- Posts: 211
- Joined: Thu Sep 12, 2019 12:54 pm
- Real Name: Rob Walker
Putting this out there for people who may have multiple ATEMs sharing multiple cameras, but would like tally to be functional for each ATEM without affecting camera control of the shared cameras.
This was my problem:
We present a live video streaming event that has three separate production lines each producing independent streaming broadcasts. These production lines, however, often share the usage of a subset of cameras (like a pair of jibs or three cameras in a caster’s lounge, for example).
In the Blackmagic ecosystem, since the camera’s tally and camera control are delivered via the SDI return of an ATEM switcher, only one of the production lines will enjoy the use of tally to the shared cameras, since the return can only come from one ATEM at a time.
I can use a router to send the program output of the other production line ATEMs to the shared cameras, but in practice this has negative effects. Most noticeably, it will affect the shading of the cameras. Matching the values of the cameras across three production line ATEMs, so that that the shading remains the same is not manageable in a fast paced environment.
Adding to the problem, my company did not purchase the viewfinders for the BM URSA cameras and only had 5” Atomos Shinobi monitors. And the tally is delivered view the viewfinders. So even if we created a gpio solution, there was nothing to display the tally to the talent.
It took me a good while to figure out a way to share tally across all three production lines using my client's existing equipment.
The answer lied in an old ATEM switcher we had laying around and Bitfocus Companion.
In terms of hardware we have:
• 8k Constellation ATEM servicing each production line (the “production line” ATEMs)
• an old 4k 2m/e switcher in the engineering rack (the “shared” ATEM)
• an 80x80 Videohub router
• Three BM URSA cameras (the “shared” cameras)
• Three camera-mounted 5” Atomos Shinobi monitors pointed at the talent
What I did was:
• run the shared camera sdi outputs into the Videohub first
• the Videohub then distributes the shared camera video to each production line ATEM as well as
• to the Shared ATEM. Shading of the shared cameras takes place here.
• the aux outputs of the Shared ATEM are run to Shinobi monitors mounted to the shared cameras
The return is then looped into the sdi input of the URSA cameras
o Aux Output 1 of the shared ATEM is sent to Shared Camera 1
o Aux Output 2 of the shared ATEM is sent to Shared Camera 2
o Aux Output 3 of the shared ATEM is sent to Shared Camera 3
• I set “color 1” on the Shared ATEM to Red.
I then set up Companion triggers to monitor the program bus of the production line ATEMs.
If Companion detects that one of the shared cameras has been placed in Program by any of the production line ATEMs, it sends Color 1 to the Shinobi monitor of that camera and Black to the other Shinobi monitors (see accompanying diagrams)
Since camera control is sent to the shared cameras via the Aux outputs of the shared ATEM, there is no interruption in the camera control
There is a button on the stream deck of each production line’s technical director that they press when they are going to route their program video to the caster’s confidence monitor in the caster’s lounge. I added a “reset” function to this button that sends black to all the shared cameras to “reset them”.
And there are other modifications that could be done based on the output capacity of the shared ATEM and the information you would like to send via the aux outputs (it can be any color or even messages).
The best thing is, once set up, this entire process runs in the background without engineer intervention, and since the production lines never use the shared cameras at the same time, there are no conflicts.
Hopefully this process could help others in similar multiple ATEM situations.
This was my problem:
We present a live video streaming event that has three separate production lines each producing independent streaming broadcasts. These production lines, however, often share the usage of a subset of cameras (like a pair of jibs or three cameras in a caster’s lounge, for example).
In the Blackmagic ecosystem, since the camera’s tally and camera control are delivered via the SDI return of an ATEM switcher, only one of the production lines will enjoy the use of tally to the shared cameras, since the return can only come from one ATEM at a time.
I can use a router to send the program output of the other production line ATEMs to the shared cameras, but in practice this has negative effects. Most noticeably, it will affect the shading of the cameras. Matching the values of the cameras across three production line ATEMs, so that that the shading remains the same is not manageable in a fast paced environment.
Adding to the problem, my company did not purchase the viewfinders for the BM URSA cameras and only had 5” Atomos Shinobi monitors. And the tally is delivered view the viewfinders. So even if we created a gpio solution, there was nothing to display the tally to the talent.
It took me a good while to figure out a way to share tally across all three production lines using my client's existing equipment.
The answer lied in an old ATEM switcher we had laying around and Bitfocus Companion.
In terms of hardware we have:
• 8k Constellation ATEM servicing each production line (the “production line” ATEMs)
• an old 4k 2m/e switcher in the engineering rack (the “shared” ATEM)
• an 80x80 Videohub router
• Three BM URSA cameras (the “shared” cameras)
• Three camera-mounted 5” Atomos Shinobi monitors pointed at the talent
What I did was:
• run the shared camera sdi outputs into the Videohub first
• the Videohub then distributes the shared camera video to each production line ATEM as well as
• to the Shared ATEM. Shading of the shared cameras takes place here.
• the aux outputs of the Shared ATEM are run to Shinobi monitors mounted to the shared cameras
The return is then looped into the sdi input of the URSA cameras
o Aux Output 1 of the shared ATEM is sent to Shared Camera 1
o Aux Output 2 of the shared ATEM is sent to Shared Camera 2
o Aux Output 3 of the shared ATEM is sent to Shared Camera 3
• I set “color 1” on the Shared ATEM to Red.
I then set up Companion triggers to monitor the program bus of the production line ATEMs.
If Companion detects that one of the shared cameras has been placed in Program by any of the production line ATEMs, it sends Color 1 to the Shinobi monitor of that camera and Black to the other Shinobi monitors (see accompanying diagrams)
Since camera control is sent to the shared cameras via the Aux outputs of the shared ATEM, there is no interruption in the camera control
There is a button on the stream deck of each production line’s technical director that they press when they are going to route their program video to the caster’s confidence monitor in the caster’s lounge. I added a “reset” function to this button that sends black to all the shared cameras to “reset them”.
And there are other modifications that could be done based on the output capacity of the shared ATEM and the information you would like to send via the aux outputs (it can be any color or even messages).
The best thing is, once set up, this entire process runs in the background without engineer intervention, and since the production lines never use the shared cameras at the same time, there are no conflicts.
Hopefully this process could help others in similar multiple ATEM situations.
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