The Best Intro to Switching Just Got Better - ATEM Mini Pro
A really smart guy wrote an article a bit ago about how the Blackmagic Design ATEM Mini is “as close to a perfect switcher for someone who is just starting to stream as you will get.” What if I told you that the perfect switcher for someone who is just starting to stream just got better? What if I told you that all of the things that the same really smart guy said were negatives were all addressed and corrected? What if I told you that all of that is less than $600?
On Friday, April 3, Blackmagic Design CEO Grant Petty used a 90 minute stream to present updates to the ATEM Mini, updates to the Hyperdeck Studio and Pocket Cinema Camera 4K and 6K, but the biggest part of the show for educators is the announcement and presentation of the ATEM Mini Pro.
The biggest change in my opinion wasn’t the addition of the multiview, it wasn’t the addition of additional buttons on the control surface, it was the now built in hardware encoder. That’s right, you can connect an ethernet cable to a laptop and the ATEM Mini Pro can stream straight from the control surface. That’s right, no need to tie up a laptop screen solely to watch to make sure you are online.
Here’s how it works. Connect your laptop to a wireless connection. Connect the ATEM Mini Pro to the laptop via ethernet. Inside the ATEM control software, you would then add the stream key, etc. The ATEM Mini Pro will stream straight from the box. Literally, no OBS. No vMix. No anything… Just the ATEM Mini Pro.
Why is this important? It actually will stream at better quality than running it through your computer then out to YouTube. This has a lot to do with the different compressions. Oh, and did I mention you can start and stop the stream from the front panel of the ATEM Mini Pro?
The ATEM Mini Pro does everything it can to get you online with a high quality stream that is free of lag. The ATEM Mini Pro has a built in cache system that will actually help prevent dropped frames. As Petty stated, “If you just used the ATEM Mini Pro for streaming interface, it would probably be worth it.” Ummm… yeah - that’s an understatement.
That said, the ATEM Mini Pro has packed a lot more into the same small package as the ATEM Mini. Another highlight is the ability to record full Blackmagic Raw to a hard disk drive or even a thumb drive. That’s right, you can take your program feed from the ATEM Mini Pro to a thumb drive with full Blackmagic Raw footage. No color change, just the full spectrum footage read to be color corrected however you want. I was blown away during the presentation when Petty pulled the cable on his hard drive while it was recording, popped it into the awaiting laptop and pulled the footage up within seconds. There was no time to stop the recording. Let the disk stop spinning and go. While he advised against it, he did it, and it worked flawlessly!
Petty also demonstrated how the BMD multidock ($595) can work with the ATEM Mini Pro to record that same uncompressed, untreated footage to SSD cards. The cards are also switchable in case you fill one or if you want to go ahead and send footage to an editor who can cut highlights and put them back in the same show later. The ATEM control software allows you to change the recording destination on the fly.
The biggest complaint from everyone about the ATEM Mini was that there was no Multiview. BMD heard you and they said, “We are going to give you a multiview and it is going to be awesome!” Top row, as expected, contains the preview/program. The middle row is home to your 4 inputs and the bottom row is where I fell in love with the ingenuity. The bottom row contains your recording, streaming, and audio information. The bottom left houses the preview for the media player.
Here’s why it matters to you right now. As a video production teacher, your students, peers, and admin expect your videos to stand out from your peers. In this time of everything being recorded and presented to students for continuing education during closures, the ATEM Mini Pro may be a way for you to simply create better content. You can switch cameras, adjust audio, and stream out of one box. All while pushing presentation files from the same laptop back into the ATEM Mini Pro as a source. How cool is that? Again BMD comes in under the anticipated price: $595. The best part of that is that the ATEM Mini Pro is available now. Not like they have done in the past where you have to wait 3 to 6 months for the first units to roll off the line. Petty stated that the units are ready to roll right now.
Here’s the power moving forward. Imagine a road football game where you can see how everything is working from the inputs to the stream to the recording status all on one stream. You can manage the audio right there on the control surface while watching on the multiviewer. Did I mention that this is less than $600?
I could go on for days on this one. Expect to see more on this soon because there is way too much to cover in just this article. I’ll also cover the other announcements but the big deal for this release is certainly the ATEM Mini Pro.
My suggestion is that you get your order in soon because it’s going to be hard to keep these on the shelf. This is a great product and a huge win for Blackmagic Design.
Meet the Author, Tom White
Tom White is the digital media instructor at Morgan County High School in Madison, GA. Currently teaching TV production and animation pathways, Tom's programs have received state and national honors including the 2016 NFHS Network School Broadcast Program Of The Year.
Prior to teaching, Tom was a marketing, promotions, and online content director for a major radio corporation in Atlanta. Tom studied exercise science at High Point University prior to his radio career. Despite his winding career path, his mother still thinks he is special.
