JoshLazar

portable church...

U2's new 360 World Tour stage setup is just about the most breath-taking piece of imagination I have seen on a stage. The world tour kicked off this week in Spain. 

These designers know experience. They know how the audience will re-act when placed inside of a dynamic environmental world. They know the story that U2 tells will feel epic.

This inspires me to dig deeper. This decimates the thought: "we can't do that in a portable setting!" you can absolutely do anything you can dream up... 

Lets take the message we know to be true and present it as epically as possible because that's what it deserves! 

more info here. 

Naked Radio Spot...

rocking this week on our local top country station and top 40 station...

Listen... 

Lifepoint Gave Back... in a huge way!

What would it look like, if a group of people joined forces to make a difference?

Would the community notice...
5000 bottles of water
¼ ton of ice
360+ volunteers...

passing out water
mowing lawns
feeding the hungry
delivering sweets
visiting shut-in’s
re-vitalizing neighborhoods

reaching out as far as Pennsylvania, Florida, North Carolina & New York

1200+ man hours
6000+ personal invitations

What would it look like?
Maybe something like this...

Lifepoint Gives Back... round two:

I am so proud of my church. Today over 350 volunteers will extend out into our community and even several states! What a powerful example of what it looks like when one group of individuals identify that their strength together is unstoppable. 

Look back early next week for a highlight video... Fredericksburg is our home... we will make a difference here!

simple lighting technique how to...

so last week I posted a little "how to" on our triple-wide video techniques, and I showed you a little teaser about this lighting technique we've been rocking!

So I would love to share with you this very cheap and simple way to pull off this technique:

Here is a pic of what the final product looks like so you can appreciate the simplicity and step-by-step.

Materials:

2 - 25 X 3 feet rolls of bright silver aluminum window screen rolls (the kind that covers your windows on your home so buggies don't eat you!)

We unrolled the entire roll and crinkled it to give it character and something for the light to bounce off of. Make sure to wear gloves or you will get cut!

Hanging the Screen:

We are hanging this screen from the school's lighting bar that lowers all the way to the stage floor. Yes, we are portable. 

For each roll, we used 2 chip-clip style clamps. They are 3" clamps from Lowe's - about $6 per clamp. 

Hang both sides and hoist the lighting bar back up into the air

Lighting:

We are using 2 of our Colorado 3 L.E.D.'s to light both of the light columns. These L.E.D.'s are infinitely mixable to any color in the rainbow. For this series, the L.E.D. color mimics the color of the video animations on our worship backgrounds giving an overall environmental change.

We place them on the floor below the screen facing directly up. When aiming your lights, shoot for hitting the top of the screen and you should hit the entire thing. Any simple par cans (2-3) with a colored gel will work the same, minus the color mixing capabilities.
 

Total Time:

The total time this takes to set up is about 20 minutes including the L.E.D.'s, dmx cabling, and lighting controller.

And there you have it... 

Special thanks to our Lighting Team Leader Tom Mitchell for making all of this work every week! 

GET NAKED AT LIFEPOINT...

series begins Sunday, June 28th at Lifepoint Church.

WHY IS BEING REAL SO HARD TO DO?

The majority of us would say that we have lots of friends, but have few authentic relationships. We have people around us, but still feel isolated and alone.

If you have ever felt isolated, abandoned, and without a voice, then it’s time for change... and real change begins by looking at yourself.

Lifepoint Church invites you to take off the mask, remove the facade, let down your guard, and get down to the issue. Don’t go through life alone; be a part of something greater. Join us for this 5-part series as we become a place of Naked Authenticity.  

The looking glass

Today I am putting new windows and door on the back of my house. Not the kind of expense that can you even really see. Hopefully it will lower my winter utilities! It shall be fun!

Triple Wide Video - How To:

We have been running three video screens wide at Lifepoint for a couple of months now. We recently completed our entire hardware needs to be able to transform the screens into one triple-wide video signal.

this has really allowed us to open a ton of new doors creatively with what we can do with our video capability. we can manipulate the videos/still images to be one continuous image or three different images. Basically it allows us to present 1-3 video images simultaneously from one presentation source. 

Here is a triple wide example that stretches across all three screens (message slide for OTR series):

Here is an example with "2" feeds. They get broken out per screen (LC 411 video announcements):

Here is an example with "3" separate feeds (Video Bumper for Intersection Series):

Here is how we make it happen on Sunday mornings in a portable setting:

17" MacBook Pro running Pro running ProPresenter with the Advanced Module. This allows us to present a triple wide video signal. 

We run the Apple mini-display port to Dual Link-DVI adapter. 

DVI into Matrox Triple Head to Go Digital. This allows us to break the triple-wide signal into three separate feeds for our projectors.

Each projector only received 1/3 of the signal running at 720X480 resolution.

The outputs get a DVI-VGA adapter for each signal and a 150 foot VGA cable to run to backstage.

Video feeds get color coded so that the other end knows which to plug into each projector.

Backstage. The 3, 150' VGA cables get amped with an inexpensive VGA amp that will eventually allow us to upgrade to HD video signals. 

From here, each amp gets a 50' VGA run to each projector! 

Some pics from Sunday using this technology (Opening Sunday in our Radical Series):

Ill save the explanation of this lighting technique for another post!

So there is the hardware how to. Now for the software how to:

Still Graphics for Message Slides:

We run three SD video feeds pumping standard 720X480. As I create the graphics I make one file at 2160 X 480 (triple-wide). I simply place guide lines at the 720 and 1440 mark so I know where the projectors will get split. 

Another graphic triple-wide:

Video Graphics:

Same split out. 2160 X 480. Videos can be created triple-wide or broken out by screen. I do all CG animations in Adobe After Effects. 

Triple Wide:

Screen Breakouts:

Here is our final Intersection Triple-Wide Bumper.

Special Thanks to our video team Sheldon for making this happen each week!

Enjoy!

a man and his tractor...

its a beautiful thing!
Caedmon at his Grandpas house... hours of fun!

Hillsong United

some horrible pics from the cheap seats... unbelievable surreal experience. thousands of people passionately worshipping our God. these guys present Jesus on an epic scale across the globe!