Port Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
ATEM Mini Extreme by Blackmagic’s Industrial Design Team is an ultra-compact eight-input live production switcher, designed specifically for professional live streaming of large productions and events on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.
Blackmagic ATEM Mini Extreme was awarded a 2021 Good Design Award by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
At a low cost, it has proven to be a vital tool for broadcasters, educators, and businesses adapting to life in the wake of COVID-19.
Typically designed for mainstream broadcasters, live production chains consisting of separate rack-mounted switcher ‘processing-brain ’and ‘control panel’ are large, complex, and expensive.
Often costing in excess of $20,000, they are virtually inaccessible to all but the most well-resourced facilities.
The original ATEM Mini represented a highly affordable, portable, and professional alternative.
With COVID-19 lockdowns and social distancing forcing people to seek more innovative ways of engaging remote audiences, it soon became clear that a more powerful option, capable of enhancing the production values of larger multi-camera broadcasts, was required.
For a fraction of the cost of traditional switchers, the purposeful design of ATEM Mini Extreme belies its powerful nature.
Four upstream chroma keyers allow layering of camera footage over rendered backgrounds, enabling users to create professional, immersive virtual sets regardless of the location of the presenter.
The impact of ATEM Mini Extreme is demonstrated in its integration into innovative productions like KulturMachtPotsdam, a 12-hour, multi-location digital cultural festival in Potsdam, Germany.
Robert Klix, of live video specialist Wir Streamen, was responsible for facilitating a non-stop YouTube broadcast of the festival, designed to support artists and professionals involved in a Potsdam cultural scene brought to a standstill by the pandemic.
“We needed a flexible but robust live production hub able to handle multiple content streams without taking up valuable performance space. ATEM Mini Extreme was so impressive, it really was the heart of the production desk,” Klix stated.
Project: Blackmagic ATEM Mini Extreme
Designers: Blackmagic Industrial Design Team
Manufacturer: Blackmagic Design