Preparing videos/graphics for HyperDeck Studio Mini

You may have read on a forum or site that you have to record videos through the HyperDeck Studio Mini in order to play them back - and this is simply not true.

By John Barker • 25 Jan 2018

You may have read on a forum or site that you have to record videos through the HyperDeck Studio Mini in order to play them back - and this is simply not true.

In this episode of Show and Tell, we show you hows it’s done for a few different types of videos that you may want to play back.

Key/fill motion graphics

A very easy way to show lower thirds and moving logos are to use key/fill graphics. With this method, you will have to use two inputs on your ATEM switcher and the two SDI outputs on the HyperDeck Studio Mini. Once everything is plugged in, head to your computer for graphics creation. We went with a very simple lower third graphic for demo purposes, but the same applies to more complicated ones.

Apple Motion

Motion is our program of choice for creating graphics. All we have to do is make whatever we want, but be sure to leave the background unused.

Create a new project that matches your ATEM settings - for use it’s 1080p25.

Once happy with how the lower third looks, it has to be exported as a ProRes 4444 file (as this includes an Alpha Channel and that’s what is used as the key source).

We exported our file, put in on an SD card and put that into the HyperDeck Studio Mini.

ATEM Software Control

Put your Upstream Key 1 on air so you can see the output. 

Then within the ATEM Software Control, you can simply go to the Upstream Key 1 drop-down on the right, choose the “Luma” tab and fill in your settings.

The “Fill Source” and “Key Source” should directly match your HyperDeck Studio Mini’s inputs.

Finally, you just need to ensure that “Pre Multiplied Key” is selected and you’re ready to go. Press play on your HyperDeck Studio Mini and your lower third (or other graphics) will play out on program - Yay!

Chroma key graphics

This is very similar to the above method, and the major pro is that it will only use one SDI input on your ATEM.

Apple Motion

Create a graphic as above, but add a solid green background - then export as ProRes for a great quality image. Once it’s done exporting, drag it onto your SD card and put that into the HyperDeck Studio Mini.

ATEM Software Control

As before, it’s best to put your Upstream Key 1 on air before going any further. You’ll probably find that your program output is not green - that’s a good sign.

If it’s not already set, choose your HyperDeck input as the “Fill Source”. Then it’s time to play with the “Hue” slider to get the colour just right. You will also have to adjust the other sliders below to get the chroma key just right.

Then just press play and watch as your graphic comes on screen.

Playing videos

To play back a standard video on your HyperDeck, you just need to follow a few easy steps.

Final Cut Pro X

This will work in any editing software, but for us we use FCPX. Just create a project that matches your ATEM settings - for us it’s 1080p25.

When your video is ready for exporting, choose a version of ProRes as the codec and let the export complete.

Then put that file onto your SD card, and insert that into the HyperDeck Studio Mini.

ATEM Software Control

There isn’t much to do from here, just bring your HyperDeck source to preview, press play on the HyperDeck and then bring it live to program - Your video is playing!   We hope you found that helpful, and please let us know if you have any issues.