The First Baptist Church of Spartanburg, SC, is using the Snell Kahuna SD/HD multiformat production switcher to support flexible, live HD production for on-air broadcasts and in-house image magnification (IMAG) as well as video distribution during worship services. The First Baptist Church of Spartanburg has been televising Sunday morning services via its local CBS affiliate for more than 50 years. Sitting at the heart of the new HD production facility, the Snell Kahuna facilitates the church's continued leadership in the realm of religious broadcast and production, simplifying simultaneous creation of HD programming for air and for video distribution.
"Going all the way to HD from analog was not an easy decision; we needed to be certain that our investment would represent good stewardship of the congregation's resources," said Britt Dillard, minister of media at First Baptist Church. "We strive for excellence without extravagance, and the Kahuna's internal conversion capability and ability to support multiple simultaneous productions on a single mainframe have helped us to meet this standard."
The church uses the Kahuna production switcher to control inputs from a broadcast server and seven cameras, generating separate SD and HD outputs for live broadcast, IMAG to large screens in the sanctuary, a 16:9 letterbox format for the in-house video distribution system and a feed to another site across the street. Volunteer technical directors work with two separate control panels to create the on-air program and in-house video through the single switcher system.
The Kahuna's internal conversion capabilities bring a high degree of flexibility to the workflow while minimizing external processing requirements and potential points of failure. Smooth interoperability of the Kahuna with other systems allows the church to continue leveraging legacy analog equipment while taking full advantage of its new digital systems. Through integration of the Kahuna with a server system, operators can use the switcher interface to roll opens, welcome messages, closes and other clips.
TI Broadcast Solutions Group managed the HD upgrade at First Baptist Church and supplied the church with its new Snell Kahuna production switcher.
