Fremont, CA - December 18, 2018 - Blackmagic Design announced today its products were used for the live production of SOFT DARTS PROFESSIONAL TOUR JAPAN, including ATEM 2 M/E Production Studio 4K, which has become the center of the tour’s live workflow. Production included shooting, recording, streaming to YouTube and video distribution throughout the venue of games performed on the main stage, and was also done using ATEM 1 M/E Advanced Panel, Micro Studio Camera 4K, HyperDeck Studio Mini and Video Assist 4K.

SOFT DARTS PROFESSIONAL TOUR JAPAN is a popular dart tournament that brings in professional darts players from around the world to compete in front of a live audience. Tokyo based production company KOKOROX Inc. was hired to produce each live event and manage live YouTube streaming.

To record every moment of action, two Micro Studio Camera 4Ks were installed on the main stage and for shooting players and dart boards. Feeds from the two cameras were sent to the ATEM 2 M/E Production Studio 4K for switching and graphics insertions, and then delivered to monitors around the event and captured for live streaming. Each camera also included a HyperDeck Studio Mini for recording each event, along with a Video assist 4K to record a separate clean feed with embedded sounds.

“ATEM 2 M/E Production Studio 4K was introduced because it can create various screen layouts with Super Source. In darts live distribution, various captions such as score and player name are displayed. It is very convenient to save the caption created by Photoshop in the ATEM’s media pool. With the ATEM it is very easy to overlay subtitles without adjusting keying settings,” said Shuta Moriguchi, Video Producer of KOKOROX. “We also use the ATEM 2 M/E Production Studio 4K in combination with an ATEM 1 M/E Advanced Panel, which lets us use macros. As soon as the athlete throws the darts, the camera control settings are set in the macro so that the camera is closer to the darts. All of this makes it possible to deliver live video without missing an important moment, since it can be intuitively switched on the panel.”

He continued: ”Two Micro Studio Camera 4K are shooting player and dartboards at fixed points. In sports shooting, it is important not to disturb the competition. The camera must be compact and able to withstand long time shooting, and the Micro Studio Camera 4K is a camera that meets these conditions. The tournament was held for half a day and the camera steadily moved for those 12 hours.”

One of the features of the ATEM 2 M/E Production Studio 4K KOKOROX found most useful was the ability to control the two cameras through ATEM software control.

“The situation at the work site is always different as we go around the venues in Japan. With Soft Darts, we were shooting with only the lighting at the venue, so color adjustment function is essential. It is very convenient to control the focus and zoom of Micro Studio Camera 4K with ATEM software control. Adjusting colors with software is very useful,” said Shuta Moriguchi.

“Blackmagic's products are compact and lightweight, so it is very convenient for us to move to regions in Japan according to the event. By unifying it with Blackmagic products, the range of workflow in live production has expanded,” he finished.

Press Photography
ATEM 2 M/E Production Studio 4K, ATEM 1 M/E Advanced Panel, Micro Studio Camera 4K, HyperDeck Studio Mini, Video Assist 4K, and all other Blackmagic Design products are available at www.blackmagicdesign.com/au/media/images. Story photos can be found here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/o1azumu5bep9wr1/AAB3Q_vHUX5TH-UVB3bW3V4Qa?dl=0

About Blackmagic Design
Blackmagic Design creates the world’s highest quality video editing products, digital film cameras, color correctors, video converters, video monitoring, routers, live production switchers, disk recorders, waveform monitors and real time film scanners for the feature film, post production and television broadcast industries. Blackmagic Design’s DeckLink capture cards launched a revolution in quality and affordability in post production, while the company’s Emmy™ award winning DaVinci color correction products have dominated the television and film industry since 1984. Blackmagic Design continues ground breaking innovations including 6G-SDI and 12G-SDI products and stereoscopic 3D and Ultra HD workflows. Founded by world leading post production editors and engineers, Blackmagic Design has offices in the USA, UK, Japan, Singapore and Australia. For more information, please go to www.blackmagicdesign.com/au/.

About New Magic Australia Pty Ltd (Australian and New Zealand Blackmagic Design master distributor)
New Magic Australia Pty Ltd is a recognised leader in the distribution and marketing of multimedia hardware and software, representing a carefully selected range of innovative, leading manufacturers and catering for both the professional and consumer markets. New Magic Australia established in 1993 is the Australian distributor of Blackmagic Design, Convergent Design, Hauppauge Computer Works Inc, Cubix and Matrox Video products. www.newmagic.com.au.