soundtracks with a haunting yet inspirational rhythm.

Nate had painted a map of Asia earlier in the week and hung it on display in the back of the room. On Saturday night, people were invited to take sharpies and write prayers for their cities and friends over the regions where they were teaching. Some of the things that were written would break your heart.

We rearranged the chairs into a “U” shape, creating more of an “in the round” effect. I love doing this because it reinforces the community aspect of worship. (Nothing screams “community” like seeing the backs of people’s heads…just sayin’.) The band and speaker never stepped foot on the stage, but led from the floor down front. Many people could not see the worship leader, but this was kind of the whole point.

At the end of the night, after communion, Nate stepped back on stage and completed the painting of Asia. The first painting (from “Agnus Dei”) was hanging next to it. Nate finished painting, and what we were left seeing was the Hand of God holding Asia…prayers and all.

Then the worship leader led us in “God of This City”. In between the two paintings we projected faces of Asian people and then brought back the “Names of Asian Cities” that Camron had created for Saturday night.

Next came the last song of the night: “Mighty to Save”. Earlier in the day, Camron had taken his Canon 5D Mark II and took pictures of all the prayers that had been written throughout the week. After a little Photoshop magic, he opened up his editing program and created a double-wide video of all the actual handwritten prayers.

The people’s visual worship became our motion background! And it was the most powerful visual I could ever imagine while singing “Savior, He can move the mountains!” Spiritual mountains, one right after another, filled the wall. It was too much to handle. People were crying, raising their hands, and yelling “Yes, Lord! Do it!”

The last prayer came across the screen as we ended the song. In one person’s own handwriting, it read…

The president of ELIC got up, spoke a blessing over us, and prayed a benediction. The room continued to be a sanctuary. Most people just sat there in silence. Filled to the brim and ready to get back to the Work.

We had dreamed of merging live art and media all at the same time, but this was the first time we all worked together to make it happen. Even though the content was unique & creative, what made this experience so special was the context we were working with… 500 amazing individuals that make up ELIC. There’s no way we could replicate what happened that night…nor should we try…it was special for that time and for those amazing people. Again, it was co-creation like I had never seen before. What’s even better is that it took zero dollars to pull this off. Just a little time, creativity, a few of our own resources, unity and love for each other is all that we needed. I will never forget it.

It wasn’t the cool experience or our creativity that made the “worship” happen…it was the offering and surrender of people’s hearts…all of our hearts. That is what was pleasing and acceptable to God. It’s amazing when He chooses to use our talents in the midst of worship. He can do great things through us when we get out of the way, die to our preferences, and make ourselves available to Him.

What a journey it’s been… and in more ways than one. For the past few weeks, I’ve been bouncing around like a pinball between airports & MTR stations throughout Southeast Asia, getting to experience things & meet people I never would have dreamed of. There’s so much to unpack, and I don’t just mean my smelly socks & the souvenirs I bought for my nieces & nephews. Between spending a week in Thailand with some new missionary heroes of mine and meeting with church leaders (both visual worshipers & pastors) in Hong Kong, we’ve packed in a lot. I’m still processing it all…wondering what just happened…and thinking about what’s next.

I’ve been pretty quiet on the blog-front while I’ve been away, and for many reasons. Mainly, I knew that I needed to be 100% present with all that was going on. And what free time I had needed to be spent sleeping, hearing people’s stories, eating crazy spicy food, and getting $6 massages. :) It was also a great opportunity for me to relax and be removed from everything back home. But in the next few weeks, I hope to unpack some of these stories and share with you what God is up to in the Asian Church! It’s bigger than any of us could imagine…so get ready!

Once in a while, I’d check in and see what’s going on back home, and it seems that a lot of exciting stuff has been taking place! From iPads to LOST to Sabre buying out Dunder Mifflin, I’m coming home to a very different place. (ok, so the iPad isn’t that exciting…but whatever.) But even more exciting are the advancements & developments in the visual media community. Here’s a few that stuck out to me:

First, my friend Brad Zimmerman of CMDtv has been hard at work releasing his newly designed site. From the looks of it, the new experience at ChurchMediaDesign promises to be a refreshing oasis of training, inspiration, community, and free resources for those of us in the church media revolution. I love the new layout & design; if you haven’t experienced CMDtv yet, go do it now!

Second, Echo Conference has released their new site & has officially started promoting their 2010 conference. Last year was my first time at echo, and I was truly impressed by what Scott, Kami, Trent & the RT Creative staff pulled off. I’m humbled to be invited back to join this creative community. I’ll be teaching with Camron Ware again, and our focus will be on the “service programming” aspect of visual worship…the preparation & curation process of VJ-ing & Environmental Projection. I hope to see you there!

Last and definitely not least… the exciting news many of us have been waiting for. Just recently, Renewed Vision tweeted:

“Coming this week: The official ProPresenter 4 release… Oh, and there is “one more thing”. Stay tuned.”

FINALLY!!! It’s here!

I’ve been testing the beta in live settings for the past month or so, and with each update it has gotten more stable & exciting to use. I’m confident the gold master release will not disappoint. In fact, I just used Pro4 throughout the entire conference in Thailand, and it never crashed once! (fun fact: I bought my upgrade while in sitting outside a coffee-shop in Chiang Mai with elephants walking by & street vendors & all. Great memory.)

Brad Zimmerman gave a very thorough review of ProPresenter 4 on his new site; I highly suggest checking it out. Also, I’ll be hosting a Pro4 workshop at the Apple Store in Green Hills (Nashville) on March 3rd, and there’s a Germantown (Memphis) Store workshop in the works, as well.

I’m grateful for the guys at Renewed Vision and for their dedication to the vision they have for media & worship in the Church. They have once again brought relevant, cutting-edge technology and packaged it in an easy-to-use, affordable solution for us Mac users. I wonder what that “one more thing” is…hmmm…. any guesses out there? Whatever it is, they deserve our thanks and some much needed R&R.

Speaking of R&R, I’m gonna need some after being cooped up in a plane for 20+ hours. Flying around dodging islands with imploding hatches & frozen ancient wheels is nothing to take lightly. But nothing a little Mexican food can’t take of though in the end. :)

As amazing as Asia was, it will be good to get back home. And like I said before, I will try my best to unpack as many experiences, stories & opportunities as possible. Maybe some of it will end up on this blog, but the heart of it can only be shared in person! So if you’re up for it, let me know…but be careful, the journey may end up leading you to Asia!

MPEG-1, WMV, MOV, M4V, AVI…the list goes on. Remember the good ole days when everything thing was on VHS? (And then LaserDisc came out…man, that was exciting.) There’s so many file formats to choose from. And while they all technically/supposedly/are-rumored-to playback in most presentation softwares, which is the best format for VJ-ing?

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UPDATE!

Since this was posted, I have discovered a better codec for the best VJ playback experience. Instead of going with PhotoJPEG, use H.264 …except you want to KEY ALL FRAMES! Read more about this here.

For those of you using Stomp to batch export, here is a screen-shot of the new settings.

All photos taken by Camron Ware of VisualWorshiper.com. Check out some more photos from the night.

Kids, don’t try this at home! :) ok, just kidding…but there are some interesting articles coming out about “visual attacks” & guerrilla projection mapping. We had total permission by the fine folks at DIRT though, but if Camron & I disappear one day, look in the nearest jail… (based off the location of our last tweets, of course!) Thanks to Brad Weston @ Renewed Vision for helping & for making kick-butt VJ software!

(FYI, total gear included 1 MacBook Pro running PVP, External Hard Drive for content, one TripleHead2Go, three projectors – Hitachi 3000 lumens each, and a few strands of VGA.)