Blackmagic Design today announced that pioneering media and entertainment company Rooster Teeth is using a host of its gear, including URSA Broadcast cameras and ATEM 4 M/E Broadcast Studio 4K live production switcher, across its Austin, TX and Los Angeles studios to broadcast content across a multitude of platforms, reaching more than 45 million viewers.
Rooster Teeth is a leading media and entertainment company with devoted entertainment fandoms around the world, with a diversified business model across memberships, advertising, podcast sales, distribution, events and ecommerce.
According to Rooster Teeth’s Director of Broadcast, Patrick Salazar, “Along with live events like E3 and our Extra Life charity stream, our broadcast department handles up to 10 productions a week on a floor equipped with Blackmagic Design cameras and a control room operated by Blackmagic Design switchers, media recorders and more. The studio features five pedestal cameras, a jib, full broadcast quality lighting system and grid, a livestream capable control room, and a live graphics and audio booth.”
The Austin studio is equipped with six URSA Broadcasts which are fed into a Smart Videohub 40x40 router along with all other sources, such as graphics, prompter, gaming consoles, etc. Signals are routed to the ATEM 4 M/E Broadcast Studio 4K, ATEM 1 M/E Advanced Panel, MultiView 16 and SmartScope Duo 4K monitor. Four HyperDeck Studio Pro and two HyperDeck Shuttle SSD recorders record ISO camera feeds with a separate HyperDeck Studio Pro recording the line cut from the ATEM, which also feeds the livestream. A similar workflow is used in Rooster Teeth’s Los Angeles studio.
“The URSA Broadcast looks smart, is versatile and has really stepped up the quality of our picture,” said Salazar. “Some segments may call for a handheld camera, and the URSA Broadcast can easily come off the pedestal for a new job that’s comfortable for the operator. The built in features give the operators and engineer more control of the visuals and movement needed in a production.”
Rooster Teeth has been using ATEM switchers since 2012. “Initially, the ATEM was chosen because of its price point and flexibility. Having the option to not only operate from a laptop, but also switch with the software on multiple devices was awesome. It was and still is incredibly reliable. Today, the ATEMs and the control panels we currently use have become even more sophisticated without sacrificing user friendliness,” noted Salazar.
He also noted that the ATEM’s DVE comes in handy during gaming livestreams and visual podcasts by allowing the technical directors some room to play with picture in pictures and resizing images and other inputs on the fly.
“We couldn’t produce our 24 hour Extra Life charity livestream without the ATEM’s SuperSource. For 24 hours, we display multiple sources, including donations, extra cameras, gameplay and more. SuperSource is also a must have for any gameplay livestream,” added Salazar.
Over the past seven years, Rooster Teeth has now raised more than $6 million for Extra Life, a charity that helps gamers fundraise for Children’s Miracle Network (CMN) Hospitals where thousands of children are treated each year, regardless of their family’s ability to pay. The money Rooster Teeth raises has directly benefited the Dell Children’s Mental Health Unit located in Austin, Texas. In honor of Rooster Teeth’s continued support, Dell Children’s dedicated their mental health unit’s garden after the company and named it The Rooster Teeth Healing Garden. Extra Life unites thousands of players around the world in a 24 hour gaming marathon to support Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Since its inception in 2008, Extra Life has raised more than $40 million for local CMN hospitals
Extra Life is produced in the Austin studio with the addition of two more URSA Broadcasts, a second ATEM, numerous converters and a full rework of the camera routing map. “The Smart Videohub 40x40 gives us the flexibility to route signals in and out of the control room, allowing us to create a system for a production at any scale,” said Salazar.
For the 2019 event, Equipment Manager Hector Gonzales and his crew used a Pocket Cinema Camera 4K to capture behind the scenes footage.
“The camera’s small form factor lets us capture cinematic images without a large camera build, which was ideal for our crews running around during Extra Life. The Blackmagic RAW and ProRes codecs are super versatile which is important because the turnaround for our videos varies greatly, so having codec options is a must,” explained Gonzales. “The 13 stops of dynamic range give us a lot more flexibility moving outside, which is exactly why we use the Pocket Cinema Camera 4K to shoot our exteriors on Extra Life, as well as so many of our shorts. We don’t always have ideal time for lighting setups, so the camera’s dual native ISO is a very useful feature for helping us achieve dynamic looks with clean images when we are shooting on the go.”
“On the technical side of my department, I am responsible for making sure the gear in our control room and studio floor is capable of delivering a quality picture, can allow us to work as efficiently as possible in any situation and can hold up to our tight schedule of weekly productions,” concluded Salazar. “It’s why we chose Blackmagic Design from the beginning and continue to build out our ever growing workflow with its products.”
