Last weekend was the Simply Youth Ministry Conference, and there was lots of great training. One of the speakers, Tim Schmoyer videoed his seminar on Communicating Youth Group News with Teens and Parents and dropped it on YouTube. You can watch it here (it was really good):

If you’d like to pickup more seminars from last week end you can get them here. Or if you’d like to register for next year (It’s going to sell out early) Visit: youthministry.com/symc.

Over the last week, I’ve come across two different video projects online that are using or used the power and reach of the internet to produce them.  The first one is a group that setting out to remake Star Wars, but letting people pick their favorite scene and recreate it however they want.  The second is a music video that that was written, produced and shot by user submissions to the creators youtube channel.  He also has a bigger vision of getting this song on the UK music charts to raise money for charity.

Here are the videos:

Star Wars: Uncut Trailer from Casey Pugh on Vimeo.

I just love the idea, and really enjoyed the results.  I was thinking this could be a fun youth group project.  Getting different groups of kids to shoot different parts of video and putting them all together could be a really fun activity.  I used to volunteer in a ministry that had a film festival of student made films every year and something like this would have been a great addition.  And with the availability of cameras like the Flip it could be easier than ever.  Kids love to see themselves on screen, and what a great way to involve lots of kids and let them stretch their creative muscles.

If you are anything like me, every time you go on a camp or retreat, you come back with tons of photos (about ten of which are usually any good) and maybe even some video.  Of course you want to do something cool with them, and every once in a while, you take the time to create a video that is a mashup of your pictures, videos, and some recent Christian Music.  Most of the time, your schedule rules out doing anything of the sort.

That is where Animoto comes in.  This snazzy little web tool allows you to upload photos and video, and then creates a really slick looking video of them.

You start by uploading pictures (no larger than 5MB each) and videos (no larger than 200MB each).  You can then set what portion of the videos you uploaded you want to include.  Once you have all your files uploaded, it’s time to select your music.  You can upload your own track or select from their collection.  If you are looking for Christian music, they have 27 selections ranging from Toby Mac to Christ Tomlin (who should be on your playlist).  All that’s left at that time is to determine your speed and cover image at which point their servers take over rendering an impressive video with a cool soundtrack.

The finished video is ready for sharing on Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, email, and even exporting to YouTube and Smugmug.

Sounds too good to be free right?  Well that’s where you’re wrong and right.  This is a freemium service.  You get all the photos and videos you can cram into 30 seconds for free, and if you want to make a longer video (up to the length of your song), the cost is $30 (the All-Access Pass) for all you can eat for an entire year… seems like a steal to me!  In addition to making longer videos, the All-Access Pass allows you to download the videos though they will only be 432×240 h.264 mp4s.  If you want dvd quality, you can pay $5 per video for the upgrade.

This site focuses on speed and ease of use.  Which means that you do not get a whole lot in the way of editing control.  As a matter of fact, you get NO control.  If you don’t like the transitions or timing, your only option is their “one-Click Remix” that sends it through their randomizer again to hopefully spit out something you’ll like.

However, if you want to be able to make a quick video about last week’s trip for this week’s worship service and have less than zero time, Animoto is a great choice, and an incredible value.  Check it out!

I am constantly amazed at the tools that lifechurch.tv produces.  This morning I found out about what is quite possibly the most useful of them all: Open.  What is it?  It’s thousands of top-quality resources for churches available for free download.  It’s not just youth resources!  Everyone can find something from adults to children and youth to pet ministry (I may have gone a little overboard on the pet ministry).

To begin, you simply sign up for an account and voila, the world of Open resources is at your fingertips.  Browse through the files to find videos of messages, background loops, small group curriculum, skits and video illustrations.

Don’t have a great worship band?  No problem, you can download worship sets to project on a screen with a band, lyrics, the whole deal.  There’s even forms and training.  Like I said, it’s awesome!  The only problem I could find with the well-designed site is that some of the video files require you to burn them on a dvd to play them which for a novice (especially one using a pc) could get a little hairy.

That being said, it’s all there, and it’s all free.  Next time you need help on a message or small group your first stop simply has to be Open.

I recently bought a new computer on which I did not install the normal pro apps I use.  That meant that I did not have quicktime pro, and I quickly realized what an incredible deal it is!  For a whole lot of common tasks, you do not need to buy or open up a huge, expensive program.  If you need to trim a bit of the beginning, rearrange the order of events in a clip, or quickly change a file’s size or format to upload to the web, all you need is the $29 upgrade to quicktime pro (on the mac).

My favorite feature has nothing to do with editing video files.  One of the handiest little preferences that shows up is the ability to play a movie on your secondary monitor or projector.  Instead of having to do some wonky dragging of the window to the other screen (which doesn’t work in many players), or use a presentation program like keynote or pro presenter, you can simply plug in your laptop, switch the display preference over to the secondary monitor, and voila!  Like I said, the $29 is totally worth it.  Click here for a link to it in the apple store.

UPDATE: Thanks to Luke for the comment about Quicktime X.  Apparently, with the release of Snow Leopard, many of the pro features will be included.  Which means it’s time to preorder Snow Leopard for $29 instead!

I got a question the other day about how to live stream an event.  This person had a great idea, they wanted to live stream some of the chapel times at camp for the parents back home so they could feel a part of what was going on.  I thought it was a great application for this technology.  A few years ago offering a stream of a live event on the Internet would have cost a small fortune and required a truck load of equipment.  Today it’s surprisingly easy and inexpensive.  Here’s a quick tutorial of how to do it.

Equipment you’ll need: A computer (preferably a laptop if you’re on the road), internet connection, video camera

Optional: Microphone (although this really shouldn’t be)

How to do it:

1. You’ll need an account at one of the streaming services.  They are a bunch of them, and most of them offer a free level that ad supported.  I use Ustream.tv, and have been really happy with it.  I use it to stream the Simply Youth Ministry Podcast and have also used it to stream sessions at the National Youth Ministry Conference.  There’s newer service called, LiveStream.com that looks really good also that I’ve been tempted to try out.  Stickam.com is another option for you.
2. Once you have you’re account setup, plug in your camera.  This might be a simple as a webcam (this is a good one), a home video camera, or a big professional rig.  One warning is the better your camera, the better your computer needs to be to keep up with the video stream.  As a point of reference, my 2 year old MacBook Pro can’t keep up with an HD signal, but most of the free services won’t allow an HD stream anyway.  So a nice Standard Def stream is probably your best bet.  Another thing to watch out for is some of the services will only accept 4 x 3 screen ratios, so if you’re camera is normally letterbox you may need to if you can change it in your settings menu.  This is also where if you have a microphone you’ll want to plug it in.  You may find what you are doing the built in microphone in your camera is just fine, but usually most people want something a little better.  There are some great external mics that you may want to get to connect directly to your camera.  Or you might want to get the audio directly into your computer.  If it’s a small area you are filming in,  a nice USB mic to may work well.  I use a Snowball from Blue it works well and is a great omnidirectional option if you have a group of people.  If you have a traditional XLR mic you’d like to use you can get a XLR to USB setup. If you have a little more of a production you working with you may want to take a line out of the sound board and into your camera.
3. Once you have the video and sound set, you’ll want to press the broadcast now button available once your logged into your streaming service.  It will ask what audio and video source to use, and pick the appropriate one for your setup.  In ustream once you press the broadcast now it actaully doesn’t directly start broadcasting, but pulls up the control panel.  Here you can test your settings before pushing your stream live.  When your ready you can push it live, and even record the stream if you want to.
4. Once you begin your broadcast, the last step is getting people to watch.  The easiest way is to embed the video on your own site and directing people there to watch.  You can also direct people to the show page for the streaming service you’re using.

Remember that one of the bonuses of streaming is that people are limited to just watching, you can also have a chat room with the video so people watching can comment and interact with what they are watching.  I find this to be one of the best parts of live streaming an event.  It’s amazing the engagement people can have while watch a video.  It’s a great way to interact and build community with those that can’t be at the event live.  If you have an extra person helping you out, I recommend assigning someone whose job is to monitor and interact with the chat.  Not only can they act as moderator, but they can also help the chatters feel a part of what’s happening in real time.

There’s a lot of great uses for this technology.  I already mentioned the idea of doing this from camp, but you could also do any event.

What ideas do you have for live streaming?

Recently, thanks to some twitter friends and tweetdeck, I have been exposed to a new little website called 12seconds. 12seconds.tv is like twitter, in video form. As in, you only have a small amount of space (12 seconds, duh) in which to express a thought or idea. You really only have enough time to focus on one topic. You can also respond to other people’s videos with your own video response.

As a youth worker, I think 12 seconds has many possibilities for use within youth ministry. Keep in mind (and I am well aware of this fact) that the video quality is not going to be HD quality when you make these videos. But I think the amount of time it will take you to use this resource will outweigh that slight negative.

10 Ways to use 12seconds.tv in youth ministry:

1. Quick announcements
2. Daily/weekly devo
3. Goofy videos of the students
4. Student of the week – maybe they can give their acceptance speech (make sure to spread the love and get everyone on video)
5. Ask the youth worker – answer the students questions on a regular basis
6. Ask the student – you ask a question you want answered
7. Event/Class Teaser – Promote an upcoming event with a short teaser about what they can expect (maybe even “cut yourself off” at the end right when you were going to reveal the big secret)
8. Meet the youth coaches – have the youth coaches (other adults who help) share a little about themselves
9. Recap of last lesson/message – you would be forced to really narrow down your focus, because you only have 12 seconds
10. Tip of the week – it could be a parent tip, youth worker tip, teenager tip or a tip for any other group you can think of (ie. 1 tip on how to contact a student during the week – for the youth coaches)

There are lots of other ways you could use 12seconds.tv in your youth ministry. I’d love to hear what you think. Leave a comment with your thoughts. Or better yet, make a 12 second video with your thoughts (just put the link to the video or your 12 second profile in the comments so we can see the video).

12seconds.tv is free, but you have to be invited. If you want an invite just email me (mkupferer(at)gmail(dot)com) or leave a comment with your email address and I will send you an invite.

Here is an example of a quick video I did with my kids.

hi everybody on 12seconds.tv

Here is a 12second video of the 10 ways to use 12seconds.tv in youth ministry

10 Ways to Use 12seconds.tv in youth ministry on 12seconds.tv

Guest Blogger: Mike Kupferer, a child of God, husband of Amy, father of Nathan & Wes, friend of some, worker of youth and reader of books.  You can also read Mike at reflectionministry.blogspot.com.