Year End Audio, Video, Lighting Tips

As the end of the year approaches, there are a few ways you can make sure your AV system is ready to go for the holiday season. Due to the high backorder rate, chances are you won’t get any new equipment for the season, but there are a few other approaches you can take to improve the equipment you already have. ​

First, let’s talk about a few video tips:
We often find that Video systems are either front, center and cared for or completely forgotten about. Video equipment is the system that people see every week or sometimes even every day when they walk into your building. Each week in a church setting, lyrics, videos, and sermon illustrations need to be displayed. In a corporate setting, daily laptops need to be able to come in and be connected quickly and without issue. And of course, let’s not forget about the Covid streaming needs!​

Since streaming is so important right now, make sure to do a test web stream every week. Try a quick hello on your Facebook page, or most stream systems will have a “preview stream” button. Most of our weekend calls for help tend towards streaming issues. Most of those issues are related to something that changed during the week and that could easily be solved well before your event is about to start. Doing this simple task will make your streaming look more professional and will keep you from running around on the day of the event looking for the bug in your system. 

It’s also a good idea to check your cables are properly plugged in and not loose. You can also take this time to do maintenance on your projectors and LED screens. A little cleaning or a new bulb can go a long way

Next, let us highlight a few audio tips:
Now, streaming is really important in this season, so if you haven’t taken the time to make sure your stream audio sounds amazing, this is your chance! If you’re watching a stream there are a few frustrating things that can happen: the video can freeze or skip, the quality could be bad, or the sound could be difficult to understand or hear. Here we wanted to offer a few tips to help with your stream audio. Sometimes problems are unavoidable depending on the situation of the end user, but here are a few things you can do to make sure you are producing a good audio mix.

Mix to headphones. This will help cut out any disruptive noise and make sure you are accurately hearing every detail. Then check it on bad speakers and bad headphones. What does that mean? Most people who are watching a live stream aren’t listening to it on a high dollar, custom tuned sound system. Most people are listening on their phone or laptop or on a pair of headphones. So, create your mix to sound good on that! If you’re doing a live stream, be sure to do a test first so you know what will sound good on those phone speakers.

Remember, less is more! When you have less “space” for sound (aka someone listening on headphones or a TV speaker) you must mix accordingly. This means you might bring your overall instrumentation down and vocals up just a hair so that the intelligibly of the vocals still comes though clean on the stream. 

Multitrack your session so that you can adjust your mix later. We have talked about multitracking in a past article (HERE), but you you should know, having the ability to record a service and then custom mix afterward (and have the ability to go back over and over it) can be a great way to get a great sound! Now, be careful because this is going to add a layer of complexity to your stream mix, gain structure is very important because you can’t go back and change it without re-recording the whole set! 

And lastly, let’s take a look at a few lighting tips:
Each lighting system should be serviced every 3-6 months. This timing can depend on if you are using haze, how much is being used and what type it is. I like to look at this as the same as I would an oil change: Your lights will run if you don’t do maintenance, but you will be shortening their life by not taking care of them. It’s up to you.

The obvious points are to clean off the dust and fingerprints from your equipment, so often it may be the software updates, etc. that are more easily ignored. We all know it’s never good when your equipment forces itself into an update. At that point who knows how long it will take to restart?

A few other ideas include: Blow out all your lights with compressed air, wiping down lights, cleaning off all dust and haze juice, wipe off lens with cleaner and be sure to use the right kind of cloth! Check the fans- clean off any built-up dust, check your power adapter and make sure it’s not pulling too much current and make sure each light has a safety cable. If you still want more to do after these, make sure you check out these additional lighting tips HERE.

These are just a few ways you can make sure your system is ready to go for the holiday season to the end of the year. If you have any other questions that need to be answered, remember you can always reach us through [email protected] or you can schedule a staff training or a room tune. At Lambda AV we believe in giving you the tools to succeed.