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.​

Hope Chapel In Kansas City recently upgraded their two main cameras to Blackmagic’s new Ursa Broadcast G2 and, along with that, upgraded their Tv Studio 4k switcher to a Blackmagic 8k Constellation and 2ME Panel. Why the upgrades when their equipment isn’t that old? And what do these upgrades mean for usability? ​

​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.

When Rocky Mountain Calvary (RMC) first approached us about doing an audio system upgrade, one of the main areas of concern and they really wanted to focus on was improving coverage in their main worship space and adding intelligibility. We reached out to Danley Sound Labs to have them design a system that would provide just what the church asked for. They did a great job of understanding what the church was after and designing a system to fit that! 

The main portion of the sound system was… 1 speaker! Yes, when we told RMC they responded with the same question I’m sure you are asking. “How could 1 speaker cover an almost 2000 seat auditorium?” 

Let's take a minute to talk about a great little speaker option. We installed this in a small broadcast room for a church to give them quick, quality sound for their workspace!

The PreSonus Eris E44 studio monitors deliver an expanded, highly accurate frequency response and the widest stereo field available in its class. It has dual 4.5-inch, woven composite LF/midrange drivers, 1.25-inch, silk-dome HF driver that ensures smooth high-frequency performance that is never fatiguing to the ears. And for inputs, you can choose between balanced XLR, balanced ¼-inch TRS, and unbalanced RCA inputs for seamless integration into any environment. One of our favorite features about these speakers is the ability to orient them horizontally or vertically, allowing for useability in a variety of workspaces!

Do you need some sound in one of your workspaces? We have a variety of options to make sure you have the best tools for your needs!

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.