SVG Sit-Down: Blackmagic Design's Dan May on the Company's Wide Range of Products and Customers

SVG Sit-Down: Blackmagic Design's Dan May on the Company's Wide Range of Products and Customers We're about creating tools that give users the flexibility to make a solution that works for them' By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director

Tuesday, May 6, 2025 - 9:39 am

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For Blackmagic Design President Dan May, trade shows create a hit list of favorite innovations. At the NAB Show each year, the company introduces not just its latest products but products that cover arguably the broadest range of categories of anyone at the show. May sat down with SVG to discuss the company's highlights from NAB 2025.

Every NAB Show is different, and you guys have a lot of new products every year. What stands out this year?

Definitely, the ATEM Micro Camera Control Panel, which can control up to eight cameras from one unit. It allows one person to control eight cameras at a time, which I think is great and a very easy add-on that customers have been waiting for.

Leading Blackmagic Design's lineup at NAB 2025, new ATEM Micro Camera Control Panel can control up to eight cameras from one unit.

We also have the ATEM Mini Extreme ISO G2 production switcher, which feels like it fits between the ATEM Minis and the ATEM Television Studios, which are very large professional production switchers. We also did a big software update for the ATEM 4 M/E Constellation 4K Plus, which opens up a lot of new features.

Resolve has a big update, and the PYXIS 12K camera fits between the current PYSIX lineup and the URSA Cine.

We've been working with Apple on the URSA Cine immersive, which can be used to capture video for the Apple Vision Pro for creating content like sitting at half-court at a basketball game. That camera took a lot of work to make it happen and have a workflow that ties into DaVinci. It's not like you're just slapping it into any old editing software and getting the content out the door. It's a pretty complex process. To be able to show the results to people on headsets at the show is exciting.

It wasn't long ago that SMPTE ST 2110 was only for the major broadcasters. What are you seeing in the market you serve?

Some people want to have an engineering team, but we're always about creating tools that give users the flexibility to piece bits together and make a solution that works for them. But a lot of what we are doing with ST 2110 is offering la carte pieces that they can piece together and do what they want, and it seems to be working out.

Your products are very value-oriented. How does your customer base approach things like upgrading and improving their capabilities?

On one hand, we want to offer a $300 switcher so that we can get someone who has never been able to use a hardware switcher to get involved. But it's tough because, if we come out with a $500 version the next year, they can feel left out because that is a big investment for them. It's a fine line as we're always trying to say, Look, we're doing this to empower people and bring more people to the table.

That is why things like the newest ATEM Mini Extreme ISO G2 live switcher has some future-proof features and costs a little bit more. But we have a wide range of customers - like podcasters, high schools, churches, and businesses - looking for sub-thousand-dollar products.

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2025/05/06/svg-sit-down-blackmagic-designs...
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