New user having issues setting up

Hi there. Our nonprofit is having a hard time setting up our ATEM 1 m/e. The software is not seeing the hardware. We would love some assistance getting this setup and can’t find anyone in our area able to help get started. We are wondering if we are using the wrong ip or if something else is wrong. Used to work fine but got a new computer and won’t work since then. MacBook Pro. Thanks if you are willing to help us get it set up. Cheers.
James

Hi James,

I hope someone can help. I feel your pain as I had the same intial set up problems as you. It was almost 2 years ago and I have to admit I am not entirely sure what was the final solution (I tried quite a few) but here are some things to start you off:

Firstly, get a good quality ethernet switch / router, and configure it using what I would consider a standard subnet and IP address range. For example:
IP address 192.168.1.1
Subnet 255.255.255.0

Then PLUG IN your laptop via an ethernet cable to switch. Forget about WiFi or you are in for a very frustrating few weeks. Even with the best recommended switches / routers, I find the connection constantly (every 5-10 seconds) drops over WiFi (except my iPad which drops every 5 mins) but is absolutely rock steady for 5-6 hours at a time over an ethernet connection.

Set your laptop's IP address to something like 192.168.1.90
(and subnet to 255.255.255.0 to match the switch)

Set your ATEM IP address to something like 192.168.1.100
(I'm not sure you can set your ATEM subnet, but if you can then do!)

I had to make sure there was no internet connection to the switch / router. As soon as I connected it to the internet (so that the laptop controlling the ATEM could also access the web) the ATEM controller software disconnected and it wasn't until 48 hours later that I inadvertently disconnected the internet from the switch, that the ATEM contoller software immediately reconnected! I tried it again - plugged in the internet connection - ATEM controller dropped out; unplugged the internet connection - ATEM controller immediately reconnected. Maybe others have had more luck, but for me it was no good. I usually have my laptop connected to WiFi to the internet and as long as the IP addresses don't overlap then it works ok.

You might just find that everything suddenly starts working.

If that doesn't work, one other thing to make sure is that you have the same software version of the BMD ATEM firmware on both your laptop and ATEM.

Once you do have it all working - and I hope you will soon:
1. Take screenshots of your ethernet switch settings
2. Take screenshots of your laptop IP address settings
3. Take screenshots of your ATEM settings

If you are every tempted to update your ATEM firmware, make sure you DO NOT do it when you have an imminent broadcast coming up! Wait until you have a few days or a week in case you have the same problems again. Hopefully it will all go smoothly, but if it doesn't you need some time to fault find.

If you are still stuck tomorrow, then let me know. We have a Facebook Live broadcast tomorrow evening, and our gear is all set up over at the location, so I can have a look at some settings for you and send you screenshots if that helps.

I went (2 years ago) from wishing I had never heard of BMD and incredulous that they would have no physical plug-and-play connection between ATEM hardware and laptop/controller (which I still think is very odd) to loving the products so much that we have racks of the stuff! Having said that, I've still never managed to get the ATEM to talk to the HyperDecks!

Good luck - and let me know.
Cheers,
Tim

I was on the same situation. But now all sorted. Running Atem and internet from same PC

I was on the same situation. But now all sorted. Running Atem and internet from same PC

Hi Janis,

Thanks for letting us know. Could you share any advice to help James get this sorted out?

Thanks.

Hi there friends. Thank you. I still do not have things working correctly. I am sure the issue has to do with the IP addresses not aligning somewhere. I am not a PC user and we are attempting to do this on a PC and I really don't have a lot of idea how to set up a dedicated ethernet with the appropriate IP that someone has suggested I do.

I would love some help and we are willing to sweeten the deal if someone would walk through this. The students just want to make some content and this issue keeps getting in the way. Its been 2 years since we have been able to get this thing working.

Hey James, normally I would ask for a lot more info your set-up to help troubleshoot, but since you said it was working with a previous computer I'll go with the simplest solutions first.

As others have said, the IP addresses have to correspond with each other. The ATEMs come out of the box set at 192.168.10.240. Assuming nobody has changed the IP address of the ATEM, you will have to set the new PC's ethernet connection to something where the first 3 numbers are the same as the ATEM and the last one is a different number, so something like 192.168.10.50.

On Windows, to change the IP address of the ethernet connection:
1. Hit start or the Windows key.
2. Go to settings (you can either start typing the word "Settings" and it will appear at the top, or just look for it in the list of programs.)
3. Click Network & Internet
4. Click Ethernet
5. Click Change Adapter Options (or change network connections)
6. You will see a list of your connections including wireless if you have it. Hopefully, you only have the one ethernet connection, you right click on that one and choose "Properties".
7. You should see something that says "Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4). Click on that and choose "Properties" (Which should be next to Install and Uninstall).
8. You'll likely see the top box says "Obtain an IP address automatically", you want to click the button below that that says "Use the following IP address".
9. Where it says IP address below that fill it in as "192.168.10.50". Usually after I type that last number, I hit the Tab button on the keyboard and it will automatically fill in the Subnet Mask of 255.255.255.0.
10. Click "OK".
11. You should be good to go. Go ahead and launch the ATEM software and it should now talk to the switcher.

If this doesn't work, then the IP address of the switcher may have been changed.
To check this, hook a USB cable between your ATEM and your PC.
Launch the "ATEM Setup" software (should be in the same Blackmagic folder as your software).
It should see your ATEM and will display a picture of the ATEM with the name that has been assigned to it.
Below that will be a little circle with an icon in the middle.
Click on that and you will be able to see what your ATEM's IP address is.
You can either reset it to its default of 192.168.10.240 or you can make the PCs IP address something in the same domain as the ATEM (keeping the first 3 numbers of the IP address the same, and choosing a different number for the fourth one.)

Hope that helps!!

Ryan