19 ATEM Software Control Tricks You Should Know (But Probably Don't)

[@gravitymediapro]

I’ve been working in production for 30 years now, and I can honestly say I knew 1 out of your 19. Thank you for making till this! Appreciate you.

[@QuicksilverSG]

Thanks for exposing these undocumented features of ATEM Software Control, particularly in the camera control panel. BMD's hidden camera adjustment controls and obscure keyboard shortcuts have been a persistent source of frustration.

[@robertworden8559]

Nice Job Doug! - None of the tips were new to me, I logically found them even on the old 1M/E and 2M/E switchers years ago, But your documenting of these will REALLY help out any beginners or novices which should wean-down the lame, "Should already know" questions on user boards. One tip I dont think you mentioned was the "Tap-In" feature when you are adjusting sizes, positions or rotation in the DVE's or Super Source. All you need to do is "Tap-Into) the adjustment box and use your up/down/left/right navigation buttons to increment or decrement the setting, a really helpful feature! - BTW you kept the pace of your demonstration very straight forward, just the facts. Good Eductation!

[@apntv]

Definitely a number of things in there I haven’t used before, thanks, Doug.

[@leftykim]

I'm really new to this stuff, so I'm sure I'll be watching this one a few times. Thanks for posting this!

[@Wolli1973]

Very usefull tips! Thank you a lot for your hard work and for sharing your knowledge with us.

[@speakuscorner]

They were nearly all new, very useful thanks.

[@shalomgerald717]

Thank you for the useful tips Doug, I only knew two of them!

[@greenyeh9492]

Thanks Doug, it's really helpful. Thanks for sharing.

[@pixelswaag7390]

This is a really cool and helpful video. Thank you

[@PeterVCook]

I have read the manual cover to cover, but I didn't know (or at-least remember) most of these. I do feel back for anyone who didn't know tip 7.

[@ltakallen]

Great info, Thank You Doug 😊

[@BrianDaly]

May not use all your tips Doug, but great information to have when required. Keep up the good work

[@emmanuelfrancis]

Thanks a lot. I did not know about most of them.

[@ColinMulcahy]

Doug, great stuff. Keep it coming, these are little gems that great.

[@RobertSababady]

Brilliant!. 1/2 of them were new for me.

[@vkrtube1985]

TOTALLY NEW!!! THANKS!!!

[@gisteproducciones]

well explained mate! thanks

[@Eddy04tv]

Fantastic video! Didn't know about the ones in camera control. What would be the best way to replicate the "replay" scene/effect with ATEM and Hyperdeck?

[@djp_video]

Instant Replay? I wouldn't recommend trying to do replay with a HyperDeck. Replay really requires simultaneous recording/playback, which the HyperDecks can't do. vMix is the least expensive solution I've found for replay.

[@renod42]

I knew a few of them. Thanks for the rest. I wish camera controls would work with my Sony cameras. :(.

[@helgedell]

Great, thanks. You look frresh and happy in this one. Also seems to talk a little slowet than usual, thanks from a foreigner :)

[@mvmv5883-e3g]

I usually like your videos first, then I watch them...

[@extramedium3920]

Great tips, thanks! Is it possible to save and recall the power zoom settings using ATEM software control, or is that something they require a control surface for? Would be handy to recall zoom level presets (and gain) via Streamdeck...

[@djp_video]

I don't think zoom position is something that you could do presets for. The ATEM control protocol only has 'zoom in' and 'zoom out' commands -- no 'go to zoom position z' command. And, in addition, there's no way for the camera to report back the zoom position, even if the lens does happen to have a way to report that.

[@extramedium3920]

@@djp_video Thanks for confirming. I was going to use the zoom on a Micro G2 cam, but the lack of parfocal lenses at a reasonable price has be going back to a Sony a6500 with a PZ lens and AF. I am just going to set my focal length then use force mobile on a DJI app to control a RS-C gimbal for pan and tilt. Works really well when adjusted right. I can always switch to the game controller mode to use the paddles for zoom, then go back to force mobile for panning and tilting the cam on a fluid head tripod on my desk. Middle Things has a nice solution at a price, but at that point I might just use a good Canon PTZ cam, but I don't want to go that route until I am running everything via NDI. In my mind it's better to have the better optics and bigger sensor on the Sony.

[@ipg_rentals]

Hello I have a 1 ME Atem mini 4k pro switcher it was working just fine and all of a sudden the pgm/ preview isn’t lighting up blue and green it just lights up in white.When you switch the sources you see the switch in the little LCD monitor in the switcher but not the multiview as well. Any suggestions

[@jimmckinney1685]

Thank you for your videos. Is there any way to switch multiple cameras' presets from the controller instantly? Thx!

[@djp_video]

You can create macros that will do this.

[@larrybell1985]

One question about the new 4K switcher and 2110IP. Do the BM cameras with Ethernet work as IP devices on the 4K?

[@djp_video]

No. You still need the Studio Converter. The IP protocol used by the Studio cameras is proprietary and doesn't work with anything else. I can only guess that we'll see new cameras and switchers that support 2110 IP, but those are likely a way off. We'll also need way more bandwidth than what is currently commercially viable. A 4K, 60 fps signal is roughly 12 Gbps -- so above even what is available on 10 GbE networks, for just a single camera. Imagine the amount of bandwidth and speed of connection required to get multiple cameras into a switcher -- eight video sources would require 100 Gbps, and while equipment is available to handle that amount of data, it is ludicrously expensive today.

[@ainsworthunitedchurchofchr1045]

Nice advise. Do you know of a way to connect an atem to a ptz controller so when you put a camera into preview mode is switched over in the ptz control so that you can operate the camera without having to select it on the ptz controller?

[@djp_video]

There isn't any way to do that that I can think of.

[@arlenshowstack5644]

Very good video! On the Atem Control Software, would you know how to bring in 3 channels of audio from a Panasonic HPX370 camera? It only seems to bring in channels 1 and 2. As an example, I cover sports, and to simplify things without an audio mixer, I go straight from my camera via SDI 1 Out into the Atem as a Camera Source. I have announcers on the rear XLR mics 1 and 2, and the front mic I have NAT sound. When I select to use that camera audio, it only brings in mics 1 and 2, and not mic 3, the nat sound mic which is the field sounds.

[@djp_video]

The ATEM switchers only process 2 channels of audio. If you want to extract the audio and process it separately, you'll want an audio de-embedder. The one from Blackmagic is called the SDI to Audio Mini Converter. It will let you extract four channels of audio to either analog or AES.

[@arlenshowstack5644]

Thanks so much! I ordered the SDI to Audio Mini Converter. @@djp_video

[@garywilliams9678]

Doug been following you for some time. Love the trailer build. I to have a 16' home built with a 2ME BMD, and do a lot of events. One question. I use the Stinger feature a lot. Ties up both video players. I want to know if you have ever driven 2x BMD Hyperdecks from the ATEM with vid on 1 and key on the other. I have events with as many as 10-20 different transitions and end caps and its not duable to constantly reload a PNG sequence into the media player. Also I can't seem to use the transport control on the 2me panel to change between Hyperdecks. It sees and controls DDR1 but does not change to DDR 2 when selected. Thoughts. Keep up the great work.

[@djp_video]

Are you doing double-alpha transitions? If not, and you're doing just standard fill-and-key, a single HyperDeck Studio Plus or Pro model will do that for you. Getting the timing down to be frame accurate with two separate players is tricky. I've attempted it, and sometimes it works well, sometimes one of the players is a frame or two off.

[@sunsetlabs]

Thanks Doug! Something I keep watching for but haven't seen yet - is there an easy way with BlackMagic switchers/ATEM to add a BLUR layer on a feed somehow? Just want a gentle bokeh-style effect on a layer... for example, people coming into the venue or the stage being setup. Haven't been able to see this anywhere but it seems like something that should be possible... thanks for any reflections! - Jason

[@djp_video]

No. Blurs are quite computationally intensive to do. When done properly, it uses a technique called a convolution, which are extremely computationally expensive. Depending on the techique used, if you had a 10 pixel radius blur (which isn't much -- far lower than you'd need to achieve what I think you're looking for), each pixel in the output is computed from 300-400 pixels in the original video. If you think about it, each pixel in the output of a blur is made up of data from its neighbors, and the computation grows exponentially with the radius. So a 10-pixel blur might be made up of 350 pixels, but a 30-pixel radius would use 2800-3600 pixels of data to compute each output pixel. So it takes orders of magnitude more computation power to do a blur than it does to scale an image or tweak the colors/exposure. There are ways to reduce that, like cheating, all at the expense of quality, but none of them are inherently fast without extreme parallel processing like you find in a GPU, and incredibly fast memory, neither of which the Blackmagic products have. I've been playing with my own Windows app to do this, utilizing a highly-optimized 2-pass Gaussian blur algorithm, but as of right now it isn't fast enough to do in real-time, even with just a 6-pixel blur radius and a top-end 24-core CPU. With the algorithm I'm using, on a 6-pixel radius each output pixel is computed from 169 source pixels, so it's still compute-intensive -- 169 times the pixel lookups and math compared to say, adjusting the colors, . As of right now I'm only able to achieve about 10 frames per second for 1080p video, and just a little over 1 frame per second in 4K. I have more optimizations I can make, but I don't think I'll ever be able to achieve full frame rate. Phones and conferencing apps like Zoom can get away with it because they cheat with a lower-resolution copy of the image, say a 0.5-megapixel version of an 8 megapixel source (4K). And phones have GPUs that explicitly have functionality capable of doing the blurring quickly. That reduced-resolution cheat wouldn't fly in professional video.

[@sunsetlabs]

@@djp_video Doug! Amazing... I'm grateful for the reply & detailed explanation... and it's cool to hear it's been an active want/exploration of yours as well. Would be so sweet, if possible. Well, that certainly explains why I haven't seen it around... thanks much mate!

[@djp_video]

I've definitely had situations where I'll setup an extra camera (doesn't even have to be a particularly great one) and intentionally set it out of focus, and use that as a background behind graphics. Works well, even if it does require additional hardware and setup time.

[@bigbyz2]

This is very helpful! Is there a shortcut for record? I am setting u my PlayStation 5 controller using this

[@djp_video]

None that I'm aware of, or in the documentation.

[@jacvanderspuy5618]

Fanyastic information. Totally of the topic - is it normal for the BMD hyperdeck studio hd mini's fan to be load?

[@djp_video]

No. I wouldn't call that normal.

[@IanCollins-WSS]

Hi Doug, I am just getting started with eh Atem mini extreme and these tips were supper helpfill. I have a question please. I also have a Shuttle HD that i want to use as a feed for slomo playback. I can control the playback speed using the API via another program, but is it possible to have a macro or something in the ATEM software control that will cause the hyperdeck to play the last video at say 50%?

[@djp_video]

Hmmm... I don't think that could be done using the built-in macro functionality... not because of the playback speed (because you can control that) but because macros are expecting that either (1) you've already got the right clip selected before you start the macro, or (2) the video you want to play is always at the same position in the playlist (1st, 2nd, etc.). Something could probably be done with BitFocus Companion, though it has similar limitations. Using a variable you could probably tell it to jump to clip # xxx, which corresponds to the number of clips, and then start playback from there.

[@femidada7022]

Hi Doug, these tips are very helpful! Can you use the image files loaded into the media pool to add "lower thirds" to your video streams? For example, a label at the bottom identifying a particular speaker? In my case identifying the pastor during the sermon. Thanks!

[@djp_video]

Yes. You'll want to have images with a transparent background (usually .PNG or .TGA files), but that is absolutely possible.

[@winandsogbor]

Thanks for the tutorials. I am having trouble, not seeing my multiview anymore. The multiview is accessed by OBS and not the parent software. Please help me get the multiview back. Thanks

[@rsmolkin]

Hey, thanks for the tips, kind of a silly questions, the whites on my output look blown out, if I connect the source directly to a monitor, it looks good, but through the switcher blown out. I can't find the controls for camera brightness/gain in the software, or more specifically I see some things called gain, but adjusting them doesn't seem to have any affect on the picture...

[@djp_video]

The ATEM switchers don't have any ability to manipulate color or exposure whatsoever on their own. I believe you probably found the camera controls, but those only work with Blackmagic cameras with a return communication channel connected. I suspect the differences you are seeing are because the source you're using negotiates the type of signal it outputs with the device it's connected to. (I'm assuming HDMI, as SDI doesn't do this). With that being the case, you'll want to change the settings on your source device to make sure it's outputting a video signal that the ATEM can understand... no HDR, Rec.709 color, standard resolution and fram rate.

[@foxcitiescore]

Just upgraded to the Extreme from the Mini Pro. I used to be able to just push a camera and it would instantly switch to that camera (without previewing and cutting). I changed the setting to A/B but it still is lighting the channel green and then making me push the cut button to switch to that angle. Any suggestions? Is it possible to have it instantly switch to the camera on first push? Thank you

[@djp_video]

What you're referring to is A/B switching. Load ATEM Setup and change the switcher mode there.

[@MegaSunspark]

Thanks for these great tips. Sort of unrelated, is anybody using a touch screen monitor to directly push the buttons and controls on the Black Magic video switcher software panel?

[@djp_video]

I don't personally know anyone doing that, but there's no reason someone couldn't. Years ago I had created a touch-screen control (though it showed video sources rather than just buttons) for the switcher I had at the time, but ultimately I stopped using it because I prefer the tactile feedback you get from physical buttons.

[@MegaSunspark]

@djp_video Yes, that's true for the tactile feel of real buttons. I'm from a Grass Valley & Sony production switchers background. There is something to be said for physical buttons where you can gently touch the buttons getting ready without pressing them before actually pressing at the right time. That is not possible with software panels.

[@DigitalCreations2012]

I knew half of them.... I like the play all selected clips on the hyperdeck one.

[@TimoSund]

Kinda makes me want to upgdrade my television studio and add hyperdeck or two before next scheduled gigs.

[@LikeThisReview]

So the default play back in software control is play 1 clip and on the Hyperdeck studio HD plus it is play all. Do you know a way to play 1 clip only from the HD+ control panel??

[@djp_video]

There isn't a way to play a single clip from the device's control panel. You can repeat a single clip over and over, but not play it one time.

[@noahallgeier9329]

Doug, when you are livestreaming a music festival, do you use the audio feed from the FOH mixing table? Or do you split the mic lines and mix yourselves? Thanks!

[@djp_video]

That depends on the budget. If our client is willing to pay for an audio engineer, we'll mix ourselves. This is really easy when we work with someone who uses Dante, but otherwise we might have to get creative. A lot of audio guys get nervous if you ask to split their signals. They don't like that very much. So sometimes we might have to take a few aux feeds of submixes or something. Most commonly, though, we'll take the FOH mix and mix in a few other sources on top of that. Sometimes the audio guys will agree to create a separate mix for us, though those never turn out that well. Not ideal, but we do what we can.

[@noahallgeier9329]

@@djp_video awesome, thanks Doug! So I assume using the FOH mix still sounds decent for livestream (even though it was mixed specifically for live audience)? I know that is a worry

[@djp_video]

It's never ideal, and never my first choice. But if there's no budget to hire someone to build a separate mix for the livestream, sometimes that's about the best we can do... especially if the FOH engineer isn't using Dante, making it far difficult to get the isolated sources. FOH mixes always sound dry, dull, and very much lack the energy of the event. If you want a good mix for live it HAS to be created separately.

[@noahallgeier9329]

@@djp_video is Dante industry standard for concert FOHs?

[@djp_video]

I wouldn't call it standard, but it isn't terribly uncommon, especially on the higher end of things. Many mid-size and larger venues have Dante-based systems of their own as well. So when smaller acts without their own sound come to perform the venue system sometimes gets used. Outdoor concerts are another thing. Dante is considerably less common there.

[@erikpaullive]

I'm trying to understand why I would want to split the audio. Does that mean that faders and EQ will be split into two, so that if I have a rode wireless go II in stereo mode that I will get a fader for my left rode and a fader and EQ for my right rode?

[@BuriTechVids]

Exactly. Or imagine you have an camera with two XLR inputs where the first input is mono matrix from sound engineer and the second XLR is crowd microphone. In this minimalist setup you want to control both audio channels separately and not in a stereo pair. :)

[@MihailDragnea-Visual]

Thank you!

[@ebpula]

Excellent!!!

[@Crystalimagepro]

Hey Dough, Greetings from Africa. I wish to know how to camera control my 3x pocket 4k cameras (color, trigger recording...) using my Atem SDI extreme ISO. The iso recordings are good quality, but for high profile events, I would prefer replacing the mp4 with the raw files from my cameras. Only I do not know how to set it up. Please help!

[@djp_video]

You can get the Blackmagic Bi-directional SDI-HDMI Micro Converter 3G and it will relay those signals from the SDI output of the switcher to the HDMI input of your cameras. Make sure to use the setup application to set the proper camera IDs on the converters.

[@Crystalimagepro]

@@djp_video thank you very much, although I have no idea how to set it up 😅. Would you recommend : sacrificing 3 of the 4 outputs to connect 3 Bi-directional SDI-MINI converters, or would you say the Mini Distribution converter SDI would do the job from only one atem extreme SDI output?

[@djp_video]

All outputs on the ATEMs carry all of the information needed by the cameras. So you can split one of your outputs with a distribution amplifier (like the Blackmagic SDI Distribution Mini Converter) rather than taking up all of your outputs. But you will need individual Bi-directional Micro Converter 3Gs for each camera.

[@Crystalimagepro]

@@djp_video Many thanks Doug. This is priceless info to me. Thanks for taking the time. God bless ;)

[@RobertAdams-rv8ot]

How do I get both the me1 and me2 buttons on the same screen like it’s shown on your video? That would make it easier to switch between the two me’s.

[@djp_video]

It displays them automatically when there is enough space on the screen to show both. There aren't any settings to change.

[@The-Butler]

Hey Doug, I am hoping you can help a brother out. Do you know the polarity of the Atem proprietary power supply plug? The oblong 3 pin one.

[@djp_video]

Which model? The only ones I can think of are either C14 120/240V AC or 12-volt barrel (center positive).

[@The-Butler]

@ Thanks, I did hear back from BM and center is positive (12V 12Amp) both of the outside pins are -.

[@isaacrojas3698]

Doug, question. We have the Blackmagic atem 8k Switcher, with primary cams are BM ursas g1, g2. Both models ccu control no problems. None of my pocket cams, or my micro studio 4ks are able to ccu control. Everything has the latest updates. Blackmagic stopped responding (they must have run out of ideas). Bidirectional 12g converters used, updated. Camera ids set, still nothing for the pockets. My atem 4 M/E controlled all of them just fine. Also, atem 1 M/E controls all of them with ccu control. Do you know of anyone else with this issue? Is the 8k just not compatible? They claim it is. Help! Thanks

[@djp_video]

They should work. Let's take a look at how they're connected. The Micro Studio 4Ks should just work as long as they have a return feed from one of the SDI outputs from the switcher. If you have any converters in the signal path, try bypassing them and connecting directly to see how they respond. The Pocket cameras should also work going through the BiDirectional 12G converter as long as the camera ID is set, and they have relatively recent firmware. Have you taken the return signal you've been connecting to the Micro or Pocket cameras and connected it to one of the Ursas to see if they respond as expected? Also, make sure that the video signal format set in the cameras is identical to the signal format of the switcher.

[@rogermartin1984]

Thanks How can I change my MultiView? I want to change the number, size, and location of the boxes in my ATEM mini Pro display. I would also like to put sound bars in there scaled to a size I can see easy.

[@djp_video]

Click the gear icon in the lower left corner of ATEM Software Control, go to the Multiview tab. All of those options are there for supported models of ATEM switchers.

[@rogermartin1984]

Then I guess the ATEM mini and pro are not supported

[@oospagheti]

hi man, I wonder if it's possible to set AUX as a multiview in atem television studio hd? my feed from Multiview just died, both sdi and hdmi :(

[@djp_video]

No. The Multiviewer is a special source that is only available on the multiview output. If you have a spare input on your switcher you could route the multiview back into that input so you can send it on an aux, but this does take up an additional input and adds a couple frames of latency.

[@oospagheti]

@@djp_videoThanks for the answer! will try that tonight and get back to you. But both of the MV outputs are dead, do you think I can route to a free input using atem's software?

[@djp_video]

No. Blackmagic switchers don't do that.

[@gAlbert23500]

Doug: yeah learn something new everyday… I have a couple of questions .. Q1: now that I know that we can control the HyperDeck from the ATEM SW Control [can we also manage the WebPresenter? And in what manner]. Q2: can we run / manage an external LiveStreaming app like Zoom, StreamYard, vMix … eCamm from the ATEM? Q3: Can the ATEM Controller look for NDI enabled virtual cameras (natively?). Like look for the NDI assets and allow us to pull them in

[@djp_video]

No, none of those things are possible. The ATEM integration is limited to the HyperDecks and their own Studio, Ursa, and Pocket Cinema cameras.

[@CivicPalosVerdesEstates]

Doug uses a PC to control the ATEM. Stunning & Brave...!

[@djp_video]

Did you see what is sitting behind me in the video?

[@CivicPalosVerdesEstates]

@@djp_video Doug, I am looking closely on a 32 Inch monitor. I see a BMD (high-end) Switcher, 2 large monitors, what looks a X-Keys keyboard, a BMD Dual Monitor (mounted), a Elgato • Stream Deck (unknown model), two large monitors for the BMD Switcher (with a Connect & Learn Series graphic) , a maybe 22 Inch monitor with a desktop (mostly blue screen) showing. I am stumped, but I do appreciate your Mac keyboard command equivalent mentions.

[@djp_video]

I was referring to the 2 M/E Advanced Panel. It's my primary way of controlling my ATEM. In addition to the 2 M/E panel I also use X-Keys for controlling the animated SuperSource macros that I created. And there's a Stream Deck there too attached to Bitfocus Companion, but I don't connect it to my ATEM because I've had too many situations where Companion crashes my switcher, which just isn't acceptable. The ATEM Software serves as a supporting tool, mostly used for camera control and managing the media pool.

[@CivicPalosVerdesEstates]

@@djp_video This is a highly capable set-up.

[@arielmartina69]

Hola, te hago una consulta, cómo configurar el multi View de aren 2 e/m, tengo 10 ventanas y necesito poner 16, muchas gracias

[@djp_video]

If you have a Constellation model, click the gear in the lower left corner of the ATEM Software Control window, go to the Multiview tab, and you will see a small grid near the top representing the current layout. Click on the upper left, upper right, lower left, or lower right quadrant to switch it between 1 and 4 windows. The ATEM Production Studio, Broadcast Studio, and original Television Studio models do not have this feature. Only the ATEM Mini Pro/Extreme, ATEM SDI Pro/Extreme, HD8 versions of the Television Studio, and Constellation models can change the number of windows on the Multiview.

[@arielmartina69]

@@djp_video muchas gracias Doug por tu respuesta, abrazo grande

[@ONtvChannels]

Many thanks Doug.

[@gotscottgreen]

I BELIEVE if you have a number pad on your keyboard, you can switch cameras in program with those and not have to use shift/control.

[@bsmrodeo]

Where can I find the software?

[@djp_video]

Go to www.blackmagicdesign.com, click Support, then ATEM Live Production Switchers. The download will be under the Latest Downloads section of the page. The one you're looking for is ATEM Switchers Update.

[@bwoogie]

I always thought that little arrow where copy/paste is hiding was a reset button!!

[@djp_video]

It does that too

[@satinderdhindsa835]

For 18, is there another third-party way to make it auto roll every time, and also to cut away after the video is done playing?

[@djp_video]

I don't know of any off the top of my head, but that doesn't mean that one doesn't exist.

[@DwightPotvin]

So I just had to reinstall the app the other day. If anyone doesn't see the "Labels" tab it's because they renamed it to Sources

[@mikehines14]

I wish tip #2 actually didn't exist. I've definitely screwed up my settings on accident because of this!

[@djp_video]

Most of the time people find it tremendously helpful.