ProPresenter Notices

A problem we didn't know needed solving

In our regular use of notices within ProPresenter we have been using a single presentation containing all the different notice slides, then using different arrangements to show the desired slides at the appropriate point in each service. We did this originally because we found notice slides would occasionally need correcting but would only be done in a subset of the places it is shown.

However, it has been a struggle dealing with the slideshow mode required before and after the services and then remember to disable when showing notices during the service.

Alongside this, we've been struggling with the countdown timers in our evening services, where it is so easy for other things to distract the team from starting in a timely manner.

So, we're looking for something that can:

• Allows team to control when specific notices are shown during the service
• Automatically rotates notices before and after service (plus the hot chocolate break)
• Provides means of automating countdown timers
• A single point of truth for all notices

Below is the solution we're currently trying:

A Solution

The Announcement presentation

All the notice slides are kept in a single presentation, ___NOTICES_ announce. This is very similar to or previous notices presentation in that:

• it has different arrangements to select the correct set of notices for when shown
• it is set in slideshow mode to automatically cycle through the notices

However, this presentation is configured to be show on the Announcement layer - as indicated by the green target symbol at the top-right

We can then choose either to show a slide directly to screen avoiding the slideshow effect (for instance in a service), or to show the announcements layer on screen with the slideshow effect (during automated notices).

At the start and end of the service, and any other point requiring cycling notices, click on the first slide of the announce presentation. This will start it showing on the announcement layer, as indicated by the red loud-hailer icon to the side of the preview pane and can also see at the bottom-right of the update multi-view:

We have configured our various Looks to only show the Announcements layer on a new 'dummy' screen. To then show on a real screen we have a second presentation.

The control presentation

To show the notices on the main screen and/or stream we have a second notices control presentation, ___NOTICES_ control. As the name suggests this has a number of slides which provide points of control:

• Setup screens and start background music (there is an AM and PM variant)
• Blank screens and stop music
• Show notices - this uses a screen preview of the dummy announcement screen (that's the stripy yellow background), some of these are set to show only for a specific duration
• Countdowns
• Notices to be used in the service. -- These should be copied from the announcement presentation when preparing content -- These should be removed when not needed for a given Sunday (they'll still be available in the announcement presentation)

The steps

1. Click the 'start' slide of the announcement presentation
2. Click the 'Start music' slide of the control presentation
3. Click the 'Notices' slide of the control presentation
4. Click other slides when they're needed

The Automation

Countdown during evening service break

The arrangement in the control presentation for the evening service break should be started at the start of the break and will show the cycling notices for 5 minutes, before automatically starting the 5 minute countdown.

Countdown to the evening service

To ensure the countdown to the evening service begins on time we can use the Calendar feature of ProPresenter. The Calendar can be accessed from the View menu; add a new calendar entry timed for 18:10 on Sunday evening, to trigger from the evening service playlist the "PM Countdown to Service" arrangement of the control presentation.