New Distributor

For those of you who have visited our store you may have noticed that I only have one computer available. The distributor I used for Asus computers decided not to carry the notebooks and not to tell me. You can imagine how surprised I was when I went to check the prices and found nothing there.

I should have a new distributor set up in the next day or two. As soon as that goes through there will be a large number of products available to me which will means there will be some interesting new products available to you at a great price. Again I apologize for the absence of Asus products. Stay tuned for fresh updates and postings here.

MediaShout is still the driving force behind the store and all that is offered, but there will be some non-presentation related offerings available.

Prostar has some great machines and which is why I offer their products. They are able to be customized to meet your needs.

I am very excited about the great products we will add to the store.

http://cart.defycreative.com/

MediaShout 3.5

MediaShout has released the beta of version 3.5 bearing some of the most requested features of all time. The biggest feature is the ability to have multiple backgrounds for each song. MediaShout 3.5 will allow you to set a different background for each stanza if you desire. We will address the details of this in a later blog. The other big deal is the addition of dissolve transitions for text over video for subcues.

Here is the list of features in the registered user beta forum.

• page text dissolves (Text, Bible and Lyric cues)
• stanza-specific BGs (Lyric cues)
• new stanza types (Lyric cues)
• in-text verse numbers (Bible cues)
• enhanced songselect downloading (ShoutSinger; in Express now)
• select and fire cues by number (Script window)
• Get Shoutable Media link (Help menu and main toolbar; in Express now)
• Song Group assignment in Import Songs wizards (ShoutSinger)
• "One verse per paragraph" pagination option (Bible cues)
• Bible selection controls in CPB (Bible cues)
• insert Bible passage into text from CPB FG tab, Insert button menu (Text, Bible and Lyric cues)

I am also excited about the fire by number feature. I look forward to seeing how it will impact typical operation and efficiency. I will be testing 3.5 over the next week or two and give you my feedback and the opinions of users trying it out.

Look for a final update to be released to the public soon.

A Word About Resolutions

I wanted to touch on the topic of resolutions. Those of you on laptops will usually run your primary (laptop) screen at 1280X800 or close to it. Your options for screen one should typically be set at their highest, unless your screen goes to 1920X1200. Desktop users will probably want to run the primary monitor at 1024X768 or 1280X1024. It is recommended that your secondary monitor, your audience's display, should be at 800X600 or 1024X768.


The purpose of running the secondary monitor at these resolutions is to not overwhelm the video card. The higher the resolution the more work for the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), which could lead to poor video playback and lag.

There are problems that could arise from resolutions that too low or high. If your primary is lower than 1924X768 your Cue Properties Box will not be fully visible and and you will not be able to see all of the buttons at the bottom of the window. If your secondary is set to high, the video may not load or it will play with jitters and pauses.

A note about widescreen: Widescreen primary and secondary displays are becoming more popular and affordable. A high resolution primary screen will give you more landscape to customize your control screen layout. Just be sure that if you are going to run the secondary in a widescreen format that you have a great video card.

So, check to make sure you have your resolutions set properly if you begin to have trouble and as always be sure that you have recent drivers for your video card.

This ain't your daddy's PowerPoint

Every day new users become frustrated trying to figure out how to get the MediaShout presentation up on the projection screen. So they make the call. The conversation usually goes like this, " I connected my laptop to the projector and then I hit the fn+F7 keys to get the picture on the projector." Those of you who are still using PowerPoint can rest assured that MediaShout can still play your PPT files but the setup for this is done differently.

PowerPoint is typically set up using the cloning feature usually activated using the fn+F? feature. This setup does not allow MediaShout to display separate images, one control screen, one display screen. MediaShout requires Extended Desktop mode so that the computer is sending out 2 separate outputs from the computer. This cannot be done by using a splitter to send one image to a monitor and another to the projector.

How to set up Extended Desktop mode:

Windows XP- Right Click on the desktop of you computer and choose Properties. From that menu choose Display Settings. There will be two boxes in the Windows Display Settings a 1 and a 2. Click on display 2 and check the box that says Extend my windows desktop onto this monitor.
Note: Be sure that your display resolution on monitor 2 is at least 800X600. Resolutions higher that 1024X768 could result in a lag if your video card cannot handle it.

Once these settings have been made click the OK button. Yous should now see the same desktop image without the icons.

Windows Vista - Right Click on the desktop and choose Personalize. Choose Display Settings and you will see the same window as in Windows XP.

Once the Extended Desktop mode has been set, Open MediaShout and your projector screen should go black and the control screen will be displayed on the primary monitor.

If your computer sends the primary screen to the projector you will need to set the laptop screen as the primary using your video card's control panel. These settings are usually found under the heading of Multiple Monitor Set Up.

So there you have it, now go Shout!!

Luminous Bible Book Backs from Defy Creative

Hot off the DVD burner is Defy Creative's new Luminous Bible Book Back videos for MediaShout 3.2.

These videos create a powerful impression while presenting scripture. These videos were designed for MediaShout's Bible Book Back feature so that selected scriptures automatically pull up the associated video with the matching Bible book title.
For example, select john 14:1-7 and the video background that is automatically set as the background has John in the animated text.

Here's the bonus you won't find with other Bible Book Back collections, Luminous comes with a blank looping video that allows you to add your own text for sermon notes or simply for transition from one scripture to another. With the blank Luminous video, transitions from one bible cue to another never look like the background restarts.

To add to the value, each DVD comes with a full set of Luminous videos in both WMV and MOV (h.264) formats. The WMV set is installed with Installshield into the Book Backs folder however the MOV files are available to copy and paste into the same location instead of the WMV's.

We use these every week in our services and have had very positive feedback.

Check them out today and pick up this great set of Luminous Bible Book Backs.

Asus Warranty Upgrade

Asus just expanded the terms of their standard warranty. Here are the details:

As of September 10, 2007, ASUS has added a one year of Accidental Damage Warranty (ADW) to its industry-leading ASUS 360 notebook coverage program*, at no cost to customers.

Now ASUS notebook customers receive a level of care that far exceeds anything else in the industry. ASUS' ADW is a fantastic, unique selling feature, but can only help you sell notebooks if you tell your customers about it.

* The Accidental Damage Warranty does not apply to notebooks bought before September 10, 2007.

For details on the ASUS Accidental Damage Warranty Program, please visit:

http://adw.asus.com/content/adp/default.aspx

Once again Asus delivers Quality and Value that leads the industry.

Create your Own Content

Something I often tell MediaShout users is to take your camera or video camera with you.

Shortly after I started using MediaShout and had purchased a nice consumer grade Camcorder, I started looking at scenery as loopable content or a canvas for text files.

I recently had the difficult job of going to Estes Park, Co for an Integrity event. I was surrounded by the most beautiful scenery. I knew that was going to have an opportunity to shoot some great stuff so I came prepared.

Think about the places you will be traveling to or even the common landscape where you are now. There is probably something that would make a great background.

If you are blessed to live in a scenic environment, get out there and capture it. Share it, Shout it, and save yourself some money. Start looking through the eyes of your properties box and find those shots that capture something that grabs the viewers attention or applies to the topic at hand.

LOOK AROUND!

Blogged with Flock

Asus Lamborghini Kicks up Notebook Luxury and Power

Asus has announced the upcoming release of the new Lamborhini VX2S series. Here is a look at the features:

- Intel Centrino Pro CPU T7500 with 2.2 GHz and 800 Front Side Bus. Centrino Pro also offers iAMT function for remote IT problems monitoring, control, and repair.

- 200GB HDD with 7200 RPM for faster application (Not confirmed)

- 2GB DDR2 667 DRAM + 1GB Turbo Memory for up to 2 times faster application access and boot from hibernation time, and up to 0.5W power saving

- 802.11N wireless connection speed, Finger Print Scanner and TPM for data security, Bluetooth 2.0 allows 4 times faster data transfer rate and multi-device connection, 1.3 Mega Pixel swivel camera for unlimited communication

- 2^nd HDD and 2^nd battery hot swappable for larger data storage and longer function hours

- Selected models for Blu Ray ODD and Docking Station as standard packing with Lamborghini logo on it

- Piano Painting, leather palm rest, and rim-like ventilation hole, come with Lamborghini mouse pad, mouse, and leather carry bag

- Spill proof keyboard to avoid data loss or malfunction from accidental water spill

Suggested Retail price is $2,999.00 for VX2S-A1 and $3,999.00 for the VX2Sa2 that includes the Blu-ray and Dock.

All I can say is mmmm yummy Stay tuned for more info and final details.

Codecs Codecs Codecs

What are codecs and why do they matter?

This is what the wise Wikipedia has to say about codecs.
"A codec is a device or program capable of performing encoding and decoding on a digital data stream or signal. The word codec may be a combination of any of the following: 'Compressor-Decompressor', 'Coder-Decoder', or 'Compression/Decompression algorithm'."

Remember as a kid those decoders you used to get in the boxes of cereal? That red film that you placed over the red picture that had a mystery message was the decoder.

When media files are created, codecs are used to compress the file into a specified format. When those files are read, the corresponding codec is then used to read, or open, the file. For instance, there are many mpeg 2 codecs that can be used to encode a video file. That same group of codecs may be used to open an mpeg2 file, however they may not decode it properly or entirely.

You may find that after installing a new video editing software or DVD encoder that your presentation software does not play media files properly. Just like those cereal box decoders, the red film may reveal a portion of the message but the green film will reveal the message in its entirety.If you have a file that seems to be improperly decoded you can install new codecs for your software to use so that it can read the entire file.

The following solution seems to solve many of the codec issues I have encountered. Originally this solution was designed to deal with the newest Cyberlink Power DVD software Dell and others were using at the end of '05 and beginning of '06. Here is the link used by MediaShout for solving codec related issues. www.mediashout.com/download/InstallingCodecs.pdf

The instructions have a link to the K-lite Mega Codec pack from www.codecs.com. This codec pack includes a quicktime alternative, and mp4 support. It will allow the playback of .mov, m4a, m4v, mp4, h.264.

If you have updated your drivers and still not getting audio from a video file or DVD playback is poor or non-existent, try installing these new codecs to get better playback.

Still having problems? leave a questions in the comments.

MediaShout Express

MediaShout has just released a new Product MediaShout Express

Here is the Press release:

MediaShout Express:

Now there’s an easy and affordable way to move up to powerful presentations for your church or ministry. MediaShout EXPRESS is now available with the most popular features from the leader in ministry presentation software.

MediaShout EXPRESS empowers ministry leaders whose only option has been PowerPoint to now access the media, Bibles and song lyrics that are at the core of modern worship and communicating life’s most important message. With an amazing suggested retail price of only $229.00, MediaShout EXPRESS makes moving up to full multimedia presentations a no-brainer!

System requirements for MediaShout EXPRESS are minimal allowing computers with less system resources to present song lyrics and text with video backgrounds and access to the most popular Bible translations with MediaShout’s searchable Bible feature. The program works with Windows XP or Vista operating systems. EXPRESS includes the King James Version (KJV), New International Version (NIV), the Message and the Reina-Valera (RVR1960) translations of the Bible with additional translations available in the near future. A database of traditional and contemporary song lyrics is also included. MediaShout EXPRESS includes a quick connect feature to access the newest and most dynamic media content at the Shoutable Store.

MediaShout EXPRESS is easily upgradable to access the additional enhanced media features of MediaShout Version 3 while using all of the presentations created in EXPRESS.

I highly recommend this product for those who have a budget for a presentation software but not for a new computer. The system requirements should enable just about everyone to enhance their multimedia presentation.

More information and a version comparison chart will be coming soon!

The Art of Problem Solving

What do you do when things go wrong? Problem solving is a learned skill that requires determination, investigation and risk. That last word is probably not what you wanted to read but its true. You may have to try a possible solution that also brings the potential for making things worse.
What is your first response when something unexpected happens? The key in any situation is not to panic because your first response if your panicked is probably not the correct one. I have been in a very high profile show that had a cue go wrong and instantly the pressure of the entire show at that moment was sitting on my shoulders and my reputation. Yes, it seemed as though all the blood drained from my body, as my heart raced and adrenaline shot out of my veins, but I had to take quick, LOGICAL action to fix the embarrassing miscue. Unfortunately my first action of choice was the wrong one.(not good!) My second action was the right one but it did not erase the awkwardness of the moment. Perhaps more about that incident in a later post.
Not all problems are in the heat of the moment, some problems take place during preparation. Many of the calls I have recieved are those who are simply trying to set up their computers to run the presentation. Those who have used PowerPoint for years are often discouraged because the way to get the presentation on the screen is no longer fn+F8. After pressing every fn+ combination they can think of they finally call for help. If you want to be better at problem solving you need to be determined to find the answer by research and investigation. I know that MediaShout, for example, clearly documents that Extended Desktop is necessary for proper display of your presentation. I must admit that I am not much of a reader of manuals and books but if its on a computer screen it seems to decrease my attention deficit. This is how we learn. If you get an error when running any program there will often be an error message or code. Write it down or copy it and paste it into "The Google" and browse the results looking for clear explanations and answers.
People will sometime ask me how I know so much about computers. I tell them every time, I have had lots of problems with computers and in searching for answers I learned a lot. As I read and investigated some solutions suggested changing, editing or deleting things I was unsure of, which is where the risk comes in. Not every solution worked and I had to continue to the next one. A PC I built suddenly started crashing and not restarting, not loading windows, and I spent 3 months trying to fix it. I literally spend over 100 hours trying to get my creation to run again. Finally, my wife said it was time to bury it and so we went and bought a new one. I later realized that the Motherboard was bad and used many parts to complete a new barebones system.

So my point is this, when you have a problem search out the answer and be willing to try the solutions you find. Don't panic when something goes wrong, think it through clearly and logically. If one day everything works fine and the next day it doesn't, consider these things: Automatic updates from Windows or other software, installation of software or possibly the misadventure of another user. Remember this, it's not always the computers fault.

Video Cards and Drivers -PT 3

So you have a laptop and the manufacturer has nothing to offer in the way of up-to-date video drivers, well here ya go. The two major video card manufacturers are NVIDIA and ATI and if you download the latest drivers from them you will most likely get a message saying there is no compatible hardware installed for their drivers. We turn now to MODIFIED drivers. there are several programmers out there that will take the original driver from ATI or NVIDIA and modify the driver giving it the ability to install on a laptop. So before we go any farther- DISCLAIMER: use these modified drivers at your own risk. I have installed modified drivers on some systems that did not like the new drivers and thus resulted in a safe-boot system restore. For example, DO NOT install on a Mac computer using Boot Camp! (can ya tell I've tried?) Having said that, this is what I recommend. First, those of you who are using older ATI Radeon video cards, you can usually find success installing Omega drivers from Omegadrivers.net. For ATI Radeon cards 9550 and below I suggest using the Omega drivers 6.5 and for the 9600 and higher the Omega Drivers 7.4. For those of you with NVIDIA video cards I would recommend LaptopVideo2go for the latest video drivers. Be sure to read the QuickStart Guide first so that you understand how to install the drivers.

I have used both of these websites and have had great success. These modified drivers can help keep your laptop relevant far beyond the updates provided by your laptop manufacturer. I encourage you to educate yourself before installing these drivers so that you understand how they are modified and why they work. Each of these sites has an excellent description of these details so I will not duplicate that information here.

For you Intel Graphics chip owners, try getting the latest from Intel directly. I have not yet located a modifier of Intel drivers.

If you have any additional questions shoot me an email.

Video Cards and Drivers -PT 2

So how can you find out if your drivers need to be updated? Fortunately there is an easy way get all the necessary information First, go to Start then Run in Windows XP. For Vista type the Start key and the letter R at the same time. Type dxdiag into the run command line and click OK. If you get a Yes or No pop-up window just click Yes. Once the DirectX Diagnostic Tools window opens you will see several tabs across the top. The System tab will give you information about your PC's Processor and System RAM. On the Display or Display 1 tab you will find the Name of the video card and the Approximate Total Mmemory in the left column. In the right column you will find the DATE of the driver that is currently installed. The date of the driver is important because it tells us what release of DirectX 9 the video card is operating under.

Example: If the date of the video driver is 5/13/06 and the software is using DirectX 9 instructions released in February of 07, then the Video card is not going to be able to process all the information.

So how can you update the drivers for your video card? For desktop PC's you simply need to go the the home page of the Video Card manufacturer's web site. It will most likely be NVIDIA or ATI if you have a dual head VGA card. Those you you who are using laptops will need to get the latest available drivers from your laptop manufacturer not the video card maker. For example; Dell laptop owners can go to the Drivers support page and enter the Service Tag number found on the bottom of their laptops. Once they enter the number they will get a list of all available updates for their computer. The Video Adapter will be last on the list and all updates for your video card will be listed with their release date. Most laptop manufacturers have a similar process for finding the drivers for your specific model.

What if my drivers are out of date and the manufacturer does not offer anything recent? Then you need to read the next post about getting "modified" drivers.

Video Cards and Drivers - PT 1

One of the first things you will learn after investing in a high-end presentation software is that the video card really matters. Gamers already know this, unfortunately most serious computer gamers are not the ones using the presentation software. MediaShout has higher requirements then most PC games. MediaShout uses a Microsoft language called DirectX 9 to render all video within the application which includes video files, DVD playback and live video feeds. Microsoft updates this language every other month and releases new updates to accommodate the ever-changing demands of the gaming industry. The MediaShout programmers occasionally make changes to the instructions used for rendering when they learn the new features and controls that can increase the quality and stability of video playback within the application. The drawback to these changes in programming is the need for users to update the drivers for their video card.
Updating drivers is typically not a problem, however laptops usually require the owner to get driver updates from the manufacturer's website. Dell, HP, Gateway, Acer, Asus, Cyberpower, Toshiba, Sony, IBM all limit driver updates to the ones they provide. My old HP laptop was unable to install drivers from ATI because of an INF file. This INF file is the limiting factor in the drivers install files. I am assuming that the manufacturers want more control over to keep the GPU from overheating. We will address modified drivers in the next post.
With the latest update to MediaShout version 3.2, many users are finding that video files will no longer play. This is simply because the current installed drivers do not understand the new DirectX 9 instructions. There is a language barrier between the software and the video card. The 3.2 update and the full version both contain the full DirectX 9 from Feruary '07. So if your drivers are dated before this, you may have poor or no video playback. The next blog will explain how to find out what the date of your drivers are and how to update them if necessary. Until then....

Where are you now? Where do you want to be?

I have talked with lots of lay people and church staff members who are wanting to take their presentation to the next level. Many are using Power Point or some other worship presentation software. Until now they have been content simply putting still graphic images behind the lyrics of their songs. Perhaps they have ventured so far as to have a pre-service announcement loop. So the question is this. Where are you now and where do you want to be with your multimedia presentation? The poll below is for the first part of the question. I am interested to know where the readers of this blog fall. Please answer the poll and we will go from there. Until then you can go check out the new Clearpoint Presentations web site

PowerPoint Vs.MediaShout

Ahh the great debate.
Its the equivalent of Hymns Vs. Choruses only this debate takes place in the tech booth. Churches have been using PowerPoint for 20 years and they have mastered every feature and transition available. So why should churches look to something else?

Admittedly, PowerPoint can do some things very well.

• Text Animation (bullet point Fly-ins, expand, drop, etc.)
• Slide Transitions
  
• Multiple objects on one slide (text and graphics side by side over background, multiple text Boxes)
• Plays on other PPT PC's
• And... ?

Let's look what PPT doesn't have:

• The ability to play full motion backgrounds behind text
• Insert DVD clips into your presentation
  
• Song Library
• Import text files into a searchable library
• Import entire multiple formats of song libraries
• Bible library
• 52 versions of the Bible
  
• Searchable Bible library
• Quickly select and display scripture in 5 clicks
• Book Specific backgrounds automatically displayed
• Click,Drag,Fire (display) to screen media, text, music
  
• Dual deck audio player capable of playing 2 separate play lists
• Edit on the fly without interrupting your current presentation
• unlimited # of program, preview, file monitors
• quick display of html documents and web sites on the fly
• Instant Message to display screen for Nursery pages and group announcements over presentation
• And.... the list goes on

Here's the great news. MediaShout can accomplish these things and more. And for those of you who insist on using PowerPoint to "enhance" your multimedia presentation, go ahead. Insert your sermon notes, announcements, missionary slideshows knowing that MediaShout can incorporate and play PPT slides within your service presentation.

It's like having a good mix of contemporary and traditional songs within a worship service. You can take advantage of both programs and take your multimedia presentation to the next level and do it without a fight.

What are you waiting for?

MediaShout Training

This weekend I travel to Illinois to train a another group of faithful volunteers who are going to begin using MediaShout. I love going to a church and seeing how MediaShout can best meet the presentation needs and dreams of the pastor and worship leader.

Regardless of your needs, MediaShout can simplify minor presentations or it can handle all the multimedia needs for pre-service announcements - worship - Sermon notes - video clips - Scripture - responsive readings - web sites - Pre/Post service music - DVD clips and even live video.

Clearpoint Presentations offers in-depth training for you and your ministry team and it starts at your level of understanding. From beginners to advanced, training can bring great confidence and creativity to your team.

If you are interested in MediaShoutl training for your tech team, send me an email expressing your interest and we can make it happen. clearpoint@comcast.net

Asus introduces Santa Rosa notebooks

I wanted to offer a link to the official news article from the Asus website.

There is a laptop for everyone, especially MediaShout users.
I am waiting to hear from users who are running MediaShout with a Geforce 8 series video card. Any feedback would be much appreciated.

New Asus G1 -Santa Rosa

Great News!! Asus is now shipping the new G1 containing the new Santa Rosa Chip from Intel. (check out this article from Gizmodo about Santa Rosa) Along with this new chip set are some new features and specs. This is one of the first laptops with the new Nvidia Geforce 8 series DirectX 10 graphics cards. Check this out!


Asus Ensemble G1S-A1 / Santa Rosa / 15.4" WSXGA+ / Core 2 Duo T7500 2.2GHz 800FSB / NVIDIA 8600M GT 256MB with DirectX 10 & HDCP / 2GB DDR2-667 / LightScribe DVDRW / 160GB 5400RPM SATA / Wireless-N / Gigabit / Windows Vista Home Premium

Interface:
1 x Express Card (Yay!!!)
1 x Microphone-in jack
1 x Headphone-out jack (S/PDIF)
1 x Line-in jack
1 x VGA port
1 x DVI-D port
1 x HDMI Port
1 x eSATA
4 x USB 2.0 ports
1 x IEEE 1394 port
1 x RJ11 Modem jack for phone line
1 x RJ45 LAN Jack for LAN insert
1 x TV-out(S-Video)

There will be more details soon on the store.
www.cart.defycreative.com
Cost will be around $2G
If you are interested in purchasing send me an email
clearpoint@comcast.net

Clearpoint Blogentations

Welcome to the Clearpoint Presentations Blog, also known as Clearpoint Blogentations. It is here in this blog that we will discuss topics related to church presentation software, media, laptops, AV hardware, and overall presentation, etc,. Clearpoint Presentations is a licensed reseller of MediaShout multimedia presentation software, Shout Music Manager, Prostar Laptops, Asus laptops and almost anything else Asus. Our focus is to meet the needs of the church concerning their multimedia presentations with excellence and quality.

Why MediaShout? I was a client before I became a reseller. (sounds like a hair-loss ad) The first time I saw MediaShout in action over 4 years ago, I knew I had to have it. It was so much more than PowerPoint and it brought new possibilities to our services. The feature list is huge and future with MediaShout is very exciting. I also see many applications outside the church setting where MediaShout would be very useful. Stage shows involving video and sound cues, training departments for corporate and small business settings, teaching environments, high schools, etc.

Why Asus? They have been making high quality components for PC's for years. Most known for their Motherboards, Asus has a full line of laptops and video cards. Check out the Wikipedia article for more info. Asus offers a great global warranty and a Zero Bright Dot warranty on all laptop screens. Check them out and see why Apple, HP, Compaq, Sony, and others are using Asus products.

Who is Prostar? In my personal search for an amazing laptop I spent 3 months obsessing and researching. I stumbled across this company I had never heard of and checked them out. I purchase the 5724 model and have been nothing but impressed with it since day one. They take things to the next level when it comes to gaming laptops. They even offer a 20" laptop with dual video cards and dual hard drives. Click here to learn more about Prostar.

Clearpoint Presentations exists to offer you the best product to fit your budget and to meet your church's needs. With 12yrs of full time ministry experience in both small and large church settings, we understand the church environment and understand what it takes to do things with excellence, even on a small budget. While we are building our website and putting the finishing touches on our store, keep checking back here for the latest news and updated information about the great products we offer.

Be blessed in all that you do!


TG