Blackmagic Forum

I am looking for some guidance on purchasing the right kit. I run the technical kit for my local swimming club and we are looking to live stream our events. As you will imagine budgets are tight as are willing volunteers.

So my dilemma is this, we would like to buy a live stream mixer. Ideally we would have 4 cameras each with operators and someone doing the live mixing. However we would also like to be able to have 2-4 fixed cameras with a split screen output so no live operators. I have read through the ATEM mini range and it looks like the only device that would do the zero operator function is the mini extreme and its supersource function.

It would appear that on the mini pro we could use two cameras and use the pip function.

Is anyone able to help with the right choice of device.

Many thanks

Kevin

I’ve been doing volunteer work for the past 20ish years on a shoestring budget, and I’ll happily share my experiences.

First off, do you want to do IMAG or “just” streaming? A hardware switcher is needed if you want to minimize lag between camera and screen (and avoid lip sync issues with the venue speaker system). If you only need to stream, a software switcher might make more sense - you might be able to pull it off using just OBS.

Secondly, be aware of your camera locations. If you need to run long cables, hdmi is not the solution. Go SDI (or NDI etc. if you’re not using an ATEM)

Thirdly, be aware of cameras - if you use different cams you will have different colour, temperature etc. Maybe you can load a LUT into a converter, but I’ve never tried.
Also, camera resolution. My first experience with ATEMs was “argh, no scalers”. If you choose an ATEM model without scalers, all your cams need to run the same resolution and frame rate. Or you need to add in scalers which is costly.

And finally, be aware of the environment. You might need to take humidity into consideration when selecting cables and stuff.

I guess that was the basics

I have tried the ATEM mini, pro, and now use the ATEM mini Extreme.
That is what you need to start.

I also have three cameras, dedicated computer, separate small monitor