The Blackmagic Atem Mini (and Atem Mini Pro and Atem Mini Pro ISO) have quickly become very popular tools for multicam live streaming. They allow you to feed in up to four cameras and a separate dedicated audio stream with an easy ability to switch between them in real-time while offering a lot of features typically only found in much higher-end systems.
But it can be a pain to keep setting up and tearing down if you’re not using it in a permanent location. Caleb Pike has solved this issue by creating what is essentially a whole multicam streaming solution in a box with everything self-contained inside a little Pelican case. In this video, he shows us how he made it.
It’s interesting to see how many people are going the DIY route when it comes to getting the most out of their Atem Mini. Just yesterday we featured one mounted to an e-bike for mobile live streaming. Today, it’s Caleb Pike’s turn with a fantastic solution for use both at home or while out on the road – whether that be mobile streaming or for use at a client’s location.
There are three main items to the component list that are quite obvious. That is the Atem Mini itself, a field monitor and a case to put it all in, but there are also a bunch of others bits that may not be quite so obvious at first.
- Atem Mini (or Pro or ISO)
- Pelican 1170 Case
- Feelworld T7 HDMI Monitor
- 12v Power Supply
- DC Jack
- Round rocker switches
- Extra wire
- HDMI coupler
- HDMI ribbon cable
- Angled DC cable
- Brass insert kit
- Metric bolt kit
- Tripod screws
- 12″ HDMI cable
- 18″ HDMI cable
- 3.5mm stereo female to female adapter
- Cheese plate (optional)
The Atem Mini sits on top of a frame inside the case with all the extra bits below (with the exception of the monitor, obviously). You can make the frame yourself by hand using whatever materials you have available, but Caleb has designed a 3D printable structure that should make life much easier. So, you’ll need to at least know somebody with a 3D printer, even if you don’t own one yourself if you want to go that route.
Caleb has also provided a template for those who don’t want to use a 3D printer and choose to make it out of wood, acrylic or some other material. You’ll also need a few other tools.
- Soldering iron
- Solder
- Hot glue gun
- Saw
- Allen keys & screwdrivers
- Drill
- Stepper drill bits
- Standard drill bits
- Cable ties
Caleb goes through the build process in the video above, although despite being just over 10 minutes long, the video is mostly an overview. If you want to have a go at it yourself, you’ll want to check out Caleb’s accompanying post on his website which goes into much more detail on the specifics of how to do each bit, with lots of photos and information on exactly how everything comes together.
When it’s finished, though, you should have something that ends up like this.
It’s a very neat solution when you want to keep everything self-contained. It means that wires aren’t strewn all over the place (except for the HDMI cables coming from each camera, obviously), and when you’re done, you can just turn it off, fold it up and pack it away.
It would be particularly useful for anybody who’s live streaming at a different location each time. Perhaps you’re a band or DJ who likes to stream your gigs. Maybe you’ve started to live stream your clients weddings with restrictions on the number of guests currently in place around the world. But it’s also useful for those streaming from home who don’t want to keep everything permanently set up all the time.
Whatever your needs, this makes setup and teardown a breeze. With everything together in just one box, you just need to supply it with power, feed in your cameras, send the signal out to your laptop or whatever device you’re streaming and you’re pretty much good to go.
It’s surprising that there aren’t any good commercial options for this sort of thing, really. How do you deal with setting up your Atem Mini quickly?
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