Introduction: Goals

To provide a series of lessons and videos to help in church media productions. Focus of training is from a layman's point with the goal of training operators in the use of sound, video, and lighting equipment. Basic theory is provided but significance is placed on using equipment.

Building up engineers is outside the scope of this site. We will rely on additional instruction  through vocational schools, colleges, and universities to provide in-depth theory, analysis, and engineering for sound, video, and lighting. We encourage motivated volunteers who want to go further to attend universities such as Southeastern or Liberty.

Phase 1

1. Provide basic theory behind sound, video, and lighting
2. Provide operational instruction in sound, video, and lighting
3. Build a series of quizzes and tests to help learning in sound, video, and lighting
4. Provide suggestions for equipment purchases in sound, video, and lighting
5.  
6. 
   

Phase 2

1. Provide templates for volunteer management and engagement
2. Provide suggestions for reading, understanding, and conflict resolution between tech and worship artists

Introduction Part 2: The Idea Moves Forward

It turns out that shelving the idea worked out better than if I continued on with my original plan. Just like our original idea, a number of one-off videos exist on Vimeo and YouTube that incorporate a church team member showing how to use a specific piece of equipment. The videos are great for the volunteers and staff of the local church, or if you happen to use that same piece of equipment. Considering the focus of the CMP project grew to a generalized church body, specific videos no longer fit the goal.

While working through Vimeo and YouTube,  I began to find scattered videos that fit with the focus of our training.

Introduction Part 1: The Idea

Cartoon by Dave Walker @ We Blog Cartoons.

The premise for this project started about a year ago.  Volunteer leaders noted a lack of participation in training for the tech support areas at our church. As a dad of three, I am well aware of the difficulty in making and keeping plans after hours and on weekends.

At the time, I attended Liberty University and took classes online. From my experience with Liberty, I started thinking about putting together videos about the different tech support areas. I figure online training allows people to watch on their own schedule.

In attending Liberty, I found that the most enjoyable classes included two elements. First, using a video component helps to conceptualize difficult concepts. Second, follow up with some simple questions helps to retain technical information.

The original idea included using the current video team to shoot the tech teams doing their various tasks. We experienced a couple of issues when starting to work with the team. First, when starting to shoot a few preliminary lessons, I noticed that we tended towards information specific to The Family Church. The goal was to both train team members at the church and to provide some basic theory. Second, we had a rough time scheduling the proper people for filming the sessions. I decided to take a step back and do some additional planning before starting the rest of the sessions.