Conflicting advice from resellers

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Jonathan Wald

  • Posts: 5
  • Joined: Tue Jun 13, 2017 10:35 am

Conflicting advice from resellers

PostTue Jun 13, 2017 10:37 am

Hi all,

I am looking at buying an ATEM Television Studio HD switcher. However, I have received conflicting advice about workflow from two local resellers, and I'm someone on the forums can resolve the issue so I can proceed with a purchase.

Our intention is to set up the following workflow:

• Two cameras would send video to the switcher
• An audio mixer would send audio to the switcher
• A monitor would show the multi-view for switching purposes
• A TV monitor would display the final program live in the room
• A Macbook Pro which would record the final program

One reseller advised us that we could achieve the desired result by using the ATEM TV Studio HD in the following way:

• The two cameras would send signal to the switcher via HDMI or SDI
• The audio mixer would send audio to the switcher via XLR
• The switcher would send the multi-view to a monitor via HDMI or SDI
• The switcher would send the final mixed program via SDI to either an ultra studio mini or an H264 Pro Recorder, and then via thunderbolt to the Macbook Pro
• The Macbook Pro would record this program on Media Express
• From there, the final program would be output via HDMI to the TV monitor in the room.

The second reseller believes this will not work. Their advice was:

• Between the switcher and the Ultra Studio Mini or H264 Pro, I need a HyperDeck Studio Mini
• The HyperDeck Studio Mini will output the final program via HDMI or SDI to the TV monitor
• The HyperDeck will also output the final program to the MacBook, via either the Ultra Studio Mini or the H264 Recorder
• The computer will then record the program via Media Express

The latter reseller also told me that I need to run the switching software on the Macbook, and connect it via ethernet to the switcher.

So obviously, these two resellers are giving very different advice, and I'm hoping you can tell me which is correct.

One additional piece is that we hope to connect a DVD recorder to burn the final program; however, that is optional.

In case it's helpful, I've also spelled out our current set-up below.

Thank you for your time and help!

Cheers

Jonathan

Our current set-up is as follows:

• Two cameras
• an audio mixing board, which sends the audio to one of the cameras (the other does not record sound)
• an analog hardware video switcher
• a monitor to use for the multi-view switching
• an HDMI TV monitor for screening the final program live during the event
• a DVD recorder, which adds an intro and an outro to the final program and compresses/burns the program to DVDs; the DVD receives video via RCA cables from the switcher, and audio via XLR from the audio mixing board
• A MacBook Pro which records video and audio via Quicktime - both signals come to the computer via a Firewire connection
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Richard Crowley

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  • Joined: Sat Sep 08, 2012 12:21 am
  • Location: Portland Oregon USA

Re: Conflicting advice from resellers

PostMon Jul 17, 2017 5:51 am

But WHY do you "need a HyperDeck Studio Mini...between the switcher and the Ultra Studio Mini or H264 Pro"?

Unless the second reseller can provide a reasonable explanation for that recommendation, I would assume that the second reseller doesn't know what they are talking about. Or else they are just trying to up-sell extra gear for higher profit.

It seems possible that with as many resellers as BMD has, there would be a few who were not completely competent and conscientious.

OTOH, the HyperDeck Studio Mini is a nice little product. And I would much rather record to a piece of dedicated hardware vs. recording to a general-use computer.
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Andrew Martin

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  • Joined: Sat Jul 08, 2017 9:25 pm

Re: Conflicting advice from resellers

PostMon Jul 17, 2017 10:07 pm

My guess is they both had their own ideas how this should be done. Do you need a hyperdeck recorder? No not really. But would I entrust my name or company reputation to a pc recording ? Hell no..
The U/S mini recorder & media express will work, but for me a dedicated recorder or maybe even two allows me the confidence of providing an end result given I have taken the customers money and would hope to do so again and again.

Go with what you think will suite ur needs, neither is really right or wrong its more a personal choice.

A.

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