Sun Valley Megachurches Deploy FOR-A Switchers for Live Production

When Arizona-based Sun Valley Community Church made the jump from SD to HD production in its Gilbert campus three years ago, the house of worship began using FOR-A’s HVS-300HS video switcher. Last fall, the church was faced with the decision of purchasing a new switcher for its nearby location in Tempe. Pleased with the ease of use and performance delivered by its FOR-A switcher, Sun Valley chose another FOR-A switcher to get the job done – the HVS-XT100. The house of worship has been successfully using its HVS-XT100 portable video switcher since September 2013.

“Because we’ve been very happy with our HVS-300HS switcher, it was a simple choice to stay within the FOR-A family for our next switcher purchase,” said Greg Gardner, Sun Valley’s Video Technical Director. “We decided on the HVS-XT100 because of the new features that it offers, such as having the flexibility to assign one of the keys to any of the AUX channels, and the ability to reposition and resize the key as desired.”

The HVS-XT series is the newest addition to FOR-A’s switcher line. Building on the diverse functions and features of the popular HVS-300HS, the HVS-XT switchers include mixed HD/SD input, frame synchronizing, re-sizing engine, 2.5D wipe effects, DVE, Chroma keyer, DSK, and clip memory to support playback of video and the enhancement of productions through the use of CG wipes.

Both Sun Valley’s Gilbert and Tempe campuses have full video production suites, with each of its FOR-A switchers running three live cameras, and multiple computers driving content to three projectors in the front of the auditorium, which are used for image magnification and visual content. Since the HVS-300HS and HVS-XT100 are laid out almost identically, the church’s volunteers can help with video production at either campus without any confusion as to where buttons are located.

Sun Valley uses its new HVS-XT100 during services every weekend at its 1,300-seat location in Tempe. The church has been taking advantage of the ability to log in to the switcher via a Web browser on a laptop, smart phone, or iPad to control all aspects of the unit remotely. 

“FOR-A’s switchers provide great ease of use,” explained Gardner. “The bottom line for me is that the reliability of the products and customer support from FOR-A has been phenomenal.”

About FOR-A
FOR-A is a major manufacturer and distributor of video and audio systems to the broadcast, postproduction and professional video markets. For more information about FOR-A’s product line, visit our web site at http://www.for-a.com.