- Posts: 157
- Joined: Mon Sep 03, 2012 1:52 pm
Theoretically, one reasonably powerful computer should be able to accomplish both the control and recording functions. But as an operational matter, I would probably choose to keep them separate... in fact, for a church environment with a number of volunteers and variable expertise (yes, I live in that world too!) I would make the controller computer an all-in-one PC with a touch screen; set it up without login, and put the shortcut to the control application in the startup folder so that the operator need only turn on the computer, and it will become operational.
I would even go so far as to keep this off any other network -- either use a crossover network cable to go straight from the PC to the ATEM, or use a very small network switch. This keeps people from surfing the web and doing other weird stuff with your control machine, and it means you don't need to worry about the anti-virus / Windows Update hassles. It's actually impressive, how reliable Windows can be if it isn't all gummed up with this other stuff: we have machines at the station doing dedicated control applications that have run for years without needing to be rebooted...
-- Jeff