CYPRESS, CA,– Founded in Sydney, Australia, in 1983, Hillsong Church is a contemporary Christian worship organization that has launched churches in some of the most influential cities around the world. With locations in 19 countries and on five continents, Hillsong’s worldwide attendance approaches 100,000 people weekly. The popular global church has been relying on FOR-A®’s HVS-2000 video switcher for weekly services at its Los Angeles, California, and Cape Town, South Africa, locations, as well as for production of its conferences held around the United States.
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Hillsong was first introduced to FOR-A’s equipment when working with video production company Custom Media Solutions. To produce Hillsong’s annual conferences, Custom Media Solutions relied on a custom flypack equipped with a FOR-A switcher for screen switching and broadcast camera cut. The experience left Hillsong impressed with FOR-A video switchers.
“We discovered that because FOR-A’s switcher was so versatile, we needed only half the outboard gear that we normally would use to run the conference,” explained Luke Irvine, who has been part of Hillsong’s production team for 26 years serving in various roles, including video director, technical manager and camera operator. “The flexibility to be able to move the keyers to AUX channels was vital in minimizing our outboard gear used, as were the built-in frame sync channels. We also really appreciated that FOR-A’s switcher could be used with an additional switcher panel. This allowed us to switch the camera cut on one panel, while screen switching on another panel – all still within the one switcher frame.”
Hillsong first purchased FOR-A’s HVS-2000 video switcher for use in its Los Angeles church. Having been so pleased with its performance, Hillsong purchased another HVS-2000 unit for use in its Cape Town campus. Both church locations use the switcher on a weekly basis. The house of worship is also relying on FOR-A video switchers for its annual Hillsong and Colour Conferences. In 2017, the U.S. leg of the Colour Conference took place in Los Angeles, Phoenix, and New York City in the spring. The U.S. portion of the church’s annual Hillsong Conference will take place in Los Angeles, November 2-4.
Offering 6 M/E functionality in a 2 M/E unit, FOR-A’s HVS-2000 video switcher offers unique features such as ONStage™, which gives operators more power and creativity in their video switching than ever before, and MELite™, which allows a traditional AUX bus to transform into a functional Mix Effects with cuts, mix, wipes, keys, DVE including full preview. The flexible HVS-2000 unit allows up to 48 SDI inputs/18 outputs or 40 inputs/22 outputs, and can be used for SD, HD, 3G and 4K productions.
“FOR-A’s HVS-2000 switcher has enabled us to save money on systems, while offering us the flexibility to adapt to our ever changing needs,” said Luke. “FOR-A has been very responsive to our needs, helping us to make our systems function as we need them to.”
