Castleview Baptist Church in Indianapolis, Indiana, completed the construction of a 700 seat sanctuary including sound, video , and church lighting systems.

In 2004, MediaMerge met with the media technologies team at Castleview Baptist to discuss renovation of the sound and video systems. The project came to an abrupt stop in July of 2004, when the church became the victim of arson.

The interior of the facility was completely destroyed, and the roof and wall structure was damaged significantly. The project quickly changed from a simple media renovation, to a complete reconstruction effort.

"For over one hundred years - from the close of the nineteenth century to the beginning of the twenty-first, the fellowship that is now Castleview Baptist Church has striven to be true to Jesus Christ, and to proclaim His message to all.."

MediaMerge worked with the church's media technologies team and the architect to develop plans for a facility that would embrace the church's choral tradition, while simultaneously embracing a more contemporary style of worship.

The Sound System

The sound system included three custom-made active line-array loudspeakers configured in a Left-Center-Right (LCR) format. A pair of custom-made subwoofers provided low-frequency response for the organ, as well as drums and bass guitar.

"LCR systems offer the ability to create a sense of envelopment and clarity that is unique," comments Ogletree. " Though it’s fairly simple to make it work well in your living room, the difficulties of achieving the same experience in large rooms is often overlooked or completely not understood. Often times the only really good seats are right in the middle. We’ve identified these problems and over time have developed specific system design and implementation techniques to give everyone in the room a 'center seat'. "

The sound booth, which was originally located in a small balcony at the rear of the room, was moved to the main floor. A 32-channel digital mixing console was chosen due to its simple interface and flexible feature set.

Stage monitoring was accomplished via a combination of floor monitors and an extensive personal monitor mix system.

The Video System

The video system included two 12'x9' front projection screens. A pair of 6,000 ANSI Lumen projectors provide adequate brightness and resolution for presentation of motion backgrounds, lyrics, scripture, and other video content used by the church.

The video system is capable of presenting video content from a number of different input sources including a custom presentation PC, DVD player, digital VHS player and a camera for video recording. Additional sources include various auxiliary inputs located on stage and in the video booth.

An 8'x6' motorized projection screen is located on the rear wall of the room for stage monitoring. This enables musicians, vocalists and choir members to easily monitor a wide range of sources while on stage.

A simple control system provides a one-page interface to facilitate routing to the prompter screen in the rear of the room, audio-for-video volume controls, as well as playback transport control.

Additionally, a utilities menu allows the user to easily raise and lower screens and monitor and control power to various system components from the comfort of the video control booth.

The Theatrical Lighting System

The lighting system was designed to offer even coverage of the stage area and flexibility to accommodate weekly worship services as well as drama and choral presentations.

A total of 36 fixtures were hung from lighting pipes located in architectural soffits above the stage area. These lights were used for key, fill and back lighting of all areas of the stage. Four intelligent color changers were used to wash the upstage area with color for effect.

Conclusion

After years of delays and unexpected struggles, the church overcame all obstacles to literally rise again from the ashes. The new facility at Castleview Baptist opened in 2006. The sanctuary is beautifully built and is capable of delivering everything from nuanced choral events to high-impact media presentations.

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