BM Pocket Camera HDMI

I was wondering if anybody has figured a work around to get the BM Pocket cam working live via the HDMI on the Atem Studio. Unbelievably they are not compatible. Pocket cam outputs 1080p and ATEM studio only accepts 1080i and 720p. Not very happy with BM today.

To be fair to BMD they also make a 2.5k and a 4k came that are also not compatible. I assume the "studio'you mention is a TVs. If you bought a ps4k instead it would be compatible with all of those cameras.

1. The studio I refer to is the ATEM Television Studio not a tv ?
2. The 4K Studio is at this stage not available in Australia.
3. I do believe that if a company launches products they should all be compatible with each other.
Fair is fair

Isn't that a bit like saying my washing machine and cooker should be compatible because they are made by the same company? Or my Sony phone should be compatible with my Sony video mixer...

Sometimes companies are involved in more than one market.
The Pocket Camera has never (as far as I know) been billed as a live production tool or the TVS as a Cinematography tool.

That said the 2.5K I think did get updated so that the SDI output could do output 1080i and they might (there is no second guessing BMD) add 1080i to the pocket providing enough people want to use it for Live production.

Tim

Tim thanks you for our most eloquent yet some what over zealous response to my question. A simple "no there is not a work around the camera is not compatible would have sufficed.
But considering you wanted to make an issue here you go.... I have still found nowhere on the BM website stating that the BM cameras are, or are not compatible with the BM Atem. You are the first person, and I include my supplier, who is the largest supplier to the broadcast industry in Australia who was aware of this. In fact the BM help line was also not aware of it..... !

...I have still found nowhere on the BM website stating that the BM cameras are, or are not compatible with the BM Atem. You are the first person, and I include my supplier, who is the largest supplier to the broadcast industry in Australia who was aware of this. In fact the BM help line was also not aware of it..... !

Unless the BMPCC specs tells you it supports one of the video resolutions the ATEM supports... then that should be your indication that it won't work. It's pretty much as simple as that. I think expecting Blackmagic to actually list on the specs of the BMPCC a message to the effect "This camera is not compatible with the ATEM" is unrealistic.

Of course there are many different ATEM's (the 4K's) which now also support 1080p.

Thanks Liam

The 4K is not available in Australia at this stage.
I go to air in two weeks. Not an option waiting for that.
At this stage I am hoping the suppliers will upgrade my bmpc to a 2k.

I do hope you get your wish.

I was wondering if anybody has figured a work around to get the BM Pocket cam working live via the HDMI on the Atem Studio.

Have you thought of putting the BMPCC output through an HDMI scaler/converter that will change 1080p25 to 1080i50 (or 720p50) which the TVS will handle? Works for me.

I wish the bmpcc will have the 1080i support too
will it work after patching to the blackmagic HDMI to SDI converter?

it's very werid... my 5D mk2 and mk3 can stream to ATEM switch at 1080p24 or 1080p30
but i have no stream with my 5D at 720p that ATEM support 720p

I wish the bmpcc will have the 1080i support too
will it work after patching to the blackmagic HDMI to SDI converter?

it's very werid... my 5D mk2 and mk3 can stream to ATEM switch at 1080p24 or 1080p30
but i have no stream with my 5D at 720p that ATEM support 720p

Just checking... .so you have an ATEM 4K?

i have TV Studio

I've checked from a local reseller, they said all BM camera can work with ATEM switch
I will go there to find out later

Yes. I thought as much. Look ONLY the ATEM 4K switchers support anything that is outputting at 1080p.

I suspect the Canon is ONLY EVER outputting a 1080i signal (it's very common for DSLR's to output a fixed 1080i rather than what the recording format is configured at).

When your TVS was displaying the output from your 5D what video mode did you have the TVS configured in? I bet it was a 1080i mode.

You will need to keep it in that mode even if your 5D is configured to record at 720p.

The BMPC outputs a 1080p Progressive signal only and will not work without conversion (scaler) on a ATEM TVS, ATEM 1 M/E or ATEM 2M/E.

As noted above, the ATEM 1 M/E Production Studio 4k and Production Studio 4k are the only ATEM products that will support a 1080P signal

Thanks Martin.

I will try that suggestion. Another piece of kit to lug around.

Does anyone have a cheap suggestion to fix this problem? This sucks

Does anyone have a cheap suggestion to fix this problem? This sucks

No crap - just bought 3 BMPCCs to built a little portable 3-cam setup for a school to pair with an existing TVS.

Inexpensive scaler source, anyone?

Send them back, you are going to go crazy trying to use them they were never intended to be used with any of the switchers
Sharyn

Thanks Liam

The 4K is not available in Australia at this stage.
I go to air in two weeks. Not an option waiting for that.
At this stage I am hoping the suppliers will upgrade my bmpc to a 2k.

But BMD is from Australia. WTF?

You could try the UpDownCross miniconverters. They will take in 1080p and output whatever you need. AND they have a reference input that will help you sync up your cameras. Of course, they are HD-SDI, so you have to convert from HDMI to HD-SDI first. Pretty soon you've spent a ton on converters, and could buy a different switcher.

There is a benefit to this, though. It is a lot easier to run coax than HDMI cables, so put a HDMI converter at the camera, run your video on coax, and convert at the switcher to 1080i (or whichever format you use).

EDIT: after looking at the specs, the UpDownCross passes on the frame rate, as is, when doing any 1080p formats. There seems to be no setting for 1080p to 1080i. This means you might have to step down to 720p in order to make it work with your switcher. I like 720p, so this wouldn't bother me, but you may not like that.

The manual does not state, in any way, what the effect of reference does to the throughput. If this was designed with any kind of logical design in the reference circuit, it really ought to re-clock the input to match the reference frame rate, so that if you used a 1080i reference, it should create a 1080i output. But the manual does not confirm this. It doesn't actually speak of the effect of the reference at all, so who knows?

I have an UpDownCross or two, and could check this for you next week if you need me to. (Or a BMD rep who knows what the reference will do to the signal can let us know!).

Ssmith3 - 2 converters per camera will kill me in the cost department - this is for a school. I'm pushing for pro-level equipment and the bean-counters are insisting we do this with iPhones, know what I mean? Thanks for the idea, though.

Checked with BMD, and their reps suggested I buy a Teranex converter for each camera...

Pocket Camera via HDMI to Battery Converter (HDMI to SDI) conected to ATEM studio 4K = yes it does work