Over the years I have collected a suite of software, hardware, and miscellaneous tools that have greatly helped me as I have prepped and worked around Vacation Bible School and other similar unique, highly fluid events in live production roles. I hope it's as helpful to you as it has been to me.

Sound

TabletopAudio

Need out of the box ambient sound for a variety of soundscapes? Need to mix your own scenes with hints of the jungle along with bits of urban soundscape? You can either find a pre-made ambient soundscape or roll your own with their Custom Soundpad feature! I have greatly appreciated this resource, even though it wasn't really made with VBS in mind.

Audacity

Need to record your own audio cues? Mix and edit the songs? Create a custom playlist? Audacity has you covered!

Video

OBS

If you're working on getting a livestream up and going but need some software, OBS will do it! It's great for sending the stream to platforms like YouTube and Facebook, and if you need to, it can do some simple production, though I prefer to use software more designed to the purpose.

DaVinci Resolve

Audacity, but for video! If you need to edit together photos, videos, audio into a single coherent video or presentation, give Resolve a look.

Graphics and Slides

ProPresenter

The gold standard, but with a price tag. If you need slides, but more than just slides, ProPresenter is the one that can handle it all, and with support and engineering to back it. It's incredible for the price you pay, but free it isn't.

FreeShow

Cross platform, capable, open-source, and free! The UI isn't quite as polished in terms of workflow as ProPresenter in my opinion, but it's hard to complain for the price! I have yet to uncover a function that ProPresenter does that FreeShow cannot do in some way or other. It's an impressive piece of software, and since it's free, I use it for a variety of things, not just church related.

Affinity Studio

Often, I don't need dynamic graphics, video backgrounds, or other complex things. I just need a slide. Enter Affinity! I will often design in vectors so that I can reuse elements of the design, and then export into a PNG or JPG file to display in the resolution that fits the use case. If I need another resolution next week, then vector allows me to export into that resolution, no problem!

Canva

If Affinity Studio is more than you need Canva is a great option for templates and basic slide design!

Remote Access

This a category that has become more important as life has gotten busier and more connected; I often use remote desktop software to access the sound room computer so that come service time, I already have the majority of the system set up!

Chrome Remote Desktop

Given that I use Chrome fairly extensively, I find Chrome Remote Desktop to be an incredibly easy to use platform for this. The only drawback is that you must have access to the Google Account in order to remote in, which may be a bit more difficult in a team environment.

Control Surfaces

Stream Deck

The obvious choice, they've marketed mostly to gaming streamers and have won the majority of the market share. That said, they've got a great product that can either be used on its own, or with the next software.

Bitfocus Companion

If Stream Deck is the Apple Computer of the space, Bitfocus Companion is Linux. It does the same thing, but nothing is done for you out of the box. On the plus side, it's insanely powerful, allowing you to interact with MIDI, PTZOptics compatible cameras, servers via HTTP request, and many more things. It also boasts iOS and Android apps as well as a web UI, so even if you don't own a Stream Deck, it's worth checking out.

BitFocus Buttons

A new tool that Bitfocus has come out with is Bitfocus Buttons; it's made to take the same powerful features that Companion has and make them a bit more accessible. It's going to look complex, but it will involve little to no code for many of the most complex workflows. There are limits if you want to stay free, but it's worth a look!