[Jim Brown]

Adobe made some changes in the way plugins work in CC2015 which prevents using PS with ATEM.

Black Magic – When do you anticipate having this fixed?

Only workaround is to go to an older version of Adobe CC.

Jim Brown
M&M ProductionsUSA

Jim Brown
M & M Productions USA
Oak Ridge, TN

[Jim Brown]

One additional thing….
Did I mention audio is most important. Never use the camera mike to record presentation audio!

Jim Brown
M & M Productions USA
Oak Ridge, TN

[Jim Brown]

Tough to capture ambiance of a live production with only one camera. I would suggest the following:

1. Know the show, inside and out. Know it better than the director so you can capture the most significant elements at the proper time.
2. Imagine you are sitting in the audience and the camera is your eye. Keep the focus on the action and occasionally zoom in as if you would do with your eyes if sitting in the audience.
3. Don’t forget the audio. Bad audio will negate the best video. Good audio can overcome video shortcomings, including one camera! I assume there will be a sound reinforcement system. Connect hardwired to it. Best to take an auxiliary output so there can be some adjustment to compensate for differences in live sound mixing vs recorded output. There is a significant difference. Try it during rehearsal. Record it and then critique. Be harsh on your review. Make adjustments and if necessary record another practice. Did I mention that audio is most important?
4. Record with the best camera with the best lens you can. The best camera is the best one you can get!

My $.02 worth.

Jim

Jim Brown
M & M Productions USA
Oak Ridge, TN

[Jim Brown]

Victor,
I am one of those who attends each year at their own expense (tax deductible of course). First I am a geek and so very much enjoy seeing the new stuff. What I get real value from is viewing multiple vendors and getting a sense of where the industry is going. This helps us in our long range planning of equipment and systems purchases. Is it worth the expenditure? I enjoy it enough to justify it.

That is my story and I am sticking to it.

Jim
M&M ProductionsUSA

Jim Brown
M & M Productions USA
Oak Ridge, TN

[Jim Brown]

Well you did not mention a budget or size of desired monitor screen. But, here are some of my experiences with these cameras.

I have used 4 GoPro3 in a similar setup. Had them connected to an ATEM switcher. Use a Matrox QuadView (995.00) to display all cameras onto a single display.. You will have to convert the HDMI out of the GoPro to HD-SDI. Black Magic has converters. There are many on the market, but BMD is my experience. BTW, you will find the voltage levels out of the GoPro are very low and therefore will not support even the best long HDMI cables. You will need converters. This is the source of most peoples frustration in working with these cameras.

When you connect the cameras, I suspect they will be running for quite some time. Remove the battery and use a USB powered charger (i.e. iPhone charger). If you do not remove the battery it will overheat.

With the model 3 cameras you can run them in 1080i or 720p mode. In 720p you can choose among all three zoom ranges while in 1080i you only get zoom and wide out.

Hope this helps.

Jim Brown
M & M Productions USA

Jim Brown
M & M Productions USA
Oak Ridge, TN

[Jim Brown]

Ditto to what Mark said. We have a production trailer with Newtek instant replay system. When we use it for corporate events and want ISO records, we simply use the Newtek. Gives me 4 cameras recorded for several hours. Newtek and EVS are the market leaders in this technology. It is not cheap!

Best bet is to rent the gear.

Jim Brown
M&M Productions USA

Jim Brown
M & M Productions USA
Oak Ridge, TN

[Jim Brown]

Bret is right. BNC connectors are much more rugged than HDMI connectors. They are consumer grade and are not designed to be plugged and unplugged multiple times. The SDI connector also has a positive lock. We have experienced HDMI connectors working loose.

Jim Brown
M&M Productions USA

Jim Brown
M & M Productions USA
Oak Ridge, TN

[Jim Brown]

Sorry for the delay in responding.

1. PlayBack Pro is one the the most solid apps I have used. It just works! Your configuration should work just fine.

2. You can use the Thunderbolt to HDMI connector to output to your system. You may need an HDMI to SDI converter based on your connection downstream. I personally prefer to drive the projector at native resolution if possible. The scaling engines in them are notoriously slow which can lead to “lip flap”. I don’t know about your particular projector or application. Just keep it in mind.

Regards

Jim Brown
M&M Productions USA
Oak Ridge, TN

[Jim Brown]

The ATEM can be a wonderful choice due to:
1. Very little delay. If you genlock your cameras you will probably be at less than 1 frame of delay. Better than most out there.
2. Very reliable. No rotating memory!
3. You can operate from a PC if necessary or a 2nd operator is desired. Ie One feed to sanctuary with lyrics and Aux feed to streaming without graphics. Having 7 aux sends is very desirable.
4. The Photoshop plug in for graphics works well. It allows a dedicated graphics person to immediately update or modify a graphic and even take it themselves.
5. Large installed base which means spares, training, operators, etc are in good supply. We have placed a large number of ME1s and ME2s in churches. If you can punch a program on the ME1 you can do it on the ME2 using the capabilities of the ME1.

Watch out items:
1. All devices must be at same resolution.
2. Multi view monitor only shows 8 sources which you have consumed. You can always call up an additional source in the Preview to check it out.
3. X Keys can be a nice third party addition if you do complex setups that would benefit from macros.
4. Be sure to put an ethernet switch in the configuration. It will simplify adding devices. i.e. tally lights, additional operator displays. Do not put the system on your IT network!
5. The 2 PCs you are using as sources must have a graphics card capable of outputting at video resolutions. (1920×1080 if you are running 1080i. Easily done with MACs, can be more difficult with PCs.

We produce two football games a week that are broadcast in HiDef on a CBS affiliate and an NBC affiliate. We use the ME2 to switch those. We roll commercials from a Mac using PlaybackPro software. On one show we use Photoshop for the graphics and the other a Chyron. We have all 16 inputs consumed. We are on our third season with this setup.

If you encounter any problems, this forum is great.

Regards

Jim Brown
M&M Productions USA
Oak Ridge, TN

[Jim Brown]

The best look will be a performance in front of a rear projected screen. For this you will need a screen surface for rear projections. Virtually all projectors furnish a menu setting for rear projection.

Keep in mind that if you rear project you will need space from the projector lens to the screen surface. That distance is a function of the screen size and projector lens. If you have a projector with fixed lens (most inexpensive projectors) they will have lens in the 1.8 to 2.2 range. Multiply the width of the screen by the f factor on the lens to get the distance required. For example a screen that is 9×16 ft with an f2.0 lens would need to be 32 ft from the screen surface. Most people will use projectors with replaceable lens and then use something like a .6. In my example that would mean 9.6 ft ( 16*.6 )from screen surface to the front of the lens. You must then add the depth of the projector. (typically a couple of feet). Note that a .6 lens is quite expensive.

These calculations apply for front or rear projection. The challenge with front projection is making shadows on the screen surface as you are performing in front of it.

Regards

Jim Brown
M & M Productions USA