The first ones Bruce made were 6′ each (2 of them). Materials from Home Depot:

• (4) 38″ – 3/4″ PVC for bottom
• (4) 24″ – 3/4″ PVC for top
• (12) 9″ – 1/2″ PVC for side bars on T’s
• (10) 14.25″ – 1/2″ PVC for cross members
• Chrome paint
• Spray primer
• Drywall screws

Keys to remember:

• Pre-drill all holes.
• Cut 45 degree angles on 14.24″ cross pieces and screw them on
• Premake your side bars to assure they lay flat

Both pieces cost about $50 to complete. (Remember…these aren’t made to hold weight.)

He wanted to duplicate the look of concerts that used aluminum truss. Since they already had their lights hung from a lighting grid above the stage they didn’t need the functionality of the truss–it didn’t need to support a lot of weight.

So they used PVC pipe. Gary went to Home Depot and loaded up on 1″ 1/2 and 1/2″ PVC pipe. He used PVC glue to put it together so it looked like real trussing. Then he bought chrome paint at an auto parts store and gave it the metallic finish.

Note: Do not use this idea if you’re trying to hang anything from the fake trussing.

Because they are in a leased facility, they wanted a portable option for baptizing people. Plus they wanted a modern looking baptistry that would match with their modern stage designs. So they purchased an 1100 gallon water tank from Tractor Supply and cut off the top with a reciprocating saw. Then they simply filled it with water and lit the tank from behind with a Par64 can and aqua color gel.

They were going for a very hand-made feel, so they constructed the element from objects they found.

• The A was made out of drift wood.
• The C was a crook in a tree that they cut out.
• The T was an anchor that they flipped upside down. Then they added some other nautical pieces to reinforce the crossbar.
• The S was made out of some electrical conduit they found in a dump.

They found all the objects on an island in Maine, assembled them into the title, then hung them on their stage. They used photographs of the piece for their series slide on the website, postcards, bookmarks, etc.

Enter the snow machine. Essentially…the typical snow machine used a foamy solution to make tiny foam bubbles that can look like snow. Then a fan blows the “snow” unidirectionally and it floats down like snow. You can either buy one for anywhere from $60-250…or you can often rent them from local companies that rent out DJ gear.

A few tips if you plan to use a snow machine this year:

• The fans are very loud. If you’re in a small auditorium setting…be sure that something loud is happening if you’re using the snow machines inside.
• Test the things before you use them. Some snow machines don’t work well if they aren’t flat.
• The foam it produces can become a bit slippery if it falls on a very smooth surface.

A quick story. We used two snow machines one year…but hadn’t tested them. We put them tilted up on the stage behind some dancers. During the peak of the song we flipped them on…trying to create a really cool atmosphere. The sound of the fans actually drowned out the accompanying track…and since we had the snow machines tilted up…globs of foam shot out instead of a soft snow fall. Pretty lame.

So…have you used a snow machine before? What brand have you used? Also…what horror stories do you have from using snow machines that might help others?

Check them out! http://www.mioculture.com/store/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=7&idproduct=24

He created 5 frames that were 36″x90″ and 6 frames that were 24″x36″ made from 1 1/2 inch studs. He then scattered them around the stage and  backlit them with LED lights.

Download the zipped design files for the paper panels here. Also, if you’re finding these useful, go ahead and Paypal his ministry a couple of bucks for some new equipment at patrick@patrickfore.com.

Check out Patrick Fore’s design portfolio and website.

You can pick up the Flex LED Neon Lights from Tri North Lighting.

Denny at Sugar Creek Baptist Church in Sugar Land, Texas, used this LED neon lighting for his stage design called “Real Love”. Check out the pictures below and visit his blog for more details on the set.

• Pink Clouds Loop
  
  I’m in love with pink and yellow during worship. It’s so exciting! I use this video during celebratory, fast songs.
• Universe
  
  I use this during “Jesus Lord of Heaven” by Phil Wickham, or any sort of moderate song speaking of the glory of God.
• Bokeh Loop
  
  A FREE video download from ChurchMediaDesign.tv!
• Streaks 1
  
  I use this video during “Cannons” by Phil Wickham.
• Easyslides
  
  This is a collection of seven sets of videos combined with lyrics. Even if you don’t use all of the videos in this set, I recommend you get them. If you don’t do the songs, you can use the intro videos as a video background for other songs.
• Igniter Tracks
  
  These aren’t as versatile as Easyslides because they are one single video timed to the song, but if you have some video editing prowess you can create your own Easyslides from them simply by trimming the video to the certain part of the song and looping the video forward and reverse.

Videos from iStockVideo – These are a bit more expensive but really great.

• Animated Stripes and Dots
  
• Growing Vines
  
• Light of the Rainbow
  

Plus! Don’t forget about the free Mario Brothers “Everything Glorious” video slides offered here!

What are your favorite videos to use for worship backgrounds? Comment with links to yours. Feel free to self promote as long as they really are your favorite videos. :)

• http://www.geekologie.com/2009/03/man_builds_large_wooden_dino_f.php
• http://www.puzzlesaurus.com/puzzlesaurs.html
• http://toolmonger.com/2008/05/03/how-to-build-a-giant-dinosaur/

Then Steve welded the trees to some discarded rolling steel bases they found. The tree bottoms could easily be bent into a sturdy tri-leg formation, though. Leave the rebar unpainted for a rustic look and use these bottle trees inside or outside for a cool accent piece.

Jesus turned water into wine…turn wine into art!

PS. Was that Lutheran comment mean? I don’t mean to be mean…I love and have many Lutheran friends. If you’re an offended Lutheran please leave a comment on this page and I shall personally apologize.

To make these boxes, I used 24″ stretcher bars to make 2 foot tall/wide squares. I then put three of those together to make the front and two sides of the box. I painted each square black then stretched two layers of white spandex inside of each square and stapled the fabric down. Then for the light inside, I used LED Panels that we already had. For the top and bottom of the boxes, I used some black foam board that I cut to size, then stapled down. I left the backs open since the backs would never be seen by the audience.

And there you have it, light boxes for cheap. :)

Note: You can see through the fabric pretty easily…so you might want to find a way to diffuse the light a bit more. As you can see from the video, the LED bulbs can be seen through the fabric.

Check out Stephen Lechner‘s stage design using paper lanterns.

Or if you have the money and want a more “professional” solution, check out the ChromaSpheres.

The best place I’ve found to order these paper lanterns is from paperlanternstore.com. They have a lot of different types and sizes to choose from at very affordable prices.

Here’s a photo of how we used paper lanterns to replace old chandeliers we had in our building. We use 4 energy saver 150 watt bulbs in each fixture to provide tons of light to the room. The paper lanterns are two sizes: 30″ and 24″ Irregular Ribbed Paper Lanterns.

My goal is to turn them off during the worship and point colored pinspots on them to provide a nice ambient glow.

We bought our a few years ago from 123DJ. Their prices have gone up but they’re still pretty affordable. Cheap Lights is also another great site to buy trussing and other lighting fixtures from. So that’s that for trusses.

However, there is another alternative if you need a truss but don’t have the money to invest in them: antenna towers. These run for close to $100 for a 10 foot segment. You can pick these up in your local electronics store or order them online from a place like Antenna Systems or Warren Electronics. The pieces that look most like triangular trusses are called the Rohn 20G.

It’s important to note that these aren’t as “pretty” as the trusses you’ll buy from a stage design store. Also, these antenna towers are meant to hold vertical weight, not horizontal weight. So these should only be used for holding light-weight fixtures or used vertically.

One more option, if you’re going for the look rather than the function, is building your own trusses out of PVC pipes. You can attach them together and spray paint them with metallic paint. This is only advisable if you will be attaching no weight to them.

For your inspiration: