Snell's Kahuna multiformat HD/SD production switcher is playing an instrumental role at Elevation Church in Charlotte, N.C. The switcher is at the center of a point-to-point operation and enables the pastor's sermon to be simulcast to all four of the church's satellite locations. Services at Elevation Church are attended by nearly 9000 individuals each weekend.
Elevation Church chose Kahuna for its new state-of-the-art digital production facility housed at the main campus on Blakeney Professional Drive in Charlotte. During a typical Sunday service, worship leaders and musicians at each of the four church campuses begin the service with songs and prayer. With all four bands kept in synch using a click track system, the pastor's message is automatically simulcast to all four locations over a fiber IP link at the precise instant that the final lead-in song is completed.
The Kahuna is used in three ways at Elevation Church: to switch the main camera output to the encoding and master control equipment for the point-to-point broadcast, to feed the IMAG system for projection to large screens at the Blakeney campus, and to provide a clean video feed to tape for editing into programs for later broadcast and also streaming to the Elevation Church website. Production engineers also use Kahuna for keying of graphics overlays including lower thirds, presenters' names, scripture references and song lyrics that are projected over the IMAG system. In addition, engineers have programmed Kahuna to provide live feeds of the service to perimeter displays throughout the building.
