An Operator’s Overview of ProPresenter
Introduction
This section covers a general overlook of the tools and user interface (UI) that Operators will be using with ProPresenter as well as the type of contents that Operators will be working with and their significance to the service. However, before continuing, it might be helpful for readers to understand what ProPresenter basically is and what it’s for.
ProPresenter 7 (PP7) is essentially very powerful slideshow software and so the closest software PP7 resembles would be MS PowerPoint. The difference is that PP7 is built more for engagement through scripture and song, rather than being purely informative. As a result, Operators should find PP7’s UI and navigating through it somewhat intuitive if they’ve ever worked with MS PowerPoint before or a close alternative to it.
Features, User Interface and Tools
This part of the overview is split up into three parts, the newest features of PP7 that are likely to change how Operators will work, as well as the relevant things that they will be able to see and do. It is important to note that discussion about these parts isn’t meant to include their significance to the service, just what those parts allow for. Visuals aids are added through GIFs and images where it was considered helpful and it’s recommended for experienced Operators to revisit this section if they feel out of practice.
While not meant to be comprehensive, it should give a basic idea of how each part works. For the uninitiated or fresh Operator, it might be considered wise to take a cursory glance here and not linger too long. It’s not expected of them to intimately know all the relevant parts of ProPresenter before getting basic, hands-on experience as an Operator.
Latest Features
PP7 comes with a lot of new features, but the ones of most interest with regards to this manual are the ones that impact what the congregation, staff, speakers and worship team will see. The inclusion of a layer system and ProPresenter’s ability to provide differentiated output to as many monitors as it can handle are of note. In the future, this section might be expanded on to reflect the complexity of the system created to take advantage of all that PP7 has to offer.
Of note is that ProPresenter also has video recording and live streaming capabilities now. Although it might not be ready now, in the future with the right setup, Heartland’s ProPresenter might be capable of replacing its current software geared towards this, Open Broadcaster Software (OBS). However, until the infrastructure is built for this to happen – there is at this time, no urgency to expand any further on it in this manual.
Layers
The slides that make up each presentation are each made up of layers. Each layer contains a type of content that will persist between slides and even presentations, until overwritten by transitioning to new content on that same layer or the content’s layer is cleared. The layers, from background to foreground are: Video Input, Media, Slide, Announcement, Props, Messages and Audio[1]. More detail about these layers is explored in the View Modes & Panels section.
New to ProPresenter is the ability to send presentations to the “Announcements” layer. With the press of a button, the user can create two simultaneous outputs. The first, a set of looping announcements on one monitor and the second, the main output on the other monitor.
Multi-Screens
The newest and potentially most powerful feature is the ability to physically connect to and use as many screens as the computer that ProPresenter is running on can handle. With this feature, ProPresenter users can provide a custom output for each connected screen and decide what layers they will show. With this, users can create a custom stage display that allows them to monitor what the output is on each monitor, at the same time.
View Modes & Panels
View modes take up most of the screen and will grant Operators special views or privileges based on the mode enacted. They’re unique in that an Operator can usually only have one mode on at a time. Panels allow users to add or remove content that will affect the various layers embedded in each slide or sets of slides. Panels are different from view modes in that they can be viewed and run simultaneously, allowing the Operator to observe many different things at the same time, a very useful ability to have in this role.
Show Mode
Going back to the illustration of ProPresenter as being powerful slideshow software, “Show” mode is what allows the Operator to see that all the slides that make up any slideshow uploaded to ProPresenter. Of course, in the context of service, the “slideshow” being referred to could be a service’s playlist[1] or a song that the Operator could freely scroll through. Without this mode, the “slideshow” can’t be run as there’s no other way to select slides or transition from one slide to the next.
Aside from being able to view the slides of a playlist/song, “Show” mode allows alterations to the playlist and its subsections. Through this mode blank slides can be added, slides’ transitions can be altered (e.g. Cut, Dissolve, or something more advanced) and alternate views of the slides can be presented (e.g. Grid, Easy, Outline, etc.). The content of this mode sits squarely in the center of PP7’s screen and takes up a large portion of space.
[1] When referring to “playlists” in this manual, what is being discussed is the curated content of slides that’s been organized for a service (announcements, worship songs, sermons, etc.) – a “playlist” of slides
(Red Rectangle region) What “Show” mode looks like
Edit Mode
The purpose of this mode is illustrated in the name – it’s used to edit the slide in question. In contrast to “Show mode”, “Edit” mode focuses exclusively on one slide at a time. With some exceptions (e.g. Text and Theme formatting), the only way to edit multiple slides is one at a time within “Edit” mode, assuming the slides all belong to the same section (i.e. are part of the same song, sermon, etc.). If not, users will have to bounce between “Show” mode and “Edit” mode until they’re satisfied that they’ve made the appropriate changes for all slides across their different subsections.
Preview Screen & Layers Panel
Arguably the most nuanced and important part of PP7 due to the inclusion of layers and looks. The Preview Screen section allows users to see what output ProPresenter is sending to each monitor. The Layers section allows the user to clear specific layers on active slides
Library and Playlist Panel
Seen on the left-hand side of the UI, the library and playlist panel collectively show all the slide content that’s been uploaded to ProPresenter – organized in the form of libraries, as well previously created/uploaded playlists. Sermons, Countdowns, Announcements, Worship Songs, etc. – if it has slides it will likely be found here. A nice feature of this panel is that upon clicking either a library or a playlist, the user will be able to view the contents of that library/playlist, listed as “items”. Playlists offer a more organized view of these items, where headers can be created for slide content to be reorganized and differentiated from each other.
Media Panel & Audio Bin
The Media panel includes all backgrounds that are either static or animated, while the audio bin contains all the audio resources that have been uploaded to ProPresenter to date. Like the Library and Playlist Panel, the content of these panels can be reorganized and differentiated for later ease of access. To use any of the material, simply drag and drop the content into a slide. This will fill the “media” layer or “audio” layer of that slide respectively with that content and all future slides transitioned into – until overwritten by transitioning to a slide with different content in those layers.
Buttons
Found on the main toolbar, buttons enable the user to do something. That usually involves accessing and then changing the content of a layer, enabling a different view or something similar. While Operators might not see frequent use out of every button, it is recommended to try them out and see what type of actions they enable.
View Modes
Discussed earlier in the Show Mode and Edit Mode sections, each of these modes can be accessed by clicking their respective buttons or a shortcut key, found on the main toolbar. The symbol used for the “Show” mode button resembles a “Play” button, the kind seen on a VCR or a TV remote. The symbol used for the “Edit” mode button resembles a pencil being applied to a piece of paper.
Timers
ProPresenter offers the ability to set multiple timers in motion at the same time. The “Timers” button allows for this, where the user can do things like create their own custom timer and even link content to those timers. Although there are only three types of timers (Countdown Timer, Countdown to Time, Elapsed Time), there’s more than enough customization offered that one could do a lot with them.
Messages
If one must temporarily display a message, the “Messages” button comes in handy. Like the “Timers” button, this area has a lot of customization available but is distinct in that messages form their own layer. Presets are available to fill out from, but if one chooses, they can create their own preset – a message that only needs certain fields prescribed by the user to be filled out. Once completed, ProPresenter will display the message on top of the content for the duration the user set beforehand.
Props
Sometimes there’ll be a need to keep a persistent image or text on top the content that’s already there – such as a watermarked logo or a motto. Whatever the case, the “Props” button helps in this area – where if necessary, the user can create brand new props by navigating from the “Props” button through to the “Props Editor”. The editor itself greatly resembles the interface seen when using the “Edit” button but is meant solely for creating content for the “Props” layer.
Stage
Lastly, the “Stage” button enables users to set the specific stage display desired for the content selected. While not expected to get as much use as the other buttons, it allows for users to get on-the-spot feedback for how their content will be viewed by the appropriate parties when they get on stage. Unlike the other sections, there is no way to create new stage displays or customize existing displays through this button– that can only be done by visiting the “Stage Editor”.
Main Areas of Operation
The main sections that an Operator uses, organized from most to least interacted are:
- Sunday Playlist
- Messages
- Editor Modes
- Stage Display
The Sunday Playlist
The Sunday playlist is the main tool the Operator uses and should already be pre-configured and set up for use by the time the Operator is ready to get started. If completely setup, your Sunday playlist should resemble the gif below, where the following has been set up:
- Announcement slides
- Countdown timer
- Worship songs
- Sermon slides
There are three different sections that you’ll notice on the screen – the playlist on the left-hand side, the gallery of slides in the middle and the layers section on the right-hand side. You can use the playlist to navigate between major sections which should already be segregated and color-coded. The gallery of slides is what you will usually be looking at for most of the service as you navigate from one slide to the next. The layers section on the right-hand side might be necessary if layer management is necessary.
Announcement slides
The announcement slides are meant to show off events and activities that Heartland is currently engages in. There are two types, pre-event and live announcement slides. Pre-event announcement slides are the ones that are at the top of the playlist and run on a loop, with each slide being shown on a predetermined amount of time. Live announcement slides are ones that are shown while the Sunday service is live and will be talked over by a speaker at the pulpit.
Countdown timer
Usually five minutes before the service is to start, the Operator will start a countdown timer slide. The timer will automatically countdown to zero but must be selected first. Once the timer reaches zero, that is the cue for the Operator to transition to the Worship team’s first song for the Sunday service.
Worship songs
Worship songs are all the songs that the worship team will sing both before and after the sermon. Slides for this type have a unique stage display that allow the worship team to see what their current lyrics are and the next set of lyrics – and also allow the Operator to use hotkeys to instantly go to certain sections of the song. Typically, there are two to three songs prior to the sermon and one song after, but this is not set in stone – there could be more or less.
Basic Composition
Worship songs have a basic composition; each should be made up of a media slide, lyrical slides that make up the verses (e.g. Verse 1, Verse 2, etc.) and chorus of the song, and then a blank slide. The media slide provides the visual background to the song – it might be an animation or a static image, but it’s almost never a blank slide[1]. Lyrical slides are important because they provide a visual for both the worship team and the congregation of what to sing through the stage display and audience display respectively. The blank slide is at the end, signalling that the song is finished and helps the Operator to neatly transition into another set of slides.
Heartland’s Style
Worship slides are designed in a particular way so that they’re both easy to read – but don’t clutter the screen with too many words. This style is described as having two lines per slide, centred and in the middle of the slide, on top of rectangles that contrast the words in color and make them easier to read against the overall background.[2]
Sermon slides
Sermon slides contain the visual parts of the message that the Pastor/guest speaker is trying to impart on to the congregation. This part of the playlist is the one that will deviate the most between services – as the theme of the message as well as the person and their preferred style of delivering the message will likely be different each time a service is carried out.
Depending on circumstances, you may also need to play around with settings and so interact with the following sections:
- Messaging
- Editor Mode
- StageDisplays
Messaging
Sometimes a subtle visual message has to be played for the attention of an audience member. The main scenario is when the parent of a child in Heartland’s daycare has been called to attend to their child. In this case, ProPresenter’s messaging system is used to display a short message to that parent – without calling too much attention to itself.
Operators can access the messaging system via the main bar, where it says “message” and can create customized templates or write a message from scratch. The template for this type of message should already be prepared, so all an Operator needs to do is access “message”, click on the template and enter in the number associated with the child in daycare.
Editor Modes
Though editing is mainly considered part of Pre-Service preparation, due to how ProPresenter is built, on-the-fly corrections are very doable. Operators may not notice something is off with a certain piece of content until they’re well past the start of the service. This doesn’t omit responsibility however, as the Operator can still access the various editor modes available, which allow the Operator to change the content as desired without changing what the congregation is seeing on the screen at that moment.
Various modes of interest exist, aside from the vanilla slide editor there’s the Reflow editor, the Stage editor, and the Props editor among others. These editors change content with regards to how songs are structured and arranged, how the stage display is shown and what content is being used on the props layer respectively. To get more in-depth detail of how some of these editor modes can be used for on-the-fly corrections, visit Troubleshooting Problems.
The Stage Display
Although the Operator’s role is of greatest benefit to the congregation, the work they put into visual displays can be used to assist other members serving that day – namely the worship team and those speaking at the pulpit. That work is directed through what is called the stage display, a separate visual from the one the congregation sees that is meant specifically for only those serving to see. An Operator can configure the stage display to vary its visual output based on what the person seeing it is doing.
Worship Team Stage Display
The stage display for the worship team is configured to show them the scheduled song lyrics. The worship team usually sings two to three songs at the beginning of the service and one song after the sermon. Although they should be familiar with the songs on schedule due to practicing off-site, being able to see their current lyrics and the following lyrics helps somewhat.
As with any of the stage displays, it should already be pre-configured and automatically set up with a template – although one can be created and assigned if easily if no template is available. The style of the stage display is currently set to emphasize the current lyrics in big letters, with the next lyrics in smaller font size and a clock in AM/PM format. The display changes in real time when transitioning between slides and songs.
Sermon Stage Display
Every Sunday service, staff from the pastoral team or a guest speaker will deliver a sermon. Operators assist in this area by providing visual aids via the stage display, which help them focus their energy into providing their message with impact and connection to the congregation.
The stage display is normally pre-configured for when a sermon is being delivered. Unlike the worship team’s stage display, it’s more plausible to have a rotation of stage display to suit the various needs of the speakers. The standard template is similar to the Worship team’s in that it shows the main content of the current slide with a view of the next slide’s content.
General Process for Sunday Operation
The following section will serve two purposes. The first is to act as a rough walkthrough for an uninitiated Operator, though it will be stated again that the best way to learn is likely through serving with more experienced Operators. It is the author’s observation that hands-on experience coupled with mentorship makes for a readied Operator. The second is to act as a sort of checklist, which by looking over this section – can help even the more seasoned Operators recall the smaller and easy to miss details of operation.
Starting Assumptions
While the previous section speak about the nature about the tools Operators are using, the material is mentioned for Operators to know what it’s meant for, not for the sake of recreating the tools themselves. So, a lot of what’s been discussed prior should have already been set up the day an Operator steps on for the service. There are two pieces of advice that will go a long way to helping Operators for when something is missing or not set up the right way.
The first is to get to know the staff that are responsible for setting up ProPresenter’s content and tools for the service. Those people will be the Operator’s first point of contact if something is missing and it is not obvious that the content is somewhere else on the computer, or a tool is not set up properly. If approached early enough, usually those staff members will have a solution, or at least a hot fix that will work. The second is that when free time presents itself, to take that time to look at ProPresenter and really try to understand how its different parts work. This advice is more of a long-term solution, but with time and experience those acting as an Operator will begin to be more self-reliant and make solutions possible – and perhaps even be able to teach fresher Operators the finer points of ProPresenter.
Pre-Service
While most of the time, ProPresenter will be setup properly with the right content uploaded – things can be “off”. A worship song may not have been uploaded to the playlist, some of the slides may have spelling errors, a certain stage display style may not have been applied to the right slides, and so on. Pre-service, it will be the Operator’s priority to detect these kinds of things and if they’re unable to troubleshoot the solution by themselves or find a solution through the Troubleshooting Problems section, bring them to the attention of those who are better able to do so.
Obtain schedule and sermon notes
The first step the Operator is advised to take is obtaining the schedule for that day’s service. It is single-handedly the most important clue that an Operator will have as to whether ProPresenter’s content for that service is on track or not. Aside from more obvious services such as those held on Christmas, Good Friday and Easter Sunday – Operators generally walk in blind as to whether the service they’re on will involve doing things differently than usual. Communion, baptism and dedications are just some of the parts of service which do not happen weekly, and so the schedule helps tremendously in keeping the Operator aware of what’s going on for that day.
The schedule is not something handed to the congregation, rather it is kept among staff and volunteers serving that day to keep everyone coordinated. If there isn’t one on hand, chances are that a staff member or volunteer knows where a copy can be found. An example of what the schedule could look like is provided on this page –based on the most recent style that Heartland used at the time this guide was created.
Next, if possible is obtaining the sermon notes of the pastor/guest speaker that will be on stage for that day. These notes will be extremely useful for following along for when the sermon is being delivered, but in particular are important during the preparation stage because Operators can do a test run with those notes, observing when they have to transition between slides. The style of these notes will vary between speakers because the speakers themselves generate the notes and so, an Operator’s ability to follow along could be made easier or harder than usual. Generally, a copy will be available for Operators to follow but there are cases when an Operator may have to work without one on hand.
The worst-case scenario – which is very manageable, is that if there isn’t a schedule available. In this case, the Operator can consult with the different parties serving on the main stage that day about their content. This just means speaking with the worship team, staff and the pastor/guest speaker to get debriefed on the main points for that day’s service and to get a sense of if there’s anything different from the norm.
Review playlist against schedule
Once the schedule is in hand, the Operator reviews it against the over-arching content uploaded to ProPresenter, to check if anything “big” is missing. By “big”, what is meant are entire sections that could be missing that the Operator may not be able to make up for[3] – someone else needs to provide the material for the Operator to upload. It helps to ask the following questions as you perform this review:
- Are the sermonslides ready?
- Are the worship songs ready?
- Are there special events today and is their content ready?
- Is there any special media being played (e.g. video, pictures) during announcements?
- Is there any special media being played (e.g. video, pictures) during the sermon?
Proof-checking
Once the Operator’s confirmed the main parts of the media are included, the next step is to proof-check the playlist and its content. This involves not just checking slides individually – but how they work together. It is suggested to do a quick test run of the entire playlist to see if anything’s off, which can be done by starting from the very first slide and then progressing through until the Operator reaches the last slide.
The kind of errors that an Operator will be looking for could be any of the following:
- Spelling errors
- Incorrect dates/names
- Misaligned words and letters
- Slides are in the wrong order
- Incorrect stage display applied
- A slide’s timer isn’t working/turned off
- Missing backgrounds for worship songs
- Videos aren’t playing correctly, or at all
Of note should be any media or on-stage events that require the assistance of other wings of the AV team (sound, lighting, camera) to help focus the congregation’s attention, such as a video or a dedication. Operators must work in coordination with the members serving in those wings ahead of time, to make sure that their respective media pieces will play as intended. This way, if a problem is detected, the groups can try and find a solution together.
Run Announcement Loop
If the Operator is confident that they have done what is possible for quality checking, the next step is to run the pre-event announcement loop and be on standby until they must run the countdown timer. If configured right, the loop will keep on running indefinitely until the Operator switches to another set of slides. This would be a good time for Operators to relax and take a coffee break before coming back.
Run Countdown Timer
The Operator can transition to the countdown slide, which should pe positioned right after the pre-service announcement loop. The slide should start five minutes before the service is to start and will have a visual timer reflecting that, which can be seen by the congregation. It’s advised to be ready when Heartland is one minute away from starting the service, then transition immediately to the greeting slide.
Running Live Operation
The most exciting part of the service! This is a period where the preparation that everyone has put into the service pays off. While the worship team, staff and pastor/guest speaker go on the main stage – you as an Operator facilitate their ability to connect the congregation to Scripture and God behind the scenes via ProPresenter. There are different stages to live operation as described below, which together accurately portray the general structure of a service and an Operator’s role within them.
Initialize Service
Once the countdown timer has reached zero, the Operator should aim their transition to the welcome slide to be in sync with when the worship team starts playing. The worship team will say hello to the congregation, giving a few seconds of grace to allow for the transition – and then pause for a few seconds before getting started on the first worship song. The welcome slide will have a simple message for the congregation, such as “Welcome to Our Church!” or “We’re Glad to See You!”.
Running Pre-Sermon Worship songs
Assuming that the welcome slide has been up long enough for the congregation to read, that initial pause that the worship team has before starting their first song works as a transition point. Go to the first slide of the first worship song, which should be a background with no text. Ideally the background will be animated but it might just be a still picture.
With that, the service will have kicked off into a rhythm with the worship team, and it’s the Operator’s job to match that rhythm with their slide transitions. The key here is to lead the lyrics for the benefit of the congregation – stay on a slide until its lyrics have been sung, then transition to the next slide before the worship team sings its lyrics. This way, the congregation can follow the lyrics along and be prepared for what they will sing next without being caught off guard.
The tricky part of this area is transitioning in respect of the cadence or the pacing of the song, as that determines how much leeway the Operator would give before they decide to transition between slide lyrics. If a song has slow pacing, a couple seconds may feel appropriate but if it’s a particularly fast pacing, half a second may feel appropriate.[4] There is no fast, comprehensive answer to this problem but it’s observed that most, if not all Operators adjust to the nuances of timing with experience.
Each song should have a slide with no text at the end, so the background will still be present when it’s transitioned to. The signal to transition to the next song’s set of slides will be when the worship team starts to play music that’s different from the previous song. As with the first song, the slide the Operator will first transition to would be a background with no text. This entire process is repeated until all the pre-sermon worship songs are finished.
Running Announcements
Next the Operator will transition from the last worship song to what should be a welcome slide, signalling the start of the live announcements. With the congregation seated, a member of the Heartland staff will deliver that day’s announcements regarding events and initiatives at Heartland regarding community outreach, small groups, sub-ministries, member notifications, invitations to further connect for new visitors, etc. Unlike the pre-sermon announcement loop, the Operator will need to manually transition through the slides and similar to the worship team, should be ready to transition ahead of time so that the congregation will have ample time to absorb what’s on the screen.
Sometimes a special service will be held, such as a dedication for example or a video will be ready to commemorate a special day – Mother’s Day for example. Usually the content for these events will take place during live announcements, if not soon after. The Operator, in coordination with the sound, lighting and camera teams will ensure that the congregation will be able to focus on these events/media when transitioned into.
Running Sermon
After the announcements comes the sermon and so, when the pastor/guest speaker comes on stage, the Operators should transition to first slide of the sermon. Operating during the sermon is arguably the hardest part of the service to write about as on top of being the defining part of the service – it’s the most variable too. Therefore, it’s advised that the Operator is most alert and observant during the sermon, as any of the core elements of the sermon could change depending on the week, such as:
- If the speaker is from the pastoral team or an invited guest
- If the topic is part of a larger series, or is a standalone topic
- Reliance on media, text or number of slides
Although the sermon is considered a defining part of the service, most experienced Operators will agree that if one is paying attention, it is the easiest part to run for a couple of reasons. The sermons are built with a logical flow of ideas and so, even without sermon notes on hand – even newly minted Operators should find transition timing intuitive. Additionally, the speaker will almost certainly have enough experience to cue the next slide to the Operator if they’re experiencing some difficulty in that area– either by literally telling the Operator to go to the next slide, or saying so but with more subtle wording.
Running Post-Sermon Worship song
Sometimes the speaker will cue the worship team at the end of their sermon, which will double as a cue for the Operator to transition to the last song for the worship team. If that cue is absent, the Operator must observe for a more concrete cue, which will be when the worship team begins to play music as a lead-up to the final worship song of the service. Aside from the initial transition from the sermon to the ending song, everything else should be operated the same as mentioned from the “Running Pre-Sermon Worship songs” section.
Conclude Service
After the worship team finishes its last song for the service, the Operator will transition to the “Goodbye” slide, usually on a cue provided by the speaker or staff. The cue will be obvious, a send-off that signals the end of the service to the congregation.[5] Like the “Welcome” slide, the “Goodbye” slide will have a simple message such as “Have a Great Week!” or “See You at the Next Service!”. With that comes a handy congratulations, as the Operator has successfully carried out and concluded the service!
Troubleshooting Solutions
Q: How do I clear off an image that’s staying on the screen, even though I’ve moved to another slide?
Each slide is composed of layers, and ProPresenter will by default carry a layer’s content over to the next slide – unless there’s new content on that slide’s layer. The likely problem here is identifying which layer in particular has carried over – as the Operator does have the option of clearing all of the slide’s layers but may clear material from layers that they have to reclaim by revisiting previous slides. The core layers (Media, Slide) are the likely suspects here.
- Look at the “layers” section and select “Clear Media”
- If this doesn’t work, select “Clear Slide”
- If this doesn’t work, select “Clear All” – which will leave an empty slide
- If desired content has been lost from layers(Media, Messages, etc.) supplied from previous slides, click on those slides first before going to the original slide in question
Q: I’m missing a song for the playlist and it’s not in the library, how do I import it?
As long as the Operator can find a copy of the song, ProPresenter will do the rest. The first step will be to verify that the song is indeed missing from the playlist and isn’t in the library. The second, if the song is missing, is to upload a copy of the song to the library via the clipboard. The last step is to conform the song to Heartland’s format for future use.
- Cross-reference the service schedule against the playlist to confirm the song is missing
- If it is missing, press “CTRL+F” to pull up all libraries and SongSelect[7]
- Type in the name of the song to see if it’s available
- If the song still can’t be found, open up any browser and find a copy online, preferably a pdf with each of the lyrics properly grouped (e.g. chorus, verse 1, verse 2, etc. are labelled)[8]
- Copy the lyrics from the song, they should now be saved to the Operator’s clipboard
- Go back to ProPresenterand select “File -> Import -> Text from Clipboard…”
- When the “Import” window pops up, make sure the following settings are configured: Slides are delimited by line breaks, with 2 delimiters per slide, and under “Destination”, the song will be filed under the “Songs” library
- The Operator will automatically be taken to the song, which if it was already organized will have its lyrics automatically grouped and sorted by ProPresenter– the first thing to do change the song’s name to what it should be
- If the song’s lyrics have not been grouped and sorted, do so now
- With the song selected, conform the song to Heartland’s format via the “Text” and “Theme” buttons[9]
- Lastly, insert blank slides at the beginning and end of the song, with a backgrounded inserted into the “Media” layer of the first blank slide
Q: How do I add in missing lyrics for a song?
Sometimes a song will be missing lyrics. This is either because the worship team is trying for a never-been-done before variation, the song hasn’t been updated for a while or it’s just an error. Adding in the missing lyrics should be simple. With the song in question opened:
- Open the “Reflow” Editor, located on the main toolbar next to the “Show” and “Edit” buttons
- Use the “Insert Slide Break” button to create new slides where the lyrics are missing, the slides should automatically conform to the themes used in the song
- Type out the missing lyrics
- Re-group the lyrics and if necessary, classify the song as a new arrangement
[1] Note: It is important to click on the media slide associated with that worship song, otherwise the intended background will not actually show up. What will happen instead is that whatever the previous background will stay for that worship song.
[2] As of this time with ProPresenter, a semblance of that style can be observed by selecting a song, applying the “Theme” button and then selecting “Lyric Styles -> White Box -> Two Lines”
[3] The exception to this would be worship songs, which can be easily pulled from ProPresenter’s library if they’re missing, more on this in the following sections
[4] This isn’t meant literally, but as an illustrative point, but if there are exist people that can perfectly transition after a few seconds or fractions of a second on command – the AV team is recruiting!
[5] . If there won’t be a send-off the Operator will likely be told of that ahead of time, in which case the Operator could transition to the “Goodbye” slide when the worship team has finished singing – however, they might still be playing music in the background which is completely alright
[6] Operators are encouraged to conform to this style when making contributions to this section
[7] A program that requires its own license to be used, it allows for songs to be searched without leaving ProPresenter
[8] An example of the format being referred to can be found here.
[9] As of this moment, the exact format Heartland wants to use with PP7 is unknown so a staff member that uses PP7 will have to be consulted here
Q: How do I change the song’s arrangement?
Even if a song is completely up to date, the worship team might want to sing it with any combination of the verses, chorus or bridge in an order different from the norm. This can be set up without changing the master copy of the song via “Arrangements”.
- Located on the toolbar for each presentation (read: song) and select the “Arrangements” button
- Select “New Arrangement” and give the new arrangment an appropriate title
- Rearrange or deleted the lyrics’s verses, chorus and bridge as desired
The change will have been registered, the presence of the new arrangement can be confirmed by observing the presentation’s title, which should now have the arrangement’s title next to it in brackets.
Q: How do I transfer a song from the library into the playlist?
Once imported into the library, a song can be easily be transferred into a service’s playlist.
- Find the song, which should be under the “Songs” library
- Drag and drop the song ‘s name over the playlist’s name, the song is now in the playlist
- Drag and drop the song again from within the playlist to where it should be
- Attach the stage display that’s used for the worship teamif it’s not already included
Q: The countdown timer isn’t counting down to zero, how do I make it work?
The likely problem is that the timer hasn’t been started via the “Timers” section
If the Operator doesn’t know what timer the pre-service countdown slide uses, go through steps one to five, otherwise skip to step six.
- Select the slide with the countdown timer on it and select the “Edit” button
- Select the text that’s linked to the countdown, it should read something like “754:56”
- View the text settings for this text via the “Text” button on the right-hand side
- Through the “Linked Text” area, check what name is given under the “source” area – this is the name of the timer that this countdown slide uses
- Click the “Show” button to exit editing mode
- Select the “Timers” button
- Find the timer used for the pre-service countdown
- Make sure the timer is set as a “Countdown Timer” and is set to the duration desired
- Select the “Start” button for that timer
- Select the countdown slide to restart the timer to the duration set earlier