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First Baptist Church - Arlington

When the pastoral staff of the historic First Baptist Church Arlington (Arlington, TX) planned an end-to-end renovation of its 60-year-old building, it was evident that its decades-old A/V technology would need to be overhauled.

Challenge

As it renovated its 60-year old facility, First Baptist Church Arlington (FBCA) in Texas needed new technology that would create an uplifting experience for church-goers.

Solution

FBCA and Epic Resource Group decided on an end-to-end 4K/60p production-value solution using Panasonic AK-UC3000 cameras and PT-RQ32KU projectors to feed live content to its IMAG screens.

Result

“The UC3000s are beautiful, above and beyond what I was expecting,” said Mason Williams, FBCA's Director of Worship Technology. “We are now enjoying IMAG that looks better than real life, with the cameras vividly rendering skin tones in a very dynamic environment, complete with unbelievable full-color lighting during our contemporary worship.”

What neither they nor their systems integrator Epic Resource Group realized at the time was that FBCA would ultimately implement lens-to-lens 4K/60p production values, an achievement driven by three Panasonic AK-UC3000 4K/HD studio/field cameras and a pair of PT-RQ32K 27,000 lumen 4K+ laser projectors. Additional Panasonic gear in FBCA's 1400-seat sanctuary (newly dedicated October 15) includes three AW-UE70 4K pan/tilt/zoom cameras.

Brandon Chynoweth, Principal at Epic Resource Group, specialists in live production systems for houses of worship. explained that a decision was made early on to invest in the UC3000s, a 4K/HD camera FBCA had confidence would serve them well for years to come. Indeed, the church's 30+ staff of volunteer operators quickly came up to speed on the UC3000s, which were used to cover worship services conducted in three separate interim spaces during the 10-month renovation.

“We opted for the PT-RQ32Ks quite late in the game, having previously considered another projector,” Chynoweth said. “What the RQ32Ks bought us was 50% more brightness, the higher 60p frame rate and, crucially, laser technology that will easily amortize the cost differential between the models.”

Company-wide, we consider Panasonic professional video and display products to be the highest value products in the market.
Brandon Chynoweth Principal, Epic Resource Group

 

 

FBCA holds two distinct services each Sunday, contemporary worship at 9:30 and classic worship at 11:00 a.m. These services, with radically different lighting, are covered in 4K/60p by the three UC3000s, two centrally placed, the third off to one side.(The cameras are outfitted with Fujinon ZA22x7.6 7.6-130mm ENG-style lenses.) The signal is routed through a 4K production switcher to the RQ32Ks, which feed two 21' W by 12'H IMAG screens on either side of the sanctuary stage. The three UE70 PTZs (with their 30p signal upconverted to 60p) are strategically positioned across the stage for inter-shots.

Beyond the live experience for FBCA congregants, both Sunday services are displayed on large screen displays outside of the sanctuary, and are live streamed on the church's web site (www.fbca.org), with these webcasts archived for future airings on the FBCA Vimeo channel.

“The UC3000s are beautiful, above and beyond what I was expecting,” said Mason Williams, FBCA's Director of Worship Technology. “Having upgraded from aging, rudimentary SD gear, we are now enjoying IMAG that looks better than real life, with the cameras vividly rendering skin tones in a very dynamic environment, complete with unbelievable full-color lighting during our contemporary worship.”

“The UE70s are surprisingly similar to the UC3000s, and the cameras certainly look like they belong in the same system in terms of color matching,” Williams continued. “The two CCU remote operation panels we're using, the AK-HRP1000 for the UC3000s and AW-RP50 for the PTZs, allow our engineer to intuitively dial in settings and paint the cameras.”

“Our new 4K worship experiences represents a complete 180 degree turn for our congregants, and their response has been phenomenal,” he said.

For more information about the First Baptist Arlington, visit www.fbca.org. For more information about Epic Resource Group, visit www.epicresourcegroup.com.