Kindai University, one of the largest universities in western Japan, has installed a number of Blackmagic Design products in its esports facility. The new setup is one of the best esports facilities among schools in Japan and is built around a Blackmagic Design workflow, including ATEM Constellation 8K and ATEM Mini Extreme ISO live production switchers, Web Presenter HD streaming solution, Smart Videohub 40×40 routers, HyperDeck Studio HD Plus broadcast decks and many other Blackmagic Design products.
Esports is very popular, but only a few Japanese universities have esports facilities. Kindai University decided to create an esports facility and installed streaming, audio and lighting equipment as well as gaming PCs. The university made sure that students could use the same gear that professionals use in an actual esports workflow when choosing equipment for its facility.
The new facility has numerous gaming PCs connected to a game server, allowing students to freely enjoy esports. When an event is being streamed, there are many cameras and gaming PCs in use, so the number of inputs needed is very high. All of the input signals from various sources are sent to an ATEM Constellation 8K via Smart Videohub 40×40 router and are then switched using an ATEM 2 M/E Advanced Panel 20.
Several HyperDeck Studio HD Plus broadcast decks record the switcher’s program outputs and are used as media players to play back video sources. Other equipment includes SmartView 4K and SmartScope Duo 4K monitors for video and waveform monitoring, DeckLink Mini Recorder for video capture, Blackmagic MultiView 4 monitors and Mini Converter HDMI to SDI 6G and Micro Converter SDI to HDMI 3G.
The esports facility is available for students to use freely. It is also available for rental to outside parties, and events like The Kansai (western Japan) regional final of STAGE:0, a national esports tournament for high school students, have been held at the facility.
The facility’s popularity with students is evident in its utilization rate. When it first opened, Kindai University was concerned that students would be overwhelmed to use professional gear, but the students have learned quickly. The university hopes that the students will continue to take the lead in using the facility for various projects and learn many things through the experience.