Commercial Presentation Applications

Good post Raoul. I, likewise, have not seen or used the commercial applications. We were almost asking for funding from the leaders for one of these app's when we discovered OpenLP.

I'm with you 100%. It's the reason we went with openlp.org. I made the decision based on how intuitive the GUI was. My reasoning was that if I got confused then trying to get semi computer literate people to use the software would be impossible.

Hi Raoul, Great post! Here's another for you to tryout; this one is very popular; its called Mediashout v3.0. You can download a trial version at www.mediashout.com. I think this one is considered to be at the top when it comes to commercial presentation applications. I would be interested in you opinion. I seems very easy, but the cost is a big problem. Great observations on the other applications, I've tried them and agree with you. K.M.

I was going to say that MediaShout was another popular one. I've seen ProPresenter (for Mac) mentioned a fair bit too. (Must be good, cos it's got a testimonial from Chris Tomlin! ;-) Does anyone else have experience with these (or other) applications who will share their good and bad experiences? Although I'm sure Raoul would love to install and review every presentation program out there, I guess he has other things to do with his time!!

another programm that is very popular in german-speaking countries is Songbeamer (http://www.songbeamer.com/). It is avaliable in English too. I personally like the style of it, altough it is not very flexible for spontaneous changes within the service (e.g. another song etc.). Another good point are the regular updates and bugfixes (every 7-14 days) It is not very expensive ($299), but comparing it with openLP.org we decided to go for openLP.org

There are a few things I love about Easy Worship

1. The way it thumbnails the media
2. The way it can allow you to place book marks on DVD clips for your presentation
3. It uses shortcut keys like PowerPoint, press the verse number then enter and it changes. (on your key pad)

Example: If you press 3 then Enter, it will take you to verse 3, press 1 then Enter, it will take you to verse 1 and c then enter, it will take you to the chorus.

If Opnenlp can do those things, I would never use use anything else but OpenLp so until then, I have to continue with Easy Worship.

I do check here often to see if those features are added though, because the day they are added, I will completely remove EW from my computer.

 Thank You for a great program. I still use OpenLP but not exclusively.

God Bless

We are going to be including a number of new usability enhancement features in openlp.org 1.2. I like the idea of the <verse number><enter>, so I'll add it to our feature list, and we'll see if we can include it.

DVD bookmarks sounds like a very handy feature, and essential for DVD playback - added to the feature list. 

I know it doesn't fit under the category of commercial programs, but I would be interested in hearing how OpenSong compares.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/opensong/

I've seen a few places using it, but I haven't looked at it myself in a few years.  They are open-source as well.

I've seen a few more presentation applications, so I'll install them and do an initial analysis on them as well.

Note, presentation programs I've used normally go straight to verse 1, etc, as soon as you press the '1' key (so no need for the additional enter key).

True this wouldn't work too well if you have 10 verses or more, but I don't know of many 10 verse songs... especially ones where you'd be singing verses out of order! (But no doubt someone will now post the definitive collection of very long hymns where the penultimate verse is often omitted ;-)

Bear in mind also that laptops don't generally have a keypad enter key.

Jeffrey, if openlp.org fits the bill for you, don't bother with OpenSong. OpenSong cannot handle video, PowerPoint, or simple image imports. It runs slower, and the interface is not as slick - instead of one intuitive screen you have to go into Songs mode, or Sets mode (Order of Service), or Presentation mode. Presentation mode cannot preview on-the-fly.

Use OpenSong if you need to run on a Mac, or need to loop your announcement slides before/after services, or to generate chord charts for your worship band. My church has used it for years because it was around back when we needed it. Our band inserts chords to produce excellent lead sheets and print the Order of Service. We are very happy with it, but it's not perfect.

I'm recommending openlp.org to smaller churches who use our recordings instead of live music. The OpenSong importer in opengl.org will be very handy for this.

I'm a big fan of Song Show Plus,  but there are area's I'd like to have things "upgraded".  I would love to be able to use ONE program for everything,  from playing music before service,  to playing DVD directly from the DVD at the "bookmarks".Overall I'm very satisfied with SongShow Plus (version 5),  but it's so expensive,  I'm never planning to buy Version 7;  This is why I'm such a fan of OpenLP.  We are immediately integrating OpenLP into our youth program and it's working out great.

I don't know what all feature are available on other high end presentation programs,  but the more that OPenLP can align it's feature with those big name programs,  the more copetitive it can become as a tool uses in churches.  The one feature I miss using Open LP instead of Song Show Plus,  is the verse, chorus buttons that represent the verse you want to jump to.  It just makes it easier if it's a longer song with more screens.

THANK YOU for this program!

 

 

just today I found another very mature application, which is not commercial but also not opensource. you can find it at: http://www.easislides.com/ the interface is similar to the one openlp.org uses and seems to have a long feature list :)