MediaShout is just one part of a multimedia system. Here are some suggestions and recommendations on other parts you may need for delivering the message:

Projectors
Video Mixers
Computer Remotes

Projectors
MediaComplete works with many providers of audio visual components. Contact us to find one in your area.

Video Switchers
Depending on what you need, you can spend from several hundred to tens of thousands of dollars on a video switcher. For most ministry needs, we recommend use of a video mixer – a video switcher with an integrated frame buffer that synchronizes video signals without the need for expensive TBC and frame sync hardware. (Switching between unsync’d video signals often results in a flash, picture roll or distortion.)

The video mixer we recommend is the one we use ourselves: the Edirol V-4. It’s a powerful little four-input mixer, fully programmable, fully controllable via MIDI. It’s set up like a DJ audio mixer, so it’s a cinch to set up and operate. In addition to seamless dissolves and wipes, it does clean lumi- and chroma-keying, and can be set up to switch and perform other effect in sync with music. (The worship VJs on our staff won’t do a show without one.) On the screen, Its picture quality blows away anything we’ve seen that’s anywhere close to its price.

We like the V-4 so much we became a dealer – it’s about the only piece of hardware we sell. To see the brochure in PDF, click here. To check it out in the Shoutable store, click here.

Computer Remotes
A wireless computer remote sends commands to a receiver, which then get converted to keystroke commands that can be used to control an application. Most remotes are hardcoded to send the keystrokes that PowerPoint uses for playing the next or previous slide. But because of MediaShout’s nonlinear design, those same keystrokes are used for selecting cues without firing them. MediaShout uses different keystrokes for firing the next (F10) and previous (F9) cues, so remotes hardcoded for PowerPoint don’t work.

The solution? A programmable remote – one that lets you tell it which keystroke is to be sent when a particular button is clicked. We recommend the Power Presenter RF from Honeywell (www.PowerRemote.com). For instructions on programming it for use with MediaShout, click here.

Note: Another way to control a MediaShout presentation wirelessly is with a wireless mouse. The buttons on a wireless mouse are ... well, mouse buttons, not keystroke emulators. When MediaShout is running in a special playback mode called mouse mode (in v2) or slide show mode (in v3), clicking the left mouse button fires the next cue; a right-click fires the previous cue. The mouse pointer itself is hidden and disabled during this mode, so you can use the mouse like a remote control without worrying about clicking on something.

One more trick: v3’s slide show mode can be programmed for PowerPoint-compatible keystrokes instead of mouse buttons. So if you already have a hardcoded wireless remote, you can use it to fire next and previous cues in v3. (But if you want to retain full control of the presentation – random-access firing, use of other features, etc. – while you’re running the show, you’ll still need a programmable remote.) To program v3’s slide show mode for a remote rather than the mouse, choose Tools > Settings > Script (tab), then select the keystrokes that match those used by your wireless remote.