Product comparisons - other features

[paulstokes]

Comparison of products.

We bought Worship Assistant (currently $69 download) a few years ago (it appears to be the cheapest commercial program). I have recently been comparing its pro's and con's with three free / OpenSource products, and offer these observations in case they help developers (look on the comments as a sort-of wish list?), or people who are also searching for appropriate software. Alphabetically they are:-
OpenLP (http://www.openlp.org) - version 0.994
OpenSong (http://www.opensong.org) - version 0.9.9
Worship Assistant (http://www.churchassist.com/worshipassistant.html) - version 4.3
Zionworx (http://www.zionworx.org.uk) - version 2.5

I have tested them at home on a Celeron 350 (2.66GHz) machine with 32MB dual-head graphics card and at church on a PII (500MHz) machine with 2x 8MB graphics cards. All programs work on both machines, but with performance differences.

SPEED.
Worship Assistant is fastest.
Zionworx and OpenLP next fastest.
OpenSong is slowest.
For OpenSong there is a noticeable delay between selecting a verse and it then being displayed. On the P500 machine I could count to '4' between clicking and seeing. But I have also used it in a worship setting on a faster machine and the half-second(?) delay was not an issue.

DISPLAY FONTS.
Open LP - no font size control (only font face). Outline and bold options (no italic). Has a hard-coded font size, and if there is too much text it is resized to fit the whole verse onscreen.
OpenSong - maximum font size is determined by the user. Can specify bold, italic, outline and shadow on a global basis. Choruses are always displayed italic. If there is too much text it is resized to fit the whole verse onscreen
Worship Assistant - font size is determined by the user. No shadow or outline options. Can specify italics / bold on a per-line basis. If there is too much text it simply disappears off the display screen.
Zionworx - font size is determined by the user. Can specify bold, italic, outline and shadow on a global basis. Settings can be allocated with each song. If there is too much text the vese is split in order to retain the font size.

DISPLAY REQUIREMENTS
Open Song and Worship Assistant can be run using a single monitor output (this was the reason we chose WA intially). In this case, screen control is very limited - simply progressing to the next slide/going back to the previous one, or using keystrokes to jump providing you know the verse numbers. They can also be run with dual output. Zionworz and OpenLP can only be used with dual output.

BACKGROUNDS.
All programs allow images or colours to be set as background. The differences are:
Open LP - image applies globally. Can be changed whilst live (cumbersome process), and new image is applied when a song 'goes live' (can be same song).
OpenSong - image applies globally. No changes whilst live.
Worship Assistant - image applies globally, but each song in a set can also have a different image applied. No changes whilst live.
Zionworx - image can be associated with each song in a set, and can also be enforced globally. Easily changed whilst live from thumbnails.

CONTROL PANEL / EASE OF USE
Okay, this is more subjective evaluation now, but I'll try and stay objective where possible.
Zionworx and OpenLP are automatically 'live' - you simply have to display whichever song is selected. OpenSong and Worship Assistant have a separate control panel for when the program goes live. In practice this means that these last two are simply in 'presenter' mode and no changes can be made, whereas Open LP and Zionworx allow settings to be altered whilst live (even spelling corrections if you are really competent and quick! ...but is it worth the risk?). All programs allow new songs to be added to the set whilst live.
Open LP - the presentation can ONLY be controlled by a mouse (there are NO keystroke shortcuts, not even for moving between verses). All verses are shown in the display panel, and each verse can have a vertical scrollbar in its panel (which means you can loose sight of the verse number and therefore can get a little lost sometimes if not careful).
OpenSong - both mouse and keyboard control. Hotkeys are clearly displayed alongside each verse/chorus/bridge etc., as well as other hotkeys for controlling
Worship Assistant - both mouse and keyboard control (including hotkeys).
Zionworx - both mouse and keyboard control.

POWERPOINT
First, a confession - I prefer to use PowerPoint (or OpenOffice Presenter if you need to) for sermon notes. I change the suffix to .PPS (ie: PowerPoint Show) - which means there is only one PowerPoint button on the Windows taskbar, and it also saves the computer from the extra processing needed to render an image for projector AND screen. The computer operator simply clicks on the button to give me PowerPoint control, and then clicks on the song software button to regain song control. I works well, and PowerPoint functions normally.
Open LP - very good PowerPoint integration. Allows onscreen control by operator, as well as standard remote control for preacher.
OpenSong - no PowerPoint integration. If the presentation control panel is set to full screen (very useful, but it's either fullscreen or default - there is no resize/maximise option), then the Windows Taskbar disappears and you cannot get at the PowerPoint button without using the <ALT> + <TAB> approach.
Worship Assistant - no PowerPoint integration. Taskbar remains visible when control panel is maximised, so buttons can easily be selected.
Zionworx - Edit : earlier comments proved factually incorrect - shown in italics here, since some later posts refer to it: PowerPoint integration, but only using the program's own controls (ie: normal keystrokes / remote controls do not work). New comment instead: very good PowerPoint integration. Allows onscreen control by operator, as well as standard remote control for preacher. PowerPoint can also be run separately if desired.

BONUSES / EXTRA FEATURES
Open LP - this is the only program which also includes video overlay (either from a file, or from a live feed). This is a little jerky, but the program is still under development. The integration of PowerPoint is well-implemented. There is a built-in alert function (for nursery, etc.)
OpenSong - onscreen controls allow for various screen blanking (black, white, image), and also freezing display whilst navigating. There is a built-in alert function (for nursery, etc.)
Worship Assistant - none.
Zionworx - PowerPoint integration, although it is quirky.

ASSESSMENT (very subjective now!)
Open LP - controlling a presentation is okay, but the lack of hotkeys is a drawback and the odd approach to scrolling verses in the control panel could be problematic. The extra functions are a bonus, and if they are desired then it's the only real free option for Windows.
OpenSong - controlling a presentation is very straightforward, verse hotkeys are great, and the extra few screen control hotkeys are a bonus. If it was faster, it would be a very good program.
Worship Assistant - controlling a presentation is very straightforward even for non-technical people (there is simply so little that they can do to make it go wrong - our normal operator has learning difficulties, yet is well able to play an active role in worship by working the projector.)
Zionworx - controlling a presentation is very straightforward, and the ability to select the next verse to display before going live is a good thing. If speed is a problem (because you have low machine specifications), then disabling outline or shadow does actually speed up the responsiveness.

RECOMMENDATIONS (which you really ignore completely if you want!)
For a church on a very low budget and using a second-hand old machine, I would suggest trying Zionworx. The old computer would probably need a second graphics card adding (very cheap for 8MB - there might even be a spare one lying around.) OpenSong would be too slow. The money spent on Worship Assistant could just as well be spent on a few upgrades to the second-hand machine.
If, like us, you have an older laptop which only a single output (same image on screen as on the projector) then Worship Assistant is probably the best option. However, try Open Song before buying WA, because if the laptop falls into that borderline (reasonable power, but single graphics) then OpenSong gives more features.
If you want video overlay and good integrated PowerPoint, then OpenLP would be the beast (free) option. Mind you, if you're into video, then your church may be in a position to have a better PC and you may wish to comapre it with some of the commercial programs.
For general all-round good performance, I'd suggest Zionworx is the best option. The controls are clear, straightforward and flexible. The presentation options allow enough freedom to suit local preferences, and can cope with lesser machines.
...of course, for the three free programmes, you can try them all out and see which suits you (and your machine) best. But hopefully this list gives you a starting point.

Enjoy!

[Pete]

Zionworx - PowerPoint integration, but only using the program's own controls (ie: normal keystrokes / remote controls do not work).

Version 2.5 allows our remote to work with powerpoint, No problem at all just start the power point from within zionworx and the remote changes the slides.

We use an infocus (can't remember model at the moment) It might be interesting to find if this is somthing that works with some projectors and not others anyone else tried this.

[paulstokes]

Pete,
We use a PowerPlay Pro remote controller.
http://www.smartdisk.co.uk/eWeb/smartdi ... laypro.asp

The four buttons on it appear to return the keystrokes:-
F5
B
Page Up (or R or U arrows?)
Page Down (or L or D arrows or Enter?)

So this remote gives no control over powerpoint when Zionworx is running. My point in the article was to note that Zionworx takes over control of PowerPoint and does not allow the normal PowerPoint buttons to function. So I wonder what control commands your remote is sending? In the meantime, I'll edit the comment as well to try and keep it accurate!
Edit - this remote DOES work - see my correction to the earlier post, and also a post further down this thread

[PS - Oh, I see you'd already edited my notes. I hadn't realised otehrs could do this... seems a strange behaviour for a message board, allowing one person to edit another's comments?]

[Christian]

Hi Paul - it was me who edited your notes (Admin rights)

Thanks for your report - it's very useful and has taught me a fair bit
about how other products currently work!

Can you perhaps elaborate a bit on the 'quirky' aspects of PPT control and then we can consider how to improve this further?

Thanks,
Christian.

[paulstokes]

...hmmm, after spending ages typing a long-winded explanation of what happens, I went back to try it all out and check some comments. ...there's some mistakes on my part (and my earlier post will be edited to reflect this).

If you load a PPT show and hit the Run arrow (green) then the PPT is displayed on the projector, and can ONLY be controlled using the Zionworx control panel (Stop, Play, Pause, Next, Previous, Black, White).

I had not realised that PPT could also be loaded into the Play List and be loaded onto the screen from there. That's where my mistake came, and what caused the comments above.

Once loaded onto the screen, normal PPT commands work fine. ...and so does my remote gadjet, I'm happy to say.

So, my comments were incorrect (apologies), but they were triggered by the fact that the PowerPoint CAN be run from the control panel in the lower left corner without actually loading it into a playlist. So, if anything needs changing, perhaps the control commands need to be greyed-out until the PPT is live?

[paulstokes]

Just thought you would like to know - after making the corrections (and removing the 'Edit' comments etc.), I've also pasted the same message in the OpenLP and OpenSong bulletin boards. That way, I'm hoping it will help folks from all projects.

...I also thought you'd like to know that I'm seriously looking at moving from Worship Assistant to Zionworx now.

[ChrisClark]

Hi Paul,

You may be interested to know that we have fixed the bug when you started a PPT presentation using the green run arrow the keyboard shortcuts are now picked up correctly. The issue was to do with where the control focus being in the wrong place. This fix is in the 2.5.06 release.

It was a good investigation/comparison you did. Very interesting to read.

[graeme.nelson]

Thanks Paul for putting me back on track!

As I have already noted in the OpenSong forums (http://sourceforge.net/forum/forum.php? ... _id=373378) (and I thought I'd echo here) ... thanks Paul for posting that review. It made me review my reasons for choosing to go with OpenSong, and I've decided that free with functionality is more important to me at the moment than free with source code, which I had been favouring. So I think I'll go back to Zionworx for now, but I shall continue to watch OpenSong, OpenLP and Lyricue.

+

I wonder ...

... if we could get some collaboration/co-operation between these different free programs, if we could get at least one or two really good programs that work well with (all) the features that we want.

- perhaps a plug-able, configurable program that can run fast on low-end hardware in a basic configuration, using only a small selection of features by virtue of few or no plug-ins being loaded, but also able to provide "all the bells and whistles" for those with sufficiently powerful computers who "want it all".

- flexible control options including configurable hot keys and mouse buttons.

- importing options supporting multiple methods and file types, including the ability of importing from a file without having to craft a specially formatted file, and CCLI/SongSelect import.

Tim, Raoul & others over at OpenLP have a nice program with great plans but so little time that they may not achieve their current objectives this decade. And progress has been slow with OpenSong. Plus Chris at Lyricue (a Linux program) also seems to be a "one-man band" with slow developement.

If all of these projects is some way combined their efforts, we would immediately have a core developement team of about 10-12 people, plus many other helpers on the periphery.

... or am I just dreaming?

[John Jamieson]

graeme.nelson you have a good question! (and I am sure you know most or all of this info already, but I will add if for others that are not as well versed)

Being involved in one of the projects myself, the question comes up all the time.
The diversity in goals and tools and skillsets is the problem!

I know one project trying to support Apple, another .NET another two "plain jane Windows", one Linux and another cross platform.

Development tools/languages I know being used are Delphi, Basic (believe it!), C##.

Now, very few of these people could work on another project to the same degree of effectiveness, because, if you are a delphi developer, Writing C++ in Kdevelop or whatever is going to be a LONG learning curve!

My preference would be having everyone move to Qt Designer on KDE. (see I am adding to the problem!)

You mentioned OpenLP, they have several versions themselves that they are trying to get going. I'm sure you are right, Raoul would be open to ideas that would further the goal of getting a multiplatform version going. (and yes, there is more work than people over there)