Middle Things!: Filling the gap left by Blackmagic Design
Before diving into this week’s post, I have to apologize for missing last week’s update. We had an amazing time at Butlins, and although I couldn’t find a moment to write, the kids had a blast, and Blake absolutely loved his first swimming experience!
Now, onto something super exciting! Since returning from our mini holiday, I stumbled upon an incredible YouTube channel called Middle Things. They specialize in live-streaming solutions and have developed some fascinating products that I can’t wait to get my hands on. Their offerings include Camera and Gimbal Control, as well as an impressive range of optical fibre products.
I’m particularly captivated by their Optical Fibre Products, especially after my deep dive into the Event Rig Series over the past few months. (You can check out the series in the posts below if you’re interested.) The Fiber Bridge 10 12G, in particular, seems to be the missing link in Blackmagic’s 2110 IP setup. It’s such a game-changer!
Imagine this: if you’re using a Blackmagic 2110 IP Mini BiDirect 12G SFP, you’d typically need to run a fibre cable from each camera to the switcher. This setup can get pretty messy and time-consuming.
But here’s where it gets exciting! By placing a Fiber Bridge 10 12G in a stage box on stage and another in the switcher rack, you can connect them with an MTP 24 Cable. This single fibre cable can handle up to 10 camera feeds and 2 network runs! You could run Dante on one network and Artnet on the other, seamlessly transporting your video, audio, and lighting from the front of house to the stage with just one easy-to-manage cable.
This setup has sparked an idea for a future post about a fully networked rig for lighting, audio, and video—but that’s a story for another day.
Now, the only downside is something I’ve mentioned before: Blackmagic currently doesn’t have cameras or switchers with built-in fibre ports for I/O. You’d need to use their pricey SMPTE fibre solution or their 10G Ethernet solution. While the 2110 IP converters can work around this, having Fibre I/O on the cameras and switchers would simplify the setup, make it cleaner, and reduce overall costs. At least you still get camera control with the converters, though.
Enough about the missing products in Blackmagic’s lineup. I absolutely love the idea of using MTP Fibre cables for those long runs from the stage to your control room. This setup is especially handy if you’re operating from a broadcast truck.
You’d have all your fibre-to-SDI converters in the truck, with the fibre feeding into a Fibre Bridge. The MTP cable would then run from the truck to the venue, connecting to a stage box that could house another Fibre Bridge, a Dante Stage box for audio I/O, and an ArtNet feed for lighting control. If needed, you could split the Fibre Bridge so some feeds go to cameras on or around the stage, while the rest feed into another Fibre Bridge connected to a second stage box for cameras at the back of the venue or on different levels.
What do you think of the Middle Things Fibre Bridge? Would this be something you would be interested in including The Fibre Bridge or other Middle Things products in your setup? If love to hear your thoughts. Drop a comment below or on the social post that bought you here.
