Westover Church in North Carolina, USA recently upgraded its Jands Vista T4 console to the new Vista v2 software, providing even greater lighting control for its busy 3,000 capacity main auditorium.

Part of the non-denominational Church‘s 300,000 square foot facility, the main auditorium hosts a diverse range of events. In addition to regular congregation services and at least two major events per month, the Church hosts its own internal events and concerts featuring a choir, worship band and orchestra. The auditorium is also home to the Greensboro Symphony Pops Orchestra.

The Jands Vista T4 console was specified and purchased six years ago for Westover Church by Production Director Jeff Neubauer, and supplied by Barbizon Lighting via exclusive North American distributor, A.C. Lighting Inc. Jeff was an early adopter of the Jands Vista and all the power and flexibility this brings to his events. Since then, Jeff has not looked back in terms of lighting control – he simply loves the Vista!

The Church also has two Vista PC systems – used as a backup to the Vista T4 and for running timed lighting events in the Church’s atrium area. Says Jeff, “Vista v2 has been an amazing upgrade. It’s added a lot of new functionality and made programming even easier and quicker.” The ability to add external touch screens is “fabulous” he comments – and immediately made the most of it. Jeff does the majority of the show programming himself, working with a team of regular operators, and so has plenty of hands on experience and knowledge of exactly what is needed.

He is very impressed with the freedom that Vista v2 brings to customise the user interface and lay it out exactly as users wish, “I can organise myself better, and customise icons to precisely match the way I work. I like to be able to jump around the Cue Lists and the way that the Time Line works now, along with other aspects, it is all even more convenient with v2” he enthuses.

He is also thinks the fact that he could upgrade his existing console to get even more value from his investment, and allow him all the latest programming tools is very cool.

Another excellent feature, he thinks, is being able to see thumbnail displays of the media server clips, which is ideal for fast and intuitive access to video content played out through the desk. This becomes even more important as he incorporates more video into all his events.

The lighting fixtures and visual elements currently being controlled by the Vista T4 in the main auditorium include VARI*LITE VL3000 and VL3500 Spots, Martin Professional MAC 250 Spots, High End DL1 moving head projectors and a Catalyst media server. In addition, there are over 300 Source Fours, 55 Nexera colour changers and a selection of fresnels and PARs for general lighting.

The majority of the lighting stays in the main room, with some rigged in the atrium, where it is controlled by the second Jands Vista PC.

Jeff’s technical team at Westover Church – which includes four full time and two part time employees, along with about 40 volunteers – has a core group of lighting operators, all of whom also really like Vista v2. “The jump from v1 to v2 has been incredibly smooth and straightforward for all of us” confirms Jeff.

It is also an excellent learning console and software platform for those seeking to increase their knowledge and understanding of lighting control. Westover Church currently runs an intern programme for students studying Entertainment Technology at the local Guilford Technical Community College, offering a great opportunity for them to get hands-on experience with the latest technology.

Vista v2 was designed from the ground up to allow all levels of user to get the most from whatever mix of technology they have available, whether lighting, LED, or media. Available in a wide range of hardware, Vista v2 offers both the simplicity to work fast, with the power to control the finest details, so everyone can focus on creating a great looking show rather than on programming a desk.

A.C. Lighting Inc‘s VP of sales & marketing, Fred Mikeska commented “Jeff and his team deliver a wide range of events, always within a short timeframe, and all of which have a consistently high standard. Churches such as Westover are another real world example where the power and simplicity of Vista v2 helps everyone, regardless of their experience level, focus on the main goal of delivering a great looking show that they can be proud of.”

Photo © Doug Kovach

Texas-based Whites Chapel United Methodist Church (WCUMC) has invested in a second Jands Vista T2 lighting console and GLP LED fixtures, to enhance the delivery of traditional worship messages in its main sanctuary.

WCUMC seeks to make traditional worship relevant for today through inspiring messages delivered with a fresh and innovative approach. The Church‘s main sanctuary is a multi-purpose venue hosting services, concerts, conferences, weddings, funerals and other special events, complemented by a smaller venue used for contemporary and youth worship.

A few years ago, WCUMC decided to upgrade the lighting in their contemporary worship venue to help deliver their message. Keen to utilise innovative lighting technologies to give services a look and feel that would appeal to their youth audience, the Church invested in their first Jands Vista T2 control console and moving heads.

Tim Georgeff, Director of Creative Arts at WCUMC, commented: “The lighting in this venue really accentuated the mood of our services. Not only were we able to create exciting moving light shows to complement our worship, we were able to use the capabilities of the gear to highlight special moments, spaces and timing in the services.”

Much positive feedback from the congregation helped the Church see the benefits of utilizing similar capabilities in their large sanctuary space, which was only equipped with conventional PAR Cans and an old lighting console.

In addition to using their own Vista T2 console in the contemporary worship venue, the Church had been renting another Vista T2 desk for big events in the main sanctuary for nearly three years, so Tim was convinced it was the right console to purchase for their needs.

When it came to upgrading the sanctuary‘s lighting to automated fixtures, WCUMC adopted the new GLP Volkslicht due it combining the benefits of an automated moving head with the latest
energy-saving LED technology. The cost-effective fixture uses 60 Rebel LEDs to create a full color palette from strong saturates to subtle pastel colors. The small size, light weight and low power consumption make the Volkslicht ideal as a sustainable upgrade.

Tim commented: “The ability of the GLP fixtures to be aimed remotely has allowed us to place them in hard to access areas that give us great flexibility in our lighting looks and designs. We are able to create different looks utilizing their colors and mobility, providing highlighting of our architecture in the choir loft and organ chamber and backlighting of our chancel and stage area during worship. They are also used to provide effectual movement through the congregation on occasions that call for those moves.”

The upgraded lighting system includes GLP Volkslicht fixtures, Chroma-Q™ Color Block™ multi-purpose LED fixtures and High End Systems Cyberlights. The Church rents additional moving lights, LEDs and hazers for larger special events.

The Vista console is patched into the sanctuary‘s house lights system, enabling WCUMC to control the house, architectural and worship lighting with it. The venues‘ Vista consoles are programmed and operated by both the Church‘s volunteers and paid production staff.

Featuring a volunteer-friendly simplicity which has made it such a hit in the worship market, the award-winning Jands Vista lets users work visually to get on with designing better looking shows, rather than getting distracted by the actual programming process itself.

Summarising his experience of the new lighting system, Tim Georgeff, Director of Creative Arts at WCUMC commented: “We use the Vista to control the lighting for everything we do in our worship venues. The addition of intelligent lighting and the Vista console have allowed us to have confidence that our worship is going to look great, and that our staff and volunteers can be effective at providing great support through the versatility of the Vista. Our congregation is really enjoying what we call our ’ancient future‘ look: a traditional sanctuary enhanced with intelligent LED lighting. It is AWESOME!”

LifeChurch.tv © Steve Nance

Oklahoma-based LifeChurch.tv has invested in a range of Jands Vista lighting control solutions as part of its ongoing program to expand the reach of its unique message.

LifeChurch.tv is an influential multi-site Church that transcends metropolitan regions and reaches over 30,000 members weekly through its worship services. Utilizing the very latest media technologies to deliver its message, the Church‘s innovative approach includes a satellite broadcast that enables all locations to be connected as one during services; an online campus that provides services featuring live interaction; as well as a fully interactive 3D world; and free online resources for other Churches.

When Lighting Designer, C. Andrew Dunning, of Landru Design was approached to specify a lighting system for Studio B on the Edmond campus, the Vista was LifeChurch.tv‘s console of choice after proving to be ideally suited to the Church‘s partial reliance on volunteers to run its services.

The new installation is a multi purpose space used as a studio to record the services, special announcements, and other video segments broadcast to the Church.

Andrew required a lighting console that would be easy to teach and use by the volunteers. It also needed to be powerful enough for the current lighting setup, yet be upgradeable to cope with the Church‘s future needs and provide seamless control of conventional, LED and intelligent fixtures.

In addition to LifeChurch.tv‘s preference for the Vista, the console‘s reputation for being easy to use and a scalable system appealed to Andrew, so he decided it was time to see a demonstration.

He commented: “I‘d already heard good things about the Vista from other users. When I saw a demo and worked with it myself, I was very impressed with the console‘s relatively shallow learning curve. I could also really appreciate how quickly a non-lighting professional could easily control even intricate lighting systems.”

The Vista‘s graphic based interface lets users work visually and get on with designing better shows, rather than getting distracted by the actual programming process itself.

After being convinced by the Vista demo and the Church‘s own experiences with the console, Andrew specified it. Vista dealer and worship market production specialist, Integrity Lighting, supplied the S3 console and other lighting equipment to LifeChurch.tv for the installation.

Although the various LifeChurch.tv campuses are using different Jands Vista models, all consoles share exactly the same graphical interface. As a result, no extra training is needed should any campus upgrade as their system requirements grow.

LifeChurch.tv © Steve Nance

LifeChurch.tv installed a Vista PC system connected to an S3 control surface and Wacom touch screen monitor. The Vista controls a studio and theatrical lighting rig featuring Videssence Power Key 110 and 220 fluorescent lighting, Desisti 1kW and 350W Fresnels, ETC Source 4 Ellipsoidal and PAR fixtures, 2′ L&E Mini-Strip striplights and Martin Stagebar LED luminaires.

Summarising his experience of the Vista, Andrew commented: “I’d venture that most of LifeChurch.tv‘s volunteers have little professional lighting experience. The Church should be a place where all are empowered to serve, not just those who are paid production staff. The Vista supports this idea by enabling volunteers to create lighting looks quickly and easily. In addition, members from other disciplines, such as a video director, can easily control the lighting. As a result, dedicated lighting personnel are not needed in Studio B. Vista is an extremely easy-to-understand system for users of all levels, making it perfectly suited for today’s church.”

Integrity Lighting Inc’s Steve Nance commented: “Since 2004 we have used the Vista console on many large tours, such as Jeremy Camp, MercyMe, Third Day, Skillet, John Tesh and several more. With respect to installations, Integrity sells many Jands Vista systems into the House Of Worship market.”

Read more about the technology used at LifeChurch.tv in this Church Production magazine article.

tobyMac ©Jeff Culmer

Lighting and video designer Nick West specified a Jands Vista T2 console to provide lighting, IMAG and video control for the recent tobyMac annual Winter Wonder Slam tour. The American Grammy award-winning gospel rapper’s explosive show featured Diverse City, his 8-member touring band, and played a series of US Arena dates throughout November and December. The touring schedule re-commences in March to promote the launch of tobyMac’s latest studio album, Tonight.

Tour lighting was provided by Axxis Inc., with lighting design, direction and programming by Nick West. Video was provided by Big Picture.

When it came to specifying lighting control for the tour, the Jands Vista was Nick’s desk of choice. Nick is an experienced user of the Vista range, switching between a rented full size T2 console for tours and his own S1 control surface for fly dates or using as a wing, which he takes on every show.

He commented: “When I saw the Vista, the timeline and ability to swap fixtures were major selling points. Often I fly to a show that morning and I may only have 30 minutes with the rig before we play, which gives me just enough time to focus. With the Jands Vista’s Mac or PC based offline editor, one quick advance call to get the fixture types and addresses from the local company and I can have the console ready to go before I even show up on site.”

The tour rig centered around a Barco Slite LED video wall upstage for IMAG and a low resolution Barco MiStrips LED wall in front of a 40 foot wide by 5 foot high riser.

120 Par Cans arranged in a 30 by four configuration were also flown in and out during the show, providing a major set piece used to spell out words. Nick was originally going to pixel map the Par Cans, but after starting to pre-program them on the Vista he found the console’s graphical based approach to programming made it very easy.

He commented: “The show starts off with ‘TOBY MAC’ spelled out in the Par Cans. After a couple of shows, Toby asked if I could do something specific with them, such as having them come on as if someone was writing it. I was able to instantly grab the fixtures, work with them in the timeline and have the effect within 30 seconds of him asking for it.”

The rig also included 22 Martin Mac 700 profiles, ten 26 degree Source Four Lekos, three ETC Sensor racks and two Motion Labs 220V Distros. Video came from a Catalyst HD media server. The lighting, video and live camera feeds were all triggered from the Vista T2 console.

Summarizing his experience of the Vista, Nick commented: “I use the Vista for anything and everything I do. It’s great having on-board visualization of your fixtures and the flexibility to layout the console to your specific needs. The Vista is great for controlling lights, IMAG and video. Technical support for anything is very quick. Jands listen to their users and continually make requests and ideas happen.”

Other production staff on the tour included Tour Manager Ryan Lampa, Stage Manager Sam Shifley, Lighting Crew Chief / FOH Cam Anthony Morgan, Lighting 2nd John “2Tone” Sumitra, LED Tech / Robotic Cams Jeff Culmer, and Shoulder Cam / Video Tech Nick Bush.

Click on the image above to see more photos.

Indiana based Grace Community Church has invested in a range of Vista lighting control solutions as part of a multi-million dollar expansion of its worship facilities. Models purchased include the full-size Vista T2, the portable Vista S1 and the playback-only Vista M1 consoles. This is to expand the church‘s capacity to three weekend worship auditoriums, to accommodate as many as 6,000 churchgoers on a typical weekend.

The Church relies on a team of over 100 volunteers to assist the paid production staff during services, which can run simultaneously in up to three auditoriums. Senior Director of Production, Daryl Cripe, therefore felt it was essential to invest in a lighting console that the inexperienced volunteers could easily understand.
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Jands Vista T2 consoles helped worshippers celebrate Easter at Europe’s largest all-night worship event, attended by 30,000 people at London’s ExCel, and a separate event at Wembley Arena.

Worshippers packed out ExCel’s main hall for ‘Festival of Life’, a unique event supported by over 150 churches in the UK which has become the largest all night non-denominational gathering of people in Europe coming together to celebrate God.

Reading-based production company SFL Group provided the complete technical solution and production management for both events. This included over 120 speakers of d&b audiotechnic with Yamaha digital control surfaces, Barco projection and control systems, acoustic draping and stage lighting.

Brighton-based Tamplins Stage Lighting, which has a reputation in the industry for providing lighting production services to conferences, rock concerts and one-off programmes in the Worship market, was engaged by SFL to provide the stage lighting element.

Show lighting designer Sam Tamplin knew there was only one console he’d want to use for the job of providing the lighting control on the massive ExCel event, and knew his choice would also have the full backing of his client.

He commented: “Last year I was looking for a more powerful desk to handle our growing show control needs and entered a competition to win a day’s free Vista training. I had to build a basic show using the Vista demo software, which left me very impressed by how user-friendly and intuitive it was. After then spending a whole day training on the console, I was absolutely convinced it was the only way to go, so I had to invest in one!”
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Chicago-based Willow Creek Community Church has purchased two Jands Vista T2 lighting consoles.

Willow Creek was named ‘the most influential church in America’ by The Church Report in 2006 and has provided resources, training and encouragement to more than 11,000 like-minded member churches from 90 denominations in 45 countries.

The Church currently has five campuses across Chicagoland – the main South Barrington site and regional campuses in Dupage County, McHenry County, North Shore, and Downtown Chicago – whose combined weekend attendance tops 20,000.

All regional campuses receive videocast messages from South Barrington, which are hosted by an onsite campus pastor and complemented by live services mixing together drama, multi-media and contemporary music.

McHenry County campus Technical Director, Gary Melder, was looking to expand their Main Auditorium’s production capabilities, so approached equipment specialists Intelligent Lighting Creations after they had been involved in a large expansion of South Barrington’s technical facilities.

Although Gary wanted to upgrade to a full-scale production lighting console, he was concerned that many of the campus’s lighting team, which is primarily made up of volunteers, would find some of the consoles they considered foreign and daunting.

After considering a number of consoles, a member of the production team at the main South Barrington campus suggested looking at the Jands Vista after seeing the console used during a concert performance recorded in the Church’s Main Auditorium.

A subsequent Vista demo at the campus left Gary and the lighting team immediately sold on the console. Gary commented: “The user interface and timeline editor features just made much more sense than on other consoles we had seen. Many of our team have video and audio experience as well as lighting, so the thought process behind the desk made a lot of sense.”
Read the rest of this entry »

Chicago-based Willow Creek Community Church has purchased two Jands Vista T2 lighting consoles.

Willow Creek was named ‘the most influential church in America’ by The Church Report in 2006 and has provided resources, training and encouragement to more than 11,000 like-minded member churches from 90 denominations in 45 countries.

The Church currently has five campuses across Chicago land – the main South Barrington site and regional campuses in Dupage County, McHenry County, North Shore, and Downtown Chicago – whose combined weekend attendance tops 20,000.

All regional campuses receive videocast messages from South Barrington, which are hosted by an onsite campus pastor and complemented by live services mixing together drama, multi-media and contemporary music.

McHenry County campus Technical Director, Gary Melder, was looking to expand their Main Auditorium’s production capabilities, so approached equipment specialists Intelligent Lighting Creations after they had been involved in a large expansion of South Barrington’s technical facilities.

Although Gary wanted to upgrade to a full-scale production lighting console, he was concerned that many of the campus’s lighting team, which is primarily made up of volunteers, would find some of the consoles they considered foreign and daunting.
Read the rest of this entry »

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Excerpt
With Heartland‘s track record of “changing things up,” the auditorium‘s lighting configuration both reflects and enables their innovative style. A favorite among Heartland‘s technical team is Jands‘ Vista lighting console platform. According to Hayes, a huge advantage is the console‘s operating environment, designed around a timeline concept as found in a video editing system, making it more volunteer friendly. “The ability to cross train volunteers to all three levels of lighting boards (a different model of the Vista console is installed in each of HCC‘s three venues) sold us on Jands

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Excerpt
Fronted by a Jands Vista T4 lighting console and a High End Systems CatalystMedia Server, 384 ETC Sensor dimmers (82 designated for house lights) control Vari-Lite moving lights, Source Four ellipsoidals, Robert Juliat follow spots, and much more. “We have a fairly heavy programming aspect to things,” explains Jeff Neubauer, production director of light and scenic services, on the need for extensive lighting options. “We have a fairly large stage, and I really wanted to be able to do color well.”