UPDATE: So I can set the record straight, we use ProPresenter3 and a love it. We had some issues but RenewedVision was quick to help us out through their forums. I came across iWorship and thought I’d mention it as an option. I’m not suggesting one is better than the other. However, as I said before, we use PP3 and will not be switching anytime soon.
We’re running Propresenter and Provideoplayer for all of our text and video presentation needs. When they are working, they are great But since they are built around or based on Apple’s Quicktime software, if you happen to download an update to either the Mac OS or to Quicktime, you’re playing roulette as to whether everything will play nice. Renewedvision (the company that makes the above mentioned software) tells you not to update if everything’s working great, though they themselves offer updates fairly frequently to fix bugs and add features. Despite our share of prayer circles and oil annointings around the computer equipment on Sunday mornings, it is all working seamlessly now and we couldn’t be happier.
However, someone at at Granger Community Church got fed up with the stability issues of Propresenter and decided to make their own software that worked like they thought it should called iWorship (are all the other names taken?). It is built to run off the actual video architecture of the computer it is on instead teaming up with another piece of software. They claim is ridiculously simple to learn and way more stable than the software it is openly competing with. Check it out. If you’re not trying to do the three-video screen thing we are or are just looking for presentation software that makes you volunteers not want to run for the hills every Sunday, it might be exactly what you are looking for.
|
February 11th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
Hi Will,
Hope you’re doing well. Stumbled upon your blog today, and recognize you from our forums.
One point of correction here. This is kind of a sensitive subject, as we’re constantly reading/hearing how Granger got fed up with Pro.
Well, they don’t own ProPresenter 3–never have. All of the marketing materials etc that reference Pro are referring to Pro 2, which was replaced in 2006. Pro3 does not share a line of code with Pro2. The comparison is a bit disingenuous, and we aren’t too sure why they constantly feel the need, but that is another story. We’re glad to sell ProPresenter on its own merits, and have great relationships with most of our competitors who do the same.
A quick review of their support forum will show that all software has crashing problems. The goal for developers is to minimize this, and the fact that we have a full development team in house positions us well to do this.
As for Quicktime/Quartz–Quartz actually relies on Quicktime for video playback, so there really is no way to get around the QT engine. QT renders the frames of a video and passes it to Quartz which handles the display to a window. Pro3 uses quartz, as a matter of fact.
Given this, any developer developing for Apple is at the mercy of OS updates/problems. An app will not behave the same in Tiger as Leopard, etc.
In fact, many of the things that sets ProPresenter apart and gives us the powerful render engine we have is that we are doing a lot of our work in OpenGL. We are able to do unique things such as output to a component graphics card for SDI out, for example.
That said, we are working hard to continue to develop the most stable, feature rich software in the market. Our user base speaks for itself, and we are humbled to have the endorsements of some of the largest, most influential churches and worship leaders in the world. The thing they love is that they find ProPresenter 3 to be the most volunteer friendly worship software on the market, we are proud that Apple computer themselves named both Pro and PVP as a “Staff Pick.”
February 11th, 2008 at 8:37 pm
WOW…. RenewedVision will comment on your blog, but they take FOREVER to respond with a problem with their software. I am so glad that everything is working better for us now.
February 11th, 2008 at 10:55 pm
Hi Mark,
Thanks for the encouragement
I just checked Will’s posts on our forum, and it took us about 11 minutes on average to answer his posts. I’m sorry we were not able to get to them quicker, but we do our best.
February 11th, 2008 at 11:01 pm
Greg, you guys make a great product and I’m proud to use it.
Mark, I was using their forum because they were quickly posting replies to try and help us and others solve our issues.
Everyone else, let’s be friends and know we are in this together even if you still use powerpoint.
February 11th, 2008 at 11:06 pm
amen to that….remember transparencies! :-) That was literally less than 10 years ago for some of us…myself included….this stuff has come quite a long way.
will, I’m glad the Apple update fixed your problems, and glad you’re enjoying the software. We’re humbled at the opportunity to serve the church market, and are glad to be a small part of His story.
February 12th, 2008 at 11:16 pm
It was a JOKE!!!! I know how fast they were responding. I just think it is really cool that they were checking out your blog. It would be even cooler if they stopped by The Leaf if they ever happen to be in Georgia…..