Blackmagic Design

Why Blackmagic Design for Live Production

Blackmagic Design makes professional video hardware that’s genuinely priced for people who aren’t broadcast networks. Their capture cards, video switchers, and replay devices punch well above their price point and have become a standard in live event production at all levels of the industry.

For live events, reliability is non-negotiable—you don’t get a second take when something goes wrong on stream. Blackmagic hardware consistently delivers clean signal handling without the headaches that come with cheaper alternatives.

How We Use It

We use the Blackmagic HyperDeck Shuttle for instant replay in our live production work. In a fast-paced match environment, the ability to quickly pull up a replay, pause on a key moment, and hand it off for on-screen annotation makes the difference between a polished broadcast and guesswork.

We also use the Blackmagic ATEM Mini for switching between camera feeds, replay outputs, and graphics overlays, and a couple of Blackmagic capture cards for routing video into our streaming software. The combination of these tools gives us a flexible, reliable production workflow that can handle the demands of live events without breaking the bank.

Projects Using Blackmagic Design

FIRST Indiana Robotics Analyst Desk

The main FIN stream covers the matches. The Analyst Desk covers everything else—strategy breakdowns, introductory content for new fans, and post-match commentary from mentors around the state. We built the hardware and software setup to run a second simultaneous livestream starting at the 2025 FRC State Championship.