Church Lighting

Hey guys,
I have been running lights on a road hog for about 3 months now at the church I attend. We have 16 movers, 6 LED bars, 12 LED cans, and a ton of conventional lighting. I was trying to get some advice on a easy way to run a Sunday morning without having to spend hours programming each week. Also, the set changes once a month so position palettes have to be changed often. Any advice would be great. Thanks in advance!

Kyle
  • Kyle,

    Have you been setting up to run one cuelist for the service, or are you using multiple cuelists?
  • Kyle,

    Hopefully I can shed some light on how we set ours up and it will help you. I am the lighting director at Saddleback in Lake Forest.

    We used to do one long cue list that, as you noticed, would lead to long periods of programming time. About a year ago, I set a new system that seems to fit the bill perfectly and the volunteers really like.

    I have 4 pages for weekend services (2 for Sat night and Sun morning and 2 for Sunday night).
    Each fader is it's own event (walk-in, welcome, song, pastor welcome, song, song, song, message, offering, closing announcements/song)
    We keep a notebook at FOH for every song we program to be able to repeat as needed by loading the appropriate list
    I made a "busk" view on the console that opens up the cuelist window and splits it on each touch screen to allow for live busking that isn't programmed into the show.

    Now, all of that said, the songs are built around a single main position (BAND). This way, when we are setup on Saturday, I update the "BAND" position and all of the songs are updated appropriately. Any other positions for moves, etc. stay the same it's just their base positions that are modified. Most of the songs are built according to verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus...depending on the song. In the comment field, I label it with the lyric line that it needs to run on.

    All message cues (welcome, message, announcements) are changed appropriately when the stage setup changes (for us about every 6 months).

    With all of that base work, my workflow for Saturdays consist of helping get the stage set, updating the "BAND" position, and then loading the faders with the appropriate song or event based on the order of worship. I change all of the "comment macros" so that the next list is automatically chosen when the last cue of the list runs. This allows the volunteer to just keep pushing play and not worry about where things are. The comment macros also handle the page changes as needed if there are lots of songs, etc.

    Hope that helps...don't hesitate to ask if you need more information.

    J
  • I am working on selling a church I work with a console and were doing a 'demo' this week for them. This actually helped me out immensely because I have been trying to figure out the best way that someone who knows nothing to run it.

    I do have one question. For your busking page, how do you set that up so it is easy for someone to look at it and do something? I know the layout I use, but I don't have others use my console, and not sure how well it would pan out for someone to look at it. I am just curious since your method has been throughly tested!

    Unfortunately they don't have movers yet, but I have been pushing them hard to get some. For a 2500 seat auditorium, 48 dimmers isn't much. They have 9 cb12's and 10 color commands.

    Thanks Jon!
  • Ryan,

    My busking page (well...for volunteers) is setup as follows. We have movers, but we don't 'move' them during the service. They are intensity, color, beams and movement.

    Picture the screen as 4 quadrants (LIST screen split between both screens)
    Top half of the LEFT screen is COLOR
    Row 1 - Full stage color bumps / List 12 is a RELEASE THIS LINE macro
    Row 2 - 1/2 Color Bumps (2 colors on 50/50 of the rig on cue 1. Cue 2 reverses the color) / List 24 is a RELEASE THIS LINE macro
    Row 3 - More 1/2 Color bumps
    Row 4 is empty as a spacer

    Bottom Half of LEFT Screen is BEAM
    Row 5 - Straight Gobo Selections / List 60 is a RELEASE THIS LINE
    Row 6 - Slow / Med > / Slow > on Gobo 1 - List 72 is a release this line - Add Iris steps, etc. to fill the line as needed.
    Row 7 - Same as Row 6 but with Gobo 2 and same release this line - Add other beam effects to fill the line as needed.

    Top Half of RIGHT Screen
    Position moves - Spot Circle Small, Spot Circle Med, Spot Circle Large - Repeat for Wash - Same RELEASE THIS LINE at end
    Spot Kicks Small, Spot Kicks Med, Spot Kicks Large / Repeat for Wash - RELEASE THIS LINE at end

    Bottom Half of RIGHT Screen
    Intensity Effects - Slow Intensity Fades, White stripes, 50/50 (Spots/Wash), Odd/Even, 3 Circuit Chase, 4 Circuit Chase, FLICKER, Random Strobe, 10Hz. Strobe.

    That should give you a basic layout of my page.

    I'm off the rest of this week, but since you're in Huntington Beach, Saddleback is in Lake Forest if you ever want to swing by. Just shoot me an email and we can set it. jon at housetohalf dot net.
  • Jon,

    I finally got the chance, or you could say I was forced, to setup for busking using the Cuelists on the Touch Screens. (I've been spoiled by always having an expansion wing available)

    I used your example as my starting point and modified as needed for my setup.
    I liked how the Hog recalls the Busking View too, that is with the second cuelist pallet scolled down to where I need it.

    So, thanks for the clear explanation of your setup.
    Even if it is from 2009!
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