Orchard Hill Church Refreshes Worship Center With New Line Array Speakers, Video Walls, Lighting, Camera Systems, Control Room, Comm Systems, FOA, and Audio.
Orchard Hill Church was a $1.3M design-build renovation in the main worship center, front-of-house, broadcast master control, comm systems, and network. The entire facility was stripped down to the bare walls and rebuilt from the ground up. Key Code Media provided equipment and systems integration services- running over 30,000ft of new Ethernet, Cat, Coaxial, and SMPTE fiber cables- and installing and connecting over 900+ pieces of audiovisual and broadcast equipment into a cohesive network.
Technical Director John Cornelius provided his insight on the project.
“The original Worship Center was built in 1997 with- at the time- a state of the art lighting and sound systems. A few years later, we purchased a very discounted, used SD broadcast system for the church- and we also installed screens and projectors at that time. It was definitely time for a refresh.”- John Cornelius, Technical Director at Orchard Hill Church
L’Acoustics Line Arrays & Dante Audio Configuration
The audio installation included L-Acoustics L-ISA Immersive Hyperreal Sound technology
with an Auvitran audio toolbox handling the MADI, AVB, and DANTE for the audio system. There are two Avid S6L- one for house mix, the other for broadcast. Shure wireless audio microphones and receivers were used for talent, instruments, and house band.
“Upgrading to L’Acoustics meant we were getting a more immersive experience. You can make the audio feel very focused. For example, we can reinforce the video and audio with great audio that provides an intimate experience even though it’s a fairly large venue.”
– John Cornelius, Technical Director at Orchard Hill Church
DMX Lighting & ABSEN LED Walls
The new lighting system included a mixture of DMX controllable fixed and automated lighting from Chauvet, ETC, and Elation Lighting. Three Asben LED walls- two 16’x9’ and an additional lyrics banner– with a Novastar LED controllers.
The rigging- installed by Hollowood– had a total of 84 points, including 24 Audio points, 24 Video points, 12 Lighting (6 motor points, 6 fixed points), and 24 Points for the Curtain.
Camera & Control Room
“The day we started removing the old systems was the day the pandemic hit. This project was initially focused on the live experience, but we quickly pivoted to creating a better live streaming experience.” – John Cornelius, Technical Director at Orchard Hill Church
Four Hitachi professional broadcast cameras, two Panasonic AW-HE130 PTZ cameras, one Panasonic AG-UX180 with a Swit Flow 500 for a wireless camera and four Marshall CV503 Point of View cameras for the band feed to completely renovated Master Control Room which includes a Ross Video Carbonite Ultra Production Switcher and Ross Expression Live for graphics. A Ross Ultrix Router is the backbone routing for video in the renovated central equipment room next door.
New Clear-Com Eclipse Comm System expanded production that previously only had 4 channels, to an infinite amount of group and private channels.
Working With Key Code Media
Key Code Media was brought on initially to do a spot-check on the initial design, but that changed quickly after the initial meeting. Robert Walbrown and Mark Siegel helped do a 50% redesign, working directly with manufacturers and the customer- resulting in a solution with more professional broadcast cameras, SMPTE wiring, and a functional workflow for the L’Acoustics Line Array.
Robert Walbrown- who lives in Pittsburgh- managed the project onsite, working closely with the General Contractor and the Orchard Hill staff.
“From start-to-finish, the Key Code Media team did an incredible job. There was a noticeable difference in how they collaborated with the General Contractor and completed the project on time with minimal need for change orders. It was a great collaborating with such a responsive team.” – John Cornelius, Technical Director at Orchard Hill Church
