Church Leadership Training Gets a Lift from A/V Enhancements
Founded in 1969, the Haggai Institute is an
international ministry specializing in Christian Leadership
training.
Over
20,000 church leaders have been educated in over 140 nations. With
its corporate office based in Atlanta, GA, the Haggai Institute
routinely conducts seminars around the globe. They also maintain and
operate permanent, international training facilities in Singapore
and on the island of Maui in Hawaii.
In the summer of 2001, the Maui facility underwent a $9 million
renovation. Design Plus, a Grand Rapids, Michigan-based
architectural firm overseeing the job, brought in Central
Interconnect, a full service communications company also based in
Grand Rapids, to consult on the planned multimedia audio-visual
system. Eventually, however, Central Interconnect was given the
green light to design and build the entire integrated A/V system.
"They wanted a state-of-the-art system," said Michael Smith, Vice
President of Central Interconnect. "I spent 12 months consulting on
the system design, developing drawings and specifications for the
bid with Design Plus and the Haggai Institute. When they were unable
to reach an agreement with a local A/V contractor, they asked us to
build the system. I flew out, took a look, and six and half months
later we completed the project."
Training Room Inputs and Outputs
There are five rooms used for training and
presentations at the Haggai Institute. The auditorium seats about
120 and is equipped with Shure microphones, a BSS Soundweb sound
system with Crown amplifiers, and two Sanyo 3000 Lumens LCD XGA
(1024 x 768) projection systems. Strategically-placed floor boxes
enable additional connection points to the A/V system, while each
seat provides a connection for laptops to the local area network
(LAN). The projectors display two side-by-side 100-inch diagonal
images generally for the purposes of videoconferencing. One image is
from the far end while the other is for the near end. The near end
image can be generated from the auditorium's two video cameras, a
document camera, VCR, DVD player, laptop, 16mm film, or 35mm slides.
Many of the institute's special events are held in the 200-person
capacity dining room. The dining room is equipped with microphones,
a sound system, and LCD projector. A podium-mounted ISYS touch panel
control system enables the presenter to monitor videoconferences as
well as images from a VCR, DVD player, laptop, 16mm film, or 35mm
slides. Like the auditorium, there are a couple of floor boxes for
additional, external connections to the A/V system.
The three classrooms can accommodate between 30 and 40 individuals.
Each room is outfitted with a mix minus sound system, LCD projector,
touch panel control system, microphones, a video camera, document
camera, DVD player, cassette player, VCR, and desktop computer.
Floor boxes to the A/V system and extra connection points to the LAN
can also be found in the classrooms.
System
Switching and Scaling
Extron
System 7SC switchers are in each of the room's podiums for local
projection, signal scaling, and distribution. According to Smith,
the System 7SC was selected for the Haggai Institute for a variety
of reasons.
"We chose the Extron System 7SC because of its internal scaler, the
number of inputs and outputs, and its flexibility for
configuration," he said. "It was extremely easy to install and
program. The fact that all Extron equipment is so easy to interface
just makes everything that much simpler."
The System 7SC is a seven input, dual output, multi-format active
switcher with a built-in video scaler. It features projector and
room control along with RGB and video integration capabilities ideal
for permanent installations such as the Haggai Institute. The System
7SC is being used for switching the local sources and for its
scaling capabilities. Smith emphasized that every signal routed
through the System 7SC gets scaled up to XGA. This is a key feature
of the System 7SC as it is able to optimize image quality, maintain
maximum image brightness and detail, and match the native resolution
of the projectors and plasmas that, in the case of the Haggai
Institute, are high-resolution XGA displays. To scale any video
input, the System 7SC uses Extron's technologies such as Dynamic
Motion Interpolation (DMI™), Accu-RATE Frame Lock (AFL™), and 3:2
pulldown detection for NTSC and 2:2 film detection for PAL.
Also mounted in each podium is an
Extron P/2 DA2 MT one input, two output, high-resolution VGA
distribution amplifier with audio. With 300 MHz (-3dB) of video
bandwidth, the P/2 DA2 MT allows computers with VGA-UXGA graphic
cards to send signals long distances for display on monitors or
projectors. The P/2 DA2 MT also includes Level and Peaking
adjustments to ensure signal integrity over extended cable runs. In
some cases, the P/2 DA2 MT is driving signals from the podium as far
as 250 feet back to the control room.
The local computer is input into the P/2 DA2 MT. Of the two
individually buffered VGA outputs of the P/2 DA2 MT, one goes to the
System 7SC while the other goes to an Extron
SW2 VGA DA2 A. The System 7SC is also input into the SW2 VGA DA2
A, a combination active switcher and distribution amplifier with
audio. While distributing all the signals to the touch panel control
system in the podium, the SW2 VGA DA2 A also enables the presenter
to switch between signals from System 7SC and the local computer.
Conversely, the picture-in-picture touch screen on the podium
functions as the local computer's monitor, as well as the system's
control panel.
Control Room
The
control room is located in the center of the facility with windows
looking out to the auditorium and one of the classrooms. It houses
all equipment for signal routing, including in-house television
distribution, IP streaming to the LAN, and room-to-room integration.
There is also videotape mastering and duplication equipment. Twelve
monitors allow the operator to oversee the video sources, video
cameras, and projector in each room. This is especially helpful when
training sessions are recorded.
"They record all their training sessions in video and audio," Smith
noted. "They distribute the audio tapes to the participants, and use
the video tapes for in-house instructor training." There are a
variety of Extron products in the control room integral to the
functionality of the entire system. An Extron
CrossPoint 88HVA 8 x 8 wideband matrix switcher has been
integrated into a plasma messaging system within the control room.
XGA sources from around the Haggai Institute are input into the
CrossPoint, which distributes signals to plasma displays in the
dining room, front lobby, and elevators as well as for CATV and web
streaming distribution.
For a camera broadcast system, an Extron
SW 6 SV A MX six input, dual output, S-video and stereo audio
switcher was installed for switching between the Institute's S-video
cameras. It also transports signals to an outside broadcast
transmitter and/or an Extron
DVS 150 digital video scaler. The DVS 150 upscales the signal to
XGA and sends it back through the master control for distribution to
any one of the facility's display devices. There's an Extron
P/2 DA2 LC, a one input, two output VGA distribution amplifier,
being used with a control computer system assigned as a control room
alternate. Elsewhere, a control room PC utilizes an Extron
P/2 DA4 Plus output to four teleprompters located in the
auditorium and dining room.
This same PC can also call up CAD drawings of the Haggai Institute
A/V system as well as an electronic submittal folder with product
cut sheets formatted in PDF for reference to every single working
component of the system. Likewise, Extron has product brochures,
user manuals, and specifications formatted in PDF available at
www.extron.com.
Final Thoughts
Gregg Lamse, A/V Manager at the Haggai Institute
in Maui, has been extremely pleased with the new system. "It's made
my job a little less complicated. Instead of sitting behind a mixer
in one room and running around to the other classrooms to put out
fires, I'm in the control room, watching the monitors, and operating
remote video cameras to tape the classroom teaching."
Lamse is also gearing up to expand on the system's flexibility. "The
System 7SC switcher is handling almost all of our video switching,
but we've barely scratched the surface of what we want to do," he
said. "We're still working on expanding our videoconferencing
capabilities, distributing signals to hotel rooms using cable TV,
and web streaming. 2002 is going to be a very busy year."
For more information on the Haggai Institute, please visit
haggai-institute.com. For additional information on Central
Interconnect, see
www.centralinterconnect.com