Multi-Format Switcher Offers Maximum Flexibility in Switching Many Different Sources and Formats to Produce Complex, Visually Rich Worship Productions

BURBANK, Calif. — May 27, 2010 — Snell today announced that the First Baptist Church of Orlando, Fla. has installed a Snell Kahuna SD/HD multi-format production switcher as the cornerstone of its transition to high-definition production. Besides providing a significant upgrade of the church's facilities from obsolete switching equipment, Kahuna offers the ability to handle a wide variety of SD and HD video sources and a high degree of flexibility for switching complex worship services and other programs. The installation was carried out by systems integrator Technical Innovations.

"For almost 50 years, our church has been facilitating, enhancing, and extending its ministry through broadcast television. That has meant evolving and continually embracing new technologies to create an exciting environment where people can meet God," said Scott Link, pastor of media and communications for the First Baptist Church of Orlando. "And now, with Kahuna in place, we have begun our transition to HD broadcasting and can now offer our congregants an even more meaningful worship experience. Kahuna allows us to accommodate a wide variety of video presentations from live worship services to special concerts and other events, and to integrate an even broader array of media into our programs." 

Serving an overall congregation of 15,000, the First Baptist Church hosts more than 6,000 worshippers in three different Sunday morning services at its 140-acre campus in Orlando. The media and communications staff produce a live broadcast of the worship service for streaming on the church's website, and also edit the broadcast cut for later use in two television programs. In addition, they handle video production for a range of special events in the 5,500-seat worship center, ranging from musical presentations to conferences. 

In anticipation of its transition to HD production, First Baptist chose a 3-mix/effect (M/E) Kahuna switcher complete with two control panels and an auxiliary panel, to replace 20-year-old equipment that had begun to fail. For a typical weekend service, Kahuna is used to cut five camera feeds, three graphics sources (two of which are keyable), and up to four video playback sources. Two M/E outputs are devoted to IMAG switching, providing output to the large presentation screens from either live camera shots of the pastor and presenters, or outside video from both SD and HD sources. The third M/E is controlled by the broadcast director to produce the broadcast feed. Depending on the situation, the broadcast director and the IMAG director can access material from all three M/Es. 

"We rely on volunteer labor to accomplish our weekly service production, so we especially appreciate the ease at which Kahuna allows us to perform complicated switches with the touch of a button. Recently we needed to do one switch, which previously would have required a volunteer to hit 12 buttons in the right sequence, within about three seconds. Our Kahuna allowed us to preset very quickly and simply that entire switch to one button stroke," added Link. 

About Kahuna:
Kahuna from Snell is the world's first and only true multi-format SD/HD production switcher. Thanks to a Snell technology called FormatFusion, Kahuna enables simultaneous SD and HD operations in the same mainframe and on the same control panel. This vastly simplifies the HDTV transition for broadcasters by eliminating the need for external HDTV up/down/crossconverters in the live production environment, as well as the cost and the signal path delay associated with these products. Kahuna has the smallest mainframe, lowest weight, and lowest power consumption when compared with other large switchers, and it has been integrated with dozens of third-party products including routers, servers, automation systems, and controllers. 

More information about Kahuna and other products from Snell is available online at www.snellgroup.com.   

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About the First Baptist Church of Orlando:
The First Baptist Church of Orlando, Fla. was founded in 1871 with a congregation of 18. Today, the church is a dynamic force in the Orlando Christian community, with a congregation of 15,000 and a 140-acre worship campus. For more information, visit www.firstorlando.com. 

About Snell:
Snell is a leading innovator in the digital media market. The company provides customers with a comprehensive range of solutions for the creation, management, and distribution of content, as well as the tools necessary to transition seamlessly and cost-effectively to digital, HDTV, and 3Gbp/s operations. Snell's Emmy^® Award-winning image processing, live production, automation, and infrastructure technologies provide customers with the ultimate flexibility, operational efficiency, and ROI required in today's multi-screen world. Headquartered in the U.K., Snell serves more than 2,000 active customers in more than 100 countries through a worldwide team of sales and support personnel. More information is available at www.snellgroup.com.   

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ENDS