Magewell is continuing to expand the capabilities of its Director Mini all-in-one production and streaming system. Available now, the third firmware upgrade for the solution in the last five months adds over two dozen new features and enhancements including instant replay, support for live HTML graphics platforms, network bonding and much more.
Director Mini version 2.4 is available as a free firmware update and will be showcased in booth C6816 at the 2024 NAB Show, taking place April 14-17 in Las Vegas.
Magewell's Director Mini is a complete, portable production and streaming system that combines multi-input switching, graphics, streaming, recording and monitoring in one compact device. Director Mini lets users easily produce engaging multi-camera content through an intuitive touchscreen interface and companion mobile app.
First on the list of additions is dual-channel instant replay. Two concurrent replays can be captured from Director Mini's program output or HDMI, USB or NDI inputs. The replays can be played back individually or side-by-side at full speed or slow motion with user-specified stinger transitions, and can be saved as highlight recordings for future use.
New HTML graphics support enables user-specified web pages to be used as graphic overlays in Director Mini. While almost any web page can be incorporated into a production, the benefit of this feature is unlocked when used in conjunction with a live graphics platform that generates real-time HTML-based overlays such as custom scoreboards, news or election graphics.
Director Mini 2.4 also features a beta version of network bonding functionality using technology from U.S.-based Speedify. This feature combines all available internet connections (which can include wired Ethernet, Wi-Fi and an optional USB cellular modem) to optimize network performance and reliability for streaming. Users can connect to one of Speedify's numerous worldwide bonding server locations and choose the ideal Speedify server pricing plan for their usage requirements.
Direct integrations with OBSBOT's Tail Air AI-powered PTZ streaming camera and Tiny 2 webcam enable advanced remote control of these cameras from within the Director Mini user interface. In addition to pan/tilt/zoom control, users can configure AI human tracking settings, trigger presets and start/stop recording to an SD card in Tail Air.
New support for the OSC (Open Sound Control) protocol allows Director Mini to be controlled by external OSC-compatible solutions such as Hexler's TouchOSC modular control surface app. A new Multi-View output mode displays program and preview windows plus up to eight scene thumbnails on a monitor connected to Director Mini's USB-C port.
Other new features include support for NDI High Bandwidth input sources (in addition to existing NDI HX2 and NDI HX3 support); the ability to select a live social media comment to overlay on the program output when streaming to Facebook, YouTube or Twitch; user interface improvements; an expanded API for third-party integration; and many additional enhancements and refinements.
"Director Mini was heavily praised for its extensive feature set upon its first release, but we're continuing to expand its capabilities to give our users even more production power, flexibility and value," says Nick Ma, CEO and CTO of Magewell. "Instant replay and HTML graphics were among the most-requested features by our users, and we're pleased to deliver them alongside many other enhancements in this new update."
Existing Director Mini users can update to version 2.4 directly from the device's touchscreen interface or by downloading the new firmware from the Magewell website. For more information about Director Mini,
