Springtree Media Blog

This isn’t just a cool video of a moving head fixture, it’s a moving head with a LED Video screen! Check it out, the possibilities are limitless.

Elation EPV762 MH 
Hi-Res LED Moving Head Video Panel

Full Product Specs

Northside Baptist Church recently made the switch from 4:3 to 16:9 aspect ratio. Springtree removed the existing screen and placed the new screen back a few feet to eliminate some additional televisions that were used for side view.

Visit Northside Baptist Church (Murfreesboro, TN) at http://www.northside-baptist.net/

I Am Second Nashville
April 12,  2011 Michael W. Smith’s event barn  in Franklin, Tn

We arrived at Michael W. Smith’s barn Tuesday afternoon with a plan in mind to set up our 10’H x 18’W screen as the backdrop for the I AM Second – Nashville event. When we walked in the barn, much to our surprise, the layout was totally different than what we were expecting. The stage was set up on the side wall instead of the far end and they already had a cool backdrop set up with “I Am Second” printed all over it. So we had to rethink our plan. We decided to hang our screen OVER their backdrop. The work began. We put 2 sticks of 9’ truss together on both sides of the stage. We didn’t have ladders so we put our gorilla shoes on and started climbing up the truss with the screen hand.
We stretched the fabric between the two trusses and it looked amazing. We hung the projector in the balcony and it filled the screen perfectly. It all came together just like we had planned it that way from the start.
It was a great night of music and ministry.  Michael W. Smith, Matthew West, Gordon Kennedy, and many others were all part of this wonderful event. We were glad to be a part of it.

Brian ‘Head’ Welch (Lead  Guitarist from Korn) came out for the event in Nashville, his new home city to help get it started here.

Rolando Diaz painted throughout the night.

Visit I Am Second on the web, on Facebook, and on Twitter.
View our full gallery of event photos at Springtree Productions.

Centennial High School Prom “Beneath the City Lights”
Saturday April 16, 2011
Liberty Hall – The Factory at Franklin

Working to transform Liberty hall into a bustling city using audio, video, lighting, and DJ services for Centennial High School’s prom was a lot of fun for Springtree Productions.

Lighting wise we washed the dance floor LED effect lighting, and had two moving head fixtures on the truss at the front of the dance floor. Suspended over the dance floor were hundreds of LED icicle lights. Globe lighting created a great accent to the stage for Senior Walk along with a spot light.  Prom committee created a cardboard skyline which looked great lit from behind on the mezzanine level. Columns were also up-lit.

Audio wise Springtree’s DJ kept guests informed via the main projector what song was coming up next, and Springtree’s house audio kept the party going.

During Senior Walk a live video feed provided a great view to students and parents on projector screens.

The real transformation of Liberty Hall happened with the the use of 6 video projectors featuring time lapse video of the Hudson River, Times Square, and other NYC destinations.

On the far exposed brick wall looping video of New York City from across the Hudson gave a great video of city lights.

Want to know how exactly we created a certain effect? Send us an email at Sales@Springtree.net

View our full gallery of photos from Centennial’s Prom on Springtree Productions.

Highlights from The Movement launch event for Shop Hope at Liberty Hall in The Factory at Franklin.
Learn more about this event on our portfolio page.

Caleb the band also used footage from the concert in their trailer video:

Alright! I don’t completely hate HDMI. Loathe is a better word. My home theater is integrated using HDMI and it works great but that is what it was intended for. If you are new to video, HDMI is a format that caries digital video and up to 8 channels of audio over a consumer friendly cable that attaches as securely as an S-video connection (this is an insult not a praise). Any commercial project intending on using HDMI as its main format should increase their budget to cover several correction devices, HDMI over CAT5 convertors, very expensive CAT5 with individually shielded pairs and a common group shield, and Tylenol for all the headaches. Also budget for the extra time you will waste trouble shooting why the farthest display is working great but the one only 25’ away, using all the same components, is not.

Here are some reasons for my dislike of HDMI:

First, the connection is a lousy one. Unlike DVI, VGA or BNC which securely fastens to the components, the HDMI plug is held in by friction which requires multiple micro pins to maintain perfect contact.

Second, the HDMI signal is inconsistent from device to device. This is due more to cost cutting measures by manufactures than the HDMI signal itself. One of our preferred manufactures of scalers and video tools tested five exact LCD displays with the same variables and components using their HDMI over CAT5 convertors. Three worked just fine, one had intermittent problems and the fifth one did not work at all. There was nothing wrong with the HDMI ports on these TV’s but they reacted differently to the same HDMI signals. Springtree Media Group just recently completed work for the U.S. Army that consisted of ten 42” LCD TV’s (all the same brand and model) and one LCD projector. The signal came from eleven DirecTV HD receivers. Five of the TV’s were close enough to run HDMI cables direct. The other five TV’s and projector required HDMI over CAT5 due their distance from the receivers. Two TV’s did not like the signal even though they were not the longest runs. We tested the HDMI ports to be sure they were not defective and could not find any problems with them. After replacing the CAT5 cables, and the convertors several times with no luck, we ran super long HDMI cables (not recommended) and they worked. All we could surmise was that on the particular day that those two TV’s were assembled, an inferior resistor or part or whatever was used and that made the difference on how it handled the HDMI signal. We have recently been awarded another installation for the military in which we stipulated that we would be allowed to run Component HD instead of HDMI. What a relief!

Third (for the sake of brevity but not last), HDMI is an all or nothing delivery system. If the packets of digital information are not delivered at the required specs then you get nothing. Also the handshake (the process where HDMI component sync up with another one) can take up to 13 seconds. This makes it cumbersome for live presentations in worship and corporate environments where this kind of delay is unacceptable.

HDMI has been adopted by manufacturers because of pressure from movie studios which like the HDCP protection which prevents the copying of movies and other encrypted videos over the HDMI connection. So far this has not been a major issue since BluRay players include a Component HD output (HD content over analog). This ends at the beginning of next year. You didn’t think the movie studios were going to let you get away with it, did you?

There are many solutions and formats that we recommend for churches and corporate environments where HDMI may be problematic. I will cover these in the next newsletter. If you are in the middle of a project now, please call anyone of our associates for recommendations and assistance. We will do our very best so save you time, money and reduce the chance of headaches!

Peter Vaque