The first ideas around the creation of TTFN TV quickly turned into a plan to be able to produce high quality video. The first episodes of Techcast Focus were shot with a Canon 5D Mk II in 1080p! However the workflow for this was time consuming so we soon started looking for other solutions, and that began the journey we are still on.
It quickly became our aim to build a studio and equip it with what we saw as the three different families of video systems: software, hardware and integrated. It is only by building working knowledge of all three that enables you to provide evidence based comments, reviews and help to our community. In addition this gives us extra flexibility in the other parts of the TTFN TV operation. What we hadn’t expected was for this to all happen so quickly!
For the software based solution we eventually settled on Telestream’s Wirecast running on an Apple Mac Pro, and for the hardware switcher we purchased the Blackmagic Design ATEM 1 production switcher as soon as it was available.
We have now complimented these two solutions with what we call an integrated solution (both hardware and software) – the NewTek TriCaster TCXD850. (Our UK dealer (OneVideo) got us a great deal on this unit!)
Our coverage will continue to be across all three families of products which cover different price points, capabilities and features.
To kick off our coverage of the TriCaster we look at what’s in the box:
James Morgan
I’ve been using a Tricaster heavily for sports production for the last couple of weeks, and after using an ATEM it can be a very, very frustrating device. It has so many tricks up its sleeve, but so many of them have fatal flaws. For me the ATEM does less, but reliably and quite well (at a fraction of the price). That said, if money isn’t an issue I’d still say to get a Tricaster.