Magewell announces a feature update for the Director Mini all-in-one production and streaming system, with more than 50 enhancements in the new version 3.0 firmware upgrade. The company also announces new lower pricing designed to make the Director Mini accessible to a wider range of content producers.
Currently in beta testing and slated for release in the next 30 days, Director Mini version 3.0 will be available as a free firmware update and will be showcased in stand 7.A44 at the IBC2024 conference and exhibition (September 13-16 in Amsterdam).
New features
Magewell's Director Mini combines multi-input switching, graphics, streaming, recording and monitoring in a compact device. Version 3.0 includes over four dozen enhancements to its production toolset, remote control capabilities and input flexibility.
New scene presets -- including picture in-picture, side-by-side, quad-splits and more – are designed to make it faster and easier for users to create scene layouts incorporating multiple camera angles and sources. Director Mini's built-in scoreboard engine now offers four new templates for football (soccer) including stoppage time and player substitution. Its integrated graphics capabilities now include animated titles and lower thirds, while numerous user interface refinements were created to make working with scene layouts and graphics quicker and more precise.
Director Mini's remote-control options have been extended to allow producers and assistants to control more aspects of Director Mini from mobile devices and laptops. The free Director Utility mobile app now incorporates live program video and audio monitoring; multi-step shortcut creation and editing; instant replay control; and replay event sharing. Director Mini's browser-based web UI has also been expanded to include instant replay controls.
Director Mini's input flexibility that previously included HDMI, USB, NDI, SRT, RTMP and mobile camera inputs has been expanded with support for RTSP streams and HTML webpage sources. Version 3.0 can also use NDI High Bandwidth sources with alpha channel as motion overlays in Director Mini's graphics engine.
Additional new features include the ability to encode Director Mini's multi-view output (comprising program output, preview output and multiple input sources) for recording, streaming or NDI distribution; support for captive portal authentication in shared Wi-Fi environments; USB tethering to use a smartphone's cellular data connectivity; and dozens of other fixes and enhancements.
"Like previous Director Mini updates, version 3.0 includes some powerful new features that add value for our customers," says Nick Ma, CEO and CTO of Magewell. "We also put a strong emphasis on making existing capabilities even better, giving users more control and refining the user experience for even greater ease and efficiency."
Lower pricing
Effective August 13, 2024, the company has reduced the list price of Director Mini to $1099 USD in the United States (pricing may vary worldwide).
"While Director Mini has proven extremely popular at its original pricing, some smaller organizations and producers loved its extensive capabilities but found its price point a bit out of reach," says Ma. "This price reduction opens the door for an even broader range of customers to enjoy Director Mini's unique benefits."
Magewell is offering options for customers who purchased Director Mini in the 45 days prior to the August 13 reduction. (Available options may vary by country). Customers who bought Director Mini within this range should contact sales@magewell.com for details, or submit a request at www.magewell.com/dm-price-request.
For more information about Director Mini, visit www.magewell.com/director-mini.
