16 Screen Output at Gather25

Bringing the Global Church together with Renewed Vision

‍We had the incredible opportunity to support Gather25, an ambitious 25-hour global event aimed at uniting Christians from across the world. The event broadcasted live from seven continents and featured participants from 193 countries, with over 10,000 local gathering sites. Bringing together the global church required advanced production tools, innovative technologies, and seamless collaboration.

In order to successfully broadcast and unite people from across the world, ProPresenter and ProVideoPlayer were utilized in ways that at first seemed impossible to provide real-time video, lyrics, sermon notes, and multi-language translations to a global audience.

The Challenge‍

When the Gather team approached us, their vision was clear: bring together Christians worldwide, stream content in several different languages, and provide translations in 87 spoken languages and 16 written languages simultaneously. This incredibly ambitious goal posed significant technical and logistical challenges:

• Massive Scale of Broadcast: Broadcasting content from seven different locations, overlaying graphics, and switching camera feeds in real time.
• Multi-language Translation: Providing lyrics, sermon notes, and scripture simultaneously in multiple languages, with a focus on delivering synchronized content.
• Efficient Resource Utilization: Accomplishing all of this without requiring numerous high-end systems.

The Solution

ProPresenter Customization for Multi-language Output
To meet the multi-language translation needs we developed custom features within ProPresenter, allowing it to handle content in 16 different languages simultaneously. This included:

• CSV Integration: All translations of scripture, lyrics, and sermon notes were pre-formatted in a CSV file. Each column represented a language, and by importing this into ProPresenter, a single machine could output content in 16 different languages.
• Composite 8K Output: By utilizing NDI technology, ProPresenter on a standard Mac mini could output 16 different 1080p signals in real time. This made the resource-heavy task of managing 16 different languages more efficient and accessible.
• Efficient Workflow: Changes could be made last-minute to the CSV file, enabling quick content updates without reconfiguring the entire system.

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Graphics and Real-time Translation Management
Multiple systems were set up to handle distinct production tasks:

• One system managed scripture, sermon notes, and song lyrics.
• Another was dedicated to the "what’s next" graphics and real-time event announcements, such as lower thirds and titles.
• A third system handled overlays, such as live zoom feeds of worship gatherings from churches around the world.

By utilizing PVP, Renewed Vision could overlay lyrics, sermon notes, and real-time translations onto the live video feed, broadcasting to 193 countries in a seamless manner.

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Coordinating Global Teams
The event involved our team members to be utilized and distributed across seven continents:

• Engineers and technical producers were located in the Master Control Room in Dallas, aiding in running the global production.
• Remote teams were stationed in New Zealand, Rwanda, Romania, the UK, Peru, and Malaysia, operating ProPresenter for local gatherings.

The team collaborated in real time using Slack and other communication tools, ensuring synchronized content delivery for the global event. Technical challenges were solved quickly, from real-time translation issues to last-minute graphic changes.

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Gathering Participation in Real-Time
One of the event’s unique features was the ability to see churches watching live through zoom across the world. These live views were broadcast about every five minutes, allowing the global audience to witness worship happening in real time from various locations such as San Antonio, Texas, Los Angeles, Rwanda, and more.

The Event

‍The Gather25 event was a resounding success, with our tools playing a pivotal role in its execution. Key outcomes included:

• Seamless Multi-Language Support: ProPresenter and PVP enabled the event to provide real-time scripture, lyrics, and sermon notes in 16 written languages, allowing participants to engage deeply in their native language.
• Efficient Resource Use: The ability to output 16 different video streams from a single Mac mini using NDI technology exemplified the efficient resource management that made this large-scale production feasible.
• Unprecedented Collaboration: Teams spread across seven continents collaborated in real-time, showcasing the power of virtual tools and quick problem-solving during live events.

The project was a testament to the flexibility and power of ProPresenter and PVP, which was instrumental in managing over 400 different video and audio streams in real time, overcoming technical hurdles, and delivering a world-class event.

Through events like Gather25, we continue to push the boundary ProPresenter and PVP is able to accomplish and defy all odds. We hope to continue innovate and refine our tools to drive the future of live event production and ensure we meet the ever-evolving demands of global live events.