Fri Nov 08, 2013 11:43 am
It seems that this is a result of the huge underlying changes to the UDP protocol that they have made at 4.2 (I'd question the version numbering here, normally such a fundamental change to a system would result in a major version number increment, but whatever, we know BMD don't work like this by now!)
They have changed many of the UDP commands and vastly increased the capability of the protocol (for example adding a byte to the input names id, taking the possible number of inputs addressable in the protocol from 256 to 65,536!) We can speculate from this move that they may be planning a much more comprehensive control system perhaps including control of other hardware such as videohubs and monitors directly from the ATEM system.
However in the process they have managed to break not only all the 3rd party control interfaces, but also it seems their own hardware panels! It would be immensely helpful if BMD would publish their new UPD protocol to allow the 3rd party developers to update their systems without the tedious process of reverse engineering the protocol.
I truly believe that BMD are in a very strong position to benefit from a properly documented open control protocol, they are already first to market with 4k switchers and they produce pretty much every device a studio needs for core video tasks. Having a properly documented protocol to control everything with would allow really complex automation providing the same level of functionality that people get from millions of dollars worth of Sony / Grass Valley kit.
The current windows / mac SDK isn't adequate in today's multiplatform world. Of the commercially available 3rd party ATEM control systems only one uses the BMD SDK to control the ATEM, all the others have had to hack the protocol to be able to make their products (as there is no SDK for iOS, Arduino, Android, Raspberry Pi people who want to develop on these platforms have no officially supported way to access the ATEM).
I hope that BMD see the light and publish some docs of their new protocol, I have no doubt that another update will be out soon to fix their own panels, it would be fantastic if this included protocol docs!
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if it was easy it wouldn't be called engineering