Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Webcomic and Gaming Powerhouse Penny Arcade Uses Blackmagic Design ATEM Mini Switcher for Live Streaming Workflow

15/05/2020

--

Blackmagic Design today announced that webcomic and gaming powerhouse Penny Arcade is using a variety of its products, including an ATEM Mini live production switcher, to power its live streaming workflow for several weekly online shows. The shows air live on Penny Arcade's Twitch channel, PennyArcade, and are later uploaded to its YouTube channel, pennyarcadeTV (PATV), attracting tens of thousands of viewers.

What started as a thrice weekly comic strip has since become one of the most popular and longest running webcomics online, creating and distributing gaming content to millions of readers globally. Over the years, Penny Arcade has grown its business to include PAX, the largest gaming festivals in North America and which also use Blackmagic Design gear for live production, Child's Play, the largest gaming charity in North America, PATV, home to its video and media content, merchandise, podcasts, and more.

In building out its video content, Penny Arcade wanted a more professional live streaming workflow and sleeker look for its productions. Producer Joshua Price and his team stepped in, transforming a meeting space into a production studio outfitted with a multitude of Blackmagic Design gear.

To power its live streaming workflows, Penny Arcade is using ATEM Mini and ATEM Television Studio Pro 4K switchers along with Micro Studio Camera 4K, URSA Broadcast and URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2 cameras.

When I originally received the ATEM Mini, I planned on using it as supplementary or as a travel switcher to help when needed. Once I started using it and learned how powerful it was, especially when leveraging its ATEM Control Software, ATEM Advanced Chroma Key and picture in picture functionality, I immediately put it to work in our secondary studio in my office. We run two Micro Studio Camera 4Ks and two computers as the four inputs in a sort of mirror setup on either side of my desk with one camera serving as a face cam with a green screen behind it, and the other on the opposite side capturing a couch and television set up for gaming content, Price explained. Because the ATEM Mini is so small and flexible, I still bring it with me wherever I go so that I have a switcher with me at all times.

Initially, Penny Arcade selected the ATEM Television Studio Pro 4K to switch overhead Micro Studio Camera 4Ks in the primary studio, but quickly realized that it could also replace its main camera switcher.

Now we're using a second ATEM Television Studio Pro 4K with the URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2s and URSA Broadcasts, sometimes adding the Micro Studio Camera 4Ks to the mix if necessary, said Price. We try a lot of new things and bring in a variety of different board and tabletop games and other projects that require custom solutions to showcase them in the best possible way. Having the two switchers with full hands on control of the camera settings gives us that flexibility.

Penny Arcade is relying on a combination of Blackmagic Design cameras to shoot the majority of its content.

For us, the URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2 and URSA Broadcast cameras' ease of use is incomparable. We can bounce from camera to camera for interactive multi camera live streams, and because their build is basically the same, we can easily swap between cameras without needing to adjust, and the images work together seamlessly, said Price. In addition, the URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2's large sensor allows us to get in closer and have a wider field of view in our small studio where space is premium without having to move to an ultrawide lens and deal with the inherent distortion of the image.

Having the ability to use the lenses we need, like B4 on the URSA Broadcasts, allows us to easily zoom up close or out very wide without having to swap lenses or worry about keeping a consistent iris, added Price.

Four Micro Studio Camera 4Ks are mounted in the primary studio's ceiling capturing overhead shots of board games, dice trays and other top down action. A fifth Micro Studio Camera 4K is on a monopod that can be moved around to shoot as necessary, and a few others are set up throughout to studio to capture shots from different angles.

Rounding out its camera gear is a Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K that Penny Arcade uses to shoot advertisements, anything impromptu, and even behind the scene shots. The Pocket Cinema Camera 4K is a workhorse. Even though it's small, it's extremely powerful and the images it captures are stunning. I even take it with me when I travel to events like PAX to shoot anything quick and dirty, Price commented.

Additionally, Penny Arcade is using HyperDeck Studio Mini recorders, DeckLink 8K Pro and DeckLink Quad HDMI Recorder capture and playback cards and a Teranex Mini SDI Distribution 12G converter. Two DeckLink 8K Pros allow Penny Arcade to bring full 4K signals into a streaming computer for easy image manipulation in the streaming software and to make corrections to framing or for digital zooms without any loss of quality. Three HyperDeck Studio Minis are used for backup recording from the main cameras when shooting multi camera content and as splitters to feed direct outs into the computer.

Using a full Blackmagic Design workflow has really simplified our work. When you look at our streams, you can tell from the image quality and how smoothly they run, Price concluded. We are excited to continue using Blackmagic Design for future Penny Arcade projects.

About Blackmagic Design

Blackmagic Design creates the world's highest quality video editing products, digital film cameras, color correctors, video converters, video monitoring, routers, live production switchers, disk recorders, waveform monitors and real time film scanners for the feature film, post production and television broadcast industries. Blackmagic Design's DeckLink capture cards launc
LINK: https://news.creativecow.net/story/900821...
See more stories from creativecow

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

06/05/2026

L3Harris to Boost Polish Navy Combat Power with Advanced Ship System

Polands Miecznik-class frigates are part of the largest contract in Polish shipbuilding history. (Image Credit: PGZ Stocznia Wojenna)...

06/05/2026

FCC's Anna Gomez Urges Rigorous Review of Paramount-WBD Merger

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

06/05/2026

Riedel Ups Marc Engroff to CFO, Shifts Frank Eischet to Group COO

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

06/05/2026

Amagi Launches In-Content Ads' to Attract More CTV Advertisers

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

06/05/2026

Riedel Expands Leadership Structure Appoints Marc Engroff...

Riedel Communications today announced the expansion of its leadership structure as part of a strategic initiative to strengthen both its operational management ...

06/05/2026

Production Sound Mixer Dirk Sciarrotta Delivers Camera Re...

For nearly three decades, Veteran Production Sound Mixer and Five-time Emmy Award Winner Dirk Sciarrotta has helped define the sonic identity of the long-runnin...

06/05/2026

ZEISS CinCraft LensCore: Cinema Lens Looks for Compositing

ZEISS CinCraft LensCore: Cinema Lens Looks for Compositing Brie Clayton May 6, 2026 0 Comments ZEISS announces the launch of CinCraft LensCore, a nove...

06/05/2026

Wisycom Solves Extreme RF Challenges Across Miles of Live Action for Gravity Media

Wisycom Solves Extreme RF Challenges Across Miles of Live Action for Gravity Med...

06/05/2026

NAB Launches Weekly Podcast on Local Broadcast Policy

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

06/05/2026

Mavis Launches Mavis Studio iPad For Media Production

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

06/05/2026

Narrative Entertainment partners with Encompass to provid...

Narrative Entertainment has partnered with Encompass to deliver high-quality subtitling of its Great! network content using the Altitude Intelligence AI assiste...

06/05/2026

SipRadius extends its seamless creation and connectivity...

SipRadius, widely recognized for making content processing and connectivity secure and seamless, is proud to launch a dramatic new approach to AI content creati...

06/05/2026

Big Blue Marble at ANGA COM - TV as a Service in the spot...

When the broadband and media industry gathers at ANGA COM in Cologne from May 19 to 21, Big Blue Marble will be at the forefront. The international broadcast an...

06/05/2026

Cinegy makes its MPTS debut with software-defined televis...

Cinegy GmbH, a leading developer of software-defined television technology, is proud to exhibit at MPTS for the first time. Visitors to the stand will discover ...

06/05/2026

Val Jeanty Receives 2026 Doris Duke Artist Award

Val Jeanty Receives 2026 Doris Duke Artist Award Jeanty, a composer, percussionist, and turntablist, is the fourth Berklee recipient of the prestigious award ...

06/05/2026

Zeiss Launches CinCraft LensCore

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

06/05/2026

Gomez Urges Rigorous FCC Review of Paramount-WBD Merger

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

06/05/2026

Wisycom Solves Extreme RF Challenges Across Miles of Live...

When live cycling races and international marathons stretch for miles across cities and countryside, there is no margin for RF failure in live broadcast. As Chi...

06/05/2026

ZEISS CinCraft LensCore - Cinema Lens Looks for Compositi...

Oberkochen/Germany, May 5, 2026 ZEISS announces the launch of CinCraft LensCore, a novel solution for creating physically based cinematic lens looks for visual...

06/05/2026

Riedel Expands Leadership Structure, Appoints Marc Engroff as CFO and Frank Eischet as Group COO

Wuppertal May 6, 2026 Riedel Expands Leadership Structure, Appoints Marc Engro...

06/05/2026

Harmonic Defines a New Era of Broadband Connectivity at ANGA COM 2026

SAN JOSE, Calif. - May 6, 2026 - Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced its latest broadband innovations for ANGA COM 2026, highlighting its vision for a new e...

06/05/2026

Statement from Rupert Murdoch, Chairman Emeritus, Fox Corporation on Ted Turner's Passing

Statement from Rupert Murdoch, Chairman Emeritus, Fox Corporation on Ted Turner&...

06/05/2026

Calling all animal lovers, The Shelter: Animal SOS returns for a sixth season

Friday 8 May on RT One and RT Player Meet the NSPCA team caring for and protecting animals in need in this six-part series Fly on the wall, six-part series...

06/05/2026

NVIDIA Spectrum-X - the Open, AI-Native Ethernet Fabric - Sets the Standard for Gigascale AI, Now With MRC

The race to build the world's most powerful AI factories demands networking ...

06/05/2026

May 05, 2026

How changes to proteins can alter drug interactions for new precision therapies Scripps Research team maps how chemical modifications to proteins affect drug bi...

05/05/2026

Lessons from fragile contexts on responding to disinformation

Experts from the world of academia, tech, business, politics and media convened for a Thomson Talks at the Cambridge Disinformation Summit in April. It's th...

05/05/2026

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra Phone Cameras Bring New Excitement to Street League Skateboarding

Three phones were hardwired for power and transmission to the truck; camera feat...

05/05/2026

Case Study: How Zaki Rose Rebuilt Its Production Infrastructure, and What It Means for Sports Content Creators

The creative studio behind campaigns for the NBA, Fanatics Sportsbook & Casino, ...

05/05/2026

Nielsen Co-Viewing Pilot Shows Average 4% Viewership Increase for February Live Events

Nielsen has announced results from a co-viewing pilot program covering February&...

05/05/2026

Nippon TV and FOR-A Win NAB Product of the Year and Future Best of Show Awards for viztrick AiDi

viztrick AiDi, an on-device AI solution developed by Nippon TV, delivered global...

05/05/2026

ARRI Introduces Omnibar LED Linear Fixture for Film, Live Entertainment, and Content Creation

ARRI has announced Omnibar, a battery-powered, IP65-rated multi-color LED linear...

05/05/2026

France Tlvisions Becomes First Broadcaster to Deploy Imagine Communications SNP-XS

Imagine Communications has announced that France T l visions is the first broadc...

05/05/2026

WNBA Announces Historic Canadian Media Rights Agreement with Bell Media

The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and Bell Media today announced a multiyear agreement to broadcast and stream WNBA games in Canada beginni...

05/05/2026

Save the Date: SVG Remote Production Forum Heads to WBD's Techwood Studios in Atlanta on Sept. 23-24

SVG is proud to announce Warner Bros. Discovery's Techwood Studios in Atlant...

05/05/2026

Look Who's Talking: ESPN Integrates New Automated Commentator-ID Technology Into Scorebar Graphic for UFL Coverage

With no operator required, AutoMic workflow automates talent identification on U...

05/05/2026

Return Flight: How Live Broadcast Drones Died - and Were Reborn - on the Ski Slopes of Northern Italy

A crash in 2015 set the industry back, but this winter proved that drones are he...

05/05/2026

RADAR Spotlights the Next Generation of Asian Artists, From Indonesia to Taiwan

Another year, and more proof that Asia continues to shape some of the world's most exciting new sounds. This year's RADAR artists draw from deep local r...

05/05/2026

Spotify and ACL Music Fest Team Up to Give Fans a Personalized Experience for 2026

The Austin City Limits Music Fest 2026 lineup just dropped, and this year, Spoti...

05/05/2026

Bjooks to launch Beat Gems Kickstarter

New drum machine book campaign incoming Bjooks have announced that during Superbooth 2026, they will be launching a Kickstarter campaign to fund the product...

05/05/2026

Native Instruments release Komplete 26

Flagship all-in-one production bundle updated The latest version of Native Instruments' flagship virtual instrument and plug-in bundle has just been ann...

05/05/2026

Rohde & Schwarz to host RF Testing Innovations Forum 2026, helping design engineers elevate their RF expertise

Rohde & Schwarz to host RF Testing Innovations Forum 2026, helping design engine...

05/05/2026

L3Harris Provides Key Technologies for Newly Commissioned Navy Submarines

L3Harris provides communications, electronic warfare, sensors and mission systems that enable Virginia-class submarine crews to operate with confidence in conte...

05/05/2026

AgileTV consolidates its strength in 2025: EBITDA and cash conversion increase thanks to revenue growth and operational efficiency

The company grew by 7.6% in net revenue and 16.3% in EBITDA, achieving a 33% inc...

05/05/2026

Gray Media Closes Purchase of 10 Allen Media Group Stations

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

05/05/2026

Dang Ly Joins Operative as Chief Product Officer

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...