The second day of our trip greeted us with rain, not just a light drizzle but a day full of hard rain. But it would take more than rain to stop us from meeting the team at Lakepoint church.
In the morning we met to get to know each other and to connect with people of similar ministry groups. Before we got to Dallas the Lakepoint staff asked us to write down some questions that we had for them about how they do ministry, and they made their list too. It was a great way to talk about the areas that are working well in both ministries and also where we each struggle.
Lakepoint has an awesome facility with a central check-in system and their safety and security process' are very strong. They allowed us to come back for services that night and we had to have our pictures taken for an I.D. sticker so that we could observe their program.
A couple notes about how they organize their rooms, as the younger kids are ready to move on to the next age group - they keep the kids in the same room and change out the furniture in the room. That way the kids don't move, the room does...a very unique idea. For the grade school kids, they have a large group program first with skits, music, video, Bible story and application; and then they move into small groups. This way the kids do not have to sit through a program twice, because the adults are in a worship service and then on to Bible study.
For grade school kids Lakepoint is using 252 curriculum and they are doing a great job making it work and connecting with their kids. I know when we observed that we must have made them nervous, not that I could tell but anytime someone observes our program it does create some inner tension about how everything will work. And they did a great job - their love for the kids and energy was very obvious.
The most unique part of Lakepoint is that they have a slide in their building! Yes - a slide from the second floor down to the first floor. So of course since Steve and I were the only guys we had to keep going down the slide as fast as we could. Note to anyone visiting Lakepoint and wanting to slide head first - bring elbow pads, just ask Steve he has the slide burn to prove that head first will leave a mark.
I enjoyed connecting with the team a Lakepoint and making new friends and ministry partners.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Dallas trip day 1 - Prestonwood
Dallas greeted us with rain. We got our 2 rental cars, 10 people and 8 of them women with luggage. We headed off to Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano and of course we get lost. The worst part was that in my vehicle, two people get car sick, so just we had a rough drive to the church.
Once we got there Sondra Sanders was in the parking lot directing us to parking spots and greeting us with hugs, and the hospitality only got better from there. The Prestonwood team paired us with their staff that matched our team and we spent the next hour or so eating and talking about each others ministries.
The funniest highlight of the trip came when Pastor Steve got up to get some more food and as he pushed his folding chair back . . . it collapsed flat and he fell on his back on top of the chair! (He was two to my right, and as I saw him go down I looked to see if he was ok, and he was fine.) So as he was on his back, on the chair, he pulled his legs straight up in the air so all the rest of the teams saw were his legs and flip flops. Well there were two distinct reactions in the room - all of the Prestonwood team made a collective "gasp" and were asking if Steve if he was ok. The Saddleback team - broke out in collective laughing and pointing. It just shows that Prestonwood must be more spiritual than Saddleback.
Prestonwood has an awesome facility and they create their own curriculum for elementary. They were in their first couple of weeks of a new curriculum so the timing of us coming was not ideal, but they took the time and showed us some of their new series - some very good looking video.
In their rooms they use a combination of projection and large LCD's. In the small to medium rooms it was multiple LCD's on either side of the platforms, which I thought was a great idea.
Their facilities are top notch and very impressive. One thing that Prestonwood has to do that we do not have to deal with, is sharing the buildings from a school. This is a huge task for the entire staff to change all the rooms and they do this every weekend. Wow! For all of you that have to share your space with a school, if your church does not say it I will - THANK YOU for doing this for the kid's in your church. I know this takes a lot of effort and time.
One big take away for me is the amount attention to detail at Prestonwood. Everything is planned and scheduled and worked out. Everyone knows what to do and they make it happen. Another take away is that kids in Texas have the same needs as in California, and I know this but this trip helped to re-remember this important fact - all kid's have the same need to hear about the saving message about Christ. And Prestonwood is doing their part Dallas.
Once we got there Sondra Sanders was in the parking lot directing us to parking spots and greeting us with hugs, and the hospitality only got better from there. The Prestonwood team paired us with their staff that matched our team and we spent the next hour or so eating and talking about each others ministries.
The funniest highlight of the trip came when Pastor Steve got up to get some more food and as he pushed his folding chair back . . . it collapsed flat and he fell on his back on top of the chair! (He was two to my right, and as I saw him go down I looked to see if he was ok, and he was fine.) So as he was on his back, on the chair, he pulled his legs straight up in the air so all the rest of the teams saw were his legs and flip flops. Well there were two distinct reactions in the room - all of the Prestonwood team made a collective "gasp" and were asking if Steve if he was ok. The Saddleback team - broke out in collective laughing and pointing. It just shows that Prestonwood must be more spiritual than Saddleback.
Prestonwood has an awesome facility and they create their own curriculum for elementary. They were in their first couple of weeks of a new curriculum so the timing of us coming was not ideal, but they took the time and showed us some of their new series - some very good looking video.
In their rooms they use a combination of projection and large LCD's. In the small to medium rooms it was multiple LCD's on either side of the platforms, which I thought was a great idea.
Their facilities are top notch and very impressive. One thing that Prestonwood has to do that we do not have to deal with, is sharing the buildings from a school. This is a huge task for the entire staff to change all the rooms and they do this every weekend. Wow! For all of you that have to share your space with a school, if your church does not say it I will - THANK YOU for doing this for the kid's in your church. I know this takes a lot of effort and time.
One big take away for me is the amount attention to detail at Prestonwood. Everything is planned and scheduled and worked out. Everyone knows what to do and they make it happen. Another take away is that kids in Texas have the same needs as in California, and I know this but this trip helped to re-remember this important fact - all kid's have the same need to hear about the saving message about Christ. And Prestonwood is doing their part Dallas.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Trip to Dallas
About three weeks ago I was told that the weekend team was going to Dallas to visit three churches. We would leave on a Friday morning and return on Sunday night. My first thoughts were; I don't have time for this... we are starting a new series on Saturday and I will be gone, soccer is also starting that weekend and I will miss my daughters game... but even with all these initial thoughts I knew it would be a good to network with other children ministry people.
We left last Friday and visited Prestonwood; Lake Point and Fellowship Churches over the weekend, and just like us - this was not the most convenient weekend for them either. But they took the time to show us around and talk with us about their ministry. Each of the churches had someone on staff that matched up with our team to discuss ideas and problems each of have with our ministry. Despite the bad timing they ALL were very gracious with their time and sharing how they pull of children's ministry each week like the rest of us.
My biggest aahh haaa - all of them are committed to their calling in children's ministry. I could see in their face's as they talked about their ministry and asked questions about how we pull off a weekend here at Saddleback. I met a lot of new friends and colleagues within children's ministry to network and collaborate with. None of us do ministry the same, but we all have the same God and the same Salvation and that is what we are sharing with kids weather in Texas or California.
I will share what I learned at each of the churches in the days to follow.
We left last Friday and visited Prestonwood; Lake Point and Fellowship Churches over the weekend, and just like us - this was not the most convenient weekend for them either. But they took the time to show us around and talk with us about their ministry. Each of the churches had someone on staff that matched up with our team to discuss ideas and problems each of have with our ministry. Despite the bad timing they ALL were very gracious with their time and sharing how they pull of children's ministry each week like the rest of us.
My biggest aahh haaa - all of them are committed to their calling in children's ministry. I could see in their face's as they talked about their ministry and asked questions about how we pull off a weekend here at Saddleback. I met a lot of new friends and colleagues within children's ministry to network and collaborate with. None of us do ministry the same, but we all have the same God and the same Salvation and that is what we are sharing with kids weather in Texas or California.
I will share what I learned at each of the churches in the days to follow.
Monday, April 6, 2009
The A.I.M. principle in action.
I was at the Conspire conference last year at Willow Creek and one of the workshops was about leading creative people. So is there a difference in the way to lead a creative person? I would say yes because and when I lead an administrative person it is significantly different than an editor or a graphic artist.
The one question that kept coming back to me from the workshop was: “Do you have a set of values for your creative team?” At first I did not see any reason for production to have a set of values because our children’s team has a clear set of values, but as I thought about how different we are from the rest of the team I started working through the values from the workshop.
Our values for production are still a work in progress, but the upside has been a better understanding of the expectations from not only staff but also from contract editors and shooters.
Adaptability:
Problems: All problems have a solution and together we can figure out a solution.
Team: we are not in competition with each other.
Intentionality:
Learning: keeping our tools sharp and continue to learn.
Communication: clear and consistent communication is important to keep the process moving forward.
Respect: encouragement, kindness, honesty and promptness to meetings.
Mission Minded:
Voice: everyone has an opportunity to share at the appropriate time.
Work & Home: total focus at work and do not think about work at home.
Excellence: World-class excellence and attention to detail.
The one question that kept coming back to me from the workshop was: “Do you have a set of values for your creative team?” At first I did not see any reason for production to have a set of values because our children’s team has a clear set of values, but as I thought about how different we are from the rest of the team I started working through the values from the workshop.
Our values for production are still a work in progress, but the upside has been a better understanding of the expectations from not only staff but also from contract editors and shooters.
Adaptability:
Problems: All problems have a solution and together we can figure out a solution.
Team: we are not in competition with each other.
Intentionality:
Learning: keeping our tools sharp and continue to learn.
Communication: clear and consistent communication is important to keep the process moving forward.
Respect: encouragement, kindness, honesty and promptness to meetings.
Mission Minded:
Voice: everyone has an opportunity to share at the appropriate time.
Work & Home: total focus at work and do not think about work at home.
Excellence: World-class excellence and attention to detail.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Alignment & A.I.M
Notes from Pastor Steve Adams
Children’s Pastor at Saddleback Church, Lake Forest California
Welcome to our 2009 ministry theme….. INSIDE OUT.
Throughout 2009, we are going to be exploring the life and leadership of one of the most popular figures in the scriptures…David.
David’s life is a treasure of wisdom and life experiences that can revolutionize your life and ministry.
We are using this life changing experience of David’s as a foundation we will build on throughout the year.
The Story behind David:
Our story begins when David’s father Jesse sent David to check up on his brothers in the battlefield.
David is taking food to his brothers and ends up facing off with a giant warrior.
One day Jesse said to David, “Take this half-bushel of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread to your brothers. And give these ten cuts of cheese to their captain. See how your brothers are getting along, and bring me back a letter from them.” 1Sam. 17:17 -18
When David arrived at the Israelite camp, he saw and heard something that rocked his world. A Philistine named Goliath was humiliating the Israelites and defying God.
David was confused as to why no one was willing to take this guy down.
Everyone, including the one guy qualified to fight him…Saul, was afraid.
David simply said - this is enough - this ends now.
He grabs some rocks, pulls out his sling and heads straight for a 9 ft. 9 inch killing machine. It’s interesting…….The only giant David could see was his God standing with him. Goliath was nothing more than a punk bully who was about to learn his lesson the hard way. David’s perspective was different than the others and this perspective made all the difference in the world.
As David enters the battlefield he puts a rock in his sling, hurls it at Goliath, and lands the rock between his eyes and drops him to the ground like a bad habit. Done….Over….Mission Accomplished.
When David faced off against Goliath, he stood in front of a massive adversary and held nothing but a sling, some rocks and God right next to him. That’s all he needed. Nothing more, nothing less. And with that, he defeated Goliath.
The others may have wanted to do something, they may have wanted to take action, but the didn’t move…they just stood around in fear paralyzed waiting for someone else to take action.
• What was the difference between David and the soldiers?
• Why were they so fearful and immobile while David was ready to charge the hill after Goliaths?
• Why was David’s perspective so different?
Well, it’s found in two elements of David’s life that I want to explore with you now.
ALIGNMENT:
First, David’s ALIGNMENT with God gave him the courage and confidence to move into action…..to throw the rock. His alignment with God gave him courage and confidence to actually throw the rock.
David had something the others didn’t have…courage and confidence.
Why? Because he was aligned with the living God; Goliath was no giant, just another opportunity for God to receive glory. God was able to seamlessly flow through David because they were aligned…..moving in the same direction.
• Think about your spine….when it’s out of alignment, you feel pain in multiple parts of your body.
• How about your car. When your wheels are not aligned, you destroy your tires.
• If two people are rowing a boat in alignment, that boat can move swiftly towards the goal. If the people in the boat row in different directions, a lot of energy used to get nowhere.
David wasn’t going one-way and God another. They were moving in the same direction with synchronicity. The same thing happens when teams function in alignment. There is smooth progress, unified action. When I walk in alignment with God, the giants in my life are nothing more than an opportunity for God to receive glory.
God used David’s AIM to land the rock and kill the giant.
Now, obviously David was not acting alone. God was truly with him.
Why did some many days pass without any action? Why didn’t God use one of the soldiers to accomplish the same victory?
God did not miraculously pull the rock from David’s pocket and hurl it at the giant. David, was truly under the influence and guidance of the Spirit, but God used David’s A.I.M. with devastating accuracy. God was truly flowing through David at this moment…using natural and ordinary means to accomplish an extraordinary end. David had a proper A.I.M. And this A.I.M. was the outward evidence of a deep walk and alignment with the living God.
Giants come in all shapes and sizes. But no matter what the giant, the proper A.I.M. will help to defeat the giant and move you into the victory circle. The A.I.M. principle is applicable to your career, family, ministry, etc.
A - ADAPTABLE
(Synonyms – Flexible, Pliable, Adjustable, Compliant, Changing easily)
Adaptability is the willingness to be flexible for the sake of the team and the vision.
The world and our culture are constantly changing. For us to reach our potential, find the best solutions, conquer our giants, we need to remain flexible, we need to adapt.
Adapting means we willingly change with the culture or environment and do so with a right attitude. Teamwork and personal rigidity just don’t mix.
God and David were a team, working together. You and I are on a team, working together. You and God are on a team. Here is an important question…..Are you working together? Every team has a leader. Are you allowing the Leader to be God, allowing Him to lead your team of two?
Adaptability is important for you to have the proper A.I.M.
Where in our lives does Adaptability show up?
1. How we deal with people.
2. Being willing to let go of what has “always been”.
3. Being willing to try new methods.
4. How we react to a changing culture.
5. How we respond when we don’t get “our way”.
Variety is necessary.
Jesus didn’t even heal the same way twice in a row. He might simply say the words be healed, then he might spit in the dirt and put mud in a guys eye to heal him. Jesus also told a guy to go dip in a river….7 times. What does this teach us? One thing it teaches is that we should be adaptable to God’s will and methods. He seems to do things differently. I like how he mixes it up.
We like routine, but Jesus seemed to like variety.
Paul was adaptable…
To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. 1Cor. 9:22-23
Adaptable people are:
1. Teachable
2. Emotionally secure
3. Creative
4. Big Picture Minded
5. Have less conflict in their life.
6. Able to find better solutions to problems
I - INTENTIONAL
(Synonyms – Deliberate, On Purpose, Planned, Intended, Calculated, premeditated)
So I run straight to the goal with purpose in every step. I am not like a boxer who misses his punches. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified. 1Cor. 9:26-27
Intentionality is deliberate, it is calculated, it is focused action.
What happens unintentionally? Accidents! Being intentional is about deliberately doing the right things and then following through with them in a consistent way. It’s about making every action count.
Intentionality is not waiting for something to “just happen”. We should be intentional with the things we control, and adapt to everything else.
We should be intentional about……
• Our Spiritual growth
• Our relationships – How we interact with others
• Fulfilling our purpose in life
• Being good stewards with our life……..time, talents, and treasures
• Our personal development…..work, ministry, etc.
• Be Intentional about being YOUR best…..not THE best.
Intentionality helps you move the ball down the field. In other words, it moves you one step closer to your goals and dreams. Intentionality means you can’t do everything. If you try to do every good thing that comes your way, you won’t excel at what you were made to do. We have to learn to say NO to some good things so we can focus on the BEST things.
Henry Davis Thoreau said…”One is not born into the world to do everything, but to do something.”
M - MISSION MINDED
(Synonyms - Aware, Mindful)
Mission Consciousness has to do with seeing the goal, vision, mission, etc as more important than our own personal agendas and preferences. The archenemy of Mission Consciousness is selfishness.
As Ken Blanchard once said…”It’s not that you think less of yourself, you just think of yourself less.”
A Mission Conscious person will:
• Value others as much as themselves.
• See their ministry as an important part of the team, not the most important part of the team.
• Help others succeed.
• They place the mission ahead of personal accomplishment of preference.
They do whatever is necessary to achieve the mission.
The question is not “What will it take”, but rather “Whatever it takes”. David could see the big picture. He knew the giant must be defeated. He was more concerned with the big picture than his own agenda or safety.
David’s alignment with God gave him confidence to move forward into action. Our alignment as a team gives us confidence to move forward into action. God used David’s AIM to strike down the giant adversary. God uses our A.I.M. to overcome obstacles that our adversary puts in our path to distract us and defeat us.
Children’s Pastor at Saddleback Church, Lake Forest California
Welcome to our 2009 ministry theme….. INSIDE OUT.
Throughout 2009, we are going to be exploring the life and leadership of one of the most popular figures in the scriptures…David.
David’s life is a treasure of wisdom and life experiences that can revolutionize your life and ministry.
We are using this life changing experience of David’s as a foundation we will build on throughout the year.
The Story behind David:
Our story begins when David’s father Jesse sent David to check up on his brothers in the battlefield.
David is taking food to his brothers and ends up facing off with a giant warrior.
One day Jesse said to David, “Take this half-bushel of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread to your brothers. And give these ten cuts of cheese to their captain. See how your brothers are getting along, and bring me back a letter from them.” 1Sam. 17:17 -18
When David arrived at the Israelite camp, he saw and heard something that rocked his world. A Philistine named Goliath was humiliating the Israelites and defying God.
David was confused as to why no one was willing to take this guy down.
Everyone, including the one guy qualified to fight him…Saul, was afraid.
David simply said - this is enough - this ends now.
He grabs some rocks, pulls out his sling and heads straight for a 9 ft. 9 inch killing machine. It’s interesting…….The only giant David could see was his God standing with him. Goliath was nothing more than a punk bully who was about to learn his lesson the hard way. David’s perspective was different than the others and this perspective made all the difference in the world.
As David enters the battlefield he puts a rock in his sling, hurls it at Goliath, and lands the rock between his eyes and drops him to the ground like a bad habit. Done….Over….Mission Accomplished.
When David faced off against Goliath, he stood in front of a massive adversary and held nothing but a sling, some rocks and God right next to him. That’s all he needed. Nothing more, nothing less. And with that, he defeated Goliath.
The others may have wanted to do something, they may have wanted to take action, but the didn’t move…they just stood around in fear paralyzed waiting for someone else to take action.
• What was the difference between David and the soldiers?
• Why were they so fearful and immobile while David was ready to charge the hill after Goliaths?
• Why was David’s perspective so different?
Well, it’s found in two elements of David’s life that I want to explore with you now.
ALIGNMENT:
First, David’s ALIGNMENT with God gave him the courage and confidence to move into action…..to throw the rock. His alignment with God gave him courage and confidence to actually throw the rock.
David had something the others didn’t have…courage and confidence.
Why? Because he was aligned with the living God; Goliath was no giant, just another opportunity for God to receive glory. God was able to seamlessly flow through David because they were aligned…..moving in the same direction.
• Think about your spine….when it’s out of alignment, you feel pain in multiple parts of your body.
• How about your car. When your wheels are not aligned, you destroy your tires.
• If two people are rowing a boat in alignment, that boat can move swiftly towards the goal. If the people in the boat row in different directions, a lot of energy used to get nowhere.
David wasn’t going one-way and God another. They were moving in the same direction with synchronicity. The same thing happens when teams function in alignment. There is smooth progress, unified action. When I walk in alignment with God, the giants in my life are nothing more than an opportunity for God to receive glory.
God used David’s AIM to land the rock and kill the giant.
Now, obviously David was not acting alone. God was truly with him.
Why did some many days pass without any action? Why didn’t God use one of the soldiers to accomplish the same victory?
God did not miraculously pull the rock from David’s pocket and hurl it at the giant. David, was truly under the influence and guidance of the Spirit, but God used David’s A.I.M. with devastating accuracy. God was truly flowing through David at this moment…using natural and ordinary means to accomplish an extraordinary end. David had a proper A.I.M. And this A.I.M. was the outward evidence of a deep walk and alignment with the living God.
Giants come in all shapes and sizes. But no matter what the giant, the proper A.I.M. will help to defeat the giant and move you into the victory circle. The A.I.M. principle is applicable to your career, family, ministry, etc.
A - ADAPTABLE
(Synonyms – Flexible, Pliable, Adjustable, Compliant, Changing easily)
Adaptability is the willingness to be flexible for the sake of the team and the vision.
The world and our culture are constantly changing. For us to reach our potential, find the best solutions, conquer our giants, we need to remain flexible, we need to adapt.
Adapting means we willingly change with the culture or environment and do so with a right attitude. Teamwork and personal rigidity just don’t mix.
God and David were a team, working together. You and I are on a team, working together. You and God are on a team. Here is an important question…..Are you working together? Every team has a leader. Are you allowing the Leader to be God, allowing Him to lead your team of two?
Adaptability is important for you to have the proper A.I.M.
Where in our lives does Adaptability show up?
1. How we deal with people.
2. Being willing to let go of what has “always been”.
3. Being willing to try new methods.
4. How we react to a changing culture.
5. How we respond when we don’t get “our way”.
Variety is necessary.
Jesus didn’t even heal the same way twice in a row. He might simply say the words be healed, then he might spit in the dirt and put mud in a guys eye to heal him. Jesus also told a guy to go dip in a river….7 times. What does this teach us? One thing it teaches is that we should be adaptable to God’s will and methods. He seems to do things differently. I like how he mixes it up.
We like routine, but Jesus seemed to like variety.
Paul was adaptable…
To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. 1Cor. 9:22-23
Adaptable people are:
1. Teachable
2. Emotionally secure
3. Creative
4. Big Picture Minded
5. Have less conflict in their life.
6. Able to find better solutions to problems
I - INTENTIONAL
(Synonyms – Deliberate, On Purpose, Planned, Intended, Calculated, premeditated)
So I run straight to the goal with purpose in every step. I am not like a boxer who misses his punches. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified. 1Cor. 9:26-27
Intentionality is deliberate, it is calculated, it is focused action.
What happens unintentionally? Accidents! Being intentional is about deliberately doing the right things and then following through with them in a consistent way. It’s about making every action count.
Intentionality is not waiting for something to “just happen”. We should be intentional with the things we control, and adapt to everything else.
We should be intentional about……
• Our Spiritual growth
• Our relationships – How we interact with others
• Fulfilling our purpose in life
• Being good stewards with our life……..time, talents, and treasures
• Our personal development…..work, ministry, etc.
• Be Intentional about being YOUR best…..not THE best.
Intentionality helps you move the ball down the field. In other words, it moves you one step closer to your goals and dreams. Intentionality means you can’t do everything. If you try to do every good thing that comes your way, you won’t excel at what you were made to do. We have to learn to say NO to some good things so we can focus on the BEST things.
Henry Davis Thoreau said…”One is not born into the world to do everything, but to do something.”
M - MISSION MINDED
(Synonyms - Aware, Mindful)
Mission Consciousness has to do with seeing the goal, vision, mission, etc as more important than our own personal agendas and preferences. The archenemy of Mission Consciousness is selfishness.
As Ken Blanchard once said…”It’s not that you think less of yourself, you just think of yourself less.”
A Mission Conscious person will:
• Value others as much as themselves.
• See their ministry as an important part of the team, not the most important part of the team.
• Help others succeed.
• They place the mission ahead of personal accomplishment of preference.
They do whatever is necessary to achieve the mission.
The question is not “What will it take”, but rather “Whatever it takes”. David could see the big picture. He knew the giant must be defeated. He was more concerned with the big picture than his own agenda or safety.
David’s alignment with God gave him confidence to move forward into action. Our alignment as a team gives us confidence to move forward into action. God used David’s AIM to strike down the giant adversary. God uses our A.I.M. to overcome obstacles that our adversary puts in our path to distract us and defeat us.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Play Flash in QuickTime
I am always looking for programs or add-on that will make my life on a Mac easier. About a month ago I found a very nice component to QuickTime that allows Flash video's to play through your QuickTime player. For me this find was similar to the Flip4Mac component to allow Windows Media to play through QuickTime - it opened cross platform viewing of video from PC to Mac.
I convert a lot of video to Flash for our media center and it was a pain to check the conversion without Perian. Personally I like having a solid player like QuickTime to use for all my video playback. Check Perian out and let me know what you think and what have you found to help streamline your production process in ministry.
Perian supports the following video formats:
File formats: AVI, DIVX, FLV, MKV, GVI, VP6, and VFW.
Link to Perian page:
http://perian.org/
Matt
I convert a lot of video to Flash for our media center and it was a pain to check the conversion without Perian. Personally I like having a solid player like QuickTime to use for all my video playback. Check Perian out and let me know what you think and what have you found to help streamline your production process in ministry.
Perian supports the following video formats:
File formats: AVI, DIVX, FLV, MKV, GVI, VP6, and VFW.
Link to Perian page:
http://perian.org/
Matt
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Audio or Video; which should I focus on?
The easy answer is both, but in reality we are shooting video and audio simultaneously that is unless you are planning to use voice over. Your video will engage your audience visually while the audio helps them get a better understanding of what you are trying to communicate to them. As much as they might appreciate the framing or lighting of your shot, they will lose interest if the audio is poor and unintelligible.
From my first day of shooting video many different people told me “audio is everything.” Now that might sound a bit over stated, because we do have video to consider. So now the debate begins . . . but the upside is that if you spend a little bit of pre-production time ensuring your gear is ready poor audio can be avoided.
To take a step back, let me answer the question: “What is poor audio?” First of all, do not use the on board microphone for primary audio. It is convenient – yes but this microphone picks up every audible sound wanted or unwanted around you. I only use the onboard microphone of my video cameras only for reference audio, meaning that 99.9% of all my shooting will have an external microphone for audio. But even external microphones have their issues too. Microphones can have pops, hiss, crackling, hums or cutting in and out just to name a few problems. Wireless microphones can have dropouts or interference that can cause you to go crazy on a shoot.
Don’t get discouraged because the good does out weigh the bad when it comes to external audio. Good audio is intelligible and allows you to communicate to you audience, and for us in children’s ministry, the love that Jesus Christ has for us.
One way that I ensure that I capture good audio? I check and recheck all the equipment BEFORE I shoot. This means the night before or the morning before a shoot I check cables, connections, batteries, microphones I might use, field mixer and the camera. This way I have a couple of hours to correct or replace something if it is not working properly. This way when you are on the shoot there are fewer surprises, and this can be very good.
Some shoot days we have more surprises than others. We were shooting our Christmas series in early November using a house with all the interior decorations set up. The series was based around a family at home at Christmas time, so we had two adults for parents, and four kids plus five in the crew. Now the fun began because on the street right behind the house the city decided to start trimming some trees. We lost over two hours because of chain saws almost right out side of the windows. The kids were starting to lose it and the crew was anxious for the chain saws to stop but no such luck. You might not encounter chain saws on your shoots but you can avoid microphone problems by checking your equipment before the shoot and by monitoring the microphones with headphones.
I use three types of microphones when shooting:
1. A wired handheld microphone, this way I am certain not to get any outside interference. All I need is a good microphone cable and microphone.
2. Wired and wireless lavaliere microphone. If I want to hide a microphone for any reason a lavaliere is the way to go because of their small size. A wired lavaliere needs to be in good working condition with a new battery and a good microphone cable to give you good audio. [Note: do not run microphone cables over electrical cables, because you can cause an electrical hum in your audio – not a good thing.] Wireless lavaliere’s eliminate the microphone cord from the camera, but bring some potential additional problems of needing more batteries, along with transmission pops, hums, clicks and the dreaded signal drop outs. By checking your equipment you can reduce the chance of cable, battery or microphone trouble but sometimes the dropouts can come from interference from transmissions within the wireless frequency of you lavaliere. This can be corrected by changing the frequency that does not have as much interference. Unfortunately this might take some trial and error to find a clear frequency. [I have only had to change frequencies two or three times but it does happen.]
3. Boom microphone. A boom microphone works very well in picking up individual and multiple talent on camera, but the down side is that you will need an operator to monitor audio and operate the boom. As with all microphones cables need to be working properly and a boom microphone will need a battery. A boom microphone is a great option for capturing audio because of its ability to be set up quickly, now wireless interference, and can cover multiple speaking parts on camera.
With a little bit of equipment and some pre-production checking of all your equipment we can make the jump from poor quality audio up to good clean, clear, and intelligible audio for all our projects. One resource that has benefited me personally in capturing good audio is listed below – I highly recommend this book because of its clear descriptions and how he walks you through all types of microphones and how to use them.
“Location Audio Simplified” by S. Dean Miles
Web site: www.locationaudiosimplified.com
Remember your audience will endure lesser quality video but will not stick around for poor audio.
From my first day of shooting video many different people told me “audio is everything.” Now that might sound a bit over stated, because we do have video to consider. So now the debate begins . . . but the upside is that if you spend a little bit of pre-production time ensuring your gear is ready poor audio can be avoided.
To take a step back, let me answer the question: “What is poor audio?” First of all, do not use the on board microphone for primary audio. It is convenient – yes but this microphone picks up every audible sound wanted or unwanted around you. I only use the onboard microphone of my video cameras only for reference audio, meaning that 99.9% of all my shooting will have an external microphone for audio. But even external microphones have their issues too. Microphones can have pops, hiss, crackling, hums or cutting in and out just to name a few problems. Wireless microphones can have dropouts or interference that can cause you to go crazy on a shoot.
Don’t get discouraged because the good does out weigh the bad when it comes to external audio. Good audio is intelligible and allows you to communicate to you audience, and for us in children’s ministry, the love that Jesus Christ has for us.
One way that I ensure that I capture good audio? I check and recheck all the equipment BEFORE I shoot. This means the night before or the morning before a shoot I check cables, connections, batteries, microphones I might use, field mixer and the camera. This way I have a couple of hours to correct or replace something if it is not working properly. This way when you are on the shoot there are fewer surprises, and this can be very good.
Some shoot days we have more surprises than others. We were shooting our Christmas series in early November using a house with all the interior decorations set up. The series was based around a family at home at Christmas time, so we had two adults for parents, and four kids plus five in the crew. Now the fun began because on the street right behind the house the city decided to start trimming some trees. We lost over two hours because of chain saws almost right out side of the windows. The kids were starting to lose it and the crew was anxious for the chain saws to stop but no such luck. You might not encounter chain saws on your shoots but you can avoid microphone problems by checking your equipment before the shoot and by monitoring the microphones with headphones.
I use three types of microphones when shooting:
1. A wired handheld microphone, this way I am certain not to get any outside interference. All I need is a good microphone cable and microphone.
2. Wired and wireless lavaliere microphone. If I want to hide a microphone for any reason a lavaliere is the way to go because of their small size. A wired lavaliere needs to be in good working condition with a new battery and a good microphone cable to give you good audio. [Note: do not run microphone cables over electrical cables, because you can cause an electrical hum in your audio – not a good thing.] Wireless lavaliere’s eliminate the microphone cord from the camera, but bring some potential additional problems of needing more batteries, along with transmission pops, hums, clicks and the dreaded signal drop outs. By checking your equipment you can reduce the chance of cable, battery or microphone trouble but sometimes the dropouts can come from interference from transmissions within the wireless frequency of you lavaliere. This can be corrected by changing the frequency that does not have as much interference. Unfortunately this might take some trial and error to find a clear frequency. [I have only had to change frequencies two or three times but it does happen.]
3. Boom microphone. A boom microphone works very well in picking up individual and multiple talent on camera, but the down side is that you will need an operator to monitor audio and operate the boom. As with all microphones cables need to be working properly and a boom microphone will need a battery. A boom microphone is a great option for capturing audio because of its ability to be set up quickly, now wireless interference, and can cover multiple speaking parts on camera.
With a little bit of equipment and some pre-production checking of all your equipment we can make the jump from poor quality audio up to good clean, clear, and intelligible audio for all our projects. One resource that has benefited me personally in capturing good audio is listed below – I highly recommend this book because of its clear descriptions and how he walks you through all types of microphones and how to use them.
“Location Audio Simplified” by S. Dean Miles
Web site: www.locationaudiosimplified.com
Remember your audience will endure lesser quality video but will not stick around for poor audio.
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