Hames Pro recently helped the First Presbyterian Church of Greenwood, SC modernize its aging audio visual infrastructure, supporting the church’s desire for growth and improvement. This project demonstrated Hames Pro’s expertise with church audio visual systems in Greer, SC, and provided the First Presbyterian Church of Greenwood with opportunities to diversify its worship styles.
Many long-established churches are facing the same challenge that First Presbyterian Church of Greenwood faced: a desire to move into more contemporary music and drama, but a technical infrastructure designed for basic speech.
Built in 1957, the church’s quaint, attractive chapel didn’t possess the audio and visual gear necessary to provide parishioners with more modern worship styles.
The First Presbyterian Church decided that it was time to nix the old sound system, which was simply a board in a closet, and install a comprehensive lighting, sound and visual system that could support the church’s growing needs without unnecessarily altering the historic chapel.
Engineering Audio and Visual Solutions
The historic nature of the chapel meant that there were a lot of hard surfaces, particularly hardwood, in the church sanctuary. This meant that there were long reverberation times in the space. Because of the beautiful architecture of the sanctuary, it was important to control reverberation through pattern control, rather than by hanging acoustical treatments on the walls.
In order to provide hands-on control of the audio system, Hames Pro and the church selected a position on the balcony to host the mix booth. The new mixer, video camera controls and a multimedia computer were all located in this new production booth.
The church’s sanctuary is well lit because it contains lots of stained glass. This meant that bright projectors were necessary to get the best possible image. Hames Pro installed two high-powered projectors in a front-projection configuration, projecting onto two retractable screens. The projectors are mounted on the side walls, and are invisible to most of the seats in the sanctuary.
Installing cameras to support overflow video streaming, and to record services to send to members of the congregation, was a priority of First Presbyterian Church of Greenwood. Hames Pro installed wall-mounted cameras controlled by a centralized console. The console provides a joystick for controlling panning and enables church technicians to select as many as 12 presets for up to six cameras. The system also has controls for switching between the cameras.
To reduce clutter in the production booth, the team attached Velcro to the backs of the remote controls for the various pieces of video gear. The remote controls are neatly hung on the wall of the balcony. They’re easy to grab and use, and are out of the way when not needed.
Hames Pro is an expert in church audio visual systems in Greer, SC. The company specializes in the installation and sale of high-quality audio visual equipment. We’re able to support churches, schools and businesses with the equipment necessary to take their audio visual gear to the next level. Reach out to us today to learn more about ways we can support your organization’s needs.