ATEM SDI Switchers are available from Blackmagic Design resellers worldwide for $345.
Blackmagic Design has announced a new family of portable ATEM SDI live production switchers with professional 3G-SDI connections.
Designed for broadcasters who need both power and portability, the new ATEM SDI family is designed to be fast to set up and easy to use. ATEM SDI switchers have standard converters on all inputs, a built-in Fairlight audio mixer with 6 band parametric EQ, compressor, and limiter on all inputs, internal DVEs, chroma keyers, professional transitions and more.
Customers get 4 SDI inputs on the ATEM SDI and ATEM SDI Pro ISO models and 8 SDI inputs on the ATEM SDI Extreme ISO model. Plus all SDI inputs feature standards converters and re-sync. The USB works as a webcam for connecting video to computers, while the Pro and Extreme models feature built-in streaming.
ATEM SDI’s compact all-in-one design includes both a control panel as well as connections. The front panel includes easy-to-use buttons for selecting sources, video effects and transitions. The ATEM SDI Pro and Extreme models have buttons for recording and streaming control, as well as output selection buttons that let customers change the video output between programmes, direct camera feeds and the multiview. On the rear panel, there are SDI connections for cameras, extra microphone inputs, USB for the webcam plus multiple SDI “aux” outputs for programme video.
ATEM SDI Pro and ATEM SDI Extreme models have a built-in hardware streaming engine for live streaming via their ethernet connections. That means customers can live stream to YouTube, Facebook and Twitch in better quality, without dropped frames and with simpler settings. There are palettes in ATEM Software Control for streaming setup, plus streaming status is also displayed in the multiview.
ATEM SDI Pro and Extreme models support connecting an Apple or Android phone to the USB port to use mobile data for live production. It also supports direct recording of their streaming data to USB flash disks. Recording to multiple disks is also supported via a USB hub so when a disk fills, recording can continue to a second disk so customers get non-stop recording. Record settings and disk selection are set up in ATEM Software Control and customers can also display the recording status in the multiview.
The ATEM SDI Pro ISO and Extreme ISO models allow customers to edit their live events as they can record multiple video streams, including clean feeds of all inputs and programmes, all at the same time. Media pool images used are also saved with the video files. The video files include metadata tags such as synced timecode and camera numbers.
The ISO models also save a DaVinci Resolve project file, so with a single click customers can open their live production as video edit. Each 3G-SDI video input features its own dedicated standards converter, which means ATEM SDI will automatically convert 1080p, 1080i and 720p sources to the switcher video standard.
ATEM Software Control features a visual switcher user interface with parameter palettes for making quick adjustments. Although customers can normally connect via USB, if customers connect using Ethernet it’s possible for multiple users to connect to ATEM SDI using separate copies of ATEM Software Control on different computers.
The ATEM SDI Extreme models include 4 upstream chroma keyers and this allows customers to build virtual sets. With ATEM SDI Extreme customers have 8 inputs, 4 to use for cameras and the other 4 can be connected to a virtual set computer for the rendered backgrounds. In addition to 2 independent DVEs in the ATEM SDI Extreme models, there’s also a SuperSource multi-layer processor with 4 extra DVE layers plus a background layer, that all appear to ATEM SDI Extreme as an additional input source. Any ATEM SDI Extreme video input can be used for each SuperSource DVE, then it’s all layered together over a media pool custom background.
Speaking about the launch, Grant Petty, CEO of Blackmagic Design, said: “The new ATEM SDI live production switcher is perfect for broadcasters who want advanced, professional features while also looking for extreme portability. There are three great models with 3G-SDI video connections and some really great features like DVEs for picture-in-picture effects, graphics, transitions, advanced chroma key and Fairlight audio mixer. It’s really exciting and we can not wait to see what customers do with these new models.”
