Got a few questions about Blackmagic Design ATEM Television

Hi guys, I'm new to live productions and I would appreciate any help.

I'm looking to upgrade my church's video production and I had several questions.

Before I get to that, here is my current setup for the church:



Note: I had no part in setting this up but I'm assuming this is correct depiction of the setup
*Note: The auditorium speakers are connected to the main-out of the mixer and the audio for the mixer is sent to the component amplifier via aux send
**Note: Due to different circumstances, I am stuck using the component (rca?) cords in-order to get the live feeds working in the other rooms.

Soo... This is what I am attempting to do but I have a feeling I'm mistaken on what some of the ports on the ATEM studio does.



So here are a few questions on the "Blackmagic Design ATEM Television Studio HD Live Production Switcher"

1. For SDI out, I'm assuming it works kind-of like hdmi? I see 4 SDI outputs, does that mean I can hook one up to web-presenter, and use another sdi out to connect to a sdi to hdmi converter for a different need?

As you can see from the two pictures, I did not add the audio mixer because I have no idea how to input the audio into the Video Switcher.

2. Is the Analog Audio In the only way to input audio into the switcher? I'm assuming there is 2 xlr ports for left and right? How would I get my mixer hooked up to the video switcher and still have it output to the speakers?

3. What is the SDI Aux port used for?

4. What is the PGM port used for?
- I was told that in order to view the program(all the different camera feeds), I could only use the sdi port, I'm assuming that is via the PGM port.

5. If #4 is true, what does the Multi-view hdmi and sdi port do? I thought that was for viewing the program?

6. I was also told that some of the HDMI ports were shared with the SDI ports so I will have a total of 6 ports because 2 of them were shared. Is this information true?


Any help is appreciated!

Hi Daniel,
1. Yes, you get a total of 5 SDI outputs and almost any SDI to HDMI converter can be used on any of them.

2. You can embed audio onto one of the SDI inputs. This is often done with a camera that has audio input but there can be problems with lip-sync delay. Best to use the balanced XLR inputs. Your sound desk should have a aux out that has XLR or TRS (big headphone type plugs) that let you have a set level post fader that won't change when the main output level is adjust for front of house.

3. Aux port is used for routing/switching one of your input to this output. Can be used for many things like recording the video output without computer overlay (this is called Clean Feed), Or having a fixed wide camera shot that is feed to a back stage TV via this AUX output - SDI cable can be run 50-100 meters and then HDMI converter on back of the TV).

4. PGM is the program output, just like the other 4 SDI outputs above the inputs (these other 4 SDI's have some fancy audio features for monitor signal back to the camera without that cameras audio so you don't get feedback - not relevant in your config so just use them as Prog outs).

5. MultiView is a special video signal/picture for the operator of the ATEM, lets you see all the inputs on one screen, preview transitions/next shot and see the Prog output signal. All on a normal HDMI TV/Monitor.

6. Shared ports was something the old TVS had, the new TVS HD has 4 HDMI + 4 SDI inputs, all can be active but all must be exactly the same resolution/frame rate.

Let me know if you have any other quests. I use a lot of BMD gear at http://arisechurch.com and also own a TVS HD for programming with the API.

Thanks for the info & help ! I do have another question real quick. What is the importance to connecting the ethernet to my computer? Is this needed to run the atem?

I also saw a video where someone connected an ethernet cable to a router to the computer, is this necessary?

Thanks for the info & help ! I do have another question real quick. What is the importance to connecting the ethernet to my computer? Is this needed to run the atem?

I also saw a video where someone connected an ethernet cable to a router to the computer, is this necessary?

It's for using the software to control the ATEM, if you don't have the hardware panel.