It’s never been easier to record a vlog. Most computers now have built in webcams. Or if you have a smartphone, most likely you’re able to record videos quickly and upload them to your computer.  It’s probably faster than typing out a blog, now!

If you’re toying around with the idea of starting a vlog but not sure you’re ready, here are a few things to keep in mind.

1. Don’t be shy- I hate cameras and seeing myself on a video. However, if you’re going to be a vlogger, you’ve got to get past that. Pretend the camera is a friend and talk to it like you’d talk to a friend.
2. Keep your camera still. Try to avoid moving the camera as much as possible.
3. Keep it short-  Outline your thoughts before you start recording, so you don’t ramble on and on and on and on…
4. Edit your video with a simple editing tool like Windows Movie Maker- You don’t have to edit a ton, maybe include subtitles or a link to your website or other important things you want your viewers to remember.
5. Give some Vlog love- Do short videos of other vloggers you like and follow. Hopefully, they’ll do one in return for you.

Is it ironic that I typed out a post about vlogging instead of recording it?

*photo by fensterbme

As always, the quality of your audio recording is key to successfully capturing your sermons.  This can be accomplished by using a digital recording device.  Here are a few devices that I would recommend for recording audio:

• Tascam DR-05 Portable Digital Recorder
• Tascam DR2D Portable Digital Recorder
• Sony ICD-AX412 Digital Flash Memory Voice Recorder

These devices range in price from $65.00 to $185.00 on amazon.com and are sufficient to do everything a church would need in the area of audio recording.  These work best when they are linked into a channel on your sound board.

The other thing that will really help enhance your production of the audio recording is good editing software.  Churches definitely are not required to edit the sermons before going on the web, and I definitely don’t think that churches should spend hours on end to edit them. Some churches will want to add a tag to the beginning or end.  This is particularly useful if the church is podcasting.  Here are a few software solutions I would recommend:

• Garage Band (mac)
• Adobe Audition CS6
• Adobe Soundbooth CS5
• Magix Music Maker MX
• WavePad Master’s Edition

I hope these recommendations help your church take your audio recording to the next level.  What is your church currently using to record your sermons and edit them?

Photo By: visual.dichotomy

• The church should be somewhere in the neighborhood of at least 400 people in attendance.  The reason for this is simple.  Most churches that are not in that range probably do not have the resources to pull off a quality production of the video recording.  When a church is not able to put out quality videos of their services it is better for them to not video at all.  Audio of the sermon is sufficient in most cases.
• Make sure you have the right equipment to make a quality video recording.  A good video camera for recording services will cost you in the neighborhood of $2000 – $3000 dollars. This does not include the need for two to three cameras for multi angle shots, switchers and the sound equipment that is needed.
• Make sure you have the people resources in place to make a quality recording.  Unlike audio that takes very few people to pull off a recording, video recording takes multiple people to do it right.  You need camera people who know what they are doing and who are committed to being there.

Other than these there is one other thing I would say a church needs to consider.  A church needs to consider how big their online audience will be before delving into live streaming.  The reason is quite simple.  Live streaming done the right way can use up valuable resources.  Churches that are able to have a sizeable audience for their live stream can benefit immensely from it, but churches who are live streaming and reach a small audience are using up valuable resources that could be used in another area of outreach.

Does your church live stream services?  I am hoping if you do that you are putting a quality product out there and using it to advance the Kingdom.  Next week I will write about some of the best hardware to use for audio and video recording services.

Photo By: jgoge

I am going to answer that question by giving you some things that need to be in place before a church should consider videoing their services.

• The church should be somewhere in the neighborhood of at least 400 people in attendance.  The reason for this is simple.  Most churches that are not in that range probably do not have the resources to pull off a quality production of the video recording.  When a church is not able to put out quality videos of their services it is better for them to not video at all.  Audio of the sermon is sufficient in most cases.
• Make sure you have the right equipment to make a quality video recording.  A good video camera for recording services will cost you in the neighborhood of $2000 – $3000 dollars. This does not include the need for two to three cameras for multi angle shots, switchers and the sound equipment that is needed.
• Make sure you have the people resources in place to make a quality recording.  Unlike audio that takes very few people to pull off a recording, video recording takes multiple people to do it right.  You need camera people who know what they are doing and someone who can edit the video of the service before it gets viewed by the public.

The goal of answering this question is not to tell churches not to do video recording of their services.  The point is to make sure when churches are video recording, they are doing it to the best of their ability.  Some churches are not in position to make a quality recording, and at that point it is better to continue doing audio instead of video.  What does your church do when it comes to video recording services?  Next week I will cover the wild world of live streaming of services.

Photo By: jgoge

Today’s Question: When should a church start recording audio of their sermons?

The answer to the question is almost immediately.  Why do I narrow it down to sermons?  I narrow it down for several reasons.  The first reason you should not record the music portion is that copyright laws prohibit recording and distributing music.  The second reason churches should not record the music portion is that most churches do not have the recording software or acoustics in their building to make recording music sound good. With technology being cheap these days to get started with audio recording, I can’t think of a reason not to record the sermons.  I can think of a thousand reasons why you should record the sermon every Sunday.  Here are a few:

• It provides the church an archive of the sermons preached so they can be distributed to new members.  Let’s say the pastor is preaching a series on parenting.   Parenting is a great topic for a sermon series, but the pastor cannot focus his sermons on parenting every Sunday.  If a new family with young children comes to the church during the middle of the series they will have access to the first couple of sermons.
• It connects people to the pastor.  George Barna says the number one reason people join churches is they feel a connection to the pastor.  Sermon audio on a website gives a first time guest a way to connect with the pastor before they come to the church for a visit.
• It allows existing members to listen to sermons they have missed.  I know very few people who have perfect attendance at church.  Most of them would benefit from hearing the sermons even if they were not in church.  Recording the sermons allows people to get those sermons even if they have missed church that Sunday.

Does your church record the audio of the sermons every week?  If not, why not?  Next week we will take a look at when a church should consider moving from audio to video recording in their worship services.

Photo By: ragingtornado

1. Don’t overuse videos. I know of churches that use a pre-service video every single week.  This approach weakens the effect a church can have by using videos.  People get so used to a video playing as they walk into the auditorium they start to tune them out.  Use videos at key points of the year and as sermon illustrations to get maximum effectiveness out of videos.
2. Adequately train your volunteers. There is nothing worse than being in a worship service and having the song lyric slides jumping all over the place.  The person who is running the slide presentation is just as important as any of the band members or the worship leader on stage.  The best way to distract the congregation and keep them from worshipping is having a slide presentation that is not organized or having a person who does not know what they are doing running it.
3. If using media, do it right. I have been in many churches where they have thrown their song lyrics up on a screen, and I can automatically tell that they have half-heartedly done it.  If you want to keep first time guests engaged and keep them coming back, you have to do everything with excellence.  After all, we are worshipping the one true God, and I think he deserves our best.

These are just a few starter suggestions for really making media work in your worship service.  What are your suggestions for using media in a worship service?

Photo By: ragingtornado