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This ATEM (mini) Tips” series of short video tutorials for your Blackmagic ATEM hardware includes tips for all users, from beginner to advanced. Scroll down to see more in the series!

This is a collection of all PhotoJoseph LIVE shows, from the PhotoJoseph YouTube channel. Additional episodes are listed below!

Photoshop not required! Titles, Lower Thirds Graphics

Photo Moment - March 20, 2021

In tip 004, I showed you how to create accurate, transparent Title and Lower Thirds graphics with drop shadows and gradients for your ATEM Mini, ATEM Mini Pro, ATEM Mini Pro ISO, or any other ATEM switcher, using Photoshop. But I know a lot of people don't have or want to use Photoshop! So in this tip, I show you what type of graphics have to be created (pre-multiplied alpha is the key!), and how to make them with any app. I use Affinity Photo, but any app that can create a PNG should work!

Need an ATEM Mini?

What this tip is about…

The first step I do in this video is showing you what a pre-multiplied alpha graphic looks like. It's weird… in a PNG you expect things to fade to transparency. But in a premultiplied alpha image, the fade includes black! Basically, you're looking at a fade to black with a alpha fade on top of it. Howe do we know this? I show you how to extract one of the Photoshop generated accurate files from the ATEM so you can see what they are supposed to look like, then I show you how to do it without photoshop!

Here's the process…

First, generate your graphic with all the fades, glows, shadows, transparencies and so on that you want. Have fun; there's no limits here. Group all of that together, and duplicate the group. Disable that duped group; you'll need it later.

Second, place a solid black layer behind your group, and merge or flatten them so your graphic is now rendered against black.

Third, load the selection from that duplicated, hidden group. That means you'll see the marching ants on screen representing the selection from the hidden layer.

Finally, create a mask on the flattened-black layer using the active selection. That's it!

You're now ready to export as a PNG, which will have that pre-multiplied render on it, and it will look perfect in the ATEM software! (Just don't forget to enable “Pre Multiplied Key” in the ATEM Software).

📄 Full Video Transcript

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Want more tips like this? Be sure to subscribe https://youtube.com/c/photojoseph?sub_confirmation=1 and check out the playlist of this series https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRe8DcOhgslpSQkH8ycUW9xCmNg2I4b0y and one more thing — I have a new channel just for going LIVE! Be sure to sub here, too https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCv9vBqGf1BALPY_13jMxigg?sub_confirmation=1
how can i detect translucent graphics with a green background without any mess ... OBS does not recognize translucent things on green screen very well, i want to get my graphics from a power point presentation with a green background, how do i do that .... can you help .... zebra zong made a video (full review of atem mini pro) in that the translucent shape with a green background, and the chroma key detected it perfectly
hi @photojoseph
I m asking how to do a scoreboard without any external (and expensive) software on ATEM.
I have a solution with OBS but i want to stream more than 1 camera
do you have a solution ?
I don’t think so. https://mixeffect.app has tons of features but I don’t think it has a scoreboard (do check though). You can route your ATEM through OBS and use it. Most solutions are $$.
Thank you @PhotoJoseph! You have a great skill/talent at explaining complex material as simply and efficiently as possible. Impressed and thankful!
Glad it was helpful!
is there a corresponding mode for video in premiere?
Thank you so much, Joseph. I have been addicted to your ATEM mini videos lately. We recently got one for producing our church service live stream. It has been tasked to me to figure it all out and get it working. I have had so much fun and learned so much from your videos as well as those from a couple other select YouTube channels.
Aw thanks man, that’s very kind of you to say!
Hello Joseph, I'd like to know if its possible to add a blur layer on the video so the people on the video are not recognizable?
Thanks for reaching out directly
I just found out you can also do this via command line using ImageMagick. Use this command: magick convert in.png -write mpr:image -background black -alpha Remove mpr:image -compose Copy_Opacity -composite out.png
I shall test this, thanks!
Amazing! Thanks for sharing!!
glad it was helpful, Wagner!
hello PhotoJoseph, could you explain, how to do this in Photosop Elements 2022? The "Select" / Selection from Layer" is not the same in PSE and the creation of the mask with this selection is somehow different in PSE. Thanks, Uwe
I can’t, sorry. I’m not an Elements user.
Hi there. I’m trying to create an alpha channel for use with a presentation app called proclaim for my church.

Is there a tutorial or link to accomplish creating the alpha without the use of atem plugin in photoshop?
@@photojoseph I will join today. I have a bunch of questions to ask and though I can find 75% of what I need on YouTube and Google there is that last 25% of specific questions that seem impossible to find. Thanks for that :)
@@photojoseph oops. Second HDMI. :)
@@stoochy1 by “scone” I assume you meant “same”? Set the presentation in an upstream key and set the alpha to be from the media player, and load your alpha graphic in the media player. This would make a cool video actually. Also, FYI if you join the channel as a member you will have access to a private Discord server which could be a good place to ask questions, and of course you’ll be helping support the channel! Details at https://YouTube.com/PhotoJoseph/join
@@photojoseph really. So if I can find a way to turn my gradient into a black and white file I’ll have an alpha? Wow. My brain was thinking it was much more complicated.

Out of my presentation software. I would then have an HDMI out for the alpha and the fill using a scone HDMI. (From computer)

Thanks. Back to the drawing board. I love your channel BTW. Thanks for practical tips and instructions .
An alpha channel is just a black and white file. No specific tutorial, but that’s all it is.
THIS IS BEASTLY!!! Great work PhotoJoseph!! Many thanks for such a great lesson. You basically solved one of my lingering issues with the ATEM Mini switchers!
Awesome!!
Genius! Thanks so much
Hi! How to use the Photoshop plugin if I only connect my ATEM with USB cable without ethernet cable? Otherwise how to create the Pre-Multiplied file within Photoshop since Affinity is also a paid software. Thanks!
Great question! I haven’t tried but I’d guess that you have to have the ATEM on a network since the plug-in wants an IP address. However while connected over usb, Check the ATEM setup app to see if it has a self assigned ip address and see if the Photoshop plugin can find it over usb. I’m going to assume no but it’s worth a try. You could build a mini network direct connecting the computer and ATEM over Ethernet too. https://youtu.be/ols4voQw2yM Finally to do the pre-multiplied graphics just follow the same steps as Affinity; same features are in PS. This is a great topic to bring to our discord. Join the channel and join the Discord! YouTube.com/PhotoJoseph/join
My photoshop doesn't show the direct atem export option. Does anyone has the same problem? I've just downloaded Photoshop so it's definitely the latest and updated to the latest ATEM control software. It didn't show up so I uninstalled both apps and reinstall again with Photoshop first then ATEM. The plugin seems to be in the folder but Photoshop isn't showing it.
@@plugplayproductions605 that’s odd. I don’t know the answer then… you’ll need to reach out to tech support
@@photojoseph oh no, i'm on an older model, 2015.
Are you on an M1 Mac, by chance? If so, the reason it’s not showing up is because the plug-in has not been written for Apple Silicon yet. The only workaround is to launch Photoshop in Rosetta mode. It becomes super slow, but it works. In the meantime, please please please contact blackmagic support and demand that they upgrade this plug-in. It hasn’t been touched in years and it needs updating. They need to hear from their customers!
We produce live streams of high school sports. We used to have a Tricaster Mini (until it died) and it was easy to update a score while we recording due to the built-in software. It looks like the ATEM software here does not allow that. I've found a way to update a graphic using Preview (of all apps) but it still requires a LOT more steps than the Tricaster software did. What is the best practices workflow to do this with the ATEM software? There's got to be a simpler way to do this. Bare in mind, this is for high school students to operate, not professionals.
Hi Winston. It’s not built in as you’ve discovered, so that means your options are either to continuously update static graphics (not ideal as you’ve found) or use a third party solution. That solution could inject a graphic overlay on output, or could be one of the source inputs. If an input, since you’d need to have the score not take the whole screen, you can either have something that fits in a simple rectangle and is crop-able, or have something that’s more “fancy” and is either keyed (eg blue screen that’s keyed out) or delivered as vide+Alpha which would require using two of your inputs.

With all this in mind you can make a homemade solution or find software like this, which I have no experience with but showed up at the top of a google search: https://www.live-score-app.com/tutorials/atem-mini-with-external-display
Your audio is out of sync. I can't keep watching! :p
had a weird render issue. But you know, most of this video is not me on screen… I'm sure you can manage ;-)
my atem mini shows flickering or glitch or signal lost some time - any possible solution
@@photojoseph thanks for replying. but i checked all cables , these are properly functionated
Not enough info to troubleshoot but start with cables. Could be a bad hdmi cable somewhere
That's very nice. I need to practice that.
It’s a great technique; just takes time!
can you do a video how to overlay lyrics live video using media within atem mini
Is this a common way to have the lyrics; in a PowerPoint? I’ve seen software that does this, but is your method common?
@@photojoseph hi joseph im trying to learn how to stream our church service song lyrics ,scriptures over live video. i have atem mini software control and obs. i have scriptures in powerpoint. your tutorials are terrific. LEON
Lyrics that are pre-known (like song lyrics), or captions? What use case?
I have a transparent PNG loaded into ATEM with pre-multiplied checked, but it shows a white background. Any idea what could cause that?
@@photojoseph it opens in Finder with transparency, yes. I have a lot of photoshop experience. The only other thing I can think to add is that the macbook running the ATEM is refurbished.
Jake — does the PNG open in Finder with transparency? Sounds like you just have a white background.

Amit — same question but also are you following the exact steps in here? 9/10 if it isn’t working, folks missed a step.
I am facing the same problem. I can use the plugin but I want to learn how to do it without it and none of the steps I have tried really works. May a quick tip showing how to do it in Photoshop 2021 CC (v22.5.1 or higher) will help poor souls who want to learn but the plugin is doing. Also does anyone know where is the plugin file located on the MAC? I tried searching for JSX files on my MAC and did not see anything starting with ATEM name.
gold
I don't understand what's going on here.

Does the Atem mini not respect the Alpha Channel in a png?
It sees the alpha, but it wants a different type of alpha — the premulitplied kind.
Spent a long time looking for a good explanation of how the plugin does this. Specifically because Photoshop 2021 stopped loading the ATEM plugin on my system for some reason, despite a reinstall of the ATEM software. Thanks so much!
oh crap, you are right!! I just made a file and detailed every step (which I'll leave below, even though it's not necessary… but I wrote it!) and exported a PNG. That did the gradient right, but it put a white box around everything else. I brought the same PSD file into an Intel Mac, exported, and it's perfect.

I found a fix though — open the exported PNG in Preview app, and export as a PNG. That fixes whatever is wrong with it!

I'll report this. Super weird. And here's the steps, if anyone cares:

1. new canvas, 1920x1080, transparent background
2. draw a rectangle shape and fill it with a gradient (I just chose one of the built in color purple blue gardents)
3. Add a mask to the layer, and draw a black to white gradient on the mask across the shape (basically like I did in this video)
4. Duplicate this layer
5. Draw another shape (rectangle) over the entire canvas, make it black, and put it behind the top gradient
6. Select the black box layer and the gradient layer, group them (command G), then merge group (command E). This will give you flattened pixels instead of shapes
7. (this part seems stupid but since I started with a shape, I don't see another way) — group the one layer that has the masked shape, then "merge group" (command E) that one layer. That will give you the original gradient as pixels to transparency.
8. Load the selection from that new rendered layer (command-click on the layer), select the layer you made earlier with the transparent gradient rendered against black (your premultiplied image), and click the mask button to make a new mask from the active selection.
9. Make sure the original layer is hidden (or deleted), and export a PNG. You can use the Quick Export to PNG option.
@@photojoseph I must be doing something wrong.. just can't get it. I'm staring to wonder if the M1 Mac is doing PNG output differently.
I just tried this in Photoshop. The first time I did it, I loaded the selection from the transparent layer, inverted it, and deleted the background (which is NOT how I did it in Affinity Photo), and made the PNG. This did NOT load properly in the ATEM. I went back to Photoshop and did it the same way I did in Affinity; load the selection, and add it as a mask to the black layer — and that one worked fine.
@@photojoseph So here's the thing...I did reinstall the ATEM software to no benefit. The plugin still won't load. I'm ok with that because I'd rather not have the plugin be the only way I can accomplish this. The strange part is that I cannot recreate your steps in Photoshop without the plugin. I get a great image "fading out to black" by using a transparent layer as a selection source and removing the black background from a merged duplicate, but the resulting file does not load correctly in my ATEM Mini Extreme: I have to mask off most of the image because everything but a small rectangle around the content loads incorrectly.

Have you been able to do this in Photoshop without a plugin, or just in Affinity Photo?
Glad it helped, but also I'm using PHotoshop 2021 and the plugin works fine there. Reinstall the ATEM software and see if it works. Please let me know!
hey there Joseph. Really good that you're helping understand what the premultiplied alpha images need to be. BUT: can you please show us how to do it using GIMP (latest version)? Affinity Photo is also payware. GIMP is not (and, it's very multi-platform).
@@HanrouxLamprecht1979 Duplicate your layer in Gimp and place a full black layer on bottom. Right click the middle layer and click merge down. Click the bottom layer and go to Layer > Transparency > Alpha to Selection. Right click your bottom layer and choose Add Mask, and choose Initialize Mask to Selection. Delete the top layer, and you're done!
@@photojoseph This would be very helpful. I will try the steps you mentioned when using Gimp, since I also use it & see if I can get any proper results. I'm trying to create a semi transparent logo (bug) & even though the PNG does display properly when opening it in Preview after it was exported, it does not show any transparency when it's loaded into the Atem Media player.
That’s the second request for GIMP. I’ll look into it although you should be able to suss it out from these instructions, no?
I think I would never have figured that out :-)
Hahaha it’s ok, I took the first comment as sarcasm anyway LOL
@@photojoseph I forgot the NEVER ;-)
😉
Thank you so much for showing how to do this in Affinity. Super helpful!
☺️
Great video. Thank you for going over it two times. Not sure if it was my phone but it seems that the video was out of sync.
Thanks… and yeah… I really don’t want to talk about sync with this video. Let’s just say I’m having ISSUES with the SOFTWARE. 🤯🤯🤯
Is it possible to do animated overlays simply on ATEM?
Not on ATEM Mini / Pro / ISO. I don’t actually know if the Extreme has a sequence store. My 2 M/E has one but it’s quite limited. Meaning I can do animations, but only small ones.
OMG.
Not sure if I understood everything. 🤪 But, I‘ll give it a try... Thank you for sharing this
Hehe yeah it’s weird… but you don’t need to understand; just follow the steps!😁
In Affinity Photo there's a much, much easier way: Filter -> Color -> Multiply by Alpha
@@photojoseph Hi again, PhotoJoseph. Seems my reply comment with a link to a YouTube video I recorded to show you the process has been hidden by YouTube because it contains a link. Could you check in the comment review section of YouTube Studio?
@@photojoseph I demonstrated my workflow to create lower thirds and any other overlay graphic I use in the the ATEM's downstream keyer. I start off with an empty canvas with transparent background. Then I create whatever I like. As a last step i combine all layers to a single pixel layer, hide all other layers and multiply by alpha. This creates a premultiplied pixel graphic with transparency that resembles the non-standard ATEM graphic format when exported as PNG.
I just tried this and it does nothing like what I’m demonstrated. Please reply with a step by step of when and where to use this, and what the result should be. Thanks.
@@photojoseph The problem with RGBA PNG is that it's straight alpha by format definition, but the ATEM requires all images in the media pool to be pre multiplied by alpha thus violating the PNG format specification. That's why PNG files that work on the ATEM look wrong or "faded to black" everywhere else. You have to multiply the image by alpha before exporting it to create the non-standard ATEM PNG. I just recorded a short video to show you how it's done easily in Affinity Photo. https://youtu.be/WgaBepoBunI For the theory behind alpha compositing and straight vs. premultiplied alpha, have a look at the Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha_compositing#Straight_versus_premultiplied
Wait what really? And what does that do (not on a computer to try); flatten to black? Or will it actually make the alpha, too?
OMG! I was having this exact problem with Pixelmator Pro... so I stopped making the drop shadow and gradient look and just made basic graphics.... but, bam.... you drop this... perfect. Thanks! .
Tried also with Pixelmator Pro and failed. The Text with shadow looks good, but not the retangle with shadow and alpha gradient like the one in the video. The selection by layher (edit > selection load, then CMD + left click on layher) does only select a part of the retangle, so the mask also doesn't work at this point. I also tried method 2 from this tip https://www.pixelmator.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=17079 and the retangle also looks weird after import in BM Control. Maybe, you can help me here. Thanks in advance...
Awesome!
@photojoseph can you do a video on getting an after effects overlay w/ alpha channel to play correctly through a hyper deck?
@@RyanSHarper haha sorry to disappoint this time!
@@photojoseph I’ve search the forums, but haven’t posted. Normally it’s usually on YouTube by you LOL
Got it. Ok I’ll figure it out. I’ve only done dual SDI playback through software and a dual link interface (UktraStudio 4K) so I’ll have to sort this out! If you’re in a hurry, have you posted in the BMD forums?
@@photojoseph yessir - I’m running a hyperdeck studio pro with dual sdi for key and fill - my issue is I have other clips on the ssd for pre-roll packages that work fine, but I can’t seem to have the right export criteria in either after effect or premier that shows the overlay correctly

The one time I got it to even ‘play’ it was faded and adjusting pre-multiplied key didn’t help:/
Sure. You know it requires dual SDI right? Image + alpha?
Thanks for sharing all your knowledge, save us a lot of time
Glad you’re learning from them!
Noice! 11/10
haha thanks!
i switched to affinity photo as well! Davinci resolve has also been a great switch as well
I really like Affinty Photo. I have photoshop because it's part of my Lightroom subscription, but AP is so good for layout and graphics work!
Any chance of an example of doing this with GIMP? I've done very little graphic processing and all those layers were getting me confused so a simple step by step for the software I have would be helpful.
Copy/pasting this from another comment I left for the other person asking this same thing. Open your image in Gimp, duplicate your layer and place a full black layer on bottom. Right click the middle layer and click merge down. Click the bottom layer and go to Layer > Transparency > Alpha to Selection. Right click your bottom layer and choose Add Mask, and choose Initialize Mask to Selection. Delete the top layer, and you're done!
I’ve never used GIMP. I’m sure there’s tutorials on making masks out there though.
Hi, you keep going back to the software control panel. Could you do a tip in the "FILE" settings. Seems that ATEM has 3 layers to its operating process. 1) what is operating on the hardware, 2) the firmware and 3) the control panel software. Not clear on how these 3 areas interrelate. Could I export from software to hardware , what I'll call show settings and them take just the ATEM hardware on location, or something like that.
Interesting. I like it. I have added to my list a video to do an overview of the hardware vs two software layers. I think it makes a lot of sense. Those of us that have used it make assumptions that we forget are not obvious! Thanks :-)
Thanks for the how to...your explanations are 1st rate and am able to implement them immedialely
Glad to help!
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