ATEM Mini Pro Live Stream Setup: Step by Step to Your First Stream

The ATEM Mini Pro is out of the box and cabled to a camera, and Sunday’s stream is days away. When it’s set up properly, streaming with it should be as easy as pressing On Air and switching cameras. Getting there takes two halves of work.

The hardware half is getting your cameras, graphics, audio and network connected. The software half is setting the encoder, preview and program, and the multiview so the switcher is easy for volunteers to run. Here’s the order I’d do it in for a first stream, with the gotchas that trip people up.

Before You Start: Mini Pro, Extreme or ISO?

If you haven’t bought yet, the choice is simpler than the model list makes it look. Two models stand out to me.

• ATEM Mini Pro — four camera inputs and one HDMI output, which you can use for either the multiview or a clean program out.
• ATEM Mini Extreme — eight inputs, with separate HDMI outputs for the multiview and program. It also has two USB-C ports to the Pro’s one.

The USB-C port is for recording or connecting to a computer. A great feature is that the ATEM can act like a webcam. If you need more than eight inputs, more outputs, multiple M/Es or aux mixes, you’ve outgrown the Mini line. Look at Blackmagic’s Constellation switchers instead; I cover them in Top 10 Features of ATEM Constellation Switchers.

Seriously Consider the ISO Version

The Mini line also comes in ISO models. With an SSD connected to the USB-C port, an ISO model records every input, the program output and both microphone audio channels to separate files for editing later.

ISO recording is one of the main ways I use my own ATEM Mini Pro in my YouTube studio. Every camera records in sync to the SSD, which gets my editing started quickly.

Your church may not need that. But it’s worth a few extra moments of thought, because camera ISOs are very valuable for short-form videos or for remastering sermon and worship content for social media. Record ISOs every week, hand the drive to your social media person after the service, let them use what they can and delete the rest.

Step 1: Connect to the Network and Install ATEM Software Control

A lot more functionality opens up once the ATEM is on your network, so start there.

1. Plug an ethernet cable into the port on the back of the switcher.
2. On Blackmagic’s website, go to Support and search for ATEM Mini Pro.
3. In the first column, find the latest ATEM Switchers update. Always take the newest one listed.
4. Click Download Only, then install and open ATEM Software Control.

Once it’s ready, your switcher should show up on the network.

Step 2: Check the Switcher Settings

In ATEM Software Control, open the settings. This is where you change the switcher resolution. The Mini Pro isn’t a 4K switcher, so don’t be surprised when there are no 4K options.

From the software window you can control the whole switcher, including what’s in preview and program. The buttons on the unit are still handy during a service, but the software is where you set things up.

Step 3: Connect Cameras and Check the Multiview

Plug your cameras into the inputs. The ATEM supports scaling, so cameras running at different resolutions or frame rates can all feed the switcher, and every one of them shows up on the multiview.

A multiview monitor is well worth having. I keep mine on the wall so I can see the cameras, confirm everything is recording and know exactly what’s happening. In the studio I run three cameras into the Mini Pro: front, side and top-down. I recorded the multiview on a separate iPhone for the video.

The Mini line’s inputs are HDMI. If your church runs SDI cameras, you’ll need a converter to reach the switcher. Longer runs are also where cable choice starts to matter, which our guide to HDMI vs SDI vs fiber for church video covers. A phone can even work as a production camera; see LIVE Production with the iPhone 15 Pro.

Step 4: Get Good Audio Into the Switcher

Audio is the most important part of a live stream, so give this step your time. There are three main ways to get audio into the ATEM Mini.

Option A: From Your Mixing Console

The switcher has two eighth-inch (3.5 mm) audio inputs. Run a cable from an output on your mixing console, XLR on the console end and eighth-inch on the switcher end.

Then, in ATEM Software Control, change that input from mic to line level so the console’s signal is handled correctly.

Option B: A Microphone Directly

You can skip the mixing console entirely. Connect a lav mic or a shotgun mic straight into one of the eighth-inch inputs.

Option C: Through a Camera

Connect your mixing console’s output to the XLR input on a camera. The audio then rides into the switcher with that camera’s video. Select that camera’s input as your audio source.

Choose What Reaches Program

Here’s the gotcha. Most cameras have their own scratch microphone, and that audio also comes into the ATEM. Your multiview’s audio box shows meters for cameras 1–4, mic inputs 1 and 2, and the program output.

When you’re live, use the audio buttons on the control surface to choose where program audio comes from. Each of inputs 1–4, plus mic 1 and mic 2, has on/off and level up/down buttons. Those levels set what goes to program over the HDMI and USB-C outputs.

Audio is the most important part of a live stream. Pick your program audio source on purpose, and switch off everything else.

In my studio, switcher audio isn’t a big deal. I record the ISOs to the SSD and record my lav mic separately, then sync them in post. If I streamed from the studio, I’d need good audio going to program. That’s the situation you’re in every Sunday.

Step 5: Add ProPresenter Graphics

The Mini Pro has four inputs. In my studio, the cameras use inputs 1–3 and my ProPresenter computer uses input 4. Because that’s a single HDMI graphics source, I use a chroma key to get transparency for lower thirds.

1. In ProPresenter, send the stream output to the HDMI output feeding input 4.
2. In the ATEM, set up a chroma key with the fill source set to input 4.
3. Sample the green background so the ATEM keys it out and leaves just the lower thirds.
4. Press Key 1 to put lower thirds over the program. For full-screen graphics, put input 4 in program instead.

The full setup, including the key and fill alternative, is in Graphics to the ATEM Mini with ProPresenter | Chroma, Key/ Fill over HDMI.

Step 6: Enter Your Stream Settings

The Mini Pro has a built-in video encoder, so you can stream straight from the switcher with the reliability of a hardware encoder. In ATEM Software Control, open the Output settings and find Live Stream. (Labels may have moved in newer software.)

1. Platform — select your streaming service, such as YouTube. BoxCast is on the list too, so you can stream straight to their service without an expensive separate encoder.
2. Server — pick the server for that platform.
3. Key — paste in your stream key.
4. Display status — turn this on so you can see what the stream is doing.

Step 7: Know the One-Encoder Rule

The same encoder that streams can also record the program output. On an ISO model, it records every input plus program to the SSD. That’s convenient, but it comes with a trade-off most people don’t expect.

The ATEM Mini has only one encoder. Whatever quality settings you choose for the recording also apply to the live stream. You can’t record top quality to the SSD and stream at a lower quality because your internet connection is limited.

In practice, choose quality settings your stream can handle, and expect the recording to match.

Step 8: Go Live and Record

When everything checks out:

1. Click On Air in the software. There’s also an On Air button on the switcher itself, right beside the record button.
2. Start recording. The software shows how long you’ve been recording and which drive you’re recording to. Mine was a 1 TB SanDisk.
3. On an ISO model, make sure ISO Record All Inputs is selected. It wasn’t selected when I first plugged in my drive.

If you connect a second drive, you can record to it as a backup. You may also find quality settings unavailable while you’re recording; I suspected that’s why I couldn’t change them in the video. Set them before you press record.

Once your stream is running, a Stream Deck can make switching easier for volunteers. Building an ATEM Switcher Control Surface with BitFocus Companion & StreamDeck shows how.

Troubleshooting Your First ATEM Stream

Work through these before you change anything else:

• Switcher doesn’t appear in the software. Check the ethernet cable to the back port and make sure you installed the latest ATEM Switchers update.
• Stream sounds echoey or roomy. A camera’s scratch mic is probably feeding program. Turn off every audio source except the one you chose.
• Console audio is distorted. The eighth-inch input is probably still on mic level. Switch it to line.
• No 4K resolution to choose. The Mini Pro isn’t a 4K switcher.
• Recording looks no better than the stream. That’s the one-encoder rule. Both use the same settings.
• No ISO files on the drive. ISO Record All Inputs wasn’t selected.
• Can’t change quality settings. Recording may be locking them. Stop recording and try again.
• Lower thirds show a green box. Recheck the chroma key’s fill source and resample the green.

There’s a ton these switchers can do. If something isn’t working the way you think it should, it’s usually a setting that needs configuring, not a broken switcher.

Watch the Video

The video walks through each step on my studio setup. You can jump to Mini Pro vs Extreme, connecting pro audio, graphics with ProPresenter, the streaming encoder or ISO recording.

The Whole Thing in One Picture

• Pick the model: Mini Pro for four inputs, Extreme for eight. Seriously consider ISO.
• Network + software: ethernet to the back, latest ATEM Switchers update, ATEM Software Control.
• Settings: set the resolution (no 4K on the Mini Pro).
• Cameras: HDMI inputs with built-in scaling, plus a multiview monitor.
• Audio: console into the eighth-inch input at line level, or a mic directly, or through a camera. Only your chosen source goes to program.
• Graphics: ProPresenter on input 4, chroma key, Key 1.
• Stream: Output → Live Stream, platform, server, key.
• One encoder: recording and stream share the same quality settings.
• Go live: On Air, record, and select ISO Record All Inputs.

Keep Going

• For the bigger picture, including clean feeds, macros and Companion control, read ATEM switchers for church livestreaming.
• If the picture’s fine but the stream still sounds off, see why church livestream audio sounds bad.
• Graphics coming from ProPresenter? Set up a dedicated ProPresenter stream output.
• Ready for button control? Start with Bitfocus Companion and Stream Deck for church production.

More training is on the YouTube channel: youtube.com/@CrazyAmazingDesigns.