MANCHESTER, U.K.—WhatCulture, an international entertainment portal, has equipped five new studios with a streaming and web broadcast workflow that leverages the Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K Pro and ATEM Mini Extreme ISO.
Producing content for 12 YouTube channels on a variety of topics ranging from TV, gaming and science to technology, comics and wrestling –one of the largest unofficial wrestling channels in the world, WhatCulture also uses Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K Pros to capture content for the channels.
With this year’s move of a larger space, the company built five custom studios. “Each space is specifically designed to produce a different type of video or content for one of our channels, including live streaming and podcasts,” said WhatCulture’s Phil Chambers.
“We were immediately drawn to Blackmagic Design because every step of the workflow from pre to post is covered, integrating seamlessly. As soon as the Studio Camera 4K Pro was released, the decision was a no-brainer,” he said.
Three of the new studios are outfitted with a three-camera Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K setup, an ATEM Mini Extreme ISO and an Infinity green screen. Two others with green screens are set up to be used with the Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro.
“It’s all about flexibility,” said Chambers. “This setup allows someone to walk in, sit down and press record on the mixer. Even if someone isn’t live mixing the video, every feed is recorded to one hard drive with automatically named files. In terms of content management, that is perfect.”
The ATEM Mini has reduced edit time, and the multi-camera setup has given WhatCulture a way to produce more engaging content. The studios also have made it possible to react instantly to breaking news with live streamed news videos and podcasts, he said.
Prior to outfitting the new studios, WhatCulture relied on a tripod-mounted DSLR. However, the new setup was designed for live content production with the ability to record. The setup has elevated overall production values, which audiences have acknowledged, said Chambers.
“A huge part of the decision to use Blackmagic Design throughout was that we wanted to tighten up our process,” said Chambers. “This has allowed us to make the best use of the spaces we now have and simply pump out better content, faster.”
More information is available on the Blackmagic Design website.
