Elevation Church in Charlotte, N.C., is using Snell’s Kahuna mult-format HD/SD production switcher to enable its pastor’s sermon to be simulcast to all four of the church’s satellite locations. Elevation Church attracts nearly 9,000 worshippers each weekend.
The church installed the Snell Kahuna at its main campus on Blakeney Professional Drive in Charlotte. The services at all four church campuses usually open with a song and prayer and the pastor’s sermon is simulcast via a fiber IP link at the precise moment that the final lead-in song is completed.
The Kahuna is used to switch the main camera output to the encoding and master control 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 to key graphic overlays, including lower thirds, presenters’ names, scripture references, and song lyrics projected over the IMAG system. In addition, engineers have programmed Kahuna to provide live feeds of the service to perimeter displays throughout the building.
"Kahuna brings a great deal of flexibility to our system by enabling us to map specific keyers to specific M/E outputs as we see fit. On one occasion, we had a projector go out during a Saturday night service — and I was able to use Kahuna to switch to another output and re-size the screen without affecting any other outputs on the switcher. In that case, the output flexibility was a lifesaver," said Brian Poole, technical director for the church. "Although we're a 100 percent HD operation, Kahuna's multi-format capabilities are still very useful for converting 720p to 1080i video to ensure the highest-quality, consistent output."
