Event Rig Series – Part 1: Blackmagic's NAB Presentation was nuts!

Blackmagic has certainly been busy over the last few months. I can't believe how many new and updated products they announced on Friday in their pre-NAB show stream. I unfortunately didn't get to watch it live and had to wait for the little one to go to bed first, and I'm glad I did. I couldn't have caught everything with a little one running about the place!

What was released?

For those of you who didn't see the mammoth 2-hour stream, here's a list of all the products that Blackmagic released or updated:

• Videohub 120x120 12G: Their new massive 120x120 model zero-latency 12G-SDI video router supports any combination of SD, HD, and UltraHD on the router at the same time.
• ATEM Constellation 4K 2M/E and 1M/E: Advanced UltraHD live production switchers with up to 20 inputs, 12 aux outputs, 6 DVEs, 8 Chroma Keyers, 2 Multiviews, and more.
• ATEM Micro Panel: Extremely portable and affordable control surface for use with ATEM Software Control, and it works with all models of ATEM Switchers!
• Blackmagic Audio Monitor 12G G3: Get powerful audio monitoring in an incredibly compact 1RU size! Includes accurate audio meters, 12G-SDI, and SMPTE ST-2110 IP Video.
• SmartView 4K G3: The world's first UltraHD broadcast monitor with both 12G-SDI and SMPTE ST-2110 IP Video inputs.
• Blackmagic 2110 IP Converters: A new family of affordable 2110 IP video converters for broadcast and live productions. Models for monitoring, cameras, and presentations.
• Blackmagic Ethernet Switch: World's first Ethernet Switch for the Film and Television Industry with 10G Ethernet for SMPTE ST-2110 IP Video and front panel routing.
• Blackmagic Media Player 10G: New Thunderbolt capture and playback solution for live production with fill and key video, extended desktop, 10G Ethernet, and monitoring!
• Blackmagic Cloud Store Max: High-performance Flash Storage for the Television Industry, up to 48TB capacity,fast 100GB Ethernet, 4 x 10G Ethernet, and Blackmagic Cloud Sync.
• DaVinci Resolve 19: Adds new AI tools and over 100 upgrades including IntelliTrack AI, ColourSlice Grading,plus multi-source editing, live replay, and more!
• DaVinci Resolve Replay Editor: New editor panel for Multi-cam editing for news cutting and live sports replay.Combines replay and fast editing in the same panel.
• DaVinci Resolve Micro Colour Panel: Powerful Colour Panel gives you all the control you need to create cinematic images.
• Blackmagic PYXIS 6K: Advanced digital film camera with full-frame 6K sensor in EF, PL, or L-mount models,Blackmagic RAW, and Global media sync to Blackmagic Cloud.
• Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K: Revolutionary Large format digital film camera with RGBW 26x24mm sensor, 16 stops of Dynamic range, and Blackmagic RAW syncing to DaVinci Resolve.
• Blackmagic Media Dock: Mount and share over your network media modules from Blackmagic URSA Cine Cameras. Includes Blackmagic Cloud Sync.

Just looking at that list boggles my mind, let alone all the details they went into for each product. You can see why it was a 2-hour stream now. I'm not going to go through each product individually, but I am going to dive into the IP 2110 products. I've not had the opportunity to use these before and think a dive into these may change the way I do production in the future, and they tie in nicely with my latest post about using Dante with ATEM Switchers.

Blackmagic 2110 IP Devices

Let's take a closer look at the range of 2110 IP devices that Blackmagic now supplies. They have a wide range of SMPTE ST-2110 IP video products, including converters, video and audio monitors, and even cameras that all support UltraHD using low-cost 10G Ethernet. Most of the converter models are bidirectional, so they are great for use on cameras when you need an extra program return feed. All of the rackmount models have a color LCD for monitoring, menus, and diagnostics. All of the various models conform to the SMPTE ST-2110 standard for IP Video, including PTP clocks and even NMOS support so you can make connections using a virtual video router panel.

All of the converters have been designed to integrate SDI equipment into 2110 IP broadcast systems. The rackmount models can be installed in equipment racks next to the equipment you are converting. A nice additional benefit is that most of the Ethernet-based 2110 IP products can be powered via the network cable, making setup nice and easy with just one cable. There is also a range of 2110 IP products that have SFP ports rather than RJ-45 copper, so you can use fiber to cover massive distances.

Blackmagic 2110 IP Mini IP to HDMI

The 2110 IP Mini IP to HDMI converter comes in two flavors—standard copper Ethernet and fiber SFP—and allows you to monitor 2110 IP video and audio on any HDMI monitor or TV. If you are using the Ethernet version of the product, you can power the device via PoE; otherwise, you'll need to use the included power adapter.

Blackmagic 2110 IP Mini BiDirect 12G

The BiDirect 12G converter allows you to not only convert SMPTE ST-2110 IP feeds to SDI but allows you to convert broadcast cameras with traditional SDI connections over to 2110 IP video systems. It has a built-in 5-pin XLR port for headsets, volume control buttons, and a call button for talkback. The Ethernet version can be completely powered via PoE.

Blackmagic 2110 IP Converter 3x3G

This is a rack-mounted bidirectional 3-channel 3G-SDI to 2110 IP converter with a built-in control panel and LCD for status and configuration. It supports all SD and HD formats up to 1080p60 and includes internal AC power alongside remote utility management.

Blackmagic 2110 IP Presentation Converter

The Presentation Converter has been designed specifically for speaker podiums, grouping connections for laptops,projectors, and microphones all into one sleek unit. Laptops can also connect directly via USB-C for video transmission and charging power.

Blackmagic 2110 IP Converter 4x12G PWR

This rack-mounted unit converts and powers up to four 2110 IP video cameras or converters. The bidirectional 4-channel 12G-SDI to 2110 IP converter includes a control panel with an LCD screen and natively supports HD and UltraHD standards up to 2160p60.

Blackmagic 2110 IP Converter 8x12G SFP

The IP Converter 8x12G SFP is an 8-channel 12G-SDI to 2110 IP SFP converter featuring eight 10G Ethernet SFP ports for optical fiber links. It includes a front control panel and LCD for status monitoring and handles HD and UltraHD standards up to 2160p60.

Blackmagic Studio Camera Pro Range

The Blackmagic Studio Camera range is one of the most advanced, self-contained live production camera designs on the market. They pack the features of massive studio cameras into a highly compact, portable footprint. With native 10G Ethernet on the Pro models, a recent Blackmagic Camera firmware update unlocks full SMPTE ST-2110 IP compatibility over a single line. That means your camera feed, return program feed, timecode, reference clock, tally, talkback, and hardware control are all sent down a single Cat6A cable—and the rack unit can even supply the camera's power directly.

Blackmagic URSA Broadcast G2

The URSA Broadcast is an incredibly powerful camera for broadcast ENG and live studio use. For live production, you can pair it with a Blackmagic Studio Viewfinder and a Blackmagic Camera Fiber Converter to bring SMPTE fiber workflows to the camera. SMPTE fiber lets you connect and control cameras up to 2 km away with full talkback, control,and power over a single heavy-duty cable. The standard B4 lens mount allows you to use ENG lenses or massive box studio lenses. Plus, the corresponding Studio Fiber Converter features a 10G Ethernet port for seamless 2110 IP video integration.

With all of these new or updated 2110 IP products, we have nearly everything we need for a fully IP-driven production workflow. The only components missing from the stack would be a fully native 2110 ATEM switcher and dedicated 2110 playback or recording decks to build a basic all-IP control room. In all honesty, I don't think it will be too long before Blackmagic gives us an IP-based switcher, and I hope they roll out 2110 IP to the rest of the ecosystem. Imagine having your entire inventory on a single subnet, letting you pull camera feeds from anywhere in a venue without having to run a boatload of individual SDI lines everywhere!

I love that Blackmagic brought 2110 IP compatibility straight to the Studio Camera Pro lineup via firmware. It makes the decision-making process for a 4-camera multi-cam setup a fair bit easier since no extra standalone converter boxes are required at the camera position. With that in mind, let's look at a basic design to see what we would need to assemble a 4-camera setup featuring ISO recording, video playback, and live graphics generation (my personal go-to workflow framework).

A Basic Multi-Cam Setup

Let's start with the easy part: the cameras. As I'm designing this setup for a controlled indoor studio environment, I'll be going down the Studio Camera route here. (If I were building a rig meant for the outdoors or environments with little to no light control, I would opt for the URSA Broadcast camera path instead.)

I'm opting for the Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K Pro G2. It comes packed with every feature I need: an EF lens mount,12G-SDI, HDMI out, 3.5mm talkback, a 7" bright HDR LCD with an included sunshade, internal color correction,recording to external SSDs via USB-C, XLR audio inputs, 5-pin XLR talkback, a 10G Ethernet IP link, and built-in HD live streaming. On the Blackmagic website, the Studio Camera 4K Pro G2 is listed at £1,806 RRP.

Next up, we need to get the video out of the camera and into our switcher. To keep the cabling clean (and because this whole post is a love letter to 2110 IP), we'll run a single 90-meter Cat6A data reel (~£342) from each camera back to a Blackmagic 2110 IP Converter 4x12G PWR (£1,998 RRP) sitting in the production rack. Because this specific rack converter handles bidirectional traffic and outputs high-power PoE over its 10G RJ-45 ports, that single network cable sends the camera's video feed forward, returns a program video feed back to the operator's monitor, carries our camera control data, routes our talkback comms, and powers the entire camera rig from the rack. That's a little nuts, don't you think?

As I like to record all of our camera feeds cleanly in real-time so I have total flexibility during post-production editing, I'm bypassing hanging individual USB-C SSDs off the back of the cameras. Instead, I've added a Blackmagic HyperDeck Studio Pro 4K (£1,590 RRP) between the IP converter outputs and the switcher inputs for each camera channel. This records isolated (ISO) feeds of every camera angle simultaneously with matching timecodes, meaning I can assemble a flawless multi-cam cut later and polish any missed or mistimed live switches. I've also added a fifth HyperDeck Studio Pro 4K to the rack to act as a dedicated playback source for video titles and animated graphics using key and fill outputs,which can pull double-duty to record our master program mix.

From the recording decks, the feeds run straight into our switcher. I've gone with the Blackmagic ATEM Television Studio 4K8 (£4,602 RRP). This has more than enough physical inputs for my production needs and can stream directly to YouTube, Facebook, or custom RTMP targets over Ethernet right out of the box. The switcher handles our master program output to the venue via its dedicated program outs, while a secondary program cut runs via an Aux output into one of two rack-mounted Blackmagic SmartView 4K G3 monitors (£1,246.80 RRP). The second SmartView 4K panel will be dedicated to displaying our multi-view matrix.

To tie the entire broadcast together, I'm integrating an Apple Mac mini configured with an M3 chip, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD (£1,407 including a keyboard and mouse). The Mac mini acts as our graphics engine, running mimoLive software to generate lower thirds and dynamic overlays. To bridge the computer with the broadcast hardware, we plug in two devices: a Blackmagic UltraStudio 4K Mini (£1,062 RRP) to break out the live key and fill graphics feeds over SDI straight into the ATEM switcher, and a Blackmagic Teranex Mini HDMI to SDI 12G converter (£558 RRP) so the Mac's primary display environment can be monitored across the second input of our program SmartView screen.

To round out the entire package, each camera operator and the director will be equipped with a Beyerdynamic DT-290/M200/H80 MkII headset (£275 RRP) paired with the heavy-duty Beyerdynamic K190.41-1.5m connection cable (£64 RRP) for crystal-clear talkback comms. Throw in some rugged flight cases and 12G-SDI patch cables to hook the rack gear together, and you have a fully mobile, transportable production rig.

The Complete Shopping Bill

With all of that added together, we have a total shopping bill of £58,075.05. Honestly, that is not bad at all for a comprehensive, highly resilient 4-camera multi-cam broadcast rig. Sure, £58k isn't pocket change, but I have seen traditional SDI and fiber setups with similar capabilities easily cost double or triple that amount once the infrastructure hidden costs creep in.

I've probably missed a few small accessories out here or there—if you spot any omissions, please let me know down in the comments! While you're there, let me know if you would change any specific gear selections or where you would personally trim the budget if you needed to replicate this setup on a tighter leash.

While these massive hardware builds are a fun flight of fancy for me at the moment, I really hope some of these design ideas prove useful to anyone looking to transition their workflows over to an IP ecosystem.

I'm currently planning an upcoming post detailing my concept for a multi-purpose production house, where I'll definitely be putting a lot of these new 2110 IP routing concepts to work across a much larger physical footprint. There is still a ton of research, drafting, and 3D space modeling left to wrap up for that piece, so it might take some time to drop—stay tuned!