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Dark Room Operation Guide

River Oaks Church - Updated March 2025

Welcome! Before you begin, please make sure you have prior, written approval from the main office to utilize the Dark Room. If you do, please continue!

To begin using the dark room, start with pressing the POWER ON button in the center of the home page. If you are hosting a simple event, navigate to the Dark Room Audio Control tab (near the bottom left of the home screen), and select VIRTUAL CONSOLE as the source (on the right hand side of the screen). If, for some reason, the projects did not power on automatically, you may go back to the "Home"/"Dark Room" tab. and press the ON buttons for “Projector 1” and “Projector 2”.

¹At the bottom of the screen, you will notice a few tabs that are used to control separate rooms. The remainder of this guide will break down each function of the room, and how to use it.

Lighting

This section displays different lighting presets available. If you are running an event like a movie night, the “Stage On” is recommended. If it’s a basic event with someone on stage, the “All On” preset is best.

When you are done using the room, it’s important to press the “All Off” button, which will correctly clear out the lighting presets you used, and reset the system for the next user. You may also turn off the lights by pressing the button button on the lighting control wall panel near the main exit.

Video

The options on this section allow you to change the input to the projectors in the room. Listed below are the inputs and what they are.

  • iMac: The iMac to the left of the iPad.
  • Apple TV: This Apple TV is available for use. All you need to do is mirror to it from an iPad, iPhone, Mac, etc. on the same network. It will appear as “Dark Room”.
  • Laptop: The Laptop input is the HDMI cable resting in front of the iMac. You can plug in a laptop, iPad, etc.

Dark Room Audio Control

On this tab, you will see a few different options, depending on how you are using the room.

If you are doing a simple presentation, movie night, etc. it is recommended that you use the “VIRTUAL AUDIO MIXER” (more information on that is listed below).

If you have an event with a band or musicians playing, it’s best to use the “AUDIO CONSOLE”.

The next section will break down how to use each of the options.

AUDIO CONSOLE:

Because you are using the audio console, all audio is now coming from the X32 console to the left of the iMac. No further directions are required.

VIRTUAL CONSOLE:

The virtual console supports 4 different audio inputs. Live Stream, Spotify, Mic, and iMac.

  • Live Stream: The live feed from the auditorium
  • Spotify: A curated 24/7 feed of instrumental music, helpful for while people are walking into an event, or to check and see if the audio system is functioning.
  • Mic: This microphone is the all black microphone that lives nearby the audio console, possibly in the drawer below it. You can use any of the black rechargeable AA batteries (under the right side of the iMac) with this mic. Power it on via holding the left button (power off the same way)
  • iMac: This input is directly from the iMac. You are able to login to it and play Spotify, YouTube, etc. The password for the Mac is on a sicky note in front of it.

For all 4 input sources, there is a label, fader, and mute button available. If the mute color is a more prominent red, the input is muted. If it is a dark red, the input is unmuted, and ready to use.

Student Cafe Control

If your event requires use of the building, and you are approved to use the student cafe, you can select the “Student Hall option at the bottom of the screen to mix the audio specifically for the student cafe. Selecting this will display any controls that you can remotely use to control the feed to the student cafe.

SHUT DOWN PROCEDURE

Once you are done using the room, make sure to navigate to the “HOME” page to shut down the system. Select the “OFF” button. Don’t forget to press the lights off button on your way out!

SUPPORT INSTRUCTIONS

If you are in need of assistance, please contact one of the following people

  • General/iPad/Lighting/Control: Cole Good (cgood@riveroaks.org)
  • Audio: Diego Sosa (dsosa@riveroaks.org) or Dave Kiefer: (dkiefer@riveroaks.org)