ATEM Constellation 4ME Camera Control

I just migrated a system from a TV Production Studio 4K to an ATEM Constellation HD 4ME. The system has two Studio 4K cameras that worked perfectly with the studio 4k, but they are not responding to camera controls from the 4ME.

I've confirmed that the cameras are set to the proper input in their identifier . They are connected to SDI inputs 8 & 9, and I've set their id's to 8 and 9, respectively. Each camera has a dedicated SDI feed output, each set to be the program output for ME1.

If I select the camera on input 8, it shows a tally light correctly, but camera on input 9 does not. Neither camera responds to camera control (gain/color balance/etc).

Any ideas?

It looks like you probably have at least two separate issues going on here.

1. Have you checked that you have camera control enabled for sources 8 and 9 in ATEM software control?
2. Cam 9 not showing tally implies that there is probably an issue with the return feed to it. Are you seeing ME1 PGM on the return feed at cam 9?

I'm not sure how to enable the camera control for a particular camera. The documentation I've seen states that the control signal always goes out all outputs. But there's nothing that I can find in the manual that explicitly talks about the camera control checkbox. It *looks* as if it's enabled. I'm not sure what the dropdown for the camera control output is for. How do I select that info for a specific output? It appears at the surface as if that setting is a global setting.

As for the second issue you mentioned, I can see the program feed on that camera. If I select PGM on the camera, I see whatever I send to its output from the mixer.

ensure this is not set to 'none' download/file.php?id=58464

They're both set correctly, as far as i can tell. These are the correct inputs.

Have you tested to make sure you're getting a good output over those two cables? It sounds like everything is configured correctly.

I will test controlling an URSA G1 with the 4 M/E Constellation HD tomorrow on the weekend. Also checking tally like you did.

Have you tested to make sure you're getting a good output over those two cables? It sounds like everything is configured correctly.

I'm not sure I know how to test it. When I select PGM on the camera, I can independently change what shows up by changing what's going to that cameras respective output (output from the mixer to the input of that camera). Since the video is showing up clearly, I'm assuming that the connection is good. These are the exact same cables we were using for the previous mixer.

Is there documentation on the "Camera Control" section of the ATEM software control? Specifically, what does the "Use: <dropdown> for camera control monitoring" control do?

I will test controlling an URSA G1 with the 4 M/E Constellation HD tomorrow on the weekend. Also checking tally like you did.

Thank you, Tobias!

Is there documentation on the "Camera Control" section of the ATEM software control? Specifically, what does the "Use: <dropdown> for camera control monitoring" control do?

At some time they introduced the feature to select the camera type. So for example the gain step control is adjusted according to the camera model in use. The selection is now also possible on the camera control panel.

At some time they introduced the feature to select the camera type. So for example the gain step control is adjusted according to the camera model in use. The selection is now also possible on the camera control panel.

To make sure we're speaking on the same thing: This is the setting under the "General" tab when you click the cog on the bottom left of the ATEM control.

I think you're referencing the Mapping tab on the Preferences dialog box where you select the camera type for each input.

You're right. I was talking about the wrong dropdown.

The camera monitoring one controls an AUX (output) that changes to the camera you made changes for. When you click on a specific camera in the camera control tab, the selected AUX changes automatically to that source.
(if set accidentally, it can ruin your show if someone selects a camera in the software and the aux is used for something else )

Just an update on this -- I was curious of there might be a bug in the ATEM control software or the ATEM firmware that involved camera inputs > 8. It seems like I remembered something from the older switchers that some of the consoles might not have liked more than 8 cameras (even though this one can supposedly support 40).

I re-ordered the connections to have the cameras on inputs 1 and 2. The tally lights now work on both cameras.

However, control functions do not work from the ATEM 4ME HD. I've tried changing the camera types and that has had no impact. The cameras are not receiving camera control from the 4ME HD.

If anyone has any ideas, let me know. I may have to create an official support ticket on this one.

I would contact support. Camera control should "just work" when everything is set correctly.

Thanks for the update. I will redo the test with the URSA, but I feel a bug

I've done some tests with a URSA Broadcast G1.

It seems like camera control works on all channels. I tried 1, 8 and 40. But I only tried to change gain, shutter and WB (temperature control).

But tally only works with ID 1-8.

I've opened another support ticket.

I've done some tests with a URSA Broadcast G1.

It seems like camera control works on all channels. I tried 1, 8 and 40. But I only tried to change gain, shutter and WB (temperature control).

But tally only works with ID 1-8.

I've opened another support ticket.

Thanks, Tobias. Sounds like there may be multiple bugs. Camera control is not working for my Studio 4K's, but I don't have any other BMD cameras to try them out on. I'll get a ticket going for the camera control issue.

I‘ve got confirmation about this one. However I‘m not sure whether this covers both topics of this thread.

I have been able to reproduce this behaviour in our Lab and have passed a report to our developers who I belive are working on a solution.

At this time I can not comment on want and update may come.

Thank you so much!! You've received more of a response than I have.

Should be fixed in today's 9.0.1 firmware update.

Should be fixed in today's 9.0.1 firmware update.

That's awesome!! I'll try it out as soon as can get it downloaded and get to the site. I'll report back with my results.

I've updated my Constellation HD 4M/E and it's still not working with my Studio 4K's. I've verified that they are set correctly for both the camera and the switcher. They still control perfectly well with my older 4K TV studio.

The audio for the talkback is also still really weak. It's actually better than the previous firmware version, but it still maxes out at a very low volume. Our camera operators can't hear anything once there is volume in the venue. This combination is a absolute killer. I don't see how this can be so messed up!!!

Talkback on all products is very low in volume and not very suitable for other use then ONLY studio work.

If you do music events or venues with a lot of music we find the BMD intercom is lacking so much that it becomes un-useable. That is why we switched to a full IP based intercom which works 200% better.

Talkback on all products is very low in volume and not very suitable for other use then ONLY studio work.

If you do music events or venues with a lot of music we find the BMD intercom is lacking so much that it becomes un-useable. That is why we switched to a full IP based intercom which works 200% better.

Thanks for that feedback. This is a live venue, and I agree, the volume is unusable. It was a lot better on the TV 4K Studio -- so I'm not sure what they changed on the 4ME, but it's a massive downgrade in capability.

Add their inability to fix the camera control six months after a "production" release, and my frustrations are very high with BM. Our experience leading up to the 4ME adoption was generally positive with very few issues.

Did you ever have any luck with obtaining camera control? It is over a year later since the last reply on this and we are currently having the same issue after having switched from our television studio to the Constellation 4M/E HD. Wishing I had looked here before purchasing. I thought integrating our older comm system was going to be the biggest obstacle but this is proving much more difficult.

No. It doesn't work, and attempts to reach out directly to BM and through our dealer have been unsuccessful. Disappointed is an understatement.

Man, that's unfortunate. Did you guys ever figure out a workaround? I'm assuming I'd just have to give up the program send to the cameras because even with no control in the ATEM software it will still override the camera when trying to change gain and such.

There are some things that work, and others that don't. I'm not around the equipment at the moment, so I can't tell you for sure what those are. I'll check on Sunday and follow back up. I really don't want to put false information out there, and there are some firmware updates that had a positive change, but we don't all of the features we used to have.

[Gary Adams]

This is a very old thread and while the issues posted at the top were probably true, they have been corrected a while back. So to not confuse the items posted long ago with current problems please post what you are currently seeing. ATEM model, Camera Model, frame rate, resolution and software version which should be the latest. All supported camera control features should be working so I would like to know what you are seeing other than it doesn’t work. Thanks.

Gary

I am having the same issue as the one originally posted. I had the television studio switcher with three Blackmagic studio 4k pros, and I had no issue with camera control. We recently upgraded our switcher to the ATEM constellation 4M/E HD and have no full control via camera control in the ATEM software. I've made sure everything is at the latest firmware updates, but the filter, gain, and balance controls are all blank, with the exception of the shutter being stuck at 1/50 with no ability to change. The only control I do have is focus and zoom.

[Gary Adams]

Could you select “Clear the Startup State”
In the File Menu. Wait 30 Seconds ( important) and power cycle the ATEM? If you do have some special setups loaded then save them to a file before clearing. Hopefully this will clear the display problem.

Gary

That did not work. I've tried power cycling the ATEM, using different inputs 1-8, and even changing out the studios with pocket 4ks with a bi-directional converter.

[Gary Adams]

The next thing to try. With the Setup Utility connected via USB perform the Factory Reset and see if that clears your display of the camera controls. Thanks.

Gary

My issues are still ongoing -- not too different than the original post:
- Issues are seen with the Constellation 2ME and 4ME switchers. I updated the firmware about 3 weeks ago, so if there's something newer, then I'd probably need to do an upgrade.
- Cameras are BMD Studio 4K's.

We're running 1080i59.94 (or whatever the 59.xx framerate is -- I'm not around the units and didn't write the info down). They are updated with the latest firmware (at least as of 3 weeks ago when I last checked).

I ran them through the full range of control.
- Cameras will respond to zoom/focus commands.
- Cameras will respond to the gain sliders/wheels
- Cameras will not correctly respond to gain, color temp, aperture settings. They will randomly change when you cycle through the settings on the ATEM, but the values don't align with what's on the camera, and the ATEM software shows values that are not valid for the cameras (i.e. gain levels that the cameras will not support).
- Talley lights do work
- Program feeds work.
- Comms are atrocious. We've had to ditch all BMD comms and go with an external system (currently wireless hollyland). Audio levels were not good with the built-in capabilities. These had been somewhat fine with the ATEM 4k studio, but not with the constellations. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise as we can now run a mobile camera with no extra challenges for comms, but we wasted about 4 months trying to make the constellations do what originally just worked with the 4k studio.

I hope that helps. If more info is needed, I can grab it next week when I'm back in town.