Mini Tutorial: Using ATEM Mini Pro with Media Pool for Lower 3rds etc.

One of the fantastic features of the Blackmagic Design ATEM Mini Pro is its ability to store image files for inclusion in your broadcasts. There are twenty “slots” in which to put lower thirds, overlays, intros and outros – although they cannot be animated, only stills.

To add a graphic to a numbered slot in the ATEM Mini Pro, you need the ATEM Software Control package available from the Blackmagic Design website and to have the Blackmagic Design ATEM Mini Pro connected via its ethernet port to your computer.

Once this is done and the software is running, click on the Media button to go to that page. On the left hand side headed “Local Library” you can drill down to select the file(s) you want.

Acceptable file types are PNG, TGA, BMP, GIF, JPEG and TIFF.

Let’s say you have created a lower third in something like Adobe Photoshop, Vegas Effects or Corel Paintshop Pro that has a transparent background and you want to overlay this on your video.

First you would load the image into a slot in the media pool of the Blackmagic Design ATEM Mini Pro ATEM Software Control program. And then drag it into the Media Player window to activate it.

Next, make sure the camera you want to be the background footage is the one selected on the Blackmagic Design ATEM Mini Pro panel. The top photo (below) shows camera 4 as the “live” camera, which is the feed out from our PC, in this case an image from the Dr Who TARDIS’ interior. You can see the lower third with the text and logo at the bottom of the image.

The bottom photo shows the same lower 3rd without the background (camera one is selected but is currently turned off hence no background image).

(Note the LaCie hard disk at right. This is used to store broadcasts created for later playback and is connected to the Blackmagic Design ATEM Mini Pro via its USB-C port.).

Next, on the Switcher page of the ATEM Software Control program, select the Palettes tab at the top right and choose the Downstream Key tab with Media Player 1 as the Fill Source. The Key Source will automatically be also selected as Media Player 1 Key as the Key Source.

The last step is to press the ON AIR button on the Switcher page and the image will overlay your camera footage.

Tip: Make sure that any Mask options are turned off otherwise your transparency will not show correctly.

If you use the AUTO button, you can set a delay for the fade in using the Duration buttons on the Blackmagic Design ATEM Mini Pro itself.

In a later tutorial, I’ll show you how you can automate these features using the macro facilities built in to the Blackmagic Design ATEM Mini Pro using the ATEM Software Control program.