(by 5 people)
See the many ways technology and electronic media can be used at church from building a website to projecting songs, images & movies during worship. Emphasis of this lens is on resources that are free (or really cheap). Oh and they are all resources we've used at Peace.
multimedia resources
where to find images & videos
- worship house media
- great online catalog of worship-specific images and videos from many producers
- stock exchange
- truly free stock photography
- flickr toys
- fun tools to use with flickr and other online photos
- textweek - art index
- artwork indexed according to Biblical/Liturgical subjects
- textweek - movie index
- movies indexed according to themes
- heartlight gallery
- search for image by Bible book
- churchonomics
- fresh collection of cools ideas for worship from a variety of sources
- misprinted type
- very cools fonts
- Bobyte
- free multimedia resources - I've used AviScreen Classic to capture video
- thinkerlabs.ca
- free... fully developed resources and creative ideas
- custom sign generator
- image makers & sign generators
- ReelWorship
- free worship videos, loops & stills
- FreeFoto
- more free stock photography
- fodey
- create your own newspaper clipping or clapper board sign
- Vision Gate Film
- dedicated to helping Christians everywhere create quality entertainment that will reach beyond the doors of the church
- abstract fonts
- 10,000 free fonts
- typo generator
- cool images created from your text
- creativemyk.com
- A place for anyone looking for free, quality Christian graphics and photos shared by Christian artists around the world.
- CamStudio
- free, open source streaming video recorder
- VectorMagic
- converts bitmap images to vector images - great for creating scalable logos
- Popnovella
- five minute thought grenades
- wordle
- generate cool word clouds
image editing resources
- paint shop pro
- my favorite image editor at reasonable price
- Paint.NET
- my favorite FREE image and photo editing (Windows only)
- gimp
- free, open source, image editor
- churck marketing lab
- get feedback on your work or get inspiration
projection in worship
new to projection? here are 6 main things you need to figure out
- Why use electronic media in worship?
It's a good idea to know why you are going to use electronic media in worship. I've captured some "what not to do's" and "what do to's" in the article above. - What type of projector do you need for your space?
Choosing a projector can be a pain, especially if you are not familiar with the requirements and terminology. There are plenty of companies and consultants that can help, but it can get expensive. There are lots of resources to investigate online and of course, once you know what you need, you can always find a good deal online. I found this website helpful for learning about choosing a projector. - What type of screen do you need for your space & projector?
It seems there are almost as many screen choices as projectors. This is a good website to learn about size and placement. - What type of computer will you connect the projector to?
If you are just projecting lyrics and images, pretty much anything created in the last 5 years will work. If you are doing video, you'll need to think about video and sound cards. We use a refurb Dell laptop (I'm a big fan of the delloutout). The downside on the laptop for us has been sound quality (see sound notes below) and DVD playback (see projector software below). - What projector software will you use for worship presentation?
Luckily, there aren't too many choices. I've seen EasyWorship in action, and it does seem pretty easy. I'm trying out Freepath and it looks good.
We currently use PowerPoint (pp) 2003, first because it came with the computer (cheap) and second because it is easy to use. Couple of suggestions if you use pp:
- PP 2003 has something called a Presenter View and it is quite necessary for handling lyric transitions. If you've got an earlier version of pp, don't even think about using it as your primary projector software.
- Create large images (1024x768) for slides pictures & text and don't use pp text (eg. song lyrics). I use PaintShop Pro to create all images and then insert into pp.
- If you are collaborating with others, you can use save as .html feature in pp to put the slideshow on the web for review. We do this a lot with sermon images.
- Don't go wild with transitions (you don't want it to look too pp). I mostly use fade smoothly.
- I now embed video clips into pp. We were having lots of problems with the DVD player, so I use Windows Media Encoder, to import the video into .wmv format and Windows Movie Maker to cut to the footage I want to use. - How will you integrate sound?
This one took us a while to solve. We started by just plugging the headphone jack into the "old" sound system, but it was very inconsistent (poor quality and sometimes no sound). The praise band got several large Bose speakers and we began plugging into that with more success, but still not great quality. We finally purchased an external USB sound blaster card and that seems to have solved our problems.
how to make a video
a beginner's guide
With a little planning, you can create simple, effective videos using the free tools on your computer (Windows Movie Maker or iMovies).
- create a storyboard
- pick a style
- documentary (a video project whose goal is to share an effective teaching practice. )
- situated video (viewers are made to feel that they are bystanders in one corner of the room watching the action )
- scripted enactment (drama)
- voice over (use of separate audio track over video)
- music video (video and/or images with audio track) - scout location(s)
- lighting considerations
- audio considerations
- camera positioning - capture video
- follow storyboard and roll camera
- capture B-roll
- capture still shots - video editing
- Review raw footage
- Crop video to required segments
- Sequence shots
- Add audio track(s)
- Add transitions (audio and video)
- Prepare for distribution
music video sample
create simple music videos for worship using Windows Movie Maker
praise you in this storm
video created for worship song is "Praise You in this Storm" by Casting Crowns
web resources
tips & techniques for building a website
- great church websites
- really good church webmasters forum
- church marketing sucks
- great info on how not to suck
- web developer's virtual library
- find your answers here
- css layout techniques
- don't use css yet, you should!
- css vault
- get inspiration from some great css layouts
- inknoise
- css layout-o-matic
- dynamic drive DHTML
- free, original DHTML & Javascripts
- javascript kit
- free Javascripts
- cedant hosting
- cedant web hosting offers full featured web hosting accounts starting at $9.95 per month
- trumba
- nice, easy to use web-based calendar
- SWiSH Max
- easy to use, inexpensive flash editor
- color blender
- online tool for color matching and palette design
- color scheme generator
- generator of color schemes and palettes
- MyChurch.org
- "stream of consciousness" communication, where members can communicate amongst themselves with moderation
- joomla
- this is a great resource - free, open source, content management system - you design the site and let others maintain the content
- cute pdf
- free resource for creating pdf forms
security
what you don't know can hurt you
- wiki: malware
- what is malware?
- security article
- seven steps to system security
- free avg
- free anti-virus software for home use - there's also a business version, better & cheaper than Norton
- spybot S&D
- free program that scans for known adware and spyware installed on your computer
- ad-aware
- free program that scans for known adware and spyware installed on your computer
- spywareblaster
- free program that blocks adware and spyware from installing in the first place
- windows defender
- free windows spyware beta
- zone alarm
- free firewall
my favorite church websites
still working on this list
- ginghamsburg
- I "borrow" many ideas from here
- peace lutheran
- okay, mine, but I spend a lot time here
- journey community church
- simple - nice use of images
- house of mercy
- like the retro feel
- PLC @ MyChurch.org
- we're trying out this myspace-like site for churches
- zone gathering
- leadership blog for the national community church
- house for all saints & sinners
- like the event-driven content
relevant books
The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture: How Media Shapes Faith, the Gospel, and Church
If you have anything to do with media or technology at your church, you need to read this.
Amazon Price: $12.91 (as of 08/08/2008)
my blog
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Thanks for stopping by. Let me know if you have found any great resources or if you are struggling to find a resource.
Christen
Hey - have you had a look at advanced ministry?? http://www.advancedministry.com I have been reading through your list and I'm so impressed with your depth of knowledge. :)
Might I also say it's refreshing to find another woman so familiar with all these technologies...
Posted January 05, 2008
