Irving Bible Church Creates Immersive Worship Experience with Hitachi Projectors
Oct 4, 2007 8:00 AM
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Located near Dallas, the Irving Bible Church has a congregation of more than 4,000 members. The church recently installed Hitachi CP-X1250 projectors to create a unique and immersive worship experience.
The church has distinguished itself through its creative worship services that feature dynamic video display. Hitachi projectors display motion graphics and static images onto a brick wall behind the altar, as well as onto the sanctuary’s side walls. The projectors throw straight onto the walls, floor to ceiling, side wall to side wall. The result is an atmosphere that closely resembles an ancient cathedral with larger-than-life paintings and stained glass.
“We developed a system that creates an abstract look and texture on the existing wall of the worship space, while also allowing for thematic, more traditional images,” says Camron Ware, lighting and projection designer at Irving Bible Church. “The brick wall is a novel surface for projection, and while the wall has a texture to it already, the image still remains clear.”
Projects like this typically involve elaborate lighting systems, but Ware found an equally suitable (and more cost-effective) solution. “As with any church, we always need to take our budget into account when making purchasing decisions,” he says. “We wanted the effect of moving lights with simple textured gobos and breakups, but the Hitachi projectors are a much more cost-effective, and more flexible, way to get that effect. We literally did it all for $10,000, for projectors and cabling. We did the install ourselves.”
A Hitachi CP-X1250 projector displays graphics on the center brick wall of the church, flanked by a CP-X605 projector on each side that also displays imagery onto the wall. All three units use their standard lenses. Another two CP-X1250 projectors are used to display static images, such as lyrics, still photos and sermon text, on the main screens. A CP-X1200 projector is used as a confidence monitor in the back of the balcony. Software from Easy Worship controls the motion content on all three Hitachi projectors, while software from Sunday Plus handles the static images. All projector units and accessories were purchased through Shepherd Multimedia in Grapevine, Texas. “Shepherd was a great help in picking the right units for the job. It is always a pleasure to work with them,” Ware says.
“We use the whole architecture of the building as a projector surface,” he says. “It makes you feel like you’re immersed in the worship, rather than just being a spectator. Think of it as a post-modern cathedral using imagery instead of paintings and stained glass that surround and engage you.”
For more information, visit www.hitachi.us.
