Production Musings

T3 Stage Design

// February 5th, 2010 // 2 Comments » // Stage Design, Video

We just wrapped up our 2nd Series of the year. I suppose I must have gotten distracted along the way because I totally did not take any photos of it. I do, however, have a special documentation of the process thanks to Tim and Colin. They setup a Canon 7D and took photos every 30 seconds during work hours all the way up until Sunday morning into the 1st Service.

About the design:
- We wanted something warm
- We got the lanterns from The Paper Lantern Store (along w/ 15′ cables)
- Used 40 watt bulbs
- For power distribution, we found a great 12 outlet distro at Harbor Freight for $20. We replaced the ends from Edison to Stage Pin and it worked like a charm.

Between the 15′ extensions and the distros, we should have a really nice setup for future designs when we want to incorporate lots of dimmable incandescent fixtures.

Collide Series Part 2 (2009)

// January 13th, 2010 // No Comments » // Stage Design

I mentioned yesterday that this was the design for trying new things. For part 2 of Collide we were into the holiday spirit and decided to have a little stage change-up for several weeks. For several years now, a few other Blue Ridge leaders have really desired a giant screen on stage. We currently have 2 screens off stage left and right. At any rate, finally we had a fantastic opportunity to explore some uncharted technical territory. We pulled off a 24′x6′ image across the back of the stage.

The response to our experimenting was overwhelmingly positive. Our executive pastor told me, “Out of all of the technical things we’ve ever tried, I haven’t received as much positive response to anything as I have the center screen.” Despite the way we bootlegged this setup, people seemed to like it. The number one comment we received was that it was “much more engaging being able to look straight ahead rather than off to the side.” It was a technical learning win as well. While we were in the planning stages, someone asked me if it was going to turn out ok. I responded, “I have no earthly idea. It could be successful or we could fall flat on our face.”  Either way we would have learned something.

As far as changes to the set, we did away with the angled truss, joined the ends and made one nice long straight piece of truss from which to hang the projectors. We measured their placement and distance as best we could, 8′ apart and 15′ from the screen if memory serves me correct. VGA was supplied to each projector fed by a Matrox TripleHead2Go. Our operating resolution was 2400×600 and our screen was about as homemade as you can get.  Todd used thin finishing boards as a flat surface and a half inch frame around the back.  In addition we used two 20′ battens secured to the frame to give us rigging points.  To finish it off we wrapped it in spandex.  We love spandex, can you tell?

My Macbook Pro drove the whole system from stage left after we discovered that the Matrox doesn’t appreciate having a 100ft VGA extension between it and my laptop. (It is supplied with a proprietary cable that must be between the computer and itself.) If any of you understand why that is so, feel free to educate us! To control my laptop and be with the rest of the tech crew, Colin screen shared it over our network and it worked like a charm. Overall, we didn’t have any major issues with screen sharing although we would not recommend this method for anything other than a short term experiment.

Here are a few solid things we’ve learned from this project as we look to do something more permanent:

1. We shouldn’t make our own screen. Fluctuating humidity and temperature causes wood to warp. Even over 5 weeks, noticeable image distortion could be seen.

2. Brand new projectors and new lamps are a must. As projectors age, so do their LCD panels. Color and brightness should match as closely as possible. The provided photos illustrate the color/brightness differences.

3. Edge blending is a must if you desire smooth transitions between projectors. We’re considering Panasonic projectors because it’s built in and hard to beat the quality.

Propresenter worked very well in controlling the display. As we consider a longer term solution to a center display we feel strongly about Renewed Vision’s product in terms of reliability and quality. Special thanks again to Lester Hamrick of Just Right AV for the use of his projectors and volunteering countless hours as well as Mark Hudson for giving several days worth of his time during this stage design and for his faithful service over the last several years.

Student Ministries Stage Design

// January 10th, 2010 // No Comments » // Stage Design

**Note from Andrew:  I asked Britni Nelson, our newest stage design family member at Blue Ridge, to write about Student Ministries’ most recent stage design.  I snapped a few photos from a non-Student Ministries event to give some context to their ideas and execution.  May I introduce to you…Britni Nelson and the student ministries design team:

We all leave a mark, we all influence people we come into contact with, and whose mark are you leaving, our own or Christ’s? With this stage design we wanted to really drive home the point of making and leaving a mark.

Who doesn’t love to throw and splatter paint around sometimes? We took 3 different colors of paint, in this instance, orange, blue, and green semi-gloss and used 8 foam balls. We dipped them into the paint and threw them onto to wall to create yet another type of mark. Each splatter is different representing that each of us leaves a different mark. To fill in gaps between the marks that the foam balls had made we used paint brushes and paint stirrers to create the more unique marks and designs on the wall.  We hit the walls with blue gels to make the colors pop.

We used 4×8 sheets of insulation board t hat had been glued together and painted with flat white paint creating 4×16 sheets to create our “X”. the top corners of the board were fitted with wires then screwed into the wall. Then screws were screwed in the wall for the boards to rest on. We Used Pink gels and closed the shudders on our lights to focus the lights only on the “X” making it stand out with its vibrant color.

Hanging the 4x16s

// December 18th, 2009 // 4 Comments » // Thoughts

I’ve gotten a few questions on how the 4×16 panels were actually hung so I took a quick photo of what we did. All of the materials I mentioned in the previous post can be found at Home Depot. The metal ends you see pictured is metal ribbon used for bailing cardboard or other materials and I believe it comes in rolls. Sawyer Scott designed these panels and ran the wire the length of their edges. We drilled holes in each end and used hanging wire at the tops and bottoms.  We hung from the truss and anchored to eye bolts in the stage floor.  Each panel had 4 rigging points.  As you can see, it doesn’t have to be precise or super neat.