One of those days...

Today was an off day for me.
But it wasn't for God.
And Thank God for that.

A [technical] note about FBC Music Ministry Videos on YouTube (in Q&A format)

Having been one of the techs that's worked the service recordings for the past several weeks, and the one that's posting the service music to YouTube, I wanted to take a moment to explain some of the backend details and specifications of the videos that are posted to the FBC Music Ministry YouTube page (see http://www.youtube.com/fbcspiritsong). Each Sunday service at Fredericksburg Baptist Church is recorded onto DVD, and is available (legally) for free, by request. This note is meant to answer some of the technical questions I get on Sundays, and may be of great interest to some (and boring to others).

I would love nothing more than for this to become a forum of discussion for those of you at FBC (or not). At the very least, hopefully this answers some questions that you may have had, or some questions you never thought of before. I love getting to use assistive technology in Worship to help others outside our church building have a meaningful worship experience. There's a lot of work that goes into producing the services from a technical standpoint, and I enjoy sharing what I've learned and how I use it each week to further the kingdom of God. Feel free to comment on this post or the YouTube videos. Enjoy!

Q. What equipment is used in the Sunday morning video production?

A. For the main live service shots, we mainly shoot with handycams (Sony and Panasonic). Two cameras we have used are HD (high definition), and 2 are SD (standard definition). Whether the camera is HD or SD, the signal is down-converted to SD and sent though a Roland LVS-800 video mixer. Using a video mixer allows us to mix multiple cameras (when needed), insert titles, lower 3rds, graphics, and preproduced cutaway shots (b-roll) into the DVD recording. We record the DVD with a Toshiba DVD recorder. A MacBook Pro 17" (running ProPresenter) is used as a media server/character generator.

Q. When I watch a music YouTube video from FBC, when was it recorded and what is the source of the recording (SOOC, Captured into a NLE via graphics card, Ripped from a DVD)?

A. The videos you see on the SpiritSong YouTube page are videos from our Sunday Morning services. The videos were recorded live on the date mentioned in the details below the video. For the most part, the videos you see are from the 11:00am service. If they are from the 8:30am service, or from a Special Service, it will be mentioned in the details below the video. The recordings come from our DVD recordings of the services on Sunday Mornings. The music from the service that's posted online is ripped from the DVD.

Q. What program do you use to rip content off of your service DVDs?

A. MPEG Streamclip (www.squared5.com) It's a great litle program! 

Q. I see shots of stained glass windows, flowers, and other service elements in the video, but I don't remember seeing a camera roving on the floor during the service. What are these shots, and how do you get them into the video recording?

A. Those shots are called "cutaways". The more industry-standard term would be "B-roll footage". Any shot of the room or of people leading the service is live -- recorded from linear cameras in real time during the service. The cutaway shots that appear in our service videos (stained glass windows, flowers, etc.) are generally recorded early in the morning, before most people arrive in the Sanctuary, or recorded during Sunday School  or during the morning on weekdays.

Technically speaking, I record the cutaways with my Canon 7D (1280x720, 60fps, H.264), transfer them to the MacBook Pro running ProPresenter, convert them using a secret recipe with Compressor, then import them into ProPresenter. [Even though we don't broadcast in HD, I get the 16:9 aspect ratio that matches up with the live camera's aspect ratio. I'll admit, I use a DSLR in order to get some really shallow rack focuses (shifting focus from the foreground to background, or reverse, to get a dramatic shift in what I'm focusing on in the shot). Typically, I'll use a 50mm f1.4 on the 7D.]

Once the clips are in ProPresenter and ready to roll, I treat the signal coming from the MacBook Pro just like a live camera. I cue the selected clip (say for instance, a close-up of the sunbeam window) in ProPresenter, and then when I want to insert that cutaway into the recording (say, right after a medium shot of the altos and tenors in the choir who just sang the line, "Heavenly Sunlight, flooding my soul with Glory divine."), I fade to the computer feed. It's just like there was a cam on the floor, without the distraction! This is actually a pretty common technique used in the industry, but by mixing the cutaway footage in live, I save a lot of time in post-production.

Q. Earlier in the post, you said that you record in SD onto your DVDs. If the videos online are ripped from your DVDs, then how come I can view the videos in HD on YouTube (720p)?

A. You caught me. Yes, I up-convert the ripped DVDs into 1280x720. And no, you're not really seeing them in HD. But, if you're asking that question, you probably want to know how/why I do this.

Reason #1: Audio on YouTube. About a year ago, I realized while watching someone else's video, that the sound was dramatically different when playing back the 360p quality, and when playing back 720p quality. In theory, the sound should be the same, but it wasn't. By encoding my video in HD (720p), YouTube sees it as "HD", and I can get the better audio (supposedly). I typically export 24-bit, 44.1k audio, but YouTube must do some funky encoding to SD video's audio. Hopefully I bypass that by "fooling" YouTube to think that I've got HD.

Reason #2: Interlacing. Getting into the technical aspects of interlacing is too much for this aricle. But, DVDs use interlaced scanning. If I ported the direct ripped file from the DVD onto YouTube, aside from not having those beautiful fade in/outs, the picture would look like a checkerboard whenever someone moved, or a camera dissolved from one to another. (You can read more about interlaced video here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interlaced_video)

Reason #3: Lower 3rds. If you look at the videos, there's a nice little overlay on the bottom third of the video showing the title of the piece, and who's presenting it. At SD, the text can look really pixelated. So, by setting an HD sequence in Final Cut, I can obstruct less of the video with the lower 3rd, and the text is clear and crisp in the rendered file.

Q. What's your audio mix and where are your mics?

A. Sound is subjective, and depends on the audio operator. When I set up the audio for recording, I mic everything, even if it doesn't need to be miced in the room. For example, the piano doesn't always need to be amplified in the room, but it needs to be miced for the recording. The only thing that I don't mic for recording is the organ. I mix music in stereo when possible, but spoken word is ALWAYS in mono.

Typically, I run: room mic, piano mic, 4 choir mics, miced soloists, pulpit/baptistry mic, direct feeds from any instruments/electrics. Since we don't have a dedicated recording board, I use 2 spare aux out channels (L and R) and mix each mic independantly. That way, I don't mess with the house mix, and they don't mess with the recording mix. 

As a pianist, I like hearing the crispness of the attack as well as the reverb. For the music recordings, I use both the piano mic and the room mic to achieve the desired balance of each. Depending on the style, I may only use the choir mics for the choir, but occasionally, I'll use the pulpit mic and room mic to enforce the choral sound. For ensembles, I typically use 2 mics "Y" for stereo sound. 

Audio really is subjective, and mixing in stereo is very new in our church recordings. When I'm directing video, I spend almost the entire service in headphones, constantly monitoring the audio to make sure it's the best it can be. Before a few weeks ago, I didn't really think that stereo was such a big deal, and that for the most part, a room mic would be sufficiant. When I first showed a stereo mixed, multi-mic recording to someone at our church, they were blown away at what they heard! Getting good source audio is key, because if your audience can't understand what's being said...it really doesn't matter how pretty the video is. Also, you really do need to have a seperate mix for house and for recording. Kudos for even having two different people mixing.

Q. When you get ready to export/encode for online videos, what settings do you use?

A. I use the H.264 codec, 1280x720, 29.97fps, audio at 24-bit, 44.1k sampling. If possible, I try to export using "Fast start - compressed header" so the video loads faster in the player. To read what YouTube reccomends, visit: http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?answer=55744

And now, for my favorite question EVER:

Q. How can I get involved with video production at FBC?

A. Talk to the operators on Sunday morning! All the tech is run up in the balcony, right side. If there's someone running the equipment, they should be able to get you information on who to contact. If you don't see anyone, or can't make it up to the balcony before or after the service, get in touch with Rev. Michael Patch, Minister of Music. He's the best person on staff to talk with about the multimedia happenings on Sunday mornings. And, feel free to message me or pull me aside at anytime. As you can probably tell, I love talking about this kind of stuff...it's what I do in my free time! 

---

Hopefully this gives you some more (or maybe more than you ever wanted) behind-the-scenes information on the videos posted from the Music Ministry. Once again, to see these videos, visit: www.YouTube.com/FBCSpiritSong.

Friend or Fan?

There's a new trend popping up on my facebook news feed, and it's really got me thinking. 

Photography Fan Pages.

A lot of the folks I'm friends with on facebook have started their own photo business ventures, and created facebook fan pages to go along with them. [If you're somewhat unfamiliar with the way facebook works, ask the closest 13 year-old.] I guess the point of that is to separate their "personal life" with their "business". Totally understood. After all, I'm not likely going to hire someone that takes tons of pictures of themselves in their bathroom mirror with the flash on….

Anyways, seeing all these little fan pages pop up got me thinking: "Should I create a "Joshua Cruse _______" Fanpage?"

I've debated it back and forth. My first question was, "what will fill in the ________"? After all, I do music, composition, video production, videography, lighting design, church tech consulting, and dessert almost every evening at Crave. Do I create separate fan pages for each? Do I create one page with many segments? Do I just create a "Joshua Cruse" page and link it to my website? Would that be too egotistical? Ahhh!

So, I got to thinking about the "fan" idea. More importantly: what is a fan? Why would someone be a "fan" of mine? How would that benefit them?

Then tonight, I had a profound revelation:

Fans will let you know when you succeed and when you fail,

Friends will help you succeed and help you up when you fail.

If I had fans, they would probably only hear what I chose to tell them.

If I had more friends, we would converse.

Fans get to see your results.

Friends get to be a part of what you produce.

Fans have followers.

Friends have relationships.

I guess what I'm trying to say is…

I'd rather people see me the way I am, instead of seeing how I'd like them to see me.

I'd rather be that person that you "get to know", instead of that person you "know of".

I'd rather be your friend.

What do you think: Friends or Fans?

All good with God's good.

"...the joy of the LORD is your strength." - Nehemiah 8:10

Wow. Here it is. The end of summer.

What a ride.

I recently had the joy of taking a great vacation with my mom to Virginia Beach. I decided it'd be a great opportunity to try taking a photo I've wanted to capture since 9th grade. One day in Mr. Martin's 9th grade Earth Science class, he showed us a picture similar to the one above. He told us that since the earth rotated, if you took a long exposure picture at night, you'd capture the movement of the earth, and the result would be "star trails"streaking across the sky. Well, 6 years later, I finally captured that picture seen above.

On this trip, I experimented a lot with time lapse. And by "a lot", I mean 10,000+ individual frames that when compiled together and sped up, give a look into what goes on around us that we can't perceive in our view of "time". I've always been fascinated with time-lapse videography and photography, but it wasn't until this past summer that I really understood why.

2 Peter 3:8 says, "But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."

The way I perceive time isn't the way God sees it. God works in His time, not ours. In our TGIF generation (Twitter, Google, iPod, Facebook), we want instant results. We ask a question, and we can barely wait for the page to load on our smartphones. We even get frustrated at how long it takes our computer to boot up. 

That same feeling can apply to other ventures in life; "Why is it taking me so long to get through school?", "How long is it going to be until I meet that person I'm going to spend the rest of my life with?", "When am I going to be recovered and well enough to get back out and resume my normal life?", and the list goes on. 

While taking the picture at the top of this post, I couldn't physically perceive the movement of the earth, but it was.

Sometimes in life, we can't physically perceive the tangible evidence that God is working in our lives, but still He is.

God promised us that He has plans for us. Prospering plans. Plans to give us hope and a future in Him. Even plans for eternal life! He NEVER fails us, He is mighty to save, and He gives us strength to face each new day. 

That's where I'm at right now in life -- basking in the joy of the LORD, asking for daily break,  and thanking God for each day and all that's in it.


And, it took all summer and everything that happened in it to get me here. 
It's been tough. It's been life-changing. There have been some tough decisions. There have been some tough conversations. There will be lots of changes. 
But God has done some amazing things. In His time, He is working all things together for His good. 


And for the first time, in a long time,


I am all good with His good.

Overwhelmed

Tired. Exhausted. Fed-up. Hurt. Confused. Betrayed. Misquoted. Torn. Missing. Longing. Aching. Mad. Furious. Defensiveness. Destructive. Envied. Alone. Lost. Hopeless.
- What I've felt over the past 6 days

Embraced. Hopeful. Encouraged. Heard. Understood. Defended. Owned. Seen. Liked. Warm. Surrendered. Protected. Genuine. Released.
Love. Overwhelmed.
 - What I AM if I follow Psalm 55:22

Isaiah 40:31
- What WILL happen when I follow

Too Serious - A post on the eve of VBS week

"Why do you take what you do so seriously?"


Every time I'm involved with a production at FBC, I hear this question coming from miles away. That's because our production team really, REALLY goes big when it comes to worship and events. VBS is no different.


Firstly, I feel that I should let everyone know how intense our Vacation Bible School at Fredericksburg Baptist Church is, from the standpoint of the environment we strive to create:

Sanctuary preliminary set design (with a handmade 30'x18' paper-plastic cyc curtain)

Panoramic image of the "Pandamania Forest"

12'x3' banner donated for promotion

My truck hauling 10 ft. bamboo shucks down Cool Springs Road

Ok, so that last one was more for humor. 

The point is, we are legit with Vacation Bible School. I think a big part of why we are able to accomplish such amazing experiences in this one summer week is because we take it seriously. We have people preparing months in advance for one week. Next week, I'll be talking with my tech teams about what can be done bigger and better next year, and the year after that. Office workers have been contacting potential volunteers and processing applications for months. We all stay at church until the task at hand is completed, at times even into the next day. 

We take this seriously. 

We get high compliments. 

We get to hear amazing stories of life transformation from parents and families. 

And we get mocked for being intense. 

And we get talked down to for going crazy with decorations and set designs. 

And we get asked questions like the one above.

In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul says, "³¹ So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. ³² Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God— ³³ even as I try to please everyone in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved."

We take this so seriously because we know that Monday morning, there will be:

200+ children walking though our doors. 

200+ future residents of heaven spending a week with us. 

200+ potential first impressions of a church.

200+ families that may be treading deep waters and can't find hope.

200+ situations that we might never know.

200+ potential future church leaders and ministers

200+ little voices coming together praising our Creator.

And we have 200+ opportunities to offer the plan salvation and make heaven that much more crowded.

We CAN'T afford to NOT take this seriously.

Today, there will be scads of volunteers taping paper signs to walls, prepping classrooms, building sets, wiring lights, designing graphics for projectors, rehearsing musical numbers, and praying for the people they'll meet this coming week. Satan loves to distract us by telling us that maybe we don't need to give our All or that we're working a little too hard. 

A sign that you're making a difference to the Kingdom -- Satan feels threatened enough to step in.

So, whether you're on my tech team, helping with setup, or leading classes, I want you to know that I've been praying for you, and I'll be praying for you this week. Praying that Satan stays out of the great work that God is going to accomplish though our Vacation Bible School (and all other VBS' happening this summer). Praying that your life will be changed as you change lives. And, praying for strength for you and all of our VBS workers.

Impacting the lives of children seems like a pretty big deal. 

Better to be accused of taking it too seriously than to be accused of taking it in vain.

Have you ever been accused of taking your passion too seriously?

Shafting the Fam

The computer will still be on...
The bills won't disappear...
That proposal I'm writing will still be on my desk...
That to-do list will never get any shorter...
The video projects will keep coming in...
Gas won't get any cheaper...
My calendar will never be vacant enough...
There will always be more work to do...
There will always be rooms to clean...
There will always be clothes that need washing...

The list goes on and on and....

...but my only living blood grandmother will not
...and my grandfather will not
...and their cards every single birthday and holiday will not.

Catering to "the list" usually results in shafting the family. 
...the friends. 
...the important dates. 
...the important moments.


Here's to putting the important things on top of the list...

...and shafting the rest. 


It's better that way.