Worship Media Arts

We here at Midnight Oil are suckers for Apple products. When we first heard the about the original iphone, we knew for certain that we’d have to have one. Goodbye Palm Treo… Hello iphone.

The phone is amazing for keeping up with email, staying in touch with family, friends and business contacts, and it’s great tool for occupying dead time. It’s even a pretty nifty worship device with apps like Planning Center Online and ProPresenter’s Remote available. What’s even better is that it’s now become our GPS for when we’re on the road.

We’ve upgraded with every incarnation of the phone, learning little valuable lessons each time we’ve upgraded. Here’s what we’ve learned:

Used iphones are worth a lot more than you’d think:
When we went from the original Edge network phone to the 3G, we sold our originals to friends for a measly $100. We had no clue that they were going for nearly the same price we originally paid in the Apple store on ebay. If your iphone is in good shape, and you still have the box, you can get $300 or more out of your used iphone. That makes the new one free with a little profit on top!

When we moved from 3G to 3Gs, we sold ours on ebay for $350 a piece. Not a bad deal!

Preorder! Preorder! Preorder! … IF YOU CAN!

We stood in line for hours last year the day the 3GS came out, only to miss getting in the door by a few people. They ordered the phone for us in the store for later pickup, but they were so backed up, we had to wait 3 or 4 days to get them in the mail. If we’d pre-ordered, they would have come in the mail the day they went on sale in stores.

If you can preorder- do it. IF is a big “IF” right now unfortunately. June 15 (the day this posting) is preorder day. The problem is AT&T  and Apple are so overwhelmed by orders, neither company’s website seems to be working correctly where orders are concerned. From what we’re seeing on blogs and other news services, going in to a brick and mortar won’t be any better because they’re reliant on the sites for order processing.

If you’re impatient like we are, it’s almost torture to see screens like this every few seconds:

Who knows if the hype will die down later tonight or tomorrow, but it’s probably still worth pre-ordering and avoiding the lines. Chances are you’ll still get your phone on opening day in the mail.

The best worship presentation software deal on the internet just got better – again. Now through the end of the month, get Easter Loops 1 and 2 with any software purchase! This is in addition to our regular $200 bundle of free media, and our free shipping and delivery when applicable.

This deal covers (in alphabetical order) EasyWorship 2009, MediaShout 4, ProPresenter 4, and the brand new edition of SongShowPlus! Click on any app above to learn more. The free $200 bundle and the Easter Loops 1 and 2 products will be delivered as download links at the time of purchase.

There’s no better time than now to upgrade your capabilities and discover what one of these amazing new apps can do for your worship service.

The premiere way to create countdown videos on the Macintosh is now available at Midnight Oil!

Countdown Maker makes it easy to create a countdown video in minutes on your Mac. With Countdown Maker it is easy to drop in a video or image background that you or someone else created, customize your text, add a few effects, and click export.

Features include making countdown videos for any length, up to 60 minutes with the option of showing or hiding milliseconds and leading zeros. Any font on your computer can be used for your countdown. Size, color, and spacing can all be adjusted. The position and angle of your countdown text can be changed to look well with a background image or video. Screen safe guides can be toggled on and off. You can change the background color, or add your own video or image as the background. Full alpha support is available for any imported background. Easily export your countdown to a high quality H.264 QuickTime movie. Full alpha support is available if the background is transparent for importing into FinalCut Pro or any other editor of your choice.

Requirements include a Macintosh computer with Mac OS 10.4, 10.5, or 10.6 and a G4, G5, or Intel processor. At only $49, it pays for itself within a few completed videos! Learn more about countdown maker here.

Len and I were asked to be part of the teaching staff for a program put on by UMCOM designed to train African communicators on how to better use technology to tell their stories to a global audience. The program covers a wide range of topics from sound mixing and social networking, to graphic design and video production. For our session we’re focusing on design and video storytelling. What’s really fun about it is that it’s taking place at our alma mater Ginghamsburg Church where we got our start in ministry.

Each of the communicators get a laptop, digital camera, Flip camera and a digital audio recorder. They can do virtually anything they can dream with the tools they’ve been given to work with. Of course technology only gets you so far. Our role as teachers is to help them think creatively and tell their stories in the most effective way.

The UMCOM staff thought it would be helpful for us to spend time getting to know the Flip camera and audio recorders they provided to the communicators, so they send us some to experiment with. Len and I decided right away that we needed to shoot a piece with the same tools the communicators would be using.

Read the rest of this entry »