vegas church goes `all in`

April 21, 2014
Vol. 60 No.4
AV FOR SYSTEMS INTEGRATORS, CONTRACTORS AND CONSULTANTS
VEGAS CHURCH
GOES ‘ALL IN’
THE CROSSING CHURCH ‘GETS’ AV
PACKING
THE HOUSE
Calvary Church adds
500 seats and new AV systems
CHURCH
TEXAS STYLE
First Baptist Church of Dallas
spends $12 million on A/V/L
PITCH, PLAN
AND EXECUTE
Part 1: Helping HOWs, and
staying profitable
DIGITAL SIGNAGE EXPO REVIEW & NEW PRODUCT WRAP-UP: SEE PAGES 70-83
VEGAS CHURCH
GOES ‘ALL IN’
THE CROSSING CHURCH ‘GETS’ AV.
BY DAN DALEY
Church has gone big in America in recent decades. The mega
church has evolved from oddity to commodity, dotting the suburban landscape from Portland ME to Portland OR. But in Las
Vegas, any attempt at scale has to be taken in context: There,
the biggest stars get their own theatrical venues cosseted with
leading-edge technology. So, when you build a worship center in
Sin City for the biggest luminar y in Christianity, you’d better be
shooting for the stars.
That’s what The Crossing, an 1800-seat church that opened in
February in Las Vegas’ upscale southwest neighborhood did. The
third and largest sanctuar y on the decade-old church’s campus,
the new church building doubles the capacity of the prior one.
But it’s not about size so much as it is about quality AVL. That’s
not surprising when much of your congregation comes from the
upper reaches of the Strip’s own entertainment venues. For instance, The Crossing’s staff front-of-house mixer is Bob Meyers,
who used to mix live monitor sound for Frank Sinatra. That pretty
much tells you what you need to know.
What Sets It Apart
“What set this project apart from the typical large house of worship—but not necessarily from a music venue in Las Vegas—is that
it’s designed to act like a performing arts center, in terms of its
sound and video and lighting,” explained Kevin Potts, a principal
in Coherent Design, the Las Vegas-based AV systems designer
and integrator for the project. “The church’s technology team
specifically indicated that that’s what they wanted to achieve,” he
continued. “It’s not that surprising: Many members of the congregation work in the hotels, casinos and theaters in the city, and
some are part of Cirque de Soleil. They’re comfortable with the
technology of entertainment. Plus, they wanted the church to be
34
Sound & Communications
The Crossing puts on
a show worthy of Las
Vegas. Two 150”x266¾”
16:9 wide-aspect-ratio
screens flank the stage
in fixed positions and
are lit by 11,000-lumen
projectors.
The Crossing seats up
to 2600 but its face to
the street is anything
but flashy.
April 2014
35
able to host concerts by Christian music performers. They wanted it to be as
good as any concert hall of this size.”
The Crossing’s new sanctuar y is
wide, with a low ceiling that presented
a challenge for the sound system. After
some modeling of the room in EASE
and other software, it quickly became
clear that it was not well suited for a
line array approach. Instead, it was decided that two pairs of stereo clusters,
with a left and right box sitting on either side of the stage, would provide
both the coverage the room required
and the imaging desired for a music
environment.
Potts said that there was a brief debate about using a passive system powered by remotely racked amplifiers,
advocated by the church’s team, and
the active-powered speakers Coherent
Design suggested. Initially, he offered,
the additional cost of active speakers
was off-putting to the client, but when
the cost of the amplifiers and additional
cabling was added in, the cost differen-
tial was considerably less. The Meyer
Sound system chosen consists of 18 JM1P speaker enclosures, with each stereo
cluster including a pair of UPA-1P compact speakers. The stacked clusters,
positioned at the stage lip, also include
four 1100-LFC subwoofers, paired front
to back per side in a cardioid configuration, to increase directionality. Four
Meyer UPA-1P compact wide-coverage
speakers are soffited into the front of
the stage as fills for the front rows in
the shadow of the clusters, as are two
Meyer 600-HP subwoofers.
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36
Sound & Communications
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The system is controlled using a
Meyer Galileo Callisto 616 processor.
FOH audio is mixed through a Yamaha
CL5 digital console and uses a pair of
Yamaha Rio3224-D digital stage boxes.
Monitors are mixed through a Yamaha
CL1 console.
“The JM-1P is a concert box, with a
ver y narrow [dispersion] pattern, so
we’re able to aim it ver y precisely,”
Potts said, adding that the cardioid
subwoofer configuration was chosen
for the same reason. The decision to
go with an actively powered system
did require that power be run into the
ceiling to plug in each enclosure, but
he said that more than offset the cost
of building a self-contained air-conditioned amplifier room and the cabling
it would require.
Another distributed audio system
covers the church lobby, and is comprised of 34 JBL Control 47 C/T and
20 Control 24 surface-mount speakers,
and nine Control 67 pendant speakers.
These are managed by a BSS Soundweb London processor. Communications between FOH system operators
and the church’s post-production suite
take place on a Clear-Com SB-704 fourchannel intercom system.
Assistive listening uses a Listen
Technologies LT-800 system with 51
receiver sets. Other audio system
components include eight channels
each of Shure P9TRA IEMs, Countr yman E6XDW6L2SL earsets, and Shure
ULXD2/B87C handheld transmitters
and ULXD1 wireless beltpacks. As
befits a music venue, there’s a sizable
complement of instrument and vocal
microphones, some AKG, Audio-Technica, Sennheiser and Audix.
FOH position has a good view of the sanctuary.
Dante Network
Audio is moved throughout the system on an Audinate Dante digital audio
network, which is cabled using Cat6 wiring and Cisco gigabit switches. “We’re
at the point now where any digital audio
system is going to have to become an
IT proposition, as well as an audio one,”
said Potts. “We’re in the IT world now
and we have to understand how to work
with networks.”
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Made in the USA by a Bunch of Fanatics.
38
Sound & Communications
As appropriate for a versatile performance center, the church asked
for as much flexibility in its systems
as possible. Thus, the design called for
all AV components to be mounted on
theatrical trusses with chain motors, to
allow for components being changed
out quickly and efficiently. An architectural aspect to that is the fact that the
auditorium’s rear wall is designed to be
removable, making the seating expandable to 2600 seats, for which concrete
risers are already in place. The sound
system as it’s installed now did not
require any delay speakers to reach
the rear of the room; however, if and
when the wall is removed to enlarge
the space, Potts said that provisions
have been made in the design to install
delay speakers at approximately where
the wall is now.
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Even when that wall comes down, attendees should not have trouble seeing
any of the video. Two 150"x266¾" DaLite Series 300 16:9 wide-aspect-ratio
screens flank the stage in fixed positions. A third screen, a Da-lite 24-foot
(diagonal) screen, sourced from the
previous sanctuar y, is on a motorized drop above center stage. These
are illuminated by two Panasonic PTDW11KU 11,000 lumen projectors with
ET-D75LE20 lenses for the outboard
screens, and a Christie LX1500 projector (also sourced from the old sanctuar y) for the center screen.
All projectors are getting SDI signals
over fiber cabling that runs back to the
video control room and its Blackmagic ATEM 2/ME production switcher,
Three HD cameras record services.
They overlook the production
control center, where lighting
and FOH audio are located.
The rear and side walls of
the sanctuary are covered
with Corning fiberglass,
large absorbent panels
consisting of acoustically
transparent fabric,
estimated to have cost as
much as $200,000.
Equipment
AUDIO
5 Ace Backstage 124SLBK double wide stage pockets
3 Ace Backstage 122SLBK full stage pockets
8 Ace Backstage A/C ISO Kit AC isolation kits
8 Ace Backstage PE single gang electric boxes, covers
2 AKG P120 percussion mics
1 Apple iPad, 16 gigabyte w/HiQnet motion control
6 Audio Technica AT 4041 instrument mics
1 Audio Technica AT 2500 cardioid mic
2 Audio Technica AT 4050 cardioid mics
1 Audix D6 kick drum mic
1 Audix i5 snare mic
2 Audix D2 tom mics
1 Audix D4 tom mic
2 Audix ADX51 OH pre-polarized condenser mics
1 Aviom A-16D personal mixer distributor*
1 Belden AX103253 24-port Ethernet patch panel
2 Bittree B96DC-FNAIT/E3 96 point audio patchbays
24 Bittree BPC2400-110 24" black bantam patch cords
1 BSS BLU-100 audio processor
2 Cisco AIR-SAP2602I-A-K9 wireless access point
2 Clear-Com CZ11513 DX210 system w/4 beltpacks, headsets
1 Clear-Com SB-704 4-channel intercom main station w/matrix
2 Clear-Com RM-704 4-channel intercom remote stations
2 Clear-Com RM-702 2-channel intercom remote stations
4 Clear-Com KB-701 intercom wall stations
12 Clear-Com RS-601 1-channel beltpacks
12 Clear-Com CC-300 single muff headsets
8 Countryman E6XDW6L2SL earset mics
1 Crown DCi 8|300 8-channel 300WPC amp
1 Dell Optiplex 3010 PC for audio control, monitoring
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broadcast control console and Ultrastudio Express Thunderbolt SDI interface. An Apple Mac Pro and iMac
computers are used as video sources
and for video editing of ser vices for
later distribution. Live video of ser vices and performances is shot through
three JVC GY-HM790U HD cameras
fitted with 17:1 zoom lenses.
The two outboard projectors presented an interesting challenge when it came
to mounting them. “The temperatures
in Las Vegas can range pretty widely in
the course of a single day,” Potts, who’s
lived in Vegas for more than 20 years,
said, pointing out that he’s seen them
go from 50° at night to 105° 12 hours
later. The church is covered with a large
seamed-metal roof, resting on steel girders and beams to which much of the interior infrastructure is attached, including
the 13-foot poles that the projectors are
suspended from.
As the temperatures change, the
building itself expands and contracts,
which can af fect the aiming of the
projectors. So, in addition to the Chief
Dell 2412M 24" LCD monitor
JBL Control 47 C/T 6½" ceiling speakers
JBL Control 67 P/T 6½" pendant speakers
JBL Control 24 CT 4" ceiling speakers
Listen LT-800-072 assistive listening transmitter
Listen LA-122 universal antenna kit
Listen LA-304 notification signage kit
Listen LR-300-072 assistive listening receivers
Listen LA-164 ear speakers
Lowell 200LVC 200W 70V attenuators
Lowell 100LVC 100W 70V attenuators
Meyer Galileo Callisto 616 audio processors
Meyer JM-1P arrayable speakers
Meyer UPA-1P compact wide coverage speakers
Meyer UPJUNIOR UltraCompact VariO speakers
Meyer 1100-LFC subwoofers (w/rigging, XLR-3 pin)
Meyer 600-HP subwoofers (without handles, rigging)
Meyer RMS MODULE remote monitoring module
Meyer RMS SERVER server interface for compass software
Middle Atlantic SR-40-28 40RU wall racks w/accessories
Middle Atlantic PTRK-14 14RU rack w/accessories on casters
NETGEAR GS724T-300 24-port gigabit switch
NETGEAR GS105 5-port gigabit switch
Radial PROD8 direct box
Radial PRODI direct boxes
Radial PROD2 direct boxes
Radial PROAV2 direct boxes
Radial SGI direct boxes
Sennheiser E609 guitar mics
Shure ULXD4Q quad channel digital wireless receivers
Shure UA845-SWB antenna distribution amp
(continued on page 40)
April 2014
39
VCM75P mounts used for the projectors,
Potts added a Chief CMA340 stabilization
kit and CMA372 flange to keep the projector pole mounts steady. “We have them tied
off at four separate points each, to offset
the effect of the sway that the expansion
and contraction can cause,” he said.
Interestingly, that same climate issue
impacted the room’s acoustics. Las Vegas
summers require a lot of air conditioning.
To keep the vents as quiet as possible, they
used oversized outputs and returns, and
ducts were heavily baffled. In addition, the
HVAC units themselves are located on top
of a separate portion of the building and
mounted on top of spring-loaded isolators to
Two 50-inch
LCD televisions
in the lobby
are used for
digital signage,
and also offer
video from
the sanctuary
cameras for
overflow
crowds.
minimize mechanical transmission of vibration and noise. The overall
effect, said Potts, is a very low NC-25 noise rating inside the sanctuary.
The rear and side walls are also heavily covered with large absorbent panels: Corning fiberglass covered with acoustically transparent fabric. Potts estimates that acoustical treatments and HVAC
noise reduction cost as much as $200,000.
The Crossing is rounded out with an extensive array of LED and
moving-head lighting from Elation, fixtures that Potts said are common in the clubs and casinos of The Strip. “You just get so used to
dazzling lighting ever ywhere here, that it’s not unexpected to see
(continued on page 100)
2 Shure UA874 active directional antennas
8 Shure ULXD1 digital wireless belt packs
8 Shure ULXD2/B87C digital handheld wireless transmitters
8 Shure P9TRA in-ear wireless system
1 Shure PA821A antenna combiner
1 Shure PA805SWB active directional antenna
1 Shure BETA 91A kick drum mic
4 Shure SM57-LC cardioid mics
4 Shure Beta 98AD/C instrument mics
3 Shure Beta 58A cardioid vocal mics
3 Shure SM58-S cardioid switched mics
8 Westone UM2 earphones
1 Yamaha CL1 audio control console
1 Yamaha CL5 digital mixer control surface
2 Yamaha Rio3224-D 32-in/24-out digital stage boxes
1 Yamaha Rio1608-D 16-in/8-out digital stage box
VIDEO 2 AJA KI Pro Rack digital video recorders*
1 Apple Mac Pro quad-core 3.2GHz 6G RAM
1 Apple LED Cinema Display 27" LED monitor
1 Apple 27" iMac 2.9GHz 8GB ram
1 Bittree EB48T-1WNHD 48-point Weco patchbay
12 Bittree VPC2400-75 24" black Weco patch cords
1 Blackmagic Design MINI Sync Gen sync generator
1 Blackmagic Design ATEM 2 M/E production switcher
1 Blackmagic Design ATEM 2 M/E broadcast control console
1 Blackmagic Design Compact Videohub 40x40 SDI matrix switch
1 Blackmagic Design Videohub Master matrix controller
2 Blackmagic Design UltraStudio Express Thunderbolt SDI interfaces
1 Blackmagic Design SmartView HD 17" rackmount HD monitor
1 Blackmagic Design SmartScope Duo dual 8" LCD waveform monitor
40
Sound & Communications
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Blackmagic Design SDI to analog mini converter*
Blackmagic Design SDI to HDMI mini converters
Blonder Tongue HDE-CSV-QAM SDI to QAM modulators
Blonder Tongue taps, splitters, RF connectors
Brainstorm SR-112 timecode master w/timecode generator
Chief RMT2 LCD wall mounts
Chief mount*
Chief VCM75P projector mounts
Chief CMA340 stabilization kits
Chief CMA372 flanges
Christie LX1500 15,000 lumen projector*
Da-Lite 24' electric screen*
Da-Lite Series 300 150"Hx266¾" wide cinema vision BB
JVC GY-HM790U HD cameras w/17:1 zoom lens, accessories
Mackie 1402-VL3 14-channel analog mixer
Mackie MR8MK2 studio speakers
Marshall V-LCD70XHB-3GSDI 7" LCD monitors
Middle Atlantic WRK-44-32 44RU equipment racks w/accessories
NETGEAR GS724T-300 24-port gigabit switch
Neutrik NZPF3RU 3RU broadcast patch bay frame
Neutrik NZPFD-2 dual fiber modules
Panasonic PT-DW11KU 11,000 HD lumen projectors
Samsung UN50EH5000F 50" LCD TVs
Samsung UN46FH6030F 46" LCD monitors
Samsung UN55FH6030F 55" LCD monitor
Telecast/Miranda CAXXX-25-311M-NOC2P-NOC2P 25' hybrid cables
Telecast/Miranda CAXXX-3-311M-NOC2P-NOC2P 3' hybrid cable
Vinten V8AS-AP1F tripods
Vinten 3219-110 dual pan bars
* = Owner Furnished Equipment
List is edited from information supplied by Coherent Design.
HOW: BUSINESS
(continued from page 18)
However, there were issues with this
approach.
First, congregants sitting in the
side areas could not see the screen
well. More so, this approach would
cover a beautiful stained glass window in that area. And, this approach
would also require taking down a
beautiful wood cross that was suspended over the altar. I thought it
crazy to tell the pastor to take down
the cross, with all of its symbolism,
so a video projector could be placed
in that location. So, we developed
a second idea that featured two
screens and two projectors. I was
not thrilled with this option, either.
Ultimately, however, it was the affordable and approved option.
The sanctuar y was built using
exposed wood beams with no walls
or drop ceiling to enable us to
camouflage the lights and speakers.
With a bit more critical thinking,
we managed to get all of the gear in
place without detracting from the
beautiful interior of this sacred house
of worship. The congregation is quite
LAS VEGAS: ‘ALL IN’
(continued from page 40)
it in church, too,” he said. The lobby
also has two Samsung UN50EH5000F
50-inch LCD televisions attached using Chief RMT2 wall mounts, used
as digital signage and as video from
the sanctuar y cameras for overflow
crowds. They’re connected to the video
control room by basic coaxial cable,
perhaps the most mundane cabling in
the entire facility, said Potts, offering
that “It’s inexpensive and can carry HD
signal.” He added, “It’s simple and it
works. It’s one of many ideas we borrowed from doing AV in the casinos
here.” He smiled, adding, “It’s like they
n
made a little contribution.” Dan Daley is a journalist who has covered the confluence of technology, business and culture for almost 30 years. He
has also been a successful composer and
recording studio owner, and authored
the book, Unwritten Rules: Inside the
Business of Country Music.
100 Sound & Communications
pleased and the church continues to
grow. Now they are making plans to
invite the entire community to the
church to celebrate Easter.
I believe that adding new technologies to historic worship facilities will
be a trend for a long time to come. I
also believe that we can play a significant role in restoring new life to historic houses of worship that are embracing the future. That is what I believe.
n
Please tell me what you believe.
NSCA POV
(continued from page 30)
sider. It may never occur to a corporate client to integrate digital signage
as both a communications and mass
notification tool…because they didn’t
even know it was possible.
To do this requires not only technological savvy, but business savvy,
as well. Not only is it important to be
able to understand and communicate
the benefits of AV solutions, but also
to know how to successfully manage
projects, follow contractual obligations and provide efficient ser vice.
Stay thirsty for the riches of
knowledge that being tech-focused
can bring, but make sure you bring it
back to the business of taking care of
what customers need the most. One
way to do this is by attending NSCA’s
Integration Business Sur vival Conference & Technology Showcase in
Chicago, May 15-16. The name of the
conference is a mouthful…but how
else can I adequately describe a forum that mixes technology and business training so integrators develop
concrete ways of using technology to
address clients’ problems, along with
the business sense to make it happen
(profitably and successfully). This
skill will separate those firms that
excel from those that just exist (or
don’t). For more information about
this event, visit www.nsca.org/ibsc. n
INTEGRATOR’S POV: JOHN MAYBERRY
(continued from page 32)
for a little Roxy Music instead on my
elevator ride of the future. Could you
imagine our systems picking a music
composition with the right timing for
our elevator ride, as well?
Considering how prominent it is
in society, it is amazing how little
psychological research there has
been on background music and how
it affects listeners in their environments. Perhaps it’s time our industr y
does its homework properly.
Efforts in the UK to better understand the effects of background music
on listeners have had some interesting
initial results. According to the Daily
Mail, “The Head at West Park School
in Derby, Brian Walker, plays Elgar,
Mozart, Verdi and Bach, and claims
that there has been a 60% reduction in
disruptive pupils since classical music
has been played in detentions.”
Similarly, London Underground
(LU) now pipes classical music
through the speakers in certain Victoria Line stations, resulting in a 20%
reduction in criminal activity.
“Several studies now link the influence of music on brain activity to
behavioural response. A new article
recently published in NeuroImage
investigates the influence of music
on brain activity by tr ying to make
sense of how we listen to music. It
claims that the act of listening is
actually an act of neural prediction.
In the words of the University of
London scientists, “The ability to anticipate forthcoming events has clear
evolutionary advantages, and predictive successes or failures often entail
significant psychological and physiological consequences. In music perception, the confirmation and violation of
expectations are critical to the communication of emotion and aesthetic effects of a composition.” The surprise of
unanticipated music notes in a melody
seems to trigger some primary neural
mechanisms. There is so much left to
learn about the link between music
and human behaviour.
One day, we may even make that
elevator ride interesting.
n