Analog Way aids volunteer-backed services at New York Presbyterian Church
Published: WORSHIP
WORLD: One of the largest Korean-American churches in the New York area has been upgraded and enhanced through the installation of a new Analog Way presentation mixer by solutions provider Genesis Technology. An upgrade of the existing video system was required at New York Presbyterian Church to include all digital formats with full 1080p resolution. Furthermore, the system also had to accommodate HD recording to enable broadcasting on Christian television stations and the internet, in addition to video distribution throughout the building.
Occupying a four-storey building, the church comprises 1800 seats, with 1200 located on the first floor and a further 600 on the balcony. The building’s existing video system features a main 16-foot by 9-foot projection screen, one confidence monitor, four flat panel displays under the balcony and a further six displays for the overflow area, lobby and fellowship hall. With the majority of the audiovisual equipment managed and operated by volunteers, Genesis had to ensure that the proposed solution would be easy to learn, leading it to specify an Analog Way Nextage 16 seamless presentation mixer.
‘The Nextage 16 primarily serves to handle the IMAG projection. It also serves to record the service to stream on the church website and to keep them as archives,’ explained Genesis Technology president, Michael Yoo. ‘We chose this product because the Nextage 16 has by far the best video quality, you can see every detail. The product also features many transition and visual effects that the predominantly young volunteers enjoy.’
Sources feeding the mixer include video streams from three PTZ cameras and two ENG cameras, as well as graphics and video playback from two computers. Additional sources are provided from an iPad and a guest computer for special events and presentations. Basic operation of the Nextage 16 is controlled using the manufacturer’s Shot Box multi-screen preset launcher. For more complex applications, the mixer is controlled through the Analog Way Web RCS remote control software.
Mr Yoo praised the Web RCS software as being particularly appealing to the church’s younger volunteers. ‘It’s really easy to train people on the Web RCS as it’s an easy-to-learn tool, especially with the “drag and drop” functionality,’ he commented. ‘Additionally, Web RCS has shown great success among young volunteers that are more willing to try more effects and features.’