Since the prospect of learning an entirely new operating system can be a little daunting, we’re here to make it as easy as possible. Fowler can provide training on a large number of things but in some instances though, there’s no sense in reinventing the wheel. In the case of Apple products, some of the very best training that can be had is both free and readily available straight from the horse’s mouth.

If you want to learn how to move from a Windows based computer to a Mac, watch some of the videos on this site: http://www.apple.com/findouthow/mac/

If you’re up to speed on the Mac but are ready to take the next step and start working on your big blockbuster debut, these videos will help you get started: http://www.apple.com/ilife/tutorials/#imovie

Be sure to watch the tutorials covering iMovie and Garage Band if you’re interested in podcasting. You’ll likely end up using one or both of these pieces of software.

Remember that we’re here to help so if you have any technical questions, operational questions, or workflow questions, give us a call. There are many people on staff that have “been there and done that” so there’s lots of experience we can bring to your situation.

Fowler Productions is excited to be a part of this 1st time Catalyst One Day Event and we wanted to let you know about it too!

Craig Groeschel and Andy Stanley will uncover the secret to creating and sustaining momentum. Make plans now to be a part of Catayst One Day leadership experience packed with teaching and insight from two of the leading voices in the church today.

At Catalyst One Day, you will:

*Discover the key to creating and sustaining momentum in your organization
*Identify and break through the barriers to momentum
*Overcome personal leadership lids
*Leverage the three triggers which ignite organizational momentum
*Create a culture of continual improvement
*Embrace a new approach to leading organization change

You won’t want to miss this event-register now!!

http://www.catalystoneday.com or 888-334-6569

This event will be at Bent Tree Bible Fellowship in Carrolton, TX. Make sure you come by our booth we would love to meet you! If you are unable to attend, visit Fowler online at fowlerinc.com.

Fowler Productions is pleased to provide you with a FREE Expo Plus-Pass to WFX Spring 2009 in Long Beach, CA May 13-15 (Expo: May 14-15)

Presented by Church Production Magazine and Worship Facilities, WFX is an annual event designed to educate church teams with the knowledge and cutting-edge information they need to reach their growth goals- no matter the size, or budget. WFX has the largest expo floor for the church market filled with thousands of products and services, and a special events program that offers something for every member of your team. Whether you are planning a facility expansion, renovation or new construction project, looking to enhance your church audio/video and lighting, optimize your IT infrastructure or better manage your facility, WFX is the place to be!

To receive your FREE Expo pass please email us at info@fowlerinc.com with your first name, last name and email address and your pass will be on its way to you. Join the thousands that have already experienced this one-of-a-kind event, and be a part of the #1 event for church facilities and technology teams, be a part of WFX California!

WFX is the #1 event for church facilities and technology teams. Your free ‘Expo-Plus Pass’ includes:

Expo floor with 400+ companies; Visit our Fowler at Booth # 523
Thousands of products and services for growing churches
FREE Exhibitor Offered Training Sessions
Keynote addresses from prominent figures in the church market, carrying on the WFX Keynote tradition of excellence
Registration is free, we look forward to seeing you in Long Beach!

If you are unable to attend, visit Fowler online at www.fowlerinc.com .

In 2003, Director of Media and Music Randy Woods contacted Fowler Inc. seeking help with the overhaul of their multipurpose church auditorium. The facility was constructed in Ft. Myers, Florida in the late 60’s and had experienced very few upgrades in the ensuing years. As the needs of the facility grew and changed the staff all agreed that a dramatic upgrade was needed to bring the room up to speed for it’s many uses.

The Village Church at Shell Point is in a unique position in that it is a fully functional house of worship while at the same time serving as the community center for one of the top rated retirement communities in the United States, Shell Point Retirement Community. Because of this relationship, the main auditorium serves as the primary worship facility for the church services on the weekends but also plays host to a myriad of events throughout the week. Events ranging from full orchestral concerts to dance troops to jazz orchestras all pass across the stage making for an extremely wide range of uses and technology needs.

The project was just getting into the detailed planning stages when Hurricane Charlie put everything on hold in 2004. The eye of the hurricane hit just North of Ft. Myers so Shell Point was spared the full force of the hurricane but sustained enough damage to many of it’s buildings to put the media project on hold. Wind speeds of 60-80mph caused substantial damage to the roof of the church building and repairs continued over the next couple of years. Once the building repairs were completed, the media upgrade project came back to life.

In late 2007 representatives from Fowler sales and engineering teams made the trip to Ft. Myers to examine the church auditorium and have a sit-down meeting with Randy and all of the players involved in the upgrade project. Because of the shared interest in the facility, The Village Church and Shell Point each had representatives present at the meeting to discuss potential uses and weigh everyone’s wants versus needs. Three national and two local audio/video companies were initially considered for the project but Fowler quickly won over the confidence of everyone involved by showing a genuine interest in the people involved in the process and listening to how each person had specific needs when looking to the future of the room.

After the initial round of meetings it quickly became apparent that a new sound system was at the top of the list for improvements. There were speech intelligibility problems in the room and an overall need for a more versatile system. Next on the list was making sure that everyone in the auditorium had a good view, no matter where they were seated. Image magnification would make this possible but not without an upgrade to the lighting system. Proper lighting is just as important to a video system as is the choice in cameras so the entire lighting system, and it’s antiquated control system, were slated to be gutted and rebuilt from scratch.

After five on-site visits and almost four weeks of installation time, the auditorium was transformed. Now with the ability to accommodate any guest performances, a full concert level sound system, an extremely versatile lighting system, and a complete high definition broadcast system to document all of the events, The Village Church is now a technology powerhouse. Feedback from the congregation has been unanimous in it’s praise and Shell Point has received the highest possible score on two recent national evaluations with comments about media versatility and execution being called out as particular high points in the facility.

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FowlerInc Podcast

iTunes: This post has a podcast video that goes with it, feel free to check it out!

High definition cameras continue to improve while becoming more and more affordable. HD video mixers have in the past been large, complicated, and outrageously expensive, but Panasonic has come to the rescue with their fantastic AV-HS400A video mixer. Supporting up to eight inputs and up to eight outputs, the AV-HS400A mixer is an extremely versatile tool whether your final output is for IMAG, television or high definition video podcasting. Check out the HS400 Video to watch an overview featuring a simple explanation of some of the headlining features of this exciting new mixer.

Robert Reed from Roland reviews the M-400 Digital Mixing Console, the V-8 video mixer, the VC 300 & VC 200 multi format video converter box, the R-44 field recorder and the P-10 video Play back device.

Craig Yanagi from JVC reviews the GY-HD250 and GY-HD200 cameras using Fujinon’s box lens, JVC’s MR HD200 Hard Disk recorder and Vintens System 8 Tripod.

Do you have high definition cameras? Are you looking for some? To get the full benefit of HD cameras you need an HD video mixer and Panasonic has answered the call. With the introduction of the Panasonic AV-HS400 video mixer we now have a cost effective way to do HD production at full broadcast quality.

As high definition becomes a reality for more and more churches we’ve found that although camera technology has continued to improve and drop in price, the rest of the equipment in the high definition chain remains out of reach for all but a select few customers. That leads us to using HD cameras in their standard definition mode with SD switchers and monitors or something like a presentation switcher that will switch camera sources but was not intended to do so in a full video production environment.

There have been “multi-definition” video mixers on the market for a few years now by companies such as Ross, Echo Lab, and Grass Valley but once you get these switchers fully configured with the inputs and outputs you need you’re looking at an entry price of $40,000 or more. Then on top of this price you will need HD monitors so you can keep an eye on all of your video sources. In case you haven’t noticed, true HD monitors can be very pricey.

With the introduction of the AV-HS400, Panasonic has brought HD video production “to the masses.” A fully equipped video mixing system based on this mixer runs between $15k and $20k including monitoring. Obviously there are other pieces to a system like recording and distribution but the core functionality of the video mixer has come down in price dramatically.

This mixer features several high-end features such as HD-SDI inputs and outputs, both Program and Aux outputs, a Down Stream Keyer, chroma and luminance keying, and optional DVI inputs and outputs. All of this is in addition to a brand new feature Panasonic calls MultiView. This saves a lot of money when it comes to monitoring. By using a single HD monitor you can view Program, Preview, and up to 8 input sources on this single display. This saves money since you don’t have to have a separate monitor per signal, saves space because you are using a single monitor versus several, and saves energy since, again, you’re only using a single monitor.

Features like these are what make this mixer a real winner for the church market. Cost efficient, compact, and packed full of features are characteristics that every church can benefit from.

Neil Wittering from Christie reviews the HD+30K projector, the LW600 projector, the CP2000-M DLP cinema projector and Vista’s video processing systems.