I’m currently packing my family to move at the end of the month so time for blogging has been hard to find.

We have focused a lot on the presentation part of church technology so far but we have stayed away from product reviews or giving any preference to one piece of software over the other. We have chosen to stay vendor neutral for a number of reasons and we will strive to continue in that effort. I say all of that to say this I have found a new tool I didn’t know existed, and its free. Most, if not all, of the well known church presentation applications are both primarily for Windows and usually rather expensive. They all do similar things-lyrics, bible verses, some video formats, audio etc. They all allow added control not available with Microsoft Powerpoint. Mediashout had a Macintosh version when the company first released their software but later releases were Windows only. OpenSong is not only free and on Windows but also allows churches to present lyrics, Bible verses, as well, but on a MacBook , MacBookPro, and even the older iBook and PowerBook. Later, I will have a post comparing the different Church Presentation Applications for Windows, but for now if you are a Mac user….OpenSong sings for FREE

PowerPoint, Easy Worship, SundayPlus, and MediaShout are all programs that churches can use to project announcements, scripture, or your pastor’s sermon notes. It is easy to set up but as is the theme for our site, “Keep it Simple.” While there are millions of colors to choose from and so many different fun fonts available, that doesn’t mean they should be used.

Colors, “If I can’t use all of them, what should I use?” It depends on the effect you want to have. A white background and contrasting font color is appropriate for well lit areas so that the text stands out. Also, white backgrounds allow for some light spill to occur on the screen without any noticeable difference. Your choice of font color would be best kept to classic colors. Black, blue, green, red, or even brown are good colors to stick with for clean images and good intelligibility. Darker backgrounds such as black or blue are better for places where heads might edge in front of the projector image. The darker background blends with the “shadow” of the person or item obstructing the view. It makes it less noticeable. Also, the use of a white or yellow font color succeeds in making the text “pop” off the screen.

Allow me to say a short word on video and photographic backgrounds. While they often are very pleasing to the eye without text overlaid on them, you very rarely have a video that is always dark or always bright. It is difficult to determine what font color to choose to contrast the background. If you plan to use pictures, use them sparingly or during transitions where text does not need to be on screen.

One last word of advice, video has a “rule of thirds.” This divides the picture screen into thirds and how to frame a video shot. When creating slides for praise choruses or sermon notes, use the top two thirds of the screen for your text and leave the bottom third open.