How to Save Your ATEM Mini Setup So It Loads Every Time

Your ATEM Mini can hold its settings so the studio powers up ready to record: the front camera already selected, picture-in-picture pointed at the right source, and your microphone on. You set it once in ATEM Software Control and save it as the startup state. Seven steps, about ten minutes, and you leave it alone after that.

You need this after a switcher has been replaced or upgraded, or when the switcher keeps coming back on Camera 1 every time you turn the studio on. The video at the top of this page walks through the same settings on screen.

What you need before you start

• The ATEM Mini switcher fitted in your Desktop Studio, standard or the recording upgrade
• The USB-C cable that connects it to your computer
• Your computer
• ATEM Software Control, free from Blackmagic Design. Download the ATEM software from Blackmagic Design
• Your front camera plugged into Camera 2, and the switcher physically installed. If it is not in yet, start with adding a switcher to your DIY studio
• About ten minutes

If you want the wider picture of what each piece of kit in the studio does, the video equipment guide covers the hardware.

How do you set the ATEM Mini startup state?

1. Connect the switcher. Plug the USB-C cable into the ATEM Mini and into your computer.
2. Open ATEM Software Control. Install it first if you have not already. Skip the registration page, it is not required.
3. Set the default camera input to Camera 2. The ATEM Mini selects Camera 1 out of the box. Camera 2 is where your A-camera, the one pointed at you, is plugged in.
4. Point picture-in-picture at Camera 2. Go to Upstream Key 1 > DVE and change the Fill Source from Camera 1 to Camera 2, so the picture-in-picture window shows you when a laptop, iPad or iPhone is running into Channel 1.
5. Turn on ISO recording, if your switcher records. Go to Output > ISO Record All Inputs and make sure it is selected. Skip this step if your switcher does not record ISO.
6. Turn on the audio for Channel 2. Check the ON button for audio on Channel 2 is selected, so your microphone is live the moment you start a meeting or a recording.
7. Save it as the startup state. Go to File > Save Startup State. Everything on screen is now what the switcher loads on power-up.

How do you check it saved?

• Power the Desktop Studio down, then back on.
• Input 2 should be lit on the switcher panel, not input 1.
• Open the software you record or meet in. You should see your front camera, straight away, with nothing to select.
• Run a laptop or iPad into Channel 1 and bring up picture-in-picture. Your camera should be in the small window, not Camera 1.

If all four are right, it is saved. Anything you change from here is live for that session only, so run File > Save Startup State again on any change you want to keep.

What if it did not work?

• No picture at all from the camera. That is a connection problem rather than a settings one, and cables come before software. Work through no camera signal? check your switcher setup.
• The switcher is right but the laptop or iPad will not come up. Channel 1 is the data input and it has its own quirks with adapters and display detection. See how to connect a device to your switcher.
• The settings come back wrong after every restart. The startup state did not write. Set the four settings again and finish on File > Save Startup State before you power anything down.
• Still not right. Tell us which step it stops at through the contact page and we will pick it up from there.

Common questions

I cannot find a Save button in the ATEM software. Where is it?

It is not a button, it is a menu item. Open the File menu and choose Save Startup State. That writes the settings currently on screen to the switcher, and those are what load next time it powers up.

Where do I download the ATEM Mini software?

From Blackmagic Design's support page for ATEM live production switchers. The application is called ATEM Software Control and it is free. Install it, open it, and skip the registration page.

Why is my picture-in-picture showing the wrong camera?

The DVE fill source is still on Camera 1. Go to Upstream Key 1 > DVE, change the Fill Source to Camera 2, then run File > Save Startup State so the change survives the next power-up.

Do I have to do this again if I change a setting?

Only if you want the change to stick. The switcher loads whatever was last saved as the startup state, so save again after any change you want to keep.

Is any of this different on the recording switcher?

Only step 5. ISO Record All Inputs tells a recording switcher to capture every input as its own file, and those files get large quickly. Shrinking ATEM files for editors covers what to do with them afterwards.