Reliable broadcasting for Stake Conference - how to

[Mikerowaved]

Take a look at the new Blackmagic Design Atem Mini. $300 gives you 4 hdmi inputs and a host of great features such as lower thirds. It converts all input resolutions for you. Used it for our Conference in Feb 2020 and worked flawlessly.

The ATEM Mini is indeed a nice product at a very reasonable price, but there are a few negatives that folks should be aware of before spending stake money. Take a look at this in-depth review published last September at StreamingMedia.com:

https://www.streamingmedia.com/Producer/Articles/Editorial/Featured-Articles/The-Blackmagic-Design-ATEM-Mini--Is-It-for-You-134104.aspx

[jeremywillden]

A huge +1 for the ATEM Mini from Blackmagic Design. I own one of the (much larger $3000) 8-input ATEM 4k switchers and have used it with excellent results for several stake conferences, but I just purchased an ATEM Mini for smaller/simpler shoots and in fact, for most stake conferences it is perfect. While the front panel is straightforward and easy to use, once you connect a computer with the (free) ATEM control software, many hidden features become available.
Want to overlay the words for the Hymns over live video? The built-in keyer does a very good luminance key (light text on a black background, and keying makes the black background disappear so your live camera feed has the text overlaid).
Our stake center was just updated with HDMI distribution and a new sound system, and this switcher would work beautifully for conference. Though the new stake center video rack includes a ($1000+) "video switcher" it is definitely *not* designed for switching feeds live. When switching inputs, the video freezes for about a second, then changes to the new source. At $300 the ATEM mini provides far superior fades and (instant) cuts. Highly recommended!

[jeremywillden]

They just released a new "ATEM Mini Pro" that includes a stack of new features for $600, including direct hardware streaming from the switcher itself and direct-to-USB disk recording. For less than the cost of a VidiU box, you get a nice 4-input video switcher and the streaming converter, and have a low-latency HDMI output for overflow projectors and such. I've got one on order and plan to provide an update once I've tested it.

Along those lines, for the past several weeks I've done a "virtual singing time" for our primary (I'm also the primary chorister) using the ATEM Mini ($300 model) and it works very well as a webcam input, supporting a DVE picture-in-picture so the "Sing-Along" app takes up most of the screen while I'm in a corner leading the music.

[Mikerowaved]

They just released a new "ATEM Mini Pro" that includes a stack of new features for $600, including direct hardware streaming from the switcher itself and direct-to-USB disk recording. For less than the cost of a VidiU box, you get a nice 4-input video switcher and the streaming converter, and have a low-latency HDMI output for overflow projectors and such.

Nice that it includes multiview - that was a deal-breaker for me with the original ATEM Mini. Not being able to preview any camera(s) to setup the next shot meant you're always switching blind. The original didn't have any audio VU indicator, hope this one does.

Unfortunately, it appears the Pro version can only stream via hardware at 1080p. The optional bitrates range from High 6 to 9 Mb/s, Medium 4.5 to 7 Mb/s, or Low 3 to 4.5 Mb/s, which are all well above the maximum bitrate allowed for streaming to the church's portal. Might be able to pass the HDMI output to the VidiU to further reduce the bitrate, but then you lose the multiview capability since the one HDMI output jack can only be set for program output or multiview. The more expensive ATEM's have 2 HDMI jacks to support both at the same time.

In any case, looking forward to your hands-on review!

[robyoungberg]

Hi All,
Has anyone used the Atem Mini Pro to stream to the Church's system? I found a video that shows how to edit the xml file. I'd love to have an auto configuration setup like the Teradek Vidiu has, but I'm not sure it's possible yet.

[richardjmarlatt]

Hi All,
Has anyone used the Atem Mini Pro to stream to the Church's system? I found a video that shows how to edit the xml file. I'd love to have an auto-configuration setup like the Teradek Vidiu has, but I'm not sure it's possible yet.

We have two buildings running ATEM Mini Pros throuh the church's Webcast portal. Below is our XML file we are using. The challenge is that the church's webcast system creates a new RTMP URL and key for each event so you have to edit and reload the XML file prior to each event to go live. After you load the XML file you then need to select "Church Webcast" from the dropdown menu and paste the "Stream Name" in the "Key" field in the ATEM software.

Code: Select all

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<streaming>

   <service>
      <name>Church Webcast</name>
      <servers>
         <server>
            <name>Default</name>
            <url>rtmp://MHW-20-93670.westus.cloudapp.azure.com/23lk</url>
            
         </server>
      </servers>
      <profiles>
         <profile>
            <name>Streaming Medium</name >
            <config resolution="1080p" fps="30">
               <bitrate>750000</bitrate>
               <audio-bitrate>48000</audio-bitrate>
            </config>
         </profile>
         <profile>
            <name>Streaming Low</name>
            <config resolution="1080p" fps="30">
               <bitrate>500000</bitrate>
               <audio-bitrate>48000</audio-bitrate>
            </config>
         </profile>
      </profiles>
   </service>

</streaming>