ATEM Television Studio HD8 new from Blackmagic Design
Blackmagic Design has unveiled the ATEM Television Studio HD8, a new family of all-in-one live production switchers that combine broadcast features with portability. The switchers feature broadcast-grade control panels with advanced features such as streaming and recording. There is also an ISO model that can record all video inputs and can connect to up to eight remote cameras. These new switchers support live streaming, talkback and optional internal storage.
The ATEM Television Studio HD is a professional live production switcher built into a broadcast control panel so it can be used for high-end work while being portable. This means customers can use it in small venues that don’t have the access for equipment racks or broadcast vans.
Customers get a powerful switcher with eight standards converted SDI inputs, two aux outputs, four chroma keyers, two downstream keyers, SuperSource, two media players and lots of transitions. Plus, it includes a whole television studio of features such as hardware streaming, recording, audio mixer, talkback, multiview and optional internal cloud storage.
While ATEM Television Studio HD is compact, it still includes broadcast features. Customers benefit from an advanced broadcast-grade switcher, with built in ATEM Advanced Chroma Keyers, Fairlight audio mixer, DVE, still store for graphics and much more. Most of the features can be operated from the front panel, or customers can use the free ATEM Software Control on Mac or Windows to access even more features.
Users can select from transitions such as dissolve, or more dramatic effects such as dip to colour, DVE squeeze and DVE push. They can even add a DVE for picture-in-picture effects with customised graphics. There are also media players which let customers store graphics with alpha channels for titles and graphics that they can load as live video inputs. The results can then be live streamed.
The unit’s front panel includes buttons for selecting sources, triggering transitions and setting up video effects. Customers also get a built in t-bar for manual transition control. The front panel even has an audio mixer control area with live metering on a dedicated LCD.
With eight 3G-SDI video inputs, ATEM Television Studio HD lets users connect multiple cameras for different views of the performance. All video sources will re-sync to the switcher, even if they operate at different video standards.
According to Blackmagic, one of the benefits of ATEM Television Studio is the range of professional built-in video effects. The t-bar fader can be used to transition video effects, or customers can do the transition automatically by pressing the auto button. There is a wide range of SMPTE wipes included, plus fun DVE effects that slide or squeeze the image off screen when transitioning between video sources.
The built-in media pool stores broadcast-quality graphics and animations that can be played back using the built-in media players. For highest quality, all media supports RGB colorspace with alpha channel, allowing transparency and layering. The media pool can hold 20 HD resolution stills. Motion graphics clips for animations and stingers can be up to 400 frames in 720HD and 200 frames in 1080HD.
In addition to the DVE in the ATEM Television Studio, there is also a SuperSource multi-layer processor. SuperSource gives customers four extra DVE layers plus a background layer, all layered together as an additional input source.
The ATEM Television Studio HD features eight independent 3G-SDI inputs, with each input featuring its own dedicated standards converter. That means it’s possible to convert any 1080HD or 720HD input source to the video standard of the switcher.
With a built-in Fairlight audio mixer, the ATEM Television Studio HD can handle complex live sound mixing. The internal mixer features enough channels for all SDI inputs, as well as extra channels for the XLR, RCA and MADI inputs. Each input channel features the highest quality six-band parametric EQ, compressor, limiter, expander and noise gate as well as level and pan controls.
ATEM Television Studio HD includes a professional multiview that lets customers see all video inputs, preview and program on a single SDI or HDMI monitor. Each camera view includes tally indicators so customers know when each source is on-air, plus each view has custom labels and audio meters. Customers can fully customise the multiview layout with up to 16 simultaneous views.
It also has a built-in hardware streaming engine for live streaming to a global audience. That means customers can live stream to services such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitch in better video quality and without dropped frames. Streaming works using the Ethernet connection to the internet, or customers can connect a smartphone to use mobile data.
ATEM Television Studio HD supports recording to external USB flash disks. Or if an optional M.2 flash disk is installed, customers can record direct to internal cloud storage. The internal storage plus any external USB disks will be available to share over the local Ethernet network so other people can work on post production tasks such as editing, colour correction and graphics preparation. All recordings are in H.264 format with AAC audio for broadcast-quality video and small file sizes. An exciting feature is append record, which allows customers to restart recording onto the previous file so users can deliver customers a single file.
Customers can use any video software with ATEM Television Studio HD because the USB connection will emulate a webcam. That means they can plug into a computer and use any video software that works with a webcam. This ensures full compatibility with any video software and in full resolution 1080HD quality.
The ATEM Television Studio HD ISO model allows customers to edit their live event as it can record all inputs to separate video files. Customers get eight separate video input files with matching timecode and sync, plus the program video is also recorded into a separate master video file. This means customers can edit using any NLE software that supports multi-cam editing. A DaVinci Resolve Project file is saved and linked to the input video files, so their live switching is converted into an edit timeline that customers simply click to open.
With support for DaVinci Resolve project files in the ISO model, customers get a full post production workflow with editing, colour correction, visual effects and audio mixing. Simply open the project and users will see their live production as an edit timeline. Customers can even relink to Blackmagic RAW camera files if they want to finish in Ultra HD.
Another feature on the ATEM Television Studio HD ISO model is that it can connect to remote cameras. The Blackmagic URSA Broadcast G2, Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K Pro G2 and Blackmagic Studio Camera 6K Pro cameras can live stream in H.264 direct to the switcher. Plus customers even get camera control and tally. Program audio is also sent back to the camera making it suitable for live interviews.
The ATEM Software Control app unlocks the hidden power of ATEM Television Studio HD by allowing access to all the features in the switcher. It features a visual switcher user interface with parameter palettes for making adjustments. The software lets customers live switch, mix audio, colour correct in the cameras and manage media. They can also build and run complex macros from the software.
ATEM Television Studio HD supports multiple languages in the menus, with support for English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, German, French, Russian, Italian, Portuguese, Turkish, Polish and Ukrainian.
“These new ATEM Television Studio HD8 switchers are amazing as they pack so many features into an extremely portable design,” said Grant Petty, Blackmagic Design CEO. “However, we also wanted them to be high-end broadcast-grade switchers so customers don’t have to compromise. We have achieved this as they feature full broadcast control panels, innovative audio mixing, plus streaming and recording all built in. It’s very exciting!”