NEW 4 CAMERA INSTALLATION

I have been tasked by my church to install a new 4-camera system to record our events at church. Also, we want to provide an opportunity for high school youth who have demonstrated a desire to persue a career in videography to get some "hands-on" experience in doing "live" productions. The BlackMagic ATEM TV Studio Production Switcher has been recommended to us since we are on a limit budget. The setup I am considering is to input 4 HD cameras using HDMI to a laptop. The audio will come from a master sound board with audio collected from several wireless and wired mikes. I would also like to be able to do lower thirds. Finally, I would like to have the option to not only save the production to a hard drive but have the option to do a live stream to my internet server supplier.

Does anyone have any thoughts if the Blackmagic ATEM Studio switcher will work for us?

I have read that there are issues with audio sync. How can I resolve this issue if it in fact is a problem?

many thanks.

Peter

Yes, the ATEM TVS would work for you. The only thing to consider is that HDMI is for short distances. You would want to get HDMI-to-SDI converters, for cable runs longer than 20'.

The ATEM TVS' frame sync adds 1-frame of delay to video, which shouldn't be noticeable. If you do notice a delay, a Behringer audio processor with delay can fix that issue.

Thank you Mike... much appreciated. Feel better now so we will submit to purchase the ATEM TVS.

A couple things:

The TV Studio requires AES audio. You'll either have to use a mixer that outputs AES digital audio or use a digital to analog converter (several options on the market).

The TV Studio doesn't do DVE which is useful for some effects, transitions and picture-in-picture. We often find that a limitation in our productions. Be sure to consider the differences between the TV Studio and 1 M/E capabilities before making your purchase.

You should probably also consider intercom since you're doing a multi-cam production. You might want to use the Blackmagic Studio Converter and Camera Converters. This will take care of your cable length issue (noted above) and provide com for all 4 cameras and director. This is a considerable investment if your budget is really limited, but it provides a lot of bang for your buck.

I am using 2 Sony CX130's 2 Sony cx560 at our church with no problems. - I have used some HDMI over Cat 5e Extenders, and have had satisfactory use. - The TVS is great. If you could a 1/ME would afford you a lot more freedom.

I just finished rebuilding our 3 setups and have programmed an old XKeys 24key with the atems, and am ecstatic! - In fact, I used the controller mate for the macro's and was stumped, - my 12 year old son starts hacking, and bam! We have lower thirds at the touch of a key! - The xkeys is good for that and live switching, anything with an easy button click can be programmed. - So pretty stinking amazing.

One thing to consider for your audio is something that I just fine tuned was running audio in through a camera with the 3.3 firmware. as upset as I am in my desperate need for our 1/me to have 60 hz support - (oops did I let that one slip ((DARN RIGHT!)) I need it quickly 6 days and counting!) - it has been a life saver since my DEQ2496 went belly up, - you have to get audio thru some how. So it is finally a genius move by BM. Really really nice, and so far accurate. - I will report back after our week conference.

Anyhow for church, you should consider running at least your main cam as a such as a Sony NX5u as an example - to utilize the SDI output - (xlr inputs;-) Then you can have a nice long run. I have to say, without scoping our camera setups, our cheap sony cameras match the 1/3" cmos quality in the good church lighting.

For your live stream - this has been an difficult solution for me with the BM gear, I had bought the h.264 recorder for my 1/me and a BM intensity extreme, thinking that Flash Media Encoder would be fine, well it is not. You will have to find something else, - what I am next in line for is a new livestream account - talks to the atem's directly. - Streamingchurch.tv is nice - very nice interface, great end of line quality, however, I had to use flash media encoder, and down sample that very pretty HD signal, and I did not like it so much.

Thats my church experience. - Black Magic has answered some prayers with the Atem TVS - (I am praying for 3.4!!! and 60 hz!) hopefully in the next 6 days!

good luck with your setup - it will be an excellent investment.

George

About streaming with TVS...

my experience is here.

With TVS, Intensity Shuttle USB3.0 with laptop(usb3 supported), I could stream the live through FMLE.
However, I have to use a audio mixer(analog) to get audios and sending it into line-in(or mic) port of laptop.
Really, FMLE recognize the Intensity Shuttle 3.0 as a video capture device.

It works fine so far....

Thank You Mike, George and Sanghyun.

It seems that the ATEM 1 M/E is really the way to go from what you are suggestion.

As far as streaming goes, we are tied in to Churchsites.com They do an excellent job.