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Done with ATEM for now
I have been trying to put together a new video system for my church over the last few months and have been unsuccessful. It seems the glue to hold all this stuff together is going to cost more than the big ticket items. The converters required end up costing more than the switcher and cameras. I’ve decided to throw in the towel and push the video upgrade down the road a few years. I Never was able to get compatible cameras and input scalers to make everything work within budget.
That being said, I’m past the Amazon return period on my Atem TVS & J-Tech Extenders & Splitters.
Does anyone know of a way to return this directly to BlackMagic, or want to make an offer on them?
Have been sitting in my office for a few months. -
2 Replies
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It sounds like your design may need a little work. You really shouldn’t be using so many converters, or splitters. I’m going to guess that you were trying to split an HDMI laptop signal to a projector and the TVS and/or using HDMI cameras. Both are a bad idea and add unecessary cost. Though I personally would never buy a TVS due to lack of AUX output, I’m sure there are quite a few people who would be glad to take it off your hands.
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Dustin’s post is a very important post. It costs a LOT OF MONEY to build anything. Forget the ATEM – think about audio for a minute. You buy a nice audio board – I am not talking about a big Digico, or Yamaha – I mean a little Behringer or Mackie mixer for $500, with lots of inputs and outputs. By the time you buy all the microphones, cables, and connectors to get this wired up, all of this costs a LOT more than the audio mixer.
Same with video. Just because Blackmagic gives you a great deal for $999 for the ATEM, you still need cameras, tripods, lenses, intercom system, audio, a recording device, a streaming device, SSD’s or hard drives for your recording device, etc. People think that it’s $1000 for the ATEM, so the entire thing should not cost more than $2000 – well, THEY ARE WRONG. As Dustin has learned, all this stuff costs a lot of money.
This is an important lesson. Blackmagic makes the new Studio Camera, which is an amazing value for $1995. This does not mean that you have a working camera for $1995. The lens alone is dramatically more than this. Now add batteries, charger, tripod, legs, mount, carrying cases – wow, it sure costs more than 2 grand for this camera – now want to use this in a studio configuration – multiply this by 3 or 4 – and that is just for the cameras. Now you still need all your audio, intercom, switcher, etc. YES, it’s a lot of money.
And for people saying “see, you should have bought the Tricaster” – its the same “hidden” expense.
If your cameras are HDMI or analog component only, yes, you will need converters for every camera. This applies for any switcher.
Bob Zelin
Bob Zelin
Rescue 1, Inc.
bobzelin@icloud.com
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