Blackmagic Studio Camera User Manual Blackmagic Studio Converter

Blackmagic Studio Converter provides a fast, simplified SMPTE fiber style setup with Blackmagic Studio Cameras that have a 10G Ethernet connector. This means you can use one single Ethernet cable to power the studio camera and supply all video and audio feeds, including talkback, tally and camera control.

Getting Started with Blackmagic Studio Converter

To get started, all you need to do is connect Blackmagic Studio Converter to power, connect to your studio camera via Ethernet and then connect to an ATEM switcher.

Plugging in Power

Plug a standard IEC power cable into the power connector on your Blackmagic Studio Converter’s rear panel.

Connect power to your Blackmagic Studio Converter via a standard IEC power cable

Connecting your Camera

Connect one end of a standard CAT 6 network cable to the ‘camera’ Ethernet port on the rear panel of your Blackmagic Studio Converter and the other end to the Blackmagic Studio Camera. In general, a CAT 6 cable will work fine, however, for longer cable runs we recommend a well shielded CAT 6A S/FTP cable.

The Ethernet connector locks securely to each unit ensuring that the cable is not accidentally disconnected during broadcast.

With the Blackmagic Studio Camera power switch set to the ‘on’ position, Blackmagic Studio Converter will detect the camera and power the unit instantly. Establishing video will take approximately 20-30 seconds. When video is confirmed, the image will appear with a ‘standby’ indicator to let you know the studio camera is standing by and ready to go to air.

When power and video is connected, the PoE indicator will illuminate green, followed soon after by the video image and ‘standby’ indicator

The studio camera image will now appear on your Blackmagic Studio Converter’s LCD. You can see the video format your camera is set to and the audio meters will display the strength of the audio signal.

Connecting to an ATEM Switcher

The next step is to connect your Blackmagic Studio Converter to an ATEM switcher.

1. Connect a BNC cable from one of your Blackmagic Studio Converter’s ‘camera out’ SDI connectors to one of the ATEM switcher’s SDI inputs. Both camera outputs are exactly the same so it doesn’t matter which one you use. Two are provided in case you want to send the camera signal to other video equipment, for example ISO recording on a HyperDeck. Plug one of Blackmagic Studio Converter’s camera SDI outputs into any of the ATEM switcher’s SDI inputs

2. Connect a BNC cable from your ATEM switcher’s program return output to the ‘return 1’ BNC input on the studio converter’s rear panel. Plug return sources into the ‘return’ inputs

3. If you require any other return feeds to be sent to your camera such as a teleprompter feed, an ISO feed from another camera, graphics or any other signal then plug this feed into ‘return 2’.
   
   You don’t need to plug in audio cables as audio is embedded in the SDI video signal.

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TIP SDI based ATEM switchers have many SDI outputs, however, if you need more you can run the program return feed from the switcher through an optional Teranex Mini SDI Distribution 12G or a Smart Videohub.

Checking the Return Feeds

Press the return 1 and return 2 buttons to monitor the return feeds. Press the ‘cam’ button to monitor the camera image.

Press the camera, return 1 and return 2 buttons to check the camera signal and return feeds

Confirming Program Return on Blackmagic Studio Camera

Press and hold the program button on the Blackmagic Studio Camera. You should now see the video that is connected to Blackmagic Studio Converter’s return 1 input displayed on the studio camera’s viewfinder. Release the program button to return to the live camera image.

Setting the ATEM Camera ID on Blackmagic Studio Camera

The ATEM camera ID is a setting in your camera’s menu settings that determines which SDI input your studio camera is connected to on the ATEM switcher. When the camera ID corresponds to the switcher’s input number, your camera will detect tally data for that input and the tally light will work correctly on your camera.

For more information on changing the ATEM camera ID, refer to the ‘menu settings’ section.

Change the ATEM camera ID using your studio camera’s ‘setup’ settings

Checking the Return 2 Feed

Blackmagic Studio Camera will output the return 2 source via its HDMI connector. For example, you could connect a teleprompter feed, a scorecard, or a pre-keyed video feed that is being fed up from the Blackmagic Studio Converter. This can be used for presenters, or crew to view on set on a large screen TV.

Checking Talkback

When using an ATEM switcher with built in talkback, the talkback audio is embedded in channels 15 and 16 of the SDI signal and carried over the Ethernet cable to your camera.

With headsets connected to the camera and the ATEM switcher, check that the camera operator can communicate with the switcher operator.

That’s all there is to getting started and you are now ready to start your live production!

The next section of the manual will describe the additional connectors and how to use the front panel.

Connectors

This section contains information on each of Blackmagic Studio Converter’s front and rear panel connectors.

Front Panel

Headphones

Plug a set of headphones into the audio jack to monitor audio via headphones.

USB

Plug your Blackmagic Studio Converter into a computer via the USB port to update the internal software. Pull back the rubber dust cap to access the USB port.

Rear Panel

Talkback

If you need to plug in a third party analog talkback system, you can connect via the ‘talkback’ RJ-45 connector on the rear panel. Use the menu settings to change the talkback source setting between embedded SDI and analog talkback.

Control

This connector is not enabled in this software release.

Reference and Timecode

The reference and timecode connectors let you plug in timecode and reference from external sources, or send external timecode and reference to other video equipment.

Traditional broadcast equipment often uses analog timecode and reference signals for syncing all the devices. While Blackmagic Studio Cameras and Blackmagic Studio Converter use reference and timecode embedded in the signal coming from the ATEM switcher, you can also use a more traditional analog signal for referencing your camera or for inserting timecode.

This also means that if you are not connecting to a switcher at all and are operating in a multicam environment where you may not have a switcher connected to the return 1 SDI input, you can still sync all your cameras using an analog reference source. To output timecode when you are not connected to a switcher, an SDI video signal needs to be connected to the return 1 input to replace what would normally be the switcher’s return feed. A simple solution is to loop the studio converter’s 2nd camera SDI output to the return 1 SDI input.

Looping Timecode and Reference

The reference out and timecode out connectors provide an analog loop through so if you have multiple Blackmagic Studio Converters in a rack together you can just run a single analog reference or timecode signal into the first unit and then loop through to each subsequent converter to make sure they are all synced to the same analog reference or timecode source.