Blackmagic’s ATEM Update
Where are my Royalties @BlackMagic_News ?
A Few months ago I wrote a post asking Blackmagic design to add a couple of features to the ATEM Mini Pro on the Blackmagic forums and it seems they have listened. Unfortunately, I’ve not received any royalties for my idea, and I’m not expecting ant any time soon either, but I wouldn’t mind if they send me the new ATEM Mini Pro ISO as a thank you.
The ATEM Mini Pro ISO looks exactly the same from the outside but don’t be deceived. The internals have been reworked to enable some really cool features. For example, the ISO version of the ATEM Mini Pro has the ability to record each input individually and give each recording a timecode that matches across all the sources. The other great thing that Blackmagic has done, taking my idea on board, is to create a DaVinci Resolve file that has all of the clips in place and lined up, so all you have to do is switch into Multicam mode and you can edit your live show with next to none of the hassle of editing a standard Multicam recording.
This alone is a game-changer for producers who shoot events on a shoestring budget. What makes it even better is that you can easily change out the 1080p footage recorded by the ATEM Mini Pro ISO for the 4K Blackmagic RAW recorded on the Pocket Cinema Camera 4K (or 6K). This means you can remaster your 1080p stream and rerelease it in 4K using the original footage.
The other great things that BlackMagic have done is to create the ATEM Streaming Bridge. This little box plugs into the same network your ATEM Mini, Mini Pro or Mini Pro ISO is on and, using the streaming features of the ATEM Mini vision mixers, allows you to connect TVs & Projectors in various places across the venue you are working in. It even works across the internet. This would have been brilliant when we held our end of year conference when I was at college, allowing us to send the live stream to the screens throughout the college itself.
So how much does this new ATEM Mini Pro ISO cost and how much would the full setup cost you. The ATEM Mini Pro is £745 and the ATEM Streaming Bridge is £205 according to the Blackmagic Website. Both are great prices considering the functionality you get from them. I’m interested in how much it would cost to have a fully functional setup that utilises these fantastic bits of kit so, using my previous ATEM Mini Pro build-out, here is how much I think it would cost to get a simple 3 camera setup with video playback.
So it seems to get a complete setup it’ll cost you around £21,000. I could reduce the price further by using cheaper lenses with a smaller zoom and get rid of my Dante Audio Setup and find some cheaper cables. With those changes, I might be able to get the cost below the £17,000 mark. All in all, though that’s still a pretty reasonable price for a basic 3 camera setup, especially considering how much it would cost to get similar gear and functionality from other manufactures.
If I had £21,000 spare I would quite happily go out and buy this setup. But what do you think? Would you spend this much on a 3 camera Multicam setup with really simple recording and streaming built-in? What would you change? Let me know in the comments below.
