PP and MediaShout

[JIman]

My ministry center uses powerpoint and meiashout for displaying the words. What does your's use and does anyone have a suggestion for a better setup.

[twc_admin]

Hey ...
Actually, we use neither .. we use Easy Worship ... and love it! Occasionally, we have to import PowerPoint presentations, but EasyWorship allows for that easily.

[chrismoncus]

My vote is in for Easy Worship. Yes, PowerPoint will suffice, but if you are a fan of efficiency, great features, and a solid application - go for Easy Worship.

[jsheehan]

The best (by far) software that I have seen is ProPresenter. It only runs on a Mac so therefore it is incredibly stable and it is pretty easy to use. Granted, it doesn't have as many bells and whistles as some of the other competitors, but, it works great at what it does. AND, look at the programs with the bells and whistles - a lot of them crash a lot - which ProPresenter never does - and I sometimes use it in 3-5 different setups per week and experience great stability.

Now, most people will think that the more bells and whistles, the better, right? I don't necessarily agree with that, for multiple reasons. One, you are putting a lot of weight on your volunteers. Think about it - you are asking one volunteer (and one computer, I might add) to be responsible for your sermon notes, your lyrics, your video playback, etc... While some churches are priviledged enough to have great volunteers that can handle this, there are usually only one or two and they run the risk of quickly "burning out." Maybe its worth thinking about another idea - splitting up the responsibility between multiple volunteers and multiple machines. Getting one volunteer to be solely responsible for lyrics and one to be responsible for CG/playback will help to make sure that your transitions go smoother and that your volunteers can do a better job at what they are supposed to do.

Though, I would suggest that you look into ProPresenter. They just released a new version and it is pretty slick. Also, they have some deals to help you with entering into the Mac world if you're not already a part of it. They have some pretty cool video playback programs also - a "loop/video" type application and a "SD/HD sync application."

And no, I don't work for them or have anything to gain by any purchases you may or may not make - I am just a satisfied user.

[chrismoncus]

Originally Posted by jsheehan

The best (by far) software that I have seen is ProPresenter. It only runs on a Mac so therefore it is incredibly stable and it is pretty easy to use.

Yes sir. You are right. I am also a Mac guy and I fully agree with everything you said. ProPresenter is an outstanding app. Paired with a Mac we have a solid show machine. My advice, get a Mac and ProPresenter and sleep easy knowing Sunday will go well.

But for those stuck in a PC world, here's my advice. Get a Mac (just kidding, sort of).

I would go with EasyWorship, as I said earlier. Avoid MediaShout at all costs. It's sluggish and hard to use at best. PowerPoint is the least-featured of all of them but is pretty solid at what it does.

Also note the computer it's used on. Buy a powerful computer. A Celeron processor is a mission-critical failure waiting to happen. If you got in under $1000 you are getting yourself into trouble, especially noting the need for two video cards. The two video cards alone should cost $300-400, otherwise choppy video is your new best friend. Get the fastest processor in your price range for smooth running of the app. Get at least a gig of RAM for ensurance of smoothness as well.

I hope this helps. If you have other questions, please ask them.

[Wojobass]

We are using mediashout, that's all I've got to say about that (Forest Gump voice implied). We are getting a powerbook for our video editing, maybe propresentor is worth looking into. We are very video intensive with moving background and lots of segues.

[JIman]

Thanks guys I loathe mediashout as is and wanted to get an idea on how to move. I like Macs for graphics and sound work hands down but I doubt they will switch. People need to learn PC is personal computer not Professional computer :-) so I will probably just buy the church easyworship.

Thanks again

[worshiptrench]

hey we still use powerpoint, here is why. You might be suprised by what we can squeeze out of it and why we still hang onto it.

[Brooke]

I can certainly agree with those of you who have a distaste for Mediashout. I've just recently been forced to work in it and I hate it. Yes, I know, hate is a strong word...but I meant it when I said it. It is highly user UNfriendly & complicated to use.
My choice for presenting would be Easy Worship, though I've never touched Pro Presenter (my church isn't Mac Savvy yet).

Just my .02

[dtpuga]

I hear you on those reasons WorshipTrench. You have exercised the features of PPoint that few have dared go near.

We still use PPoint for our sermon notes each week. We may be going to Keynote soon, its the Apple "equivalent." I like the presenter mode in PPoint better than Keynote '05 so I am sticking with it for now.

We use two cmputers for CG source on a normal Sunday for now. We have the ability to do the same thigns on both for redundancy, although, fortunately so far, we haven't had to go there. Normally we use one for worship and the sermon notes in ProPresenter and PPoint respectively. We use the other computer for ProVideoPlayer and iTunes.

All images and video content come from PVP. I highly reccomend it, it is also made by Renewed Vision. It allows the click whereever and fire whenever interface like Pro. The real icing on the cake for it is its live editing mode though. You can force transitions & mixes, sort by playlist, change play rate, set videos to loop, palindrome, stop on end, or fire the next at the endpoint. All those features are nice, although not exclusive. What sets it apart is its 'live edit' mode. While a video is live on playback creens you can adjust brightness, contrast, saturation, and cycle through the color spectrum in turn tinting ur video output. When used right it can make for great integration of video and still image content. (Not to mention it works great as an audio player at the same time.)

Well, I am falling asleep, more on this later,
Travis