When Eastside Christian Church in Anaheim, CA decided it was time for a new church building they purchased a former Boeing facility with ample room for growth. Knowing that their ministry would be best served by state-of-the-art media systems, they turned to AMT Systems and design firm iD!Bri (formerly Acoustic Dimensions) to discuss their ministry goals and explore how best to accomplish them technically.
With the Church having an existing design concept that exceeded budget, AMT engineers worked extensively with iD!Bri and Chris Gille, Eastside’s Chief Systems Engineer and his team to discuss options, costs and associated benefits of specific systems design approaches. By openly stating fixed markups on equipment as well as labor rates, AMT helped foster a transparent interaction between all parties that resulted in collectively designing the highest quality media system that fit within the Church’s budget.
The completed facility is anchored by an 1800 seat worship center (expandable to 2700 seats) and includes a multi-purpose room, three large student rooms, multiple breakout rooms and a lobby area with extensive media support.
In the sanctuary, AMT supported the church-installed components of the video wall, stereo line array system and artificial reverb system by insuring excellent integration with the rest of the audio/video/lighting components to complete the complex media system.
The sanctuary also includes a multi-camera broadcast video system which can be used for IMAG, live stream to classrooms as well as web streaming. In order to support the diverse range of ministries that use the multipurpose room, AMT designed and installed a sound system based around Nexo PS15 cabinets. AMT equipped each breakout room with multiple 70” LED displays that are integrated with the campus MATV system as well as local inputs for flexible teaching options or as overflow seating for the sanctuary. AMT also designed and installed the extensive digital signage systems in the lobby areas.
This project was a unique, collaborative effort as the project required extensive onsite technical support and oversight by AMT engineers. In the end, this unique approach to design, budgeting, sourcing and integration allowed Eastside Christian Church to have exceptional media systems to support their growing contemporary worship while not exceeding their budget.
Well over 100 years ago in El Cajon, California a small church…Scott Memorial Baptist was born. Since that time the church adopted a new name, Shadow Mountain Community Church and has flourished under the leadership of Tim Lahaye and most recently Pastor David Jeremiah.
Shadow Mountain recently launched an impressive plan to build a new Generations building. This building provided an additional 1000 seat venue for weekend services, a space for students, an expanded nursery, a Café, much needed classrooms, a Young Married space and rehearsal and storage space for the church’s substantial music ministry. Early on in the construction phase AMT Systems partnered with Idibri and the church to knit together a solid team that would deliver and meet the needs of the church. As with any project there were some unexpected delays but these were greatly minimized due to the strong relationship of AMT Systems with the church staff. The early involvement of AMT Systems as the project engineer and installer for systems including Audio, Video, Control, Intercom, Campus Connectivity and MATV proved to be a value added relationship.
The project had a number of significant rooms that required a great deal of focus but while the overall project had to function as a unit it also needed to integrate well with the existing campus and at times the international Turning Point Ministry of Dr. Jeremiah. There were many considerations throughout the project that had implications beyond the presenting issue. For example, building intercoms had to function as expected within the facility but also needed to allow for full integration and functionality when the Turning Point video truck was on campus. This really became a project that highlighted AMT’s skill set as their engineers worked to maximize current and new technology while maintaining budgets and keeping the church’s needs in full view.
The video venue was opened with a Soundcraft Vi7000 128 input digital console at front of house and a D&B Y Series Line Array capable of meeting the high expectations of this musically rich church. AMT installed 16 channels of wireless microphones along with a complete Avoim in-ear monitoring system running 4 channels of wireless.
The video system was anchored by a Ross Carbonite Production switcher with tie lines connecting the existing campus buildings and the remote truck location. The video system feeds a high resolution, 3.91mm pitch, 26’ wide LED screen that provide big impact in the room and exceeded expectations in many ways as LED quality gets better and prices become attainable even for houses of worship. AMT engineered and installed an MATV system with locations to every room and public space in the Generations Building. A Grass Valley DVR provides the features necessary for the video venue to act act as an overflow with time slip, allowing for simultaneous recording and playback of HD video.
The High School and Junior High rooms were outfitted with stereo PAs, digital consoles and 10k lumen DLP projectors. The building also features 4 large and 8 small classrooms with 4 input video systems and large 90” video displays to maximize usefulness for video playback or local content connection. A large choir rehearsal room is tied into the building technology utilizing integrated audio systems, full video playback and campus interconnectivity. The building also features a 2 story Café which serves as a wonderful gathering space on campus. The Café benefits from technology with distributed audio and MATV connection.
AMT Systems partnered very well with the church and reused some of their existing equipment. All in all, this project provided a great space for ministry for the church and showcased AMT Systems ability to meet expectations and deliver an exceptional product.
The Father’s House is another example of a successful collaborative design-build project with Idibri. Idibri was hired by the church as the designer and AMT Systems was commissioned with the engineering, install and technical programming portions of the job. In August of 2011 Idibri and AMT initiated a project design workshop to help insure the project goals, budget and milestones were clear. The workshop spanned three days and was held in San Diego with staff from The Father’s House and specialists from both Idibri and AMT.
As with many construction projects there were some unexpected delays in the project as the church staff worked through the building’s size and associated budget adjustments. Meanwhile the collaborative technical design process allowed Idibri and AMT to speak into building changes and shift designs, insuring that the church’s technical needs were met.
The design and install focused in 6 key areas; HD video system, lighting system, campus signal distribution, outdoor speakers, tech intercoms and acoustic paneling. The video system consisted of HD cameras, routing, switching and terminal gear as well as the associated MATV systems and inter-campus connectivity.
AMT also engineered and installed the distributed audio systems in the church lobby, parking lots and outdoor common areas as well as confidence monitors, digital signage monitors and overflow monitors throughout the campus.
The lighting system that AMT engineered and installed focused in two areas, theatrical and camera. The church depends on an intricate lighting program to complement its weekend services and also required exceptional coverage and evenness for camera light support. AMT’s partnership accomplished these goals and provided a tight integration with the architectural lighting plan and system.
The large, intense lighting plan put significant requirements on the video display system and the church had a strong desire to implement HD LED screens. AMT engineered and installed 2, 17’ wide LED screens for use with IMAG and video playback. The LED screens were the perfect choice to stand up to the high illumination from the lighting system as they were able to deliver an outstanding image.
This was a distinctive project that benefited from attention to the church’s needs as AMT matched solutions to fit budgets. AMT prides itself on focusing on what will meet the client’s goals while working within the budgets established during planning. The end product provided exceptional value for a high end system that will serve the church well for years to come.
The landmark Granada Theatre on State Street in downtown Santa Barbara has been almost completely re-constructed to serve the community as a performing arts venue for concerts, drama, theatrical presentations and more.
AMT Systems accepted the opportunity to provide our construction engineering and production services on a much accelerated installation time frame to complete renovation on time and within budget. To do so meant literally compressing a three month installation schedule into less than a month.
Granada Theatre now features a state-of-the-art audio system utilizing a large format digital mixing console and processing from multiple Dolby Lake digital signal processors. The speaker systems consist of a concert level line array speaker technology, a separate proscenium speech-only reinforcement system, and surround sound for on-screen presentations. A LCS electronic acoustic enhancement system serves to augment or revise the existing room acoustical environment from multiple
preset configurations. A multi-channel production communication intercom system was included throughout the building from the catwalks to the new subterranean dressing and green rooms, and connectivity and cabling for touring acts to employ their own portable systems.
AMT established a strong working relationship with the project general contractor Melchiori Constructors, and with the project multi-media consultant Kyle Ridenour of McKay Conant Hoover to assure that the details required to put these systems in place quickly and accurately were understood and accomplished. Opening night, planned months in advance, was an on-time success and the theatre now serves the community from its historic location with its very modern 21st Century media systems.
In the years following the original media system installation, the Granada Theater saw an increase in cinematic presentations at the theater. In order to better accommodate those screenings, the Granada Theater asked AMT Systems to add a cinema audio system with surround sound. In order to maintain the flexibility the theater needs to support the variety of performances they host, AMT mounted the main speakers on stage batons, allowing them to fly in and out as necessary. The early-reflection and artificial reverbs installed in previous phases were incorporated and used to maximize the surround-sound effect.