Presentation software

This page is a compilation of thoughts, observations, ideas and experiences from Church Tech Matters post and comments titled Projection Blues

5 simple rules for using projection software in church

1. The entire verse does not have to fit onto a single screen – 2 to 4 lines may be enough, there’s no hard and fast rule, but if there are too many words, it’s too hard to follow along.

2. Anticipate the next screen – Do not wait for the next set of words to begin in the song to change to the next screen. The words need to be up on the screen before they are sung, don’t play catch up.

3. Do not mis-spell words – That is a huge no-no. Use the right punctuation, as well. If you notice a mis-spelled word in the first service, correct it for the second one. Even better, use a spell checker, either on the computer or have someone else proofread.

4. Make sure the words and the background are contrasting – Backgrounds are cool, but that is actually a secondary consideration, the primary purpose is to display the words at the appropriate time.

5. Practice makes perfect – No always perfect but it does help, tremendously. The person running the projection computer needs to practice with the band

6. CCLI is important – This is the way you license your church to display the words to the songs. Average cost – $99/year. Don’t break the law in this area! Wikipedia has a great page explaining it, as well.

Various tools and software available

Hymnal

songbook

overhead

MS PowerPoint – fairly common, many churches, large and small, still use this software

OpenOffice Impress – open source, equivalent to PowerPoint, only free

MediaShout – $409 system requirements Supported to run on Windows XP Home, Professional and Media Center

EasyWorship – $399 system requirements Runs on Windows 98, ME, 2000, XP

web based solution – subscription based, Tim Bednar suggests – A couple advantages is that on the web we could share “song”, we could also automate any license reporting, we also could create a “marketplace” for back ground images or fonts, you could also have multiple users helping to create or edit screens. We could also figure out how to network churches via the web in networked chat or something (create for multi-site churches or conferences) — we could also allow YouTube embedded video or something too. The downside is that it is you need an Internet connection (but we maybe able to provide a tool that creates both a web version AND a desktop file. And that It would be more limited in the fancy effects. The upside is that it would be cheaper, like a mo/subscription for $5, $9 or $19 a month. Does that sound interesting to anyone?

Zoho – free and web based

Thumbstacks – free and web based

Easislides – freeware, seems to have all the features of the $400 programs

Zionworx – freeware

OpenSong

Foobar

SongBase – $329, expensive for what it does, not as flexible as others, similarly priced software, but prvides guitar cords.

WinAmp

VLC – configuring the advanced options in VLC you can obtain a pretty much the same effect as Mediashout(imho) with a bit of extra work, but all free software

SundayPlus – Its a robust program also with a $349 price to get into it along with the biblesoft software included in that.

Freepath – If you are into powerpoint and don’t want to leave it then this is worth looking at. Its designed for business/education use but for a ppt church (85% of all churches that are using projection are using ppt in their services). One of the benefits it gives you is a point and click on your powerpoint presentations so you have the freedom of the non-linear but still using powerpoint but in thumbnails.

openlp.org – a fully featured presentation application written especially for churches” and is even open source. It is under active development and seems to have quite a bit of promise.

Mac software – what is the equivalent? It is possibly a superior solution, but it comes with a superior price.

ProPresenter – Good Mac software, allows video to be output over firewire rather than the main monitor port (backgrounds/video play via firewire and lyrics via monitor). The text keys very cleanly as well (still no alpha though). $399 for single user or $799 for site license

eBibleTeacher.com has a comprehensive list of presentation software.

eBibleTeacher.com also has a Worship Software Selection Guide, which includes a great checklist as you compare this kind of software.

Regardless of which solution is chosen, CCLI is absolutely necessary. CCLI provides legal, affordable solutions to the copyright issues surrounding congregational worship services. More here

Presentation Manager claims to handle 2 projects, each with a different image. It would require 3 VGAs. Has anyone done this successfully?

Character Generator Systems – high end system. Anything out there to fill the gap between MediaShout, Easy Worship and CG machine?