What Is A Video Switcher?

[@francis4151]

Thanks AJay, Looking forward to more videos in the series. Keep up the good work. God bless you.

[@AJaytheCEO]

My pleasure and thank you

[@johncook537]

Great video Ajay. Very clear and perfect balance between technicality and simplicity. I am going to share to some people on my team.

[@AJaytheCEO]

Thank you

[@Ty1on3twelve]

Good info. Excellent presentation of video switchers.

[@AJaytheCEO]

Thanks!

[@americancitizenship2841]

Do I need an interface if I use a video switcher ? I’m planning two or 3 microphone at the same time in my podcast

[@AJaytheCEO]

That all depends on how you plan to control the mics. I would just connect the mics to a mixer and then have the mixer output go to your video switcher so it can put the audio and video together

[@americancitizenship2841]

@@AJaytheCEO I have a Zoom pod track P8. Would that one be good enough ?

[@kevinexit12]

Do I need a PTz camera controller with the video switcher?

[@AJaytheCEO]

With the recent ATEM software update, this switch could control the ptzs. I still would get a controller

[@chartru2]

Thanks!

[@AJaytheCEO]

You bet!

[@AllaBreveOttawa]

Thanks for this. It answered my question as to whether we need one or not. Nice to have. We use 2 AVKANS PTZ cameras over NDI with OBS as the software to act as a Switcher, of sorts. I have also added an Elgato Stream Deck to make it easier for helpers to call the various OBS Scenes...without them having to know how to run OBS. Church ministries often have unique requirements. Thanks for providing your insights.

[@AJaytheCEO]

Glad it was helpful!

[@louisrandall9603]

Do you have any recommendations for Video Matrix switches?

[@AJaytheCEO]

I personally have not worked with any directly to give me enough confidence to recommend that brand

[@aaimginggraphics2411]

hey AJ is there a 3rd party software that my pastor can use to remote cue slides for easy worship or powerpoint???

[@AJaytheCEO]

Honestly any presentation software or PowerPoint would do this with a wireless clicker amzn.to/3Fn3J4J

[@normamireles-smith201]

THANK YOU for this video. It answered my question regarding adding a video switcher. Based on what you said here, since I use OBS and I think my pc has a video card that looks like what you showed, there is no need for me to add a video switcher. I have always wondered if i did….but I think you said no I dont need one.

[@AJaytheCEO]

Please be aware that the video card is for output only and not capturing video into the computer. It is not common for a computer to have a capture device so you will need one or a video switcher.

[@debbieb6365]

Well, I supposedly installed (finally) the software, (I see it in my Apps) but there’s no shortcut icon for it on my desktop. Also, I ran the latest update, and my computer proceeded to try and “repair” the software, but wasn’t able to. I called BM reps twice, and they said to try and install an older version (8.6), but when I opened those extracted files, they didn’t contain any Installer icon. The last guy told me, “yeah, we’re working on trying to fix that.” Thank you Ajay

[@AJaytheCEO]

It won't install an icon on the desktop it is under the start button and under a black magic folder

[@8kplumber631]

Hey Ajay what is the difference between a switcher and a matrix? Can I combine the two of them together and still be able to jump from display to display screens?

[@AJaytheCEO]

A matrix takes in multiple inputs and can output those inputs to multiple outputs at the same time so a 8X8 accepts 8 inputs and 8 outputs and they can be mixed in any way at the same time. A video switcher typically does not offer as many outputs as a matrix but sometimes they can. Normally a video switcher does not give a hard cut when switching input to output sources like some matrixes. Matrixes in my practice have been for output information like at a store i.e input 1 (commercial feed) going to multiple tvs in electronics section. Input 2 (holiday sale for winter clothes) going to a different display, etc A video switcher is normally used in a video production setting. Yes they can be connected together (I've done this) but you need to be aware of the limits and strengths of both. If you have a multiple set of displays and inputs that rarely change, a matrix will probably be cheaper. If you need something in a video production environment where you might not need multiple differnt output displays and your main output is the finished "program" output like for live streaming, a video switcher would be what I would pick for that situation.

[@8kplumber631]

Our church have 6 displays (4 in sanctuary 2 in lobby). I want all of these displays to be able to display the 4 cameras plus the computer at any given time and able to switch the displays to any of the inputs and also able to send the cameras and computer sources to the video mixer switcher for live streaming without affecting the display screens in house.

[@AJaytheCEO]

@8kplumber631 this video switcher would give you that functionality as it acts as a video switcher and matrix

[@debbieb6365]

AJay, could you teach about installing/configuring Blackmagic Atem Switcher software? I’ve been downloading & trying to in stall it, with no success.

[@AJaytheCEO]

What part are you struggling with?

[@tchads_57]

Hi Ajay. Through default, I’ve become the livestream person for our church. It was outsourced to LiveControl in 2023, but we had to take it over due to budget constraints. The 2 cameras are connected using their IP addresses and a PoE switch. Is there a hardware switcher for Ethernet cable connections? OBS works, but the PTZ controls are hard to use.

[@AJaytheCEO]

The newtel tricasters can but they are fairly expensive. Honestly a streaming PC running OBS or vmix would work well

[@tchads_57]

@@AJaytheCEO Thank you, I’ll give it a try. 👍

[@Editor1206]

Hey Ajay, Question: With streaming church services, what Nvidia card would you recommend? The Core would be i7-3700 with 32 GB of Ram.

[@FForwardFlashback]

So is using a 'software' switcher okay if you just have one camera but would like to use slides, graphics, etc...? A church I'm helping is currently using 1 ptz camera (FoMaKo) and OBS. But why wait to show them the things they can do if they decide to add more in the future, right?🤔🤣

[@AJaytheCEO]

Yes the is fine but if you plan to add more in the future I would go with a multi input capture device or hardware switcher

[@BAdams138]

Thank you for starting over; multiple "dippings" will cause it to stick.

[@SACC_]

You're right. Why I?

[@AJaytheCEO]

Typo in the title. It has been corrected

[@SACC_]

@@AJaytheCEO 😆

[@dccreations1361]

AJ, that dinging sounds affect was WAY to loud. Just about made my ears bleed, just wanted to give you a heads up.