John:  Find someone in your choir or congregation who IS technically gifted!!!  And sit down and discuss your ideas and the cost/benefit analysis of what it would take to make those ideas happen.

 

Most church santuaries do not lend themselves well to lighting effects.  Most lights are on switches that are either on or off, not on dimmers that allow more subtle settings.  Changing colors definitely involves using colored gels on lights, which are very often mounted in places that are difficult or dangerous to get to.  Having a follow spotlight is great, but it is designed to focus narrowly to focus attention on one place or person at a time, and may not have the breadth of coverage to act as an overal color wash.

 

Projection depends on having a good projector (which can have a noisy fan that has to be kept in mind) and a good surface on which to project (preferably flat and preferably visible from most of the sanctuary).  Certainly a laptop can be used to control projections, using something as simple and as universally available as a PowerPoint slide show. 

 

Without going for rock concert special effects, a lot can be accomplished with two or more lighting trees using PAR cans with different colored gels, and a control board that allows dimming and selection of specific lamps.  But these can draw a surprising amount of power, and an older church may not have the wiring or the breakers to allow their use.  Thus consulting with an electrician would also be a good idea.  But it may very well be that you have within your church one or more bands that regularly uses such equipment and would be willing to loan it at little or no expense. 

 

Lighting does NOT have to be complicated, but it does need to be thought through and not overdone--I like your reference to keeping it "subtle and tasteful"!  Like most other things, if it calls attention to itself, it's bad; if it focuses attention where you need to focus it, it's good.  In fact that's exactly what good theatrical lighting does:  guides the audience's attention from place to place as well as setting the mood, unlike rock lighting which is designed simply to startle and overwhelm.

 

I directed a university show ensemble for 14 years, and our Technical Staff took special pride in being able to simulate a Broadway environment in any location where our stage set and equipment would fit, but they really went all out and created magic when it came to our big spring Homeshows.  But we carried full theatrical lighting equipment with us on tour and the Techs traveled 12 hours ahead of the Cast in order to do and double check their setups, and Lighting Designer was one of the most important individual jobs on the Tech Staff.

 

All the best,

John

Hi,

 

Lighting has changed considerably in the last 10-15 years.  Depending on the size of your sanctuary and the desired effects MUCH can be done with LEDs that can change color without gels and moving lights all coordinated from a laptop.  No additional high power needed and great multi-look effects can be accomplished including images and moving images. LEDs and moving lights are operated using DMX and can be daisy-chained from one to another and using very few outlets.  Most rock/pop bands are using some type of this set up.

 

John's advice to check with someone in your congregation might lead to results that you may not be happy with. (I would be hesitant to have a well-intentioned church member be in charge of a Christmas program that hundreds of hours of prep have gone into .....YMMV)  Maybe I'm one of those controlling choir directors mentioned in the other thread  :  )

 

I would start with a rental company or area pro to get their input and options in your space - if a church member can meet some of those expectations for less $ then great, if not then make informed decisions based on your budget

 

If you have access to a projector there is a great Mac software program called Qlab that can project images and movies.  Its not cheap but you can rent for about $7/day.

You would likely need a booster for your DVI monitor output if your projector is a distance away from your laptop.

Good Luck

 

Phil

Thank you for your feedback.  i know i can always depend on the informed membership of Choralnet.  I will look into this DMX.

Peace,

John Rondeau