Need help with gear using ATEM Television Studio

Hello BlackMagic Forum group,

I am an independent video director/producer/video guru getting ready to put together a studio package with 3 video cameras, ATEM Television Studio and a laptop with HDMI output to capture PowerPoint. I have visited Blackmagic at infoCOMM 13 in Orlando this year and have been following up with most YouTube videos. I'm embarrassed at the videos I've viewed that couldn't explain exactly what the products do and what will work for my application. I am interested in the limitations so I don't make hasty mistakes getting the wrong gear for what I need. So now I'm taking my strengths to the forum and see if there are users out there that can help. In the future, you can bet I will make video reviews that will take care of a wide range of product reviews including in the field applications.

Budget: $10,000 or less

1. 3 X Camera: Canon VIXIA HF G30 Full HD Camcorder - $1,699.00 ea.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/963130-REG/canon_8454b001_vixia_hfg30_hd_camcorder.html

2. 5 X HDMI Cables: Pro AV/IT High Speed HDMI Cable. 3 for cameras and 1 for program return to studio. (50ft) - $129.99 ea.
http://www.comprehensivecable.com/store/p/18202-Pro-AV-IT-High-Speed-HDMI-Cable-with-ProGrip-SureLength-CL3-Jet-Black-50ft.html

3. 3 X HDMI Jack to Jack Gender Changer (Camera has mini HDMI to HDMI then HDMI to switcher) - $7.99 ea.
http://www.comprehensivecable.com/adapters/7566-comprehensive-hdmi-jack-to-jack-gender-changer.html

4. 1 X ATEM Television Studio Production Switcher (will need at least 4 simultaneous inputs, I understand I have 6 HDMI & SDI) - $945.25
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/766072-REG/Blackmagic_Design_SWATEMTVSTU_ATEM_Television_Studio_Production.html

7. HyperDeck Studio SSD Deck or UltraStudio for Thunderbolt to record / capture video -
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/766056-REG/Blackmagic_Design_HYPERD_ST_HyperDeck_Studio_Solid_State_Disk.html

8. 4 X SSD Drives - $391.99 ea.
http://www.crucial.com/store/partspecs.aspx?imodule=CT480M500SSD1

Monitors: I will use inexpensive HDMI LCD TV monitors for my displays.

Questions: (This package will be used in a studio and on the road)

1. What is the overall quality of this camera and will it work well in low lighting? Anyone using this model?

2. Will HDMI cables mini to standard size work from the adapters and the length of 50ft using the new Comprehensive cable used for the proAV?

3. I'm considering cutting out the Hyperdeck and going with the UltraStudio for Thunderbolt to record using my iMac. Is anyone doing this? How would this be configured? I assume Thunderbolt to the device (US) and have a VoyagerQ with sata drive connected via firewire to computer. I'll be using FCP7.03 to capture directly to drive for easier workflow.

4. I want to be able to capture the laptop as a source. Example: Host will be displaying PowerPoint or other. I need to capture that without using adaptors. Just using HDMI. I hear Lenovo computers allow the user to display 1080i video quality out of the HDMI ports at the same time using the laptop display.
http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/edge-series/e535/

5. Capture time vs. Hard drive space. Is there a formula that will help me configure HD space when capturing to the Hyperdeck or directly to the computer? I will be recording about 4.5 - 6 hours of material and will need to know the amount of drive space I will need. (1080i AppleProRes 422)

6. What are the limitations with the ATEM Television Studio Production Switcher? I will be using my MACBOOK Pro to switch. Can you do PIP's?

7. Are you able to stream the H.264 from the ATEM Television Studio Production Switcher to another computer and push to a different server other than Livestream?

Let me know if you can offer any suggestions and feedback.

Thanks.

Answering what I can... and skipping the rest. I won't bother with giving you links to videos.. if you need video related to my answers something is really going wrong.

Top item on my list is that you are trying to use 5 x HDMI inputs. There are only 4 on the TVS. Did you miss that? I know you state you'll need 4 x simultaneous inputs... but you list 4xCamera's and a Laptop HDMI.

Next is that you are trying to use 50ft HDMI cables with the TVS. It doesn't take too much searching on this forum before you find out that lengths longer than 15ft are problematic and Blackmagic themselves recommend against it. There are work-arounds - and maybe the cables you have will work - but just be aware you are already "pushing the envelope".

PIP. No - the TVS does not allow you to do a PIP (at least not how you might expect it). To do the typical scaling / repositioning of inputs for a PIP you need at least the 1ME and perhaps even the 2ME (with supersource)

I would recommend you stick with the Hyperdeck for recording (of course that is my opinion - which you specifically said you weren't interested in... but... there ya go). If you can afford the SSD costs - then this will be the most reliable method to record.. The data rate for Prores HQ is 220Mbps = a little over 4 hours fitting on a 512GB SSD.

You can use an Ultrastudio Mini Recorder (thunderbolt) or any of the other capture devices from Blackmagic for the Mac platform that take your fancy to capture the Program Output from the TVS and capture instead to your hard drive. I don't know about the specific formats that can be captured on the Max platform. Someone else will have to answer that.

On a MAC there is no other supported solution for streaming direct from the TVS's H.264 output via USB2 (other than via Livestream). If you had a PC there are several options. You can use MXLight to stream to most any service out there.

Hope that was helpful

I won't bother with giving you links to videos.. if you need video related to my answers something is really going wrong.

I think my point was, videos would be a helpful option since the language barrier is widespread. Mostly, there isn't anything out there that couldn't just be written in a post. Haven't seen anything that I could watch and say....oh, yeah. That's how that would work in the field. Also, removed the rules. After reviewing your comment, it's obvious that we are all pros here.

Top item on my list is that you are trying to use 5 x HDMI inputs. There are only 4 on the TVS. Did you miss that? I know you state you'll need 4 x simultaneous inputs... but you list 4xCamera's and a Laptop HDMI.

I made the corrections in my original post. I will only have 3 cameras and 1 computer input for a total of 4 HDMI's.

Next is that you are trying to use 50ft HDMI cables with the TVS. It doesn't take too much searching on this forum before you find out that lengths longer than 15ft are problematic and Blackmagic themselves recommend against it. There are work-arounds - and maybe the cables you have will work - but just be aware you are already "pushing the envelope".

I'm still going to move forward and push the envelope on the 50ft cables. Comprehensive claims this will work and the cost compared to 3 HDMI - SDI converters. No one yet has came forward to claim this absolutely will not work.

If you can afford the SSD costs - then this will be the most reliable method to record.. The data rate for Prores HQ is 220Mbps = a little over 4 hours fitting on a 512GB SSD

That's good to hear about the 4hours on a 512gb drive. Using ProRess422HQ

You can use an Ultrastudio Mini Recorder (thunderbolt) or any of the other capture devices from Blackmagic for the Mac platform that take your fancy to capture the Program Output from the TVS and capture instead to your hard drive. I don't know about the specific formats that can be captured on the Max platform. Someone else will have to answer that.

Just trying to reduce my cost. I understand the reliability reasoning. Again, I've viewed several videos on YouTube with those people using the Ultrastudio mini Recorder and none have clearly showed this is how it's connected, this is the settings to use and with the software to use. I have FCP and capture with the switcher I have now using firewire but this was Standard def (DVNTSC/48K). Question remains, can it be done with the TVS, thunderbolt and external drive. I see there is an option to capture in DVCPRO HD 1080i60 48Khz but that may be different when connected to the TVS. Additional codecs may need to be downloaded in order to work properly. Results are waiting.

On a MAC there is no other supported solution for streaming direct from the TVS's H.264 output via USB2 (other than via Livestream). If you had a PC there are several options. You can use MXLight to stream to most any service out there.

I heard that I can't connect USB to my MAC and use Flash Media Encoder to directly push to my server the H-264 signal. If that is the case, how or what would l need to use in order to make this work? Question still remains.

Hope that was helpful

Yes, it was. Thank you Liam.

Just trying to reduce my cost. I understand the reliability reasoning. Again, I've viewed several videos on YouTube with those people using the Ultrastudio mini Recorder and none have clearly showed this is how it's connected, this is the settings to use and with the software to use. I have FCP and capture with the switcher I have now using firewire but this was Standard def (DVNTSC/48K). Question remains, can it be done with the TVS, thunderbolt and external drive. I see there is an option to capture in DVCPRO HD 1080i60 48Khz but that may be different when connected to the TVS. Additional codecs may need to be downloaded in order to work properly. Results are waiting.

You connect the Mini Recorder to your Mac suing Thunderbolt (assuming you have that). You connect the TVS to the Mini Recorder using either the HDMI or SDI Program Out.

This is by far the most flexible method of connecting the TVS to your Mac and will allow you to either capture via FCP or Media Express in a number of different formats/codecs (a Mac user will have to fill you in on all the possibilities here).

This method of connecting is also how you can stream the output using FMLE or any other streaming software solution for the Mac

I heard that I can't connect USB to my MAC and use Flash Media Encoder to directly push to my server the H-264 signal. If that is the case, how or what would l need to use in order to make this work? Question still remains.

See my above answer.

There are one more potential problem for you to be able to get longer hdmi runs to your switcher and thats your gender changer. When I tried that for my setup minihdmi (9 feet) connected thru a gender changer and another 9 feet of cable I got nothing. Different cameras can maybe give you longer cables but the TVS doesn´t like long runs of hdmicable. I definitely wouldn´t buy more than 1 cable to test if it´s going to work before I order 3 complete sets of long cables.

Hakan

I've had no problems with 2 x 6m lengths of HDMI cables from (3D HD) cameras to monitors etc BUT I haven't tried this into an ATEM or TVS yet - so it's definitely on the list to try this coming week.

Many PC users here seem to use MXLight to take the USB H.264 feed from the TVS for streaming. I'm a Mac user but do just about all my editing using Edius running on Win7 under Parallels. So I've got MXlight installed as a Win7 app and when the TVS comes in (hopefully mid-week) I'm going to see how this works. I'm intrigued to know if I can mix Win7 apps like MXLight with OSX versions of other apps such as ATEM controller etc on my iMac and get it all to work... reliably

Neil