I'm excited for this video today i'm giving you my Top Five Feature Predictions of what we're going
to see inside the next version of Blackmagic's ATEM Mini.
And I will just say I don't have any
inside scoop as to what's definitely going to be included but i feel like i can make some good
educated predictions based on the fact that i've reviewed pretty much every version of the ATEM Mini
and i've been using Blackmagic products for about 10 years now.
Starting off then with number one and
it is the one that i think will be a certainty to be included in the next version of the ATEM Mini
and that is a 4K model.
I think we're likely going to see two 4K models, the ATEM Mini Extreme 4K and
the ATEM Mini Extreme ISO 4K. I don't think we're going to see a refresh of the ATEM Mini Pro line
upgraded to 4k, but who knows they might also include it in those smaller switches.
Now the reason that i think a 4K ATEM Mini is almost a certainty to come is because of the already
existing 4K ecosystem that Blackmagic have.
Think about it they recently brought out the Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K PLUS
and the 4K PRO, so they've got the 4K cameras sorted, that can do 4K output over HDMI
they've also got things like the Ultra Studio 4K for ways of bringing in graphics in 4K
and it also opens up a world of other devices that they can then upgrade to 4K.
The recently released Hyperdeck Shuttle is an HD only model right now, but it would be very easy for them to upgrade
that to a 4K model and keep it in the same form factor. Also they've already got and developed the
technology to be able to encode and broadcast in 4K they have the existing Web Presenter 4K
and so they could take that technology and very easily put it into the ATEM Mini 4K model.
So I think there's a lot of sort of indicators that 4K is coming to the ATEM Mini line.
But having a 4k model doesn't just benefit you for streaming which brings me on to feature number two.
Digital zooms and virtual cameras.
The reality is that although some platforms do allow you to live stream
in 4K most people will probably continue to live stream at least for the next few years
in 1080p, so by having a 4K camera feed into a 4K switcher but stream in 1080p, it opens up the
availability to digitally zoom into an area (from that camera) or even create multiple different
shots all from that one camera feed. All without losing any resolution or quality on the 1080p stream.
And here's how i think it could work really well you would basically set up your shots
beforehand in the ATEM Software Control and there'd be a section called let's say virtual cameras and
in there you'll be able to select HDMI input number one and then set
a crop so it'll crop in two times so it's 1080p resolution from the 4K feed and then you just
select where or what part of the camera or of the feed that you want to crop into. So let's say you
cropped a single one person A, a single and person B and then you've got a two shot and those are your
three virtual cameras that you've set as presets all from that one HDMI input. And this is where I
think it gets interesting because you need a way to be able to use and recall those virtual cameras
very quickly during a show so I think they could enable in the multiview for you to be able to
see those HDMI inputs like we can now, but also those virtual cameras and you just put them in
slots one, two, three and four for example. So in the same way that in the multi-view setup now we
use a drop down arrow to select what input we want in the multiview whether we want to stream
the streaming status, Camera 2, the program output... I think they could also list the virtual shots that
we've created as well. They then become tied to the buttons so that you can actually use the buttons
to trigger and recall the virtual cameras as well. So as you're hitting button one, two, three and
four, you're not necessarily cutting between HDMI inputs one, two, three and four, you might be cutting
between HDMI input one, but then virtual camera two, three, and four. I think this is the most in
logical way of doing it and I think it could work really well but i'd love to know
what you think of this idea in the comments below do you think it's a good one would you use it let
me know i'm keen to hear what you guys think.
On to prediction number three and i think this is probably the one that excites me the most.
Network Recording
or what i'm going to call for now record
to cloud pod cloud store let me explain what I mean. So currently the only real way you can record
on the ATEM Mini's is by plugging in a hard drive to the back of the device itself and recording
directly to something like an ssd for example but i think in the next version of the ATEM Mini
they're going to enable another way of recording and that is over the network. Here's my idea we've
already seen that Blackmagic have started putting 10 gigabit ethernet ports in some of their devices
the new Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K PRO has one the new Cloud Pods and Cloud Stores have them, some
of the newer Hyperdecks as well, they're starting to move to 10 gigabit ethernet ports so they can send
a lot more data down the network. If they were to include a 10 gigabit ethernet port in the ATEM Mini.
I think it opens up a world of possibilities for recording and the one I think they'll go with
first is allowing you to record over the network to one of their new cloud devices so either the
Cloud Pod, The Cloud Store Mini or the larger Cloud Store, and I think if they did this it actually
helps complete the ecosystem even more and gives you some more flexibility. Let me try and explain
so rather than having an ssd plugged into the ATEM Mini that you can't really access and do much with
while you're recording (even though there is ftp) you can't really do much with the files while
it's recording. If you record over the network to a let's say a Cloud Pod with two ssd's plugged in.
In theory what you could do is record from your ATEM Mini over the network to the to that Cloud Pod,
where then editors who are also on the same network have access to those files while they're
recording. And because the ATEM Mini records in what's called a growing file format
which means the files can actually be accessed and worked with even while you're recording, in theory
what you could do is have your DaVinci editors accessing and editing the files while you're still
live streaming and recording a show. So they can be creating things like highlights packages which
they could then export and give you to put on a Hyperdeck that you play out at the end of the
live stream or even packages of action replays or packages for social clips and things like that.
This is something that really excites me because I personally would use this feature a lot and I know
a lot of people that will. In a world where time is of the essence, you've got to get the
edit done as quick as possible, you've got to clip that moment for social media and get it out before
someone else does. This is key. Now I do think the smart move and the right move would be for
Blackmagic to just lock this sort of feature down to their own propriety devices the Cloud Pod Minis
the Cloud Stores etc, but in the future they could also open this up to wider network
attached devices so that you can record directly from your ATEM Mini to your own network attached
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On to prediction number four
Web Overlays built directly into the ATEM Mini
This is something that would be so simple yet so powerful.
And what it would allow you to do is add a url in the
ATEM Software Control for graphic overlays, so it can be used with systems like H2R graphics from
John Barker I know a lot of people that watch my channel use that. Singular Live, which I use for
all of my graphics. Also things like graphic systems like Twitch Streamers use things like
Streamlabs and Stream Elements for their alerts and subscriber notifications and things like that.
They all use what's called a web url output and it's essentially a transparent web page
which is overlaid on top of the stream and you could tie that to a physical button on the
front of the ATEM Mini an on off button that you could just press to turn on and off that graphic overlay layer.
The reason that this particular feature excites me and it's on my wish list
is it would allow you to bring graphics into the ATEM MINI without needing an external device or
another computer taking up an HDMI input into the ATEM Mini. Let me know in the comments below by the
way if you would use the web overlay feature because I think if enough people say that they
would in the comments, then who knows Blackmagic might see that and they might actually consider it
as a feature to include in the next version. On to prediction number five the final one and it's one
that I personally am excited about because i'm doing a lot of these broadcasts recently but
it's one that I think future proofs the ATEM MINI line and that is what I'm calling...
Vertical Mode
Now no matter how much you try and ignore it, there is a rise of vertical live video platforms.
Things like TikTok live, Facebook Live for example are all getting bigger and bigger, and with that comes
a demand to up the production values of vertical live streams so I think with a 4K model of the ATEM Mini
Blackmagic could do something incredibly clever and be really one of the first to the
market with hardware allowing you to do vertical live streams. So the important thing to remember
here firstly is that for a vertical live stream you don't need it in 4K, very often they ask for
them in 720p or 1080p. So there would be a vertical mode that you would enable on the ATEM and when
you do that it would set the streaming output to 1080p, but here's the important part: This vertical
mode would firstly change the multi-view to a more vertical friendly viewing experience and secondly
it would take those 4K feeds from your camera and the ATEM would automatically do a center vertical
crop of the image. It would discard or not use all of the stuff on the side, and the good thing
is because it's using the 4K feeds, but we're streaming in 1080p, you're again not losing any
of the quality and you're not losing any of the resolution. So the ATEM is doing all of the hard
work for you. Also i'd have a feature in there that if you're using Blackmagic cameras and you
put your ATEM in Vertical Mode, it automatically sends frame guidelines to your Blackmagic cameras
so you can see exactly what is being shot on the camera monitor as well what's in shot and what's
being discarded. So then you're able to stream vertically in 1080p to platforms like TikTok or
Facebook Live for example, but this is where it gets really interesting and I really hope that
they do implement a feature like this. If you are using the ATEM MINI Extreme ISO 4K model (or at least
that's what we're calling it as we don't know what it is going to be called). You're obviously bringing
your 4K cameras into the 4K switcher and you've got the ability to record each individual camera
ISO, but here's the key part even though you're in that vertical mode and you're streaming at 1080p
in portrait, all of the camera ISO's would still be recorded in full 4K resolution at 16:9, so they're
recorded in landscape. That opens up a world of flexibility for you in the edit. So when you
go and click into that DaVinci timeline file that the ATEM ISO creates and you open that up,
you've got your full timeline in landscape so it does mean that you can then repurpose the content
for non-vertical platforms for landscape platforms like YouTube, Faceboo, Twitter if you want to
upload video to Twitter, any site really. Of course if you wanted to make a square version for
Facebook and Instagram you can do that you just change the canvas size in DaVinci, and the same if
you did want to re-export a high quality portrait version for them maybe uploading to Instagram
Reels you've got that flexibility as well. It's all about giving you the flexibility and by recording
the full ISO files in full 4K but importantly in landscape, even though you're streaming in portrait
it gives you that flexibility in the edit. I think this really does sort of complete that
ecosystem of recording in 4K on the ATEM, maybe even recording over the network to a Cloud Pod
and then possibly even at the same time, editors working in DaVinci, but having that flexibility
to edit exactly how they need, whether they need to create a landscape file, a portrait file, a square
file, whatever... all of the options are available to them. This really excites me, it really is the dream workflow.
By the way i did a whole video about how to live stream to TikTok, Instagram Live,
and Facebook Live vertically, so if you want to learn how to do that click the i button in the
top right hand corner now. So those are my top five predictions of what we're going to see in
the next ATEM Mini from Blackmagic. There were plenty of other things I considered things like
SRT streaming, DaVinci timeline markers just to name a few. But i would love to know what you think
what things have maybe I missed in this video that you think need to be included in the next
version of the ATEM MINI, or if there's nothing you can come up with, do you agree with my suggestions?
Let me know down in the comments below, I will certainly be reading all of your suggestions
and replying to as many of them as possible and who knows maybe someone from Blackmagic might
be as well, and if there's enough of the same comment and the same suggestion we might see
those featured in the next version, fingers crossed. If you need help with your setup my email address
is on screen now you can get in contact with me and we'll set up a one-to-one consulting session.
I can take a look at your setup, make some recommendations for changes and improvements
that you can make and help you get your questions answered. Once you've done all that guys I will
see you on the next video. Oh and before I go I did say I would make a prediction of when I think this
possible next Blackmagic might come out, and i'm gonna put my neck on the line here and say I don't
think it's coming out in 2022. So if you're hanging on in the hope that a new Blackmagic ATEM MINI will
be released soon, I probably would say it's coming early 2023. That's my thoughts anyway. I don't know.