As everyone tries to find new ways of doing everyday things during the COVID-19 pandemic, SeaCoast Grace Church in Cypress, California, has turned to local manufacturer FOR-A and its HVS-490 HANABI video switcher in order to continue regular services, classes and meetings via livestreams.
Under normal circumstances, the nondenominational church might bring in almost 4,000 people every weekend, which is clearly impossible right now, but it has found a way to video broadcast its regular weekend service, and other programming and worship opportunities for various groups within its community.
Also based in Cypress, FOR-A was called upon to provide the necessary tech and support so that SeaCoast could provide support to its congregants under less-than-ideal circumstances.
Before the pandemic, SeaCoast’s Saturday night online service would be watched by roughly 400 viewers, but that has increased to 3,500 viewers, as the church holds the service in an empty auditorium, streamed live on YouTube, Facebook and SeaCoast’s own site, and then convert to an MP4 file for Sunday morning replay. The FOR-A HVS-490 video switcher is key to this live production.
Under normal circumstances, SeaCoast uses a 2 M/E switcher to produce two simultaneous productions, one for the two I-MG screens in the 2,000 seat main auditorium and videostream, and the other for a 1920X1080 LED video wall that acts as a backdrop for on-site singers and musicians.
Just to give some idea of the scope of this production, SeaCoast uses nine inputs, four dedicated to cameras, three for a ProPresenter system for lyrics, video playback, etc, and two more for prayer graphics and the last for the digital signage in the lobby.
The FOR-A switcher offers multiple outputs to send separate signals to all of the screens and the LED video wall, as well as the live stream, as well as a four-camera multi-view for the shader. This eliminates the church’s need for its previous routing system. Now, the HVS-490 serves as the centerpiece for the church’s control room, which also has areas for editing, video playback and digital signage.
The HVS-490 supports configurations up to 40 inputs/18 outputs, 36 inputs/20 outputs or 32 inputs/22 outputs using optional input and output expansion cards, as well as two-channel HDMI outputs.
For more information on the HVS-490, you can check out the company’s official site.
