Sony | Market - House of Worship

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Sony offers a broad range of A/V products that fit a variety of worship production needs and budgets.

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Closeouts and Significant discounts on Sony's Broadcast & Professional Products

Learn more about the various ways houses of worship have implemented Sony technology to communicate their message.

Prestonwood Baptist Church- HD Production System

Church on the Rock - HD Studio Cameras

Sight and Sound Productions - Anycast Station™

Perfecting Faith Church - XDCAM® Professional Disc System

Chizuk Amuno Congregation - IPELA® Cameras

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2.88% Lease Financing

Bring the Field Work Home

An important part of a ministry's work often goes unnoticed by the congregation. These are the little occurrences that take place behind-the-scenes but are never recorded for all to see. Usually these missed opportunities arise because the technology has never been available to quickly, easily, and discreetly “capture the moment.”

That is, until now. Sony's new high-definition video (HDV™) compact camcorder – the HVR-A1U – represents an ideal tool for organizations of all sizes to document their daily life and then incorporate those images – in HD resolution quality – into a worship service to support and enhance the main message.

The grateful look on the faces of senior citizens receiving a visit from grade-schoolers or the proud and satisfied look of teens doing community volunteer work are just some of the examples of how people use their talents to enrich the lives of others. Showing their activities not only promotes the success of a program, but also communicates the spiritual growth and inspiration received by participating members.

All it takes is the right equipment, and a good understanding of the main features to consider: size, quality, sound, and playback capabilities.

Professional-quality camcorders can often be large, heavy and difficult to operate for volunteers. The size of a camcorder also plays a role when loading a van with equipment to take into the field to record an outdoor service or a solemn choir performance, for example. Nothing steals spontaneity better than obvious presence of a camcorder and the ever present bubble mic.

Sony has resolved the size issue with the HVR-A1U. Weighing just 1 lb 7oz., the camcorder is small enough to fit in a shoulder bag or backpack. The HVR-A1U has been carried through the jungles of Africa to the peak of Mt. Kilimanjaro, and to the dusty, rugged plains of Afghanistan . So capturing footage discreetly to document a ministry's outreach and the variety of programs that occur daily is well within the camcorder's capabilities.

Quality is essential, especially if what is captured is going to be down-converted as content and distributed over the web to cell phones, laptops, PDAs, or play it back during a main gathering on a high resolution projector. One rule of thumb is to start with the highest quality content possible, and then bring that down to the correct size for the specific type of distribution. The HDV video format used by the HVR-A1U provides 1440 by 1080i resolution for fantastic master quality. Use this as your acquisition format, and then download it to a non-linear editor like VEGAS 6. Your output will look stunning.

Sound is so important and yet so overlooked. While the HVR-A1U comes with a shotgun microphone and dual XLR audio jacks, field recording can be greatly improved by using the optional UWP-C1 synthesized wireless microphone package. This affordable wireless microphone can eliminate the need for obtrusive cables and large hand-held microphones due to its clip-on lavaliere design and dual diversity receiver. A diversity receiver helps prevent annoying dropouts in reception, and the lavaliere capsule is small and unobtrusive, yet sensitive enough to pick up all of the participants in a small group conversation. There's nothing less compelling than great video with bad sound.

Playback is equally important. The first step is to edit. Don't just take the output from a field trip and try to play it back to an audience. The awkward moments when the camera moves excessively, or when the speaker momentarily moves out of the frame will kill an audiences' attention and raise their frustration level quickly.
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Christ Chapel Solves Event Production Challenges With Sony Anycast Station Portable System

Since it was founded in 1995, The Christ Chapel in Macon, Ga., has grown to include more than 1100 members. In addition to its expanding congregation, the church is also increasing its technological capabilities with the use of Sony’s Anycast Station™ live content producer and portable production system.
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A Sound Donation for Children in Need

SEL’s most recent donation to the children at YCS Holley Child Care and Development Center and Saint Dominic’s Home is music to their ears.
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What could be better than having your service viewed on a Sony TV? Viewing your service on a free Sony TV you received from Sony's Rewarding Recording!!

As more ministries incorporate more audio and video equipment into their daily work and increase their use of cameras and tape decks to record and archive services, the costs of purchasing and maintaining this professional equipment can easily begin to mount quite rapidly.
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Sony Offers: The Professional way to save

SnapLab:
	SnapLab Rebate… Buy a SnapLab and get $175 or A Sony Digital Camera or Borders By Mail. Learn more >

Projector Offers:

Projector Offers…

Receive one LMP-C162 lamp by mail following purchase of a VPLCS20A or VPLCX20A model Sony LCD Business Projector.

Receive up to $200.00 mail-in rebate following the purchase of a Sony LCD Professional Projector.

HDV Starter Package:
	HDV-Z1U Starter Package… Receive a dual battery pack, DigitalMaster tape (10 pack) and Vegas 6.0 software rebate by mail following purchase of an HVR-Z1U model Sony HDV Camcorder. Click Here for complete offer details!

LUMA LCD Professional Monitors:
	Rebate of up to $500 on select LUMA™ LCD Professional Monitors from now through September 30, 2006! Click here for complete offer details!

Sony SnapLab Digital Photofinishing System

Billed as an "on-location photo lab," Sony’s SnapLab system provides quick, premium quality digital prints, all in an easy-to-use tabletop unit. The printer was unveiled at this year’s Photo Marketing Association (PMA) convention in February. Equipped with a user-friendly 8-inch (viewable area measured diagonally), 640 x 480 dot resolution LCD touch screen, which is larger than traditional consumer digital photo printers, the new system is suited for both commercial and at-home use. Custom designed borders can be loaded onto the system for logos, event names or to create decorative frames, greeting cards and announcements. Text can also be added for further personalization. The system also offers 30 multiple layout templates that enable users to create anything from ID cards to novelty products.

The photofinishing system was recently reviewed in the June 2006 issue of the consumer photography magazine “Shutterbug.” This link takes you to the full review: Click here >

PCM-D1, Portable Audio Recorder Review

For the field recordist or reporter, finding a high quality recording device that is easy to use and carry is an ongoing quest. With the advent of flash memory-based recording there have been several new products available that are portable and have a reasonably long recording time and battery life. Unfortunately, some of these have audio quality specifications that are not up to snuff — the internal mic preamps were noisier than desired, battery life was less than optimal or there was some other small compromise.
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Sony "Green" Initiative

Making products that work well and enhance the lives of both consumers and professional users is important to Sony, but equally important is the goal of preserving the environment and working towards an ecologically safe future. To that end, Sony Electronics has put in place a corporate-wide "green initiative", more officially known as The Sony Group Environmental Vision.
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WFX - Worship Facilities Conference and Expo
November 8-10
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Sony Professional Services & Programs

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Training

Since 1970, Sony Training Institute, the industry education leader, has trained thousands of video professional like you on the latest service technologies and production techniques. In addition to offering production and post production courses taught with entirely digital or a mixture of digital and analog equipment, Sony Training Institute provides workshops designed specifically to put you on the right track in your transition to digital.

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