Blackmagic Forum

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.

Jack Fairley wrote: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?

Tobias Dieterich wrote: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!

fhhowdy wrote: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.

Tobias Dieterich wrote: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.

Tobias Dieterich wrote: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.

Tobias Dieterich wrote: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.

Xtreemtec wrote: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.