Hey Noah...
Welcome to the forums....

Yes, indeed....those are actual video clips running in the background. You need to be using software that will allow you to import video, set it as a background, and then loop it (play it over and over). One such program (a very popular one these days) is MediaShout. A ton of churches run this software, and it's debatable how good it is, but its 'the standard'.

As far as the video file itself, you'd have to see what types of files the specific program would take. But, yes, you can create your own. I'm not familiar with windows movie maker, but I'm going to guess you could create your own files with it. They key is to get the loop to work exactly right. You have to edit the file in a way where the loop point isn't noticeable. There are a number of different ways to do this but most often it includes doing the following:

1. Choose a clip (usually about 30-60 seconds)
2. Grab the first 3 seconds of that clip, copy that three seconds, and paste it at the end
3. Crossfade the end of the original clip into the copied portion
4. Clip the beginning of the original file at the EXACT place where the duplicated file ends.

That should give you a seamless loop.

Good luck!

-Rob Feature
Geeks and God Co-Host
www.mustardseedmedia.com

thanks for the reply.

i checked out mediashout, but our church doesn't have allot of funds, thats why I am trying to do things using the equipment that I have on my computer. Maybe one day we will have enough money for a good program.

Right now, I did what you said, I looped the video using windows media player, but now I just need to figure out how to put words on it....

any ideas on how to put the words on it.

Thanks,

Noah

Hey Noah...
That's where Mediashout comes in. The software is what combines the video in the background with your words in the foreground. Without a software that can do this, you're pretty much out of luck for worship presentation, I think.

-Rob Feature
Geeks and God Co-Host
www.mustardseedmedia.com

Thanks Rob,

Yeah I am basically out of luck man, that software is pretty expensive. Thanks for the help.

Noah

Noah -

Why don't you check out Easislides. It is a freeware alternative to programs like MediaShout and EasyWorship. I use it at my church for lyrics. It is supposed to support video loops. However, I only use to show lyrics on a bland, blue background.

My church is too small to afford commercial software for this, so we are using what we can get for free.

John

Noah,

I think you may have hit a second thing to work on at your church besides the tech. What about the giving people give and where it's used.

You said your church doesn't have a lot of money. I see two sides to this.

1) There are places that donate money and stuff to churches. Have you looked at any of them to help kick start your efforts?

2) What about getting people to donate more? Yeah, it may seem like a loosing cause. The average giver is somewhere around 3% and nowhere near tithing. We definitely hold on to our money tightly. But, that doesn't mean it's not worth putting some effort to. Even if it's a one time extra donation to get that piece of tech you need.

What I'm getting at is you don't need to be bound by your church budget. God certainly isn't. There are other ways.

Matt Farina
Geeks and God Co-Host
www.mattfarina.com

The other free option I've heard much chatter about is Open Song. That and Easislides are the ones I hear the most about.

To put other media on the screen, I've heard MScreenMonkey is very useful. In fact, I've heard that Easislides and ScreenMonkey together make a really good combination for media presentation on a budget.

Windows movie maker CAN be used for worship videos. I just started a few weeks ago - changing from powerpoint to worship videos. It is probably not as easy or versatile as MediaShout - I would love to have that too - but our congregation just doesn't have the resources. It is not a matter of faith or tithing, they literally struggle to put food on the table. Anyway - back to topic - it takes a long time to get the timing down, but you CAN add titles on the clips. Finding free clips to download or doing your own is another issue. Still shots can also be used with transitions. I use lots of nature, children, fotos from Central America and free stuff. We purchase a few worship videos in English, but there aren't many in Spanish available for download - even to purchase. We have a bilingual service and I am working on Spanish videos. Just open Windows Movie Maker - and experiement with adding titles.

We got Mediashout!

We had a few fundraisers and we purchased a copy of mediashout!

I am happy.

We will see how it goes.

Thanks

Congrats. It's amazing how things can happen even when money isn't in the budget.

Matt Farina
Geeks and God Co-Host
www.innovatingtomorrow.net
www.mattfarina.com

I haven't tried this (we use Easy Worship), but it looks like a good alternative:

http://www.dreambeam.de/

New church presentation software seems to be springing up all over the place now. Here is another open source example I discovered this week: Openlp.

Try Lyricue.
It is free, supports more than bland graphics and allows editing on the fly.

I prefer to use powerpoint becasue I am highly techinicly inclined so i have no problem with a little extra work when using it....but i am looking for some software that will allow me to type in a bible verse and it appear on the projection screen..Note: my projector is already set up for dual monitor

I want to let people know that videos can be shown in PowerPoint behind lyrics. I use PowerPoint 2008 Mac version. I can insert videos behind text. I enjoy the flexibility of PowerPoint and disagree with those who push MediaShout. For small churches without big budgets PowerPoint is a great alternative. I have yet to find anything the MediaShout can do that I can not do with PowerPoint.

Elizabeth Davis, you might consider using Keynote if you're on a mac. It can save ppt files, it's cheaper than office, and it makes for a prettier presentation than Power Point.

I would definitely suggest using Easy Worship, they offer a 30 day free trial to give us PowerPointers a chance to check it out.

A good thing about the software is that you can import your PowerPoint shows into the program. EasyWorship comes with free bible versions, you can download additional versions on their site and other locations online.

I've tried MediaShout and it's too much work, I like quick and efficient steps and our Pastor works prophetically, in my opinion, you'd need to have the sermon pre-programmed and that does not work well with our ministry, we let God lead.

We utilize the dual monitor, you'll see a preview and then when ready you can send it to the main projector. Just try it, it's free and I'm certain you'll love it, one PowerPointer to another.

God Bless

hi brother! i am Arnie from Philippines.. im happy coz u suggested this program, actually our church is not so big it cater ahm... i think 50 to 60 members and until now wer still using an old projector wid the big one, anyways were happy coz God touched a pastor from Japan that he will give a LCD projector for our church and were so happy on it, but we still waiting the said projector, eventually i still searching for a program that is free to download from internet so that we can praise and worship to God.. tnx for the software u suggest..

P.S. sorry for my English words... :) God Bless!