New Rockstars broadcasts live with Blackmagic Design

The YouTube channel New Rockstars, specialized in entertainment and pop culture, relied on a unit Blackmagic Micro Studio Camera 4K G2 and an ATEM 2 M/E Constellation 4K switcher while covering Disney's Comic Con 2024 and D23 events live.

In two episodes of his daily commentary show, The Breakroom, which is broadcast live on BreakroomNR (New Rockstars' YouTube and Twitch channel), the hosts of the show talked about all the exciting things that happened at these events, and managed to reach more than four million viewers, which represents an increase of 40 percent compared to the 2022 installment.

New Rockstars is a Burbank, California-based digital content company recognized for its eponymous YouTube channel, which has more than four million subscribers, offers expert analysis, and delves into the world of comics, movies, and the realm of sci-fi fans.

The work dynamics for the production of The Breakroom includes four units Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K Pro, of the HyperDeck Studio HD Plus recorders for graphics playback, two ATEM Mini Extreme ISO mixers y DaVinci Resolve Studio, which allows you to add graphics and music, as well as make small modifications to the final version of the program, which is uploaded to YouTube once the Internet transmission is finished.

John Costa, producer of New Rockstars, comments that "Blackmagic Design has been an integral part of our work system for years, so obviously we decided to incorporate more of their teams to achieve what we were looking for at these events. Our goal was to bring our viewers the news of what was happening at Comic Con and D23 without sacrificing quality and aesthetics, and also maintaining the dynamic multi-camera experience to which they are accustomed."

“To cover these events, we send staff members to report from the field and then share the news with our team in the studio in real time,” adds Costa. "We brought a Micro Studio Camera 4K G2 into the studio to capture additional angles to make content more dynamic, and the camera's compact size allowed us to do so without impacting existing equipment. Even though this model is small, it offers all the features we were looking for in a traditional studio camera, plus it provides a cinematic look and feel."

Everything under control

With the additional camera angles, external feeds and pre-recorded content needed to make special live webcasts, the New Rockstars team turned to a switcher. ATEM 2 M/E Constellation 4K, which made it possible to centralize its work dynamics and take advantage of the device's 20 inputs. This unit also gave staff full control of focus, color and even indicator lights during live events, through the program ATEM Software Control. “In a live broadcast environment, every moment counts, and having this level of control over a single show was essential,” Costa notes.

In addition to improving the operational effectiveness of New Rockstars' production, adding new devices from Blackmagic Design also significantly improved viewer engagement. Optimizations in production quality led to a marked increase in viewership, reflecting their appreciation for sharper, more cohesive live content. Consequently, New Rockstars managed to considerably increase its audience, retain its loyal fans, and foster greater interaction in its community by expanding its production dynamics.

"We did not expect technological improvements alone to make such a difference, but the greater flexibility and quality definitely helped captivate our viewers. The increase in audience speaks for itself: with the incorporation of Blackmagic Design devices we have been able to produce more dynamic and refined content, and viewers are responding to this," says Costa in closing.