ATEM Constellation 8K, core of EuroHockey Championships production

The capture, control and content delivery of the EuroHockey Championships were executed with Blackmagic Design’s ATEM Constellation 8K mixer.

The biennial event took place at the Alsterdorfer Sporthalle stadium in Hamburg and featured the participation of eight nations: Ukraine, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Turkey, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium and Germany. Video Data Technik (VDT) was responsible for all aspects of the production services. To undertake this project, VDT relied on a fibre optic system and used a combination of nine cameras, including three Blackmagic URSA Broadcast G2 units: two mounted on remote heads and a third dedicated to on-field interviews. VDT deployed two additional Карманная кинокамера 6K Pro to give a closer perspective of the goals.

All sources, including the cameras, were processed in a 72×144 matrix. Nine of these isolated signals were then transmitted to an Созвездие АТЕМ 8K mixer and the vMix Replay system. Andreas Meyer, part of the VDT technical team, elaborates: “We needed to produce three program feeds, so we based our workflow on an ATEM Constellation 8K with the ATEM 2 M/E Advanced Panel. And because we had both German and English feeds to cut, the switcher’s fourth M/E was used to insert English graphics.”

The production was in 1080p50 format, from which 1080i50 resolution signals were then output for Sport1 и 720p50 for the European Hockey Federation (EHF) website. A pair of Kiloview encoders was also used for the EHF signal and for the Austrian national broadcaster ORF.

The main signal was recorded on SSDs with a HyperDeck Studio 4K Pro device, while an H.264 Pro Recorder was used for real-time analysis of the teams.

Graphics and flexibility

The graphics for the EuroHockey Championships were handled by the CharacterWorks system, which outputs the signals in 2160p50 resolution. These 4K signals were then split into four 1080p50 channels using a pair of Teranex Mini 12G-SDI to Quad SDI devices. “That gave us two fill and key for German and English on-air graphics while still keeping things straightforward for the graphics operator,” Meyer stresses.

Looking back, the VDT team is pleased with the performance of the Созвездие АТЕМ 8K, a “perfect” solution for live productions: “The ATEM Constellation offers tremendous flexibility. I also love that it outputs MADI, so we can extract audio directly from the SDIs and use it on the DiGiCo console. It really is the perfect mixer for big events and OBs when flexibility is essential. Need an additional output? No problem, the ATEM has got you covered.”