Blackmagic Design announces ATEM 4 M/E Constellation 4K, a new Ultra HD model of the ATEM Constellation family with 40 x 12G-SDI standards converted inputs with support for standards up to Ultra HD 2160p60. Featuring the same features as the ATEM 4 M/E Constellation HD, this new 4K model has 24 x 12G-SDI aux outputs, 16 upstream ATEM advanced chroma keyers, 4 downstream keyers, 4 Ultra HD media players, 2 SuperSource processors and more. ATEM 4 M/E Constellation 4K will be available in June from Blackmagic Design resellers worldwide for US$8995.
The ATEM 4 M/E Constellation 4K will be demonstrated on the Blackmagic Design NAB 2023 booth #N2601.
ATEM Constellation switchers feature a compact rack mount design with a built in control panel. This allows operation of the switcher, critical during setup or for emergency use. Also included is a large LCD so customers can see program output and change switcher settings via on screen menus. The compact design is made for portable live production, with the rear of the switcher including connections for 3G-SDI or 12G-SDI inputs, aux outputs, balanced audio and Ethernet for control. The top 4 M/E models even include RS-422 for serial control and MADI digital audio connections.
ATEM Constellation switchers are designed for concerts and music festivals because customers can place cameras on all areas of the stage. Live sports also benefit from the number of inputs and DVEs that let customers build multi-layer compositions to cover the action. The fastest way to produce programming is live. "With powerful internal graphics and lots of ATEM advanced chroma keyers, customers get everything customers need for complex program production. ATEM Constellation is also perfect for house of worship programming as it’s big enough to allow professional results, but it’s very simple to learn so it’s easy to train a volunteer crew," the announcement states.
With a control panel built into the front panel, customers can walk up and operate the ATEM Constellation at any time. The front panel control buttons are the same quality used on full sized panels. Customers can control keyers, media and fade to black from the front panel. The front panel LCD and menu buttons also allow almost all of the operational features of the switcher to be accessed.
The ATEM Constellation family has a large number of fully independent outputs. Customers can independently route any SDI input or any internal source to each SDI output. This allows running independent feeds to stage screens, master recorders and streaming processors. The SDI outputs can also be used for ISO recorders, where each deck will get a resynchronized switcher input with matching timecode. All SDI outputs contain program audio, RP-188 timecode, SDI camera control, tally and talkback.
For live streaming, the USB-C connection on ATEM Constellation operates as a webcam source. The software is tricked into thinking the ATEM Constellation is a common webcam, but it's really a live production switcher for full compatibility with any video software in full resolution 1080HD quality.
The built in multiview lets customers monitor multiple sources on a single monitor. The ATEM 4 M/E Constellation models have 4 independent multiviews. All external SDI inputs, plus all internal video sources can be routed to any view. All multiviews are fully customizable and can be independently set to 4, 7, 10, 13 or 16 simultaneous views. Customers can add the tally border plus source label and VU meters as an overlay on each view. Plus a red and green border will show tally on each view, so customers know what sources are on air.
ATEM Constellation features up to 4 independent DVEs, depending on the model, that let customers reposition graphics and create picture in picture compositions. "Customers get amazing quality and the DVE supports position, resize and scale, all in real time," the announcement states. "The DVE lets customers create professional picture in picture effects with customizable 3D borders, shadows and lighting. DVEs can also be used to create amazing DVE transitions with squeeze and swoosh effects for adding excitement to their programming. Customers can even combine DVE transitions with custom graphics to create their own graphic wipe transitions. The ATEM 4 M/E Constellation 4K includes 2 SuperSource processors for even more DVEs."
ATEM Constellation features built in talkback which supports a 5 pin XLR headset connector, plus a rear mounted RJ12 connector for interfacing with industry standard talkback systems such as ClearCom or RTS. Customers get full talkback control including program and engineering loops, sidetone control for hearing the headset mic into the headphones and program mix. ATEM Constellation also supports SDI talkback that uses SDI channels 15 and 16 for 2-way communication with Blackmagic Design cameras. Customers can use channels 13 and 14 for engineering talkback.
The built in media pool stores broadcast quality RGBA graphics and animations that can be played back instantly by the 4 media players. The built in media pool holds graphics for use with the media players and the 4 M/E models can hold 60 stills and up to 400 frame animations.
ATEM Constellation features many ATEM advanced keyers for high quality chroma or luminance keying. The chroma keyer is features a color picker to sample background colors for automatic generation of the key parameters, precise controls for edge and flare, and there a foreground color corrector to match the "look" of the foreground layer to the background layer making seamless compositions possible. The keyer can also be used for pattern and DVE keying. Customers get 16 ATEM Advanced Keyers on the 4 M/E models.
With 4 upstream chroma keyers per M/E row, customers can build virtual sets. With many ATEM advanced chroma keyers, customers can use a keyer per camera to create a seamless composition of the camera over the custom background. Customers can use external image processors for virtual sets, or customers can build a fixed camera virtual set by loading pre rendered still image backgrounds from the media players and media pool. Customers can setup macros to change cameras and load the correct background into the media players. The flexibility allows customers to experiment and try out different studio setups.
In addition to the DVEs in the M/E rows, the 4 M/E models include 2 SuperSource multi layer processors with 4 extra DVE layers plus a background layer, that all appear to ATEM Constellation as an additional input source. Any switcher video input can be used for each SuperSource DVE, then it’s all layered together over a media pool custom background. SuperSource is just like having an extra multi-layer VFX switcher built in. SuperSource is designed for doing picture in picture displays for interviews because customers can set up the effect while keeping the main DVEs free for other tasks.
The SDI inputs will also handle embedded audio and mix audio from all video inputs. The program outputs include talkback, tally and camera control information. So customers can connect any of the switcher SDI outputs back to the camera for program return, camera control, and talkback.
With a built in Fairlight audio mixer, the ATEM Constellation makes it possible to do complex live sound mixing. The internal mixer has up to 156 input channels. Audio is de-embedded from all the SDI video inputs and passed to the audio mixer. Then the 4 M/E models have extra audio mixer input channels for the MADI audio inputs. Each input channel features quality 6 band parametric EQ and compressor, limiter, expander and noise gate as well as full panning. Customers get extra channels for the analog input, talkback microphone and media players. Everything can be controlled via the ATEM Software Control or a Mackie compatible panel.
ATEM Constellation features a wide range of control panel options with 3 models of ATEM Advanced Panels available. ATEM Advanced Panels feature an industry standard, familiar M/E style layout. Each panel has built-in LCDs for menus, high quality buttons with customizable illumination color, a DVE joystick plus T-bar fader. All rows of M/E buttons include integrated LCDs for dynamic input button labeling. The 4 M/E model features 4 M/E rows with 40 input buttons per row and 4 independent system control LCD screens.
"We are excited to introduce the massive 4K model of the ATEM Constellation family," says Grant Petty, Blackmagic Design CEO. “The ATEM Constellation HD models have been incredibly popular since they were released at NAB last year. Since then customers have been asking us for a 12G-SDI Ultra HD model which they can use in HD live production now as well as Ultra HD in the future!”
ATEM 4 M/E Constellation 4K Features
- Advanced design with built in front panel controls.
- 40 standards converted 12G-SDI inputs.
- 24 customizable 12G-SDI outputs.
- USB output operates as a webcam and supports all video software.
- 4 independent multiviews with multiple layout options.
- 4 independent DVEs.
- Professional talkback compatible with ClearCom and RTS.
- Internal media for stills and motion graphics.
- Includes 16 ATEM Advanced Chroma Keyers.
- 2 SuperSource multi layer processors.
- Multi rate 12G-SDI for all HD and Ultra HD television standards up to 2160p60.
- Built in 156 channel Fairlight audio mixer.
- Compatible with all ATEM hardware control panels.
Availability and Price
ATEM 4 M/E Constellation 4K will be available in June for US$8995.
