What fonts do you use? - SSPlash.com - SSP Community Forums - SSP Forums

SSPlash.com

Search:

Home

Forums

Support
       User Guide
       Knowledge Base
       Forums
       EMail
       Phone

Training

Wish List

Downloads

Blog

SongShowPlus.com

SongShow Plus Community Forums

Unanswered Active Topics

Forums Search Members

Forums > SSP Forums > Tips & Tricks

What fonts do you use?

Last Post 27 Nov 2006 06:54 AM by Joel Osborn. 17 Replies.

Sort:

	Prev Next
You are not authorized to post a reply.

Author

Messages

Jason Colburn User is Offline

New Member
Posts:4
Avatar

31 Oct 2005 01:48 PM
I recently attended a Chris Tomlin concert and loved the font they used for projecting the lyrics of the songs. I have found some Adobe fonts I like, but PS fonts are not currently supported. What fonts are you finding works best?

Joel Osborn User is Offline

Veteran Member
Posts:3598
Avatar

31 Oct 2005 02:12 PM
We just had a very long discussion on this over at churchmedia.net http://www.churchmedia.net/community/forum/showthread.php?t=10233 I just switched ours from Eras Demi to Tahoma. I know, it was a mad and impetuous change, but no one left the church! The main wisdom seems to be to use a san serif font with some weight to it. I thought the most interesting suggestion was Akbar http://www.wobblymusic.com/groening/akbar.html He only used it during youth service, however. You can go to the churchmedia thread above for A LOT of suggestions. (Sure wish I could get url tags to work in FireFox ) Edit by Reid on 11/4/05: I got you covered Joel. I added the link tags for you (and I am using Firefox). You just have to do it in the HTML edit mode.

...Joel Milton Seventh Day Baptist Church ______ "I'm working on my 5 year plan. I just need to pick a font." - Chuck

Lee Menningen User is Offline

Advanced Member
Posts:852
Avatar

02 Nov 2005 08:54 AM
I was surprised to notice how many said "we use this font" or "we use that font". Before reading those posts I had assumed everyone, absolutely everyone, used a variety of fonts. Why would anyone want to use the same font over and over again, I thought? Oh well, each to his own. I'll continue using a variety of fonts (even serifs when it fits) with various motion backgrounds, some dark, some light. I avoid reusing the same background for many months. I'll color text white or yellow or black or whatever fits the background best. Sometimes I'll use the outline feature, more often using shadows but adjusting the offset or light direction; in general, I try to use variety in an attempt to keep the display fresh looking (not that I succeed very often). Also it takes effort to control line lengths and number of lines and trying to keep the display from getting too cluttered. As an aside, I did a double take when one poster said he was changing his preferred font and was therefore in the process of going through his entire song database to update the text to his new favorite font. Song database??? Fonts in the database? What software is he using?

Lee

Joel Osborn User is Offline

Veteran Member
Posts:3598
Avatar

02 Nov 2005 10:27 AM
We'll adjust the color, shadow and such so it will go best with the background. But we keep the same font for the song lyrics throughout the program to give some commonality throughout. Around Christmas, I generally switch to a different font, just to dress it up some. But we get our variety from the backgrounds and color, not the font itself. But, as you say, to each his own.

...Joel Milton Seventh Day Baptist Church ______ "I'm working on my 5 year plan. I just need to pick a font." - Chuck

Karen Lynch User is Offline

Advanced Member
Posts:730

04 Nov 2005 06:01 AM
We always use Verdana for songs but sometimes I do use Tahoma. I do want to start changing the fonts though occasionally if it is a "youth" song or something like that. Karen

Because He Lives, Karen

Joel Osborn User is Offline

Veteran Member
Posts:3598
Avatar

04 Nov 2005 09:36 AM
Careful about marking things as youth songs, and such. Certian folks will learn that if that font comes up, they will automatically not like the song. I am considering setting a seperate saved profile for the youth to use on wednesday night, so they can pick a different font (akbar or whatever) and a default background that they like and I could switch back to our normal service settings by loading in a different set of saved settings. ...as long as we remembered to switch back on the weekend.

...Joel Milton Seventh Day Baptist Church ______ "I'm working on my 5 year plan. I just need to pick a font." - Chuck

Ryan Brien User is Offline

New Member
Posts:4

04 Nov 2005 10:52 AM
For songs we recently started using Trebuchet. For scriptures I like to use Eras Medium. However, I change it up regularly depending on the style or feel of the current message series. Right now Tahoma with a yellow shadow and blue face is applicable.

Doug Reece User is Offline

SSP Team

Veteran Member
Posts:1551
Avatar

04 Nov 2005 08:54 PM
Incidently, the Verdona font was designed specifically for computer screen presentation, as opposed to printing. You can read more about this at Microsoft's new font blog...yes, there is a font blog. Here it is: fontblog.

Karen Lynch User is Offline

Advanced Member
Posts:730

05 Nov 2005 07:27 PM
Thanks, Osborne! That never occurred to me about the youth fonts. Can you believe it? A font blog?

Because He Lives, Karen

Lee Menningen User is Offline

Advanced Member
Posts:852
Avatar

07 Nov 2005 08:25 AM
Posted By dreece on 11/04/2005 8:54 PM Incidently, the Verdona font was designed specifically for computer screen presentation, as opposed to printing. You can read more about this at Microsoft's new font blog...yes, there is a font blog. Here it is: fontblog. That's true from the viewpoint of the specific font itself, but it is also true that Apple invented TrueType technology for displaying fonts on CRT monitors (during the era when monitors were lower resolution than today). Microsoft has since then continued to perform TrueType research and development, which eventually led to their ClearType technology, designed for LCD monitors (Remember, projectors are LCD monitors). It is available for XP; I'm not sure about earlier versions.

Lee

Jessica McKelvey User is Offline

New Member
Posts:1
Avatar

28 Feb 2006 09:38 AM
century gothic. century gothic. century gothic. the most clean, unobtrusive font ever. my favorite by far!

Joel Osborn User is Offline

Veteran Member
Posts:3598
Avatar

28 Feb 2006 11:16 AM
Hmm. I might have to check that out. Maybe in the spring when it's time to lighten things up a bit.

...Joel Milton Seventh Day Baptist Church ______ "I'm working on my 5 year plan. I just need to pick a font." - Chuck

Kirsten Blackstock User is Offline

New Member
Posts:85

28 Feb 2006 11:34 AM
Songs - For our first two years of using SSP I've used Franklin Gothic Medium - it's a bit thicker than most and stand out on the screen. However recently I changed to Tahoma - it has a more interesting look. I just tried Century Gothic and I must say I like how it looks. Maybe it's time for another change. Slides - Such as Sermon slides or Announcements, I use a multitude of fonts to make the slides interesting and unique. Scripture - I usually stick with a font for Scripture for a few weeks - I really like Papyrus and a new one I found called BibleScrT. ~ Kirsten

Wayne Taylor User is Offline

New Member
Posts:10
Avatar

09 Mar 2006 09:53 AM
We use Ariel usually because it is so easy to read. But Papyrus is very interesting if you can get it large enough with some good contrast. Then we try various others for variety. But when it may be difficult to read because of the background, we usually resort back to Ariel or we make it BOLD. We are fairly new at this. Wayne Taylor Cable, OH

Joseph Kelley User is Offline

New Member
Posts:40
Avatar

05 May 2006 01:41 PM
I use a variety of fonts, colors, shadows, backgrounds, etc. I can't see using the same ones over and over. Believe it or not for scriptures my favorite is Times New Roman italisized. I agree with the song thing. I try to keep songs during the same service close to the same properties or at least the same theme. We have a "blended" service and some of the old folks already speak their mind enough about the "kids' music". Joe

kreal Real Life Church Columbus, MS

Billy Janshon User is Offline

New Member
Posts:1
Avatar

26 Nov 2006 05:23 PM
I think it is important to keep a consistant font for the project you are working on. So don't use a conservative font for one song and a totally radical one on the next song. I'm mostly doing webdesign, and just started helping out at church with the SSP programs, but one thing that should stay the same is the consistancy of fonts in any single project (may this be for slides with SSP, web, print. etc.). Context is pretty important to me too. The Christmas Carol project I'm working on, I will use a script font for the titles and New Times Roman for the lyrics.. Gives the whole project a good traditional look.

Lee Menningen User is Offline

Advanced Member
Posts:852
Avatar

27 Nov 2006 05:55 AM
I tend to tailor to the theme (or point) of the song - The first song might be rock with a small cross on the left showing through a semi-transparent daybreak ocean scene. Two lines of lyrics are adjusted away from the cross and kept on the shore (not the water or sky) and I might suggest a medium sans font. Next comes a baroque hymn and I might use a nature scene video with an old country church in the distance and turn the brightness effect down, and use a very bold serif font, even one with a bit of formality to it. Lyrics are limited to one or two lines. (This is a case where I wish SSP lyrics were inside text objects and I could use a semi-transparent fill). Next comes a slow repetitious song with an image of someone praying layered behind a semi-transparent clouds built-in visualization. Four lines of a plain sans might show up well with this one. Then comes a bluegrass-style gospel song with a 1/4 size watermark graphic of a figure kneeling at the cross positioned under an abstract semi-transparent video having radiant lines flowing through the cross. I'd limit the lyrics to the upper-right 2/3's, so a condensed sans is absolutely necessary. Once in a song about Jesus the king I used an INRI watermark banner positioned so it would show through a video of the wall of Jerusalem with plant leaves waving in the foreground. Two lines of lyrics are "projected" on the "wall" (except I didn't use the hinge effect, though I was tempted to). A modern well-rounded very fat font with outline turned on worked great. Just some other ideas to try...

Lee

Joel Osborn User is Offline

Veteran Member
Posts:3598
Avatar

27 Nov 2006 06:54 AM
Actually, right now we are using plain old Tahoma. The font was created to be viewed in presentations and works well with all kinds of backgrounds. I leave the fancy font stuff for the sermons and announcements. For the songs, legibility is king.

...Joel Milton Seventh Day Baptist Church ______ "I'm working on my 5 year plan. I just need to pick a font." - Chuck

You are not authorized to post a reply.

Forums > SSP Forums > Tips & Tricks

Active Forums 4.1

Most Recent Posts

15 Mar 2010 04:12 PM
RE: Recommended Professional Level Video Cards (DI009) by George in Display Issues

*******ALERT*******

There has been a reported fan speed issue related to the NVIDIA 196.75 video driver. Consumers are reporting low video card fan speeds, overheating and hardware failure.

LINK TO NVIDIA DRIVER NOTIFICATION

This particular driver is not one that was recommended by the SSP Team, however there may be cause for concern if you recently updated your video drivers.

NVIDIA has removed the 196.75 driver version from the download area but it is worth checking your system to ensure you do not have it installed. If you have this driver installed the recommendation is to uninstall it immediately and install an older driver.

14 Mar 2010 03:41 PM
RE: some avi's kill SSP by Rick Everingham in User Support - V7

I have seen this to some extent, however once I installed the K-lite code pack, this issue seems to have gone away, as it is pretty inclusive in containing all the codecs.

13 Mar 2010 10:22 PM
RE: LogMeIn.com by fbcgoshen in Tips & Tricks

I use logmein every week to set up my program. As a matter of fact i just got done setting up the service for tomorrow using this. It comes in really handy if you are unable to attend a service and they are having issues. I have corrected monitor settings and what not from my office or lazyboy.

The other thing is we have a digital mackie mixer hooked to a different pc. I am able to run the board from home. I am able to work on the live audio feed from home since you don't always know what is going on with the feed at the church. I can also help other sound techs when they have issues.

I would highly recommend it to anyone. It is free unless you want the advanced features. It is also a good way to keep office computers going.

12 Mar 2010 11:11 AM
RE: Does December 2009 Edition Support Unicode? by dreece in User Support - V7

We understand the need for this, and work continues under the hood torward that goal. We will be sure to make it well known once this capability is supported.

12 Mar 2010 09:49 AM
RE: Bug in 2/26/10 build by akins in User Support - V7

I might add to what George said by directing you to "presets" for songs and other items. We use somewhat similar formats for songs and scriptures each Sunday and I have "preset" these for quick application. I then can make modifications as desired for a particular Sunday.

12 Mar 2010 09:44 AM
RE: How to use ssptimer files by akins in User Support - V7

Just select the type you want (5 min, etc.) from the list and place it in the program. You can then edit the timer changing font, size, color (just two), placement, and two lines of text. Actually, the editing choices are fairly limited and have been the subject of wishes for sometime, but you can usually play around and get a decent look. Right clicking on the timer in the program and selecting "display properties" at the top of the list will allow you to add background color, images, and/or videos and you can apply "advance effects" to any of these.

11 Mar 2010 11:18 AM
Right-Click copy/paste menu does not work in PPT song import panel (TS098) by George in Troubleshooting

Symptom:
During a Song import from PPT the right-click menu is no longer available in the Slide Text box when importing song text from a PPT. This may cause difficulty in editing content. Import is still possible and text entry and deletion are possible, only the right click menu is affected.

Possible Cause:
Unknown - the root cause of this is still under investigation.

Possible Solution:
Import is still possible and text entry and deletion are possible. The CTRL-X, CTRL-C and CTRL-V keyboard shortcuts work as well. If a significant change in the arrangement of the text in the PowerPoint file is needed, this can be done using Microsoft PowerPoint.

(TS098)

10 Mar 2010 05:37 PM
December 2009 Edition - Bug Fixes (SSP070) by George in SongShow Plus Issues

There are some previously reported bugs that have been fixed in the December 2009 Edition:

Drag and drop in Win XP was broken and fixed in the Beta cycle.
Quick Message was broken and fixed in the Beta cycle.
Live Video was broken and fixed in the Beta cycle. This fix was an improvement of the previous patch that was required to use the Live Video Plug-in.
An issue with nvidia driver version 196.21 that broke the SSP Beta on XP was corrected.
Print Slideshow and song list selection spinners grayed out
Builder re-run error causing file browser to open unexpectedly.
H.264 issue with playback of .m4v, .mp4v, and .mpg4 video corrected.
Path displayed incomplete when adding sub-folders to panels.
Snowflake Wipe transition not working as expected.
Font selection when editing text in the Slide Show Builder not working as expected.
Background Improv folder navigation and state save corrected.
Monitor options placements selector not working as expected.
CTRL-V does not paste copied objects as expected in Slide Show Builder.

(SSP070)

10 Mar 2010 03:05 PM
H.264 videos or thumbnails may cause SSP to be unstable and lock up (TS097) by George in Troubleshooting

Symptom:
H.264 Video or thumbnails may cause SSP to be unstable and lock up when added or viewed.

Possible Cause:
It appears that there are some H.264 video that can cause trouble in SSP. At this time this is very rare, however, the root cause of this is still under investigation.

Possible Solution:
This was discovered using movie trailer files that would play fine in applications other than SSP. At this time there is no solution but it is best to try a different file to make sure it is not a wider issue. Please contact the Support Team and provide the video file for analysis.

(TS097)

10 Mar 2010 11:56 AM
RE: Audio clip doesn't restart when slide show restarts by George in User Support - V7

Hmm - Interesting...

I just tried this using blank slides entered as program elements and got the same expected behavior I described before. Are you using "blank" blank slides (default blank slide is black color only) or do you have something else set for your blank slides?

I would say at this point if the behavior persists and you can duplicated it, contact the support team so they can do a remote with you and actually see what is going on.

09 Mar 2010 05:59 PM
RE: SSP Version 5.5 with SongSelect Online by iamgap in User Support - V5.5

I too would recommed that you backup/archive/zip your current R-Technics folder and install the evaluation of version seven. If the PC cannot handle it, which I doubt, do a complete uninstall of Version 7 and go back to version 5.5.

It is my understanding that version 7 is much more stable, and can function more efficiently on an older machine than version 5.5 can.

09 Mar 2010 05:52 PM
RE: 32bit vs. 64bit by iamgap in User Support - V7 on Windows 7

To add yet another fly into the ointment...

I didn't realize that my MoBo has a 4 year old (2 yr older than the mobo) chip on it (intel 945). So even though the processor and motherboard can support up to 4 GB of RAM, the chipset can only address 3.2 GB of RAM.

What I am most upset about is that the board advertised that it could support up to 4 GB of RAM, but didn't say it could only address 3.2. Had I known that, I wouldn't have bought this board. Time for an upgrade. Now I gotta find a board that supports the RAM that I just bought for this board.

09 Mar 2010 10:47 AM
Video file types supported in Video Chain (MI016) by George in Media Issues

The video file extensions that are supported in SongShow Plus^TM for the Video Chain tool are a subset of the video file extensions that are supported in SSP globally.

Keep in mind the required codec/filter still needs to be available on the system for proper playback of these file formats.

Video Clip (*.avi)
Video (*.mpg4)
Video (*.mp4)
Video (*.m4v)
Video (*.mp4v)
Video (*.mov)
Movie Clip (*.mpg)
Movie Clip (*.mpeg)
Movie Clip (*.mpe)
Movie Clip (*.m1v)
Windows Media Audio/Video File (*.wmv)

If some of the listed types do not appear in the Video Chain panel, review the instructions for selecting visible video types in the KB article MI010.

(MI016)

09 Mar 2010 08:11 AM
RE: SSP loses audio when run with PowerDVD by norvilles in User Support - V7

Ah. Never would have thought that those two things would go hand in hand.

09 Mar 2010 07:30 AM
RE: Cinematic Effects Collection: Easter Special from GoFishMedia by osborn4 in Latest News

And if you have multiple projection licenses, one purchase covers all of them.

08 Mar 2010 03:26 PM
RE: Animated GIF Support by pgulezian in User Support - V7

Cool!! I wonder when they'll finally add this as a feature??? I also wonder WHY it hasn't been added in the past. It just seems like a "No Brainer", because it's a basic feature to support. ESPECIALLY, because we're dealing with a projection type of program. Like I said, PowerPoint supports it and probably has for years... I guess it just confuses me as to why it wasn't always a part of SSP, being the awesome program that it is. GIF's MUST be harder to deal with than I think.

Thanks for your reply.

07 Mar 2010 02:04 PM
RE: Troubleadvancing through a program by osborn4 in User Support - V7

If you can reproduce it, I'd contact tech support.

You might want to try installing the latest release to see if that shakes anything loose.

05 Mar 2010 04:12 PM
RE: Resizing rotated graphics by Lucas in Beta Test Support

To me that makes perfect sense, cause it's keeping the image in the correct aspect.

05 Mar 2010 12:27 PM
RE: SSP Crashes when adding a song by KingsleyUMC in User Support - V7

Update 3:

I have updated to the december release. It appears the problem has gone away for the time being. I noticed there was an update in the visualitation'S .dll . Also this machine is 4+ years old. I wonder if the video card might not be beefy enough for the improvements you have give the program during that time. I did run the hardware test and it didn't have a problem with the card.

Well, the problem is under control for the time being. Let's let it die.

Tim Goldsmith

03 Mar 2010 12:10 PM
RE: December 2009 Edition Released by norvilles in Latest News

No problem.

Also I tested on Windows 7 64bit and Windows XP 64bit.

SSP News

09 Mar 2010 07:30 AM
RE: Cinematic Effects Collection: Easter Special from GoFishMedia by osborn4 in Latest News

And if you have multiple projection licenses, one purchase covers all of them.

03 Mar 2010 12:10 PM
RE: December 2009 Edition Released by norvilles in Latest News

No problem.

Also I tested on Windows 7 64bit and Windows XP 64bit.

05 Feb 2010 08:13 PM
December 2009 Edition, 2/4/2010 Candidate Release by dreece in Latest News

The 2/4/2010 candidate test release of the December 2009 Edition of SongShow Plus is now available to current subscribers.

XP/nVidia driver problem is resolve.
Single core use is now the default. Users can still switch to multi-core mode.

Read What's New for a more complete list of new features and enhancements. Subscribers can also visit the Beta Test Support forum to post feedback and questions regarding the beta version.

You can download the beta test installation from within SongShow Plus using the menu command Update > Check for Beta Version Updates or by going to http://www.songshowplus.com then to the Download page.

29 Jan 2010 03:40 PM
December 2009 Edition, 1/28/2010 Candidate Release by dreece in Latest News

The 1/28/2010 candidate test release of the December 2009 Edition of SongShow Plus is now available to current subscribers.

Various bug fixes.

Read What's New for a more complete list of new features and enhancements. Subscribers can also visit the Beta Test Support forum to post feedback and questions regarding the beta version.

22 Jan 2010 03:31 PM
December 2009 Edition, 1/21/2010 Candidate Release by dreece in Latest News

The 1/21/2010 candidate test release of the December 2009 Edition of SongShow Plus is now available to current subscribers.

Added configuration option to enable/disable multi-core support (for support purposes, the default is multi-core support enabled).
Fixed missing Ctrl-V keystroke for Slide Show Builder.
Fixed problem when Video Playback Settings is used for the first time with a video file (introduced in the first beta build).
Fixed spin controls for absolute monitor placement settings.
Fixed problem that could occur when selecting transitions in the Display Properties window.

Read What's New for a more complete list of new features and enhancements. Subscribers can also visit the Beta Test Support forum to post feedback and questions regarding the beta version.

Account Login

User Name:

Password:

Remember Login

Forgot Password ?