ATEM Television Studio HD: venue outputs, graphics and return audio

Identify the Television Studio HD and the output feeding the venue

This guide covers the compact ATEM Television Studio HD shown in the June 2020 manual, page 9: eight external inputs and one auxiliary output. Compare the model name and rear panel with your unit. HD8, HD8 ISO and Pro 4K models have different capabilities. Also record firmware and ATEM Software Control versions; the manual’s publication date does not identify the installed software.

The manual describes program returns and their audio exclusion on pages 17/57, and camera connections on page 63. Matching numbers on an input and a return do not make the return a loop-through of that camera. Draw Program, Auxiliary and Multi View as separate paths before allocating an output to a room or recorder.

Trace the connector and every converter to the receiver. Record the agreed format and send an identifiable source during an off-air test. If the receiver shows a grid, check whether it is connected to Multi View. If it follows program cuts, check the physical port and selected source. Different content alone is not a reason to replace the cable.

The stream has the lower third, but the projector shows only the camera

If the graphic appears in Preview, Program and the stream but not in the room, compare the source selected for the aux. A camera routed directly to AUX does not include layers added to the program by the switcher. Check that routing before rebuilding the graphic.

To send the complete program to the venue, the manual, pages 147–148 instructs you to open auxiliary 1 in the ATEM Software Control menu bar and select Program. A check mark identifies the selected source, and the change takes effect immediately. Test off air and record the previous selection. Those menu names refer to that manual edition; check them against the connected software version.

Enable the intended lower third, cut between two cameras and watch the projector alongside Program. With Program selected for the aux, you should see the composition and program cuts. If a test monitor on the aux looks correct but the projector does not, trace that branch’s converters and receiver. If the name is absent from Program too, check the composition first: identify the graphics system and the layer through which it enters the switcher.

On the HD front panel, AUX turns the source buttons white and uses them to select the auxiliary source (page 87). Press AUX again to return to normal switching. For sources without a front-panel button, use the LCD auxiliary source menu or Software Control. On the LCD, MENU opens the menus, the knob moves through options and SET selects or applies a setting (page 88). Confirm the selection before returning to program cuts.

Program and Clean Feed separate specific program layers

The Available Auxiliary Sources table, page 148 distinguishes Program, Preview and both Clean Feed options. Clean Feed 1 excludes both downstream keyers; Clean Feed 2 retains DSK 1 and excludes DSK 2. Record where each name or logo is added before specifying a clean output. Page 8 distinguishes the background from the layers placed over it.

A graphic already embedded in the camera or computer signal is part of that source. Selecting Clean Feed will not remove it. Do not use Preview as the program delivery either: it changes as the operator prepares the next shot.

During rehearsal, identify DSK 1 and DSK 2 with different graphics. Compare Program, Clean Feed 1 and Clean Feed 2 on the same receiver without changing the rest of the path. Check each graphic going on and off, then record the result for each destination.

Changing the aux picture does not select another audio mix

Page 18 of the manual specifies embedded SDI program audio on the auxiliary output. Selecting a camera or Clean Feed therefore does not establish that the venue hears that camera’s audio or an independent mix. Record whether sound comes from the projector, a TV, a converter or the room’s audio system.

Prepare a recognizable voice passage and a clip at agreed levels. Change the aux picture source and listen at the destination while keeping program audio settings unchanged. Then check the planned states during the clip and the return to the presentation. Check picture and sound at the receiver, not only on a meter.

For SDI returns with Mix Minus, page 57 describes removing the corresponding input’s audio from its program return. This serves a return listening feed; it does not create a video matrix. Record the setting and check which voice is absent at each destination before connecting a return output to an audience monitor.

Test with the outgoing and incoming sources identified. A guest should hear the agreed mix without their own voice coming back through that path, while program retains the required mix. If the same voice also enters through another input, include that route in the investigation: excluding one input does not verify the whole path. See the hybrid panel and return-audio guide (Spanish) for a broader signal map.

Agree what the single auxiliary output must feed

The HD covered here has one auxiliary output. If two rooms need different content in addition to program, list the sources each room needs before choosing distribution equipment. Several screens receiving the same signal and two destinations that must switch independently are different requirements.

Write down the output, connector, format and audio carrying each feed. Drawing another line on the diagram does not add an independent output. Select any router, distribution amplifier or scaler only after checking its exact model and the receiver’s format.

Include a break and return to program in the rehearsal. Record what auxiliary 1 was set to and who may change it during the event.

Document sources, layers and listening feeds

Fill in the Television Studio HD output worksheet with the sources, destinations and rehearsal results. Separate what you expect from what you observed at each receiver. Keep samples and the setting to restore on auxiliary 1.

The conference video guide (Spanish) sets out logical destinations. For signal differences between a monitor and switcher, see PTZ Gen 2 and converters (Spanish). The ATEM 2 M/E Production Studio 4K guide covers that different model.

To plan video processing and distribution with GLMedia, send the full model, versions, rooms and content required at each destination. Include the audio mix and identify any receiver or signal path you have not yet tested.