When I (Ryan) was in high school, I took a series of courses from D20 as part of their tech pathway. These courses were all about becoming a Cisco Certified Network Associate. These classes offered basic understanding of how to setup, design, and configure computer networks. Fast forward to post college with a degree in Broadcast Video Production that I never thought I would use, but today basically all our Audio, Video, and Lighting systems use networks and use them in advanced ways.​

​We often break down entire video systems and give you an overview of everything we did on an install. This time we wanted to provide you with a glimpse into some of the thought processes of deciding what gear you should choose and how different combinations of equipment can change the result of your production.

​While there is no wrong answer to what camera or lens you should select, you want it to fit your use case. When picking out the configuration of your AV gear, it can be hard to find the information required to even start to figure out what pieces you want, let alone what you actually need. We often see this come up with the Ursa Mini camera by Blackmagic Design. Blackmagic offers several Ursa Mini camera variations, and on top of that, multiple mounting options: Pl, B4, EF, etc. Let’s look at a quick overview of these.

Many churches get to a point when growth, new goals, new building, or just equipment age forces them to think about upgrading. Everything might still be working reasonably well, but it’s harder to accommodate new asks or larger worship teams.  Or perhaps the equipment is just old enough that parts are no longer available and your confidence in it lasting through a weekend just isn’t there anymore.  If this is the case, where do you even start to make a plan?  This is really where Lambda comes in.  Rocky Mountain Calvary in Colorado Springs hit a point where their equipment was old, goals were changing, and budget was available to make some changes, so they reached out to us looking for an idea of what steps to take next.  

When we met up with the RMC tech team, they expressed first of all wanting to upgrade the audio system.  The tech team very much wanted a new soundboard and waves audio plugins. When we saw their building though, we noticed speaker system was more than 10 years old and had lost much of the fidelity from when they were installed. They also just didn’t fit the space as well as new technology could.  So, we suggested upgrading the speakers first and then replacing the soundboard, integrating waves audio effects, and maybe even some new mics. This would ensure they would have good audio from the absolute start to the end.  We met up with the team from RMC several times to build request lists, talk about dreams and goals, and even moving through older equipment talking about what new equipment is capable of.  In the end, they decided on upgrading four major areas: Camera lenses and a video switcher, speakers, soundboard, and house lighting.    We also discussed future steps such as led walls and staging pieces to add dynamic.

For one of our recent corporate studio installs, we used the Dev Dolly from Gide Gear. It's a modular system that runs on 1-inch or 2-inch metal rails. One of the benefits of this is that you can easily swap rails to a shorter setup if you are working in a limited space or swap out to a much longer setup if required. Its sled/carriage rolls on a four quad wheel configuration providing silky-smooth, consistent movement. The stands used were Matthews rolling low boys, enabling the dolly to be easily moved and adjusted. 

If you're looking for that little extra touch to elevate your production, a slider or dolly can knock that goal out of the park. Are you looking to move to the next level in your video production, but aren’t sure where you want to start? We’re always happy to answer any questions you have! Email info@lambdaav.io and you get a response from our qualified experts in whatever field you need information on!

Curious to know what we would suggest to make your system better? Schedule a Site Spec anytime by visiting the scheduling tab on our website! Or email for an appointment.