Switching Blackmagic Design ATEM with SKAARHOJ Live Fly

Blackmagic Design ATEM Television Studio HD switcher is a wonderful production switcher for its price. However, many have come across a few setbacks with its design. The front panel control is a great idea for the compact size. But it gets ergonomically awkward when you need to control them. It also features small cut and auto buttons. Finally, the buttons on the run are not remappable which might not be ideal for your need to be flexible. The ATEM is designed to be rack-mountable. But couple that with the need to set it up on the fly, and you might find yourself controlling the ATEM with the software more than using the physical buttons.

Working with SKAARHOJ Live Fly and Blackmagic Design ATEM Television Studio HD

We love the SKAARHOJ controllers ever since they hit our office last month. They’re small and very lightweight, thus making them the perfect travel companion. We have been using them recurrently in all our events, often integrated with our Newtek TriCaster system. So, today we’re showing how you can switch with the Live Fly controller.

Basic Workflow with the Blackmagic Design ATEM

Before we show you how we work with the Live Fly controller, let’s start with the workflow that we are using for this demo. Here is a list of equipment we used:

Two BirdDog Eyes P200 cameras for the choice to switch between two video inputs (in this case – SDI).
A MacBook Pro to map the configurations on both the controllers as well as accessing the Blackmagic software.
A monitor for the Multiview output.
And most importantly, our network setup which consists of a switch, a router, and an access point.

Configure Your Desired Settings on UniSketch OS

Live Fly is a flexible interface. You will be happy to know that it works with a variety of device cores. One of them is none other than the Blackmagic ATEM switchers.

As you can see, Live Fly offers a world of options. From RGB multi-level metering LEDs (for VU, tally or step indication) to programmable four-way buttons for superior flexibility, you will enjoy working with this slim, ergonomic console. Once you’ve configured your Live Fly, it should look a lot like this:

Switching with the SKAARHOJ Live Fly

Working with the Live Fly helps to tackle the top 3 problems that most people faced when working with the ATEM:

You are free to remap the busses on the bottom row according to your needs.
Your ME buttons – cut and auto – are not only big, but they also come with large fonts, making it harder for you to miss them!
More importantly, you can set this up on your tabletop and you’re ready to run your production, thanks to its ergonomic design.

With a front control panel, 8 video inputs, and a dedicated built-in LCD screen for your settings, the ATEM is perfect for professional AV installations where all you need is to simply switch between sources. But even if you already know how to work with the ATEM, having more options on your control panel and bigger buttons like the Live Fly can make it less of an ordeal. Expand your workflow today by integrating the Skaarhoj Live Fly controller with the Blackmagic Design ATEM Television Studio HD.