We have have a unique setup at Willow where we have a team called Campus Care and they do more than just clean the facility and take out the trash. One of their major roles is to provide AV support for venues in our building that don't have permanent audio and video systems. For about 10 years, this team has been working with about 7-8 audio systems that consisted of an Allen & Heath mixer and a CD and or tape player. These racks were in a large rolling cart that would be moved around the building. For speakers, they had Mackie 450s with Ultimate Support stands. These systems provided great support for many years, but over time started to fail, faders were broken, outputs crackling, speakers buzzing; it was time to give that team an overhauled system. There were several goals when thinking about a new solution, cost-effective so

We've tried VidCAD and Visio, but Visio lacked the features that we wanted & VidCAD was very complicated. So, several years ago we tried out WireCAD as is was a true CAD wiring software with a fairly easy learning curve. We like it because it had a reasonable price, easy to use, online tutorials, great support and the best feature was the ease in building equipment blocks. WireCAD is a true wiring schematic software program. Sure, it can open any DWG file, but it's main use is for wiring signal flow diagrams. We started out making easy signal flow drawings, and now we do al lour system documentation inside WireCAD. It keeps things organized , creates cable labels, does rack elevations and even patchbay layouts. I would say that it's not as easy to use as Visio, but onc eyou get the hang of signal flow and how everything flows

System Update 2016 - We now have a new Digital Asset Management system installed. Here's a link to another post about the project.   We often get asked "How does Willow organize & archive all the video content it produces?"  Well, we use a Digital Asset Management system. This system consists of a server with lots of backend stoarge to hold all the video archives. The managament part is a web based software interface that users log in and uploads, organizes & downloads content as needed. I won't talk about the specific product that we use, because it is no longer available & we, like some of you are currently looking for a new system to replace our aging system. The bad news about these types of systems is that they range in price from a few thousand dollars for a simple software only system to over a $100K for

I’ve been hearing a lot lately from individuals who are working hard at scenic creativity that are disappointed there is very little information toward tips on rigging and rigging hardware. Almost every scenic project requires the suspension of some sort of scenic element that echoes back scary and dangerous. Which leads me to the question that all of us ask sometime in our scenic life, why does suspension of scenery have to be so hard? It’s consistently clear that gravity always seems to demonstrate why it is the most powerful force in the universe. And if that were not enough to deal with, our funny little brain is designed to repeat whatever we’ve already done and prefer it that way, even if you’re doing things the hard way. Scenic life can be soooo stressful! Consistently invest in yourself, constantly improving your skills, techniques and knowledge of hardware accessories will make

I get a lot of questions about how loud we run our services at Willow Creek.  I always find it difficult to give a standard answer.  Much of that comes from the fact that I think in terms of grey, as opposed to black and white.  Each situation is different, so I tend to give the answer, “It depends”. Audio volume is so subjective and dependent on so many factors.  Saying that there is a perfect volume level, or a maximum not to exceed, is ridiculous to me.  What isn’t ridiculous to me is the reality that not many people are willing to do the difficult work to figure out what is the right volume for your church. Know what you are trying to do. At every church, in every environment, it is important to know what you are trying to accomplish.  It is important to know this before you

I read an article recently that said, “Gravity is a contributing factor in nearly all accidents involving fallen objects.” Even though, that is a pretty humorous statement, the fact is it takes a lot of overwhelming work to overcome gravity. When it comes to rigging “probably” or “maybe” safe, is not the most reassuring words either. Things fall down unless we take preventive steps to prevent them from doing so. Rigging suspended scenery, truss, lighting, curtains and screens depend on top quality hardware, materials and the know-how. Knowing the basic structural properties of any materials used for rigging is critical to understand. Safety, reliable training, inspection, personal responsibility and efficiency are high values we must hold to. The biggest challenge and what will actually be the back bone of rigging is being aware of trustworthy hardware and the working load limits. Buy rigging hardware from companies that specialize in rigging