The Blackmagic Television Studio 4K8 has only two downsides. Only 1 spare input and too big for a rack shelf.
I would recommend a Production Studio 4K 1M/E switcher together with a BMD 1M/E Advanced Panel.
You could also get the Constellation 4K Switcher to get the newer stuff like input scaling. But that's overkill.
Also doesn’t have built in scalers and frame syncs. Ever input has to be the same. Doesn’t have super source, which doesn't really matter that much because it has 4 upstream keyers. DOES have RS422 for camera control. Should be able to get one kinda cheap as they’re many years old now.
I'm going to go ahead and assume all the fancy Ross, Grass Valley, Fora switchers are all too pricey. I would look at black magic constilation or Roland vr600uhd
The constellation doesn't come with a control surface and has way more than 8 inputs so thats not a great suggestion.
For 4K and a surface, ATEM Television Studio 4K8 is the best BM do I'd say.
Ross Ultrix if you have lots of budget (luxury car budget). Ross Carbonite if you have entry level car budget, built out with licenses. If you want to simplify it, then use a stream deck so that it is really simple. Any control system should be able to send Ross Talk commands if you have something in place.
**If you have $5000**
Blackmagic Television Studio 4K8
**If you have $12000:**
Blackmagic 4 M/E Constellation 4k ($9000) and ATEM 1 M/E Advance Panel 10 control urface ($3100)
or
Roland V600HD ($12000)
**If you have $20000+**
Ross Video Carbonite Ultra ($12000) with their TD1 Panel control surface. ($10500)
or
Panasonic UHS500 4k ($20000)
Great answer! Thanks
I had originally spec'd the UHS500 but it can't do scene/board state recall from an external trigger.
Is the Ross system capable of that?
I don't know enough about Ross to answer your question. Hopefully someone else does. Ross makes Ross Talk for external control, but that's all I know.
[https://help.rossvideo.com/acuity-device/Topics/Protocol/RossTalk.html](https://help.rossvideo.com/acuity-device/Topics/Protocol/RossTalk.html)
You can control the BMD externally but you may have to do some heavy lifting with custom code to intergrate. This video goes through some ways: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5Zp6xp57bg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5Zp6xp57bg)
Specifically here's how to control an ATEM with a Crestron
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9t9-z-8Cks
Also, I don't think any of the above mentioned systems record 4k internally.
Yes. You can recall memories via RossTalk (you may have to create a custom control (macro) that recalls the memory if memories cant be triggered directly).
Tricaster has its place but it’s very rare to see them in used in Live production the wild. While they are exceptionally good switchers they are still OS software driven and can fail in spectacular ways if the programmer/operator doesn’t know with 100% certainty what they are doing. I would never use a tricaster in a live environment where things may be changing constantly. I have a number of switchers from the Carbonite Ultra (Wish it was an ultrix) to Blackmagic and even a TC2 and each has their place.
I have the previous version of the BlackMagic Television Studio Pro 4K if you have any questions.
4k is going to up your costs. BMD is the lowest cost play.
Carbonite Ultra with a TD1C-Panel sounds about right for this.
https://www.rossvideo.com/live-production/production-switchers/carbonite-ultra/
1 ME (4 full function keyers), 2 MiniME (2 full function keyers)
18 UHD inputs, 10 UHD outputs
2 UHD Media stores, and 1080p h.264 clip player
https://www.rossvideo.com/live-production/production-switchers/control-panels/touchdrive/
Rack Mount 1ME 15 button Panel
PTZ joystick control (also programmable with memories/custom controls)
Built in Dashboard for custom TCP/IP input/output to connected devices.
You can add the RAVE audio mixer to it as well and get 48 stereo faders and a bunch of other useful audio features like AFV, mix minus and such.
https://www.rossvideo.com/live-production/production-switchers/carbonite-ultra/specifications/
When it comes to external device control the Ultra probably has the most robust and reliable system, and we have customer support that sets the bar.
It does come at an upfront cost when compairing to more consumer/AV solutions like Black Magic. So if you need cheap, fast, and dont plan to keep the gear for more than 1-3 years, BMD may be the way to go. If you are making a long term investment and expect enterprise level support and services such as warranty up to around 10 years, there is only Ross.
Shameless bias above, but also unbiased I think ultra is a good fit, you just need to figure out if its also a good value.
The Blackmagic Television Studio 4K8 has only two downsides. Only 1 spare input and too big for a rack shelf. I would recommend a Production Studio 4K 1M/E switcher together with a BMD 1M/E Advanced Panel. You could also get the Constellation 4K Switcher to get the newer stuff like input scaling. But that's overkill.
Worth noting the 1 M/E is only 4K/30 and not 4K/60 for 12G. May not be a big deal though
Yes thank you. I forgot to mention that.
Also doesn’t have built in scalers and frame syncs. Ever input has to be the same. Doesn’t have super source, which doesn't really matter that much because it has 4 upstream keyers. DOES have RS422 for camera control. Should be able to get one kinda cheap as they’re many years old now.
One more detail, if you want to control a Blackmagic switcher from Crestron, you’ll need this add-on: https://www.skaarhoj.com/product/tcp-link-atem
I'm going to go ahead and assume all the fancy Ross, Grass Valley, Fora switchers are all too pricey. I would look at black magic constilation or Roland vr600uhd
The constellation doesn't come with a control surface and has way more than 8 inputs so thats not a great suggestion. For 4K and a surface, ATEM Television Studio 4K8 is the best BM do I'd say.
Not necessarily a price issue though I don't want to overwhelm the users. What would you recommend if price were less of an issue.
Ross Ultrix if you have lots of budget (luxury car budget). Ross Carbonite if you have entry level car budget, built out with licenses. If you want to simplify it, then use a stream deck so that it is really simple. Any control system should be able to send Ross Talk commands if you have something in place.
**If you have $5000** Blackmagic Television Studio 4K8 **If you have $12000:** Blackmagic 4 M/E Constellation 4k ($9000) and ATEM 1 M/E Advance Panel 10 control urface ($3100) or Roland V600HD ($12000) **If you have $20000+** Ross Video Carbonite Ultra ($12000) with their TD1 Panel control surface. ($10500) or Panasonic UHS500 4k ($20000)
Great answer! Thanks I had originally spec'd the UHS500 but it can't do scene/board state recall from an external trigger. Is the Ross system capable of that?
I don't know enough about Ross to answer your question. Hopefully someone else does. Ross makes Ross Talk for external control, but that's all I know. [https://help.rossvideo.com/acuity-device/Topics/Protocol/RossTalk.html](https://help.rossvideo.com/acuity-device/Topics/Protocol/RossTalk.html) You can control the BMD externally but you may have to do some heavy lifting with custom code to intergrate. This video goes through some ways: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5Zp6xp57bg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5Zp6xp57bg) Specifically here's how to control an ATEM with a Crestron https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9t9-z-8Cks Also, I don't think any of the above mentioned systems record 4k internally.
Yes. You can recall memories via RossTalk (you may have to create a custom control (macro) that recalls the memory if memories cant be triggered directly).
Are Tricasters not very popular?
Not here
Tricaster has its place but it’s very rare to see them in used in Live production the wild. While they are exceptionally good switchers they are still OS software driven and can fail in spectacular ways if the programmer/operator doesn’t know with 100% certainty what they are doing. I would never use a tricaster in a live environment where things may be changing constantly. I have a number of switchers from the Carbonite Ultra (Wish it was an ultrix) to Blackmagic and even a TC2 and each has their place.
Only if you like to reboot mid show!
Tricaster TC2
I have the previous version of the BlackMagic Television Studio Pro 4K if you have any questions. 4k is going to up your costs. BMD is the lowest cost play.
Carbonite Ultra with a TD1C-Panel sounds about right for this. https://www.rossvideo.com/live-production/production-switchers/carbonite-ultra/ 1 ME (4 full function keyers), 2 MiniME (2 full function keyers) 18 UHD inputs, 10 UHD outputs 2 UHD Media stores, and 1080p h.264 clip player https://www.rossvideo.com/live-production/production-switchers/control-panels/touchdrive/ Rack Mount 1ME 15 button Panel PTZ joystick control (also programmable with memories/custom controls) Built in Dashboard for custom TCP/IP input/output to connected devices. You can add the RAVE audio mixer to it as well and get 48 stereo faders and a bunch of other useful audio features like AFV, mix minus and such. https://www.rossvideo.com/live-production/production-switchers/carbonite-ultra/specifications/ When it comes to external device control the Ultra probably has the most robust and reliable system, and we have customer support that sets the bar. It does come at an upfront cost when compairing to more consumer/AV solutions like Black Magic. So if you need cheap, fast, and dont plan to keep the gear for more than 1-3 years, BMD may be the way to go. If you are making a long term investment and expect enterprise level support and services such as warranty up to around 10 years, there is only Ross. Shameless bias above, but also unbiased I think ultra is a good fit, you just need to figure out if its also a good value.
That is true. Great recommendations with a price break down.
The ATEM 1/ME 4k and Skaarhoj panels