Technology for Worship| 5 Minutes with Gary Bettan

TFW: Has Videoguys.com had a lot of experience selling to Houses of Worship?

Yes we have. We've been in business since the 1980s. Back then we mainly supplied wireless mics and video mixers. When non linear editing became possible in the late 1990s we were leading the way, helping houses of worship create in house videos. With the advent of affordable DVD burners we were there again, supplying the tools and knowledge to allow houses of worship to distribute their content to their congregations on DVD and later Blu-ray Disc. As the technology has evolved, we've been there offering all the latest solutions. Over the past years we've concentrated heavily on post production - video editing software like Adobe Premiere Pro, Avid Media Composer, Grass Valley Edius, Sony Vegas Pro and of course Final Cut. We often bundle these with I/O devises like Matrox MXO2s or AJA Kona cards, and storage solutions like G-Tech G-RAIDs. We understand the technology and we can help make sure you get the right software and hardware for your budget, and give you great advice on what kind of computer you need to run it all on.

TFW: Speaking of computers - PC or Mac?

With today's computers it really doesn't matter which platform you choose. We're big fans of iMacs, and we have articles on our website for designing and building your own PC workstation for video work. The most important thing to make sure of is that you have a balanced machine. Quad Core processors, NVIDIA GPU with at least 1 GB RAM, and a minimum of 8GB of RAM. We recommend 16GB for video work.

TFW: What new products or technology do you think will be important to this market?

It's funny how things always seem to come full circle. Today the worlds of live event mixing, post production and video streaming are all merging together. We've put together a full line of live event streaming solutions, ranging from on camera devices like the Terdak Vidiu & Cerevo LiveShell; portable streaming appliances such as the new Matrox HD Monarch; Roland video mixers with streaming capabilities; Telestream Wirecast mixing and streaming software; all the way up to the NewTek Tricaster, the standard in live video production streaming. We are also talking to several streaming providers to create bundles with them that will make integrating live event streaming into your services and events even easier.

TFW: What are some of the challenges that your customers face when working with churches?

The challenge is to deliver the right solution for your workflows and budgets. It's important to listen to each customer and learn what equipment they already have, what they want to be able to do, and what kind of resources they have available. This is more than just dollars, we need to match the solution to the capabilities of the video & tech people available so that they can run the systems and get the most out of them.

Videoguys offers free support and advice - before, during and after the sale. We have live people, who are fully trained in our products, available on the phone weekdays from 9-5PM EST. Just call 800 323-2325 and let us help you design the perfect solution for your house of worship needs.

Click here to download the July online issue of Technology for Worship Magazine