In late spring of 2010, Echolab-the original maker of the Atem switcher-closed its doors. A few months later, Blackmagic Design announced that it had purchased the rights to the Atem line, and those of us who were huge fans of the original Atem wondered what they would do with it.
Our questions were answered in the spring of 2011 at NAB when Blackmagic introduced the new Atem collection. Spoiler alert: The new Atem is nothing like the old Atem. Other than a passing resemblance to the control panel, there is virtually nothing carried over from the Echolab version. If you were hoping for a lower-cost version of the original Atem, you will be disappointed. However, if your needs line up with what the new Atem offers, there might be something here for you.
The new Atem line consists of a very low-cost Television Studio version, a 1 M/E and 2 M/E version, and a choice of two hardware control surfaces. The Television Studio version is a very basic, single-rack-space switcher with six video inputs and four video (one program, three aux) outputs. The 1 M/E version is a two-rack-space frame that adds two additional inputs and a wider selection of outputs, including down-converted SDI and analog out. The 2 M/E version is a three-rack-space unit that adds another eight inputs, supports six aux outs, has two multi-viewer outputs (up from one in the other models), significantly more keyers and, of course, adds a second M/E bus.
There are two control surfaces available; a single M/E surface has 10 source-selection buttons, a T-bar and controls for the four upstream and two downstream keyers. The 2 M/E panel builds on that with more source selection buttons, the second M/E controls, as well as all the additional keying controls.
The Television Studio, 1 M/E switcher and 1 M/E Control Panel, are shipping now with pricing set at $995, $2,495 and $4,995 respectively. The 2 M/E switcher and surface are said to be shipping in Q4 of 2011 with pricing of $4,995 and $14,995 respectively.
The 1 ME version
I was given a 1 M/E version along with the hardware control panel to evaluate. The switch I received was loaded with software version 1, meaning it would only operate in HD mode. To enable SD, I needed to update to the recently released v. 2 software. Connection was made by the USB 3.0/2.0 port on the switch. The update went smoothly, and after assigning an IP address in a different range from my in-house network, I was able to connect via Ethernet.
The control surface also needed to be updated. Again, this update is performed via USB, though I found it curious that the port on the control surface is a mini-USB. After fishing around for a cable, the update proceeded flawlessly and I was up and running.
It should be noted that to do any configuration of the switcher, you will need a PC or Mac running the Atem software. This includes selecting input sources, configuring the multi-viewer, adding graphics to the media pool, or setting the operating mode (SD or HD in 720P or 1,080i).
The 1 M/E version is an eight-input switcher. Input one can be switched between analog component, composite or Y-C video or HDMI. Inputs two through four are HDMI only; inputs five through eight are SDI only.
Blackmagic tells me they chose HDMI inputs to open up a world of inexpensive HD cameras to churches and small companies-a thought I appreciate. As a practical matter, those inexpensive cameras, while capable of producing a good image under the right conditions, may not be suitable for IMAG given the small image sensor, fixed lens, and lack of rear controls or a CCU.
Having four SDI inputs is nice; however, you cannot currently re-assign the crosspoints. That means if you are using only SDI inputs (as we did) your cameras start at the number five crosspoint on the surface. While you can label the buttons, it would be nice to have camera number one show up on crosspoint one. Blackmagic indicated this feature is in the software pipeline right now, and may be updated by the time you read this.
I connected a variety of sources to the Atem. Our main camera is an SD Hitachi Z-4000W/ on a CCU with SDI out. We have an older Sony analog camera as well, so I used a Blackmagic MiniConverter to bring that in on SDI. Finally, we use a few Sony Z-1s for fixed stage POV cameras also brought in via a miniConverter and through the composite analog in. Since I had one on hand for other testing, I also used a Matrox Convert DVI Plus to bring ProPresenter into the Atem via SDI.
In use
Functionally, the Atem is easy to use. Our video directors are used to working with a rather old A/B buss switcher, but it didn't take them long to get used to and really like the program/preset structure of the Atem.
Our church generally doesn't use lower thirds or graphics on our IMAG feed, but for testing purposes I dropped a variety of graphics and inputs into the Atem to see how the unit would handle it. The Atem includes four upstream keyers, each capable of linear, luma, premultiplied and chroma keys, as well as two downstream keyers. There is one DVE in the switcher that can be used by an upstream keyer or for DVE transitions. I tried out a standard luma key using our church's logo on a black background. While I was able to pull an acceptable key, it took a bit of work and the edges weren't all that clean. Switching to a .tiff file with an alpha channel and using the premultiplied mode generated a perfect key with no effort at all. Were I to do any graphics keys in the Atem, this would be the only mode I would use.
From an output connectivity standpoint, the Atem is reasonably well equipped. It contains a built-in, 10-source multi-viewer available on both HDMI and SDI outputs. In addition to SDI preview and program outputs, they included a down-scaled SD-SDI output, as well as analog component and composite outputs. The switcher has three aux busses, available on SDI outputs. The Atem can send a video stream out of the USB 3.0 port, making it easy to use as a source for live streaming services. It also includes a media player that can be used for short graphic animations, stinger transitions or logo fly-ins. Total clip length varies based on the operating mode (SD or HD) of the switcher.
As the Atem can be controlled completely via software, I tried it with my iPad. Using a virtual network computer (VNC) client, I controlled my laptop with the iPad and was able to switch very easily. However, without any tactile feedback, I'm not sure I want to switch a complex service this way.
While the Atem with v.2 software can do either SD or HD video (720p and 1,080i are supported), it will not up-, down- or cross-convert. This means all your sources need to be matched or converted externally. Another disappointing omission was the lack of a tally light controller, which indicates to the presenter which camera is "live." The only way to get tally to the cameras is to purchase an external $600 box that connects via Ethernet.
In the final analysis, the Atem is an interesting product. You can get into the system fairly inexpensively to start, and with software control, you could fairly easily switch a two- to three-camera live service, or a small studio shoot. As production needs increase, adding the hardware control panel will facilitate easier control of more inputs and a faster pace of switching a high-energy service. As a system you can build into, I like this concept.
However, by the time you buy the switcher, the surface, the tally box and a few mini-converters to get all sources into the switch, you've spent well over $8,000, which puts it in range of competing products that will offer more in terms of I/O, scaling and keying.
On the other hand, the Atem is simple to use and easily networked. The quality of the video was perfectly acceptable, had minimal latency and it functioned flawlessly while we used it. Our directors liked using it, and for smaller installations-say three to four cameras and limited keying needs-it would be a perfectly acceptable solution.