Tutorial: NewTek TriCaster Mini Turnkey HDMI Production Studio

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how the NewTek TriCaster Mini delivers portable, affordable, and full-featured live production to producers using HDMI cameras. I’ll start with a brief oveview of the hardware, which was provided by this article’s sponsor, Videoguys.com.

Hardware

Figure 1 (below) shows the Mini. It’s an extremely compact unit with four HDMI inputs and two outputs. In addition to the audio coming in with the HDMI inputs, there’s also a 1/4" microphone mono input and left and right quarter-inch inputs. There are also two HDMI outputs just below the four inputs, plus a 1/4" headphone jack and left and right 1/4" audio outputs.

Figure 1. The NewTek TriCaster Mini with its 4 HDMI inputs. Click the image to see it at full size.

On the other side of the unit (Figure 2, below) are your monitor outputs, plus display ports for two additional screens or projectors. Here you’ll also find USB ports for getting content into the unit, and an Ethernet port, though the Mini also has WiFi.

Figure 2. Monitor inputs, USB ports, and Ethernet on the TriCaster Mini. Click the image to see it at full size.

The Mini comes in two models, the HD-4i, which includes this 7" LCD output monitor and 1.5TB of storage, and the HD-4 base configuration (Figure 3, below), with no monitor and 750GB of internal storage.

Figure 3. The TriCaster Mini HD-4 base configuration. Click the image to see it at full size.

Videoguys.com is offering a specially priced bundle that includes the HD-4i plus a control surface that many pros prefer for fast, full access and hardware operations for live production (Figure 4, below). This bundle also includes a free travel case that you should strongly consider if you'll be taking the Mini on the road.

Figure 4. The $9,995 bundle includes TriCaster Mini HD-4i, monitor, control surface, and handy carrying case.