AI-assisted project. This codebase was created with Claude Code (Anthropic), directed and reviewed by a human author. It has not yet been validated against real ATEM hardware.
Network control for Blackmagic ATEM switchers (Mini Pro/Extreme ISO family, Phase 1), with standard PGM/PVW switching plus a software-composited preview/program workflow for SuperSource and DVE box layouts.
Instead of building a synthetic preview from scratch, animATEM captures the switcher's own multiview output over USB (it enumerates as a UVC webcam), crops the individual source boxes out of that live multiview feed in software, and recomposites them into an arbitrary custom arrangement to preview SuperSource/DVE changes with real live pixels before they're pushed to air. Named "memories" — app-level presets, independent of the ATEM's own macro system — capture and recall these arrangements.
SuperSource box moves can also be animated rather than cut instantly: the ATEM protocol itself has no native SuperSource tweening (unlike an upstream keyer's DVE, which the switcher already animates in hardware via fly- keyframes), so animATEM eases into the target layout client-side — a fixed- cadence stream of interpolated positions, not a single instant command. Pick a duration and hit "Animate" instead of "Take" in the SuperSource editor.
A companion Bitfocus Companion module lives
in companion-module/ — it lets Companion
buttons trigger Cut/Auto/FTB, source selection, memory recall, and animated
SuperSource memory recall against animATEM's local control server, with
feedback/variables for the current program/preview input.
v0.1.1 — prebuilt for macOS, Windows and Linux. Pick your platform:
macOS — Apple Silicon, Intel
| Build | Download | Size |
|---|---|---|
| Apple Silicon · .dmg disk image | animATEM-0.1.1-arm64.dmg |
117 MB |
| Intel · .dmg disk image | animATEM-0.1.1.dmg |
124 MB |
| Apple Silicon · .pkg installer | animatem-0.1.1-macos-arm64.pkg |
117 MB |
| Intel · .pkg installer | animatem-0.1.1-macos-x64.pkg |
124 MB |
| Apple Silicon · .zip archive | animATEM-0.1.1-arm64-mac.zip |
117 MB |
| Intel · .zip archive | animATEM-0.1.1-mac.zip |
125 MB |
Windows — x64 & ARM64, x64, ARM64
| Build | Download | Size |
|---|---|---|
| x64 & ARM64 · .exe installer | animatem-0.1.1-setup.exe |
199 MB |
| x64 · .exe installer | animatem-0.1.1-x64-setup.exe |
103 MB |
| ARM64 · .exe installer | animatem-0.1.1-arm64-setup.exe |
97 MB |
| x64 & ARM64 · portable .exe | animatem-0.1.1-portable.exe |
199 MB |
| x64 · portable .exe | animatem-0.1.1-x64-portable.exe |
102 MB |
| ARM64 · portable .exe | animatem-0.1.1-arm64-portable.exe |
97 MB |
| x64 · .zip archive | animATEM-0.1.1-win.zip |
144 MB |
| ARM64 · .zip archive | animATEM-0.1.1-arm64-win.zip |
143 MB |
Linux — x64, ARM64
| Build | Download | Size |
|---|---|---|
| x64 · .deb package (Debian/Ubuntu) | animatem_0.1.1_amd64.deb |
96 MB |
| ARM64 · .deb package (Debian/Ubuntu) | animatem_0.1.1_arm64.deb |
91 MB |
| x64 · .rpm package (Fedora/RHEL) | animatem-0.1.1.x86_64.rpm |
85 MB |
| ARM64 · .rpm package (Fedora/RHEL) | animatem-0.1.1.aarch64.rpm |
80 MB |
| x64 · AppImage | animATEM-0.1.1.AppImage |
123 MB |
| ARM64 · AppImage | animATEM-0.1.1-arm64.AppImage |
124 MB |
All builds, checksums and release notes: github.com/stoatworks-labs/animATEM/releases.
These builds are unsigned, so macOS and Windows each warn once on first launch — see Unsigned builds — Gatekeeper, SmartScreen & Defender Firewall for the one-time fix.
The multiview boxes below are a synthetic test-pattern feed (colour bars, big numbers, source labels), not a real ATEM's output — a stand-in so these screenshots don't depend on hardware being connected. Everything else — the app chrome, data tables, and layouts — is the real UI.
The touchscreen operator view — a composited multiview with tap-to-select regions and a function key row below it:
The calibration screen, where an operator draws each multiview box's region once per capture resolution — or auto-creates a starting grid sized to the live window count and drags boxes/corners into place:
The SuperSource editor — Program (live) and Preview (editable, drag to move/resize) panes side by side, plus the memory bank:
The DVE editor, same Program/Preview/Take pattern applied to a single upstream keyer:
The raw multiview passthrough and live ATEM state, useful while wiring things up:
Electron + electron-vite + React + TypeScript, following the same
conventions as this author's other Electron control apps
(presentation-commander-client/server, MicWizard):
src/{main,preload,renderer,shared}, service classes under
src/main/services/*.ts.
ATEM Ethernet protocol control via
atem-connection
(main process — UDP). UVC multiview capture via the renderer's
navigator.mediaDevices.getUserMedia (full Chromium context, no native
addon needed).
| Doc | Contents |
|---|---|
| docs/USER-GUIDE.md | Operating it: multiview setup, calibration, Preview/Take, animation, memories, troubleshooting |
| docs/API.md | The control-server protocol, state model, coordinate conversions, memories file format, IPC channels |
| docs/DEVELOPING.md | Build, tests, and the coordinate work that is the hard part |
npm install
npm run devnpm run typecheck and npm run lint before committing.
Known install gotcha on this machine (Node v26.5.0): electron's
postinstall uses extract-zip@2.0.1, whose promise hangs forever on this
Node version instead of extracting or erroring — npm install finishes
but node_modules/electron/dist is left with no Electron.app, and npm run dev fails with spawn .../Electron ENOENT. If that happens:
# find the cached zip extract-zip already downloaded
find ~/Library/Caches/electron -iname "electron-v*.zip"
# extract it with the system unzip instead (fast, doesn't hang)
rm -rf node_modules/electron/dist
mkdir -p node_modules/electron/dist
unzip -q <path-to-the-zip-above> -d node_modules/electron/dist
# recreate the marker file install.js normally writes (no trailing newline!)
printf "Electron.app/Contents/MacOS/Electron" > node_modules/electron/path.txtnpm run testUnit tests cover the pure box-geometry/drag/coordinate-conversion math and
the file-backed calibration/memory stores (vitest, no hardware needed).
companion-module/ has its own npm run test covering the control-server
WebSocket client. CI (.github/workflows/ci.yml) runs typecheck/lint/test
for both packages on every push and PR; .github/workflows/release.yml
builds installers for Windows/macOS/Linux (x64 + arm64) on a v* tag.
Phase 1 feature set is built: ATEM connection (standard switching — cut/
auto/FTB/program/preview/aux), UVC multiview capture, box calibration,
the SuperSource and DVE Program/Preview/Take workflow with drag-to-move/
resize editing, named memories, and the touchscreen operator UI with
kiosk mode. Everything has been exercised in isolated browser/Electron
harnesses (typecheck, lint, and functional checks all pass), but none
of it has been run against a real ATEM switcher yet — the coordinate
scale used for the Preview panes' visual layout (see superSourceCoords.ts
/ dveCoords.ts) is a labeled placeholder pending real hardware to
calibrate against, and the UVC capture path has only been exercised
against a generic webcam, not a real ATEM's multiview output.
Requires an ATEM Mini Pro/Extreme ISO with its USB output set to Multiview (not the default Program) for the compositing workflow to work.
The local control server (ws://127.0.0.1:51234) and the
companion module that talks to it are also
built and verified end-to-end — a real WebSocket client (including the
module's own compiled client code) connects, receives the initial status/
snapshot/memories state, and round-trips commands against a running
animATEM instance without errors. Like everything else, actual command
behavior (cut/auto/recall) hasn't been checked against a real switcher yet.
Production packaging is verified too: npm run build:mac produces working
signed-nothing (no Apple dev cert yet) x64 + arm64 .dmg/.zip installers,
and the packaged arm64 .app boots cleanly on its own — full Electron
process tree comes up, the control server binds correctly — separate from
every other check in this project, which has run through npm run dev.
The local control server (src/main/services/controlServer.ts) binds to
127.0.0.1:51234 with no authentication — anything that can reach that
port on the local machine can cut/auto/FTB the switcher or recall a memory.
This is fine as long as it stays bound to localhost (the default, and the
only configuration this app currently supports). If you ever change that
binding to 0.0.0.0 or another network-reachable address, add
authentication first — as shipped, it is not safe to expose beyond
localhost.
The release binaries are not code-signed or notarized — that needs paid Apple and Microsoft developer certificates this project doesn't carry. The downloads are fine; the OS just can't identify the publisher, so it warns you the first time.
- macOS — "cannot be opened because the developer cannot be verified".
Right-click the app → Open → Open, or clear the flag:
xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine "/Applications/animATEM.app" - Windows — SmartScreen shows "Windows protected your PC" → More info → Run anyway.
- Windows Defender Firewall — first launch pops "Allow animATEM to communicate on these networks". Tick Private (and Domain on a managed network) — animATEM needs it to reach the ATEM switcher and expose its Companion control port. Deny it and the switcher will show as offline and Companion won't connect.
- Linux — no signing gate.
Per-artifact steps, self-signing, checksum verification and the Defender Firewall reset procedure: docs/UNSIGNED.md.
- Validate against a real ATEM — run the full compositing workflow and cut/auto/recall command behavior against a real Mini Pro/Extreme ISO (everything so far is verified only in browser/Electron harnesses).
- Calibrate coordinate scale — the SuperSource/DVE Preview layout scale (
superSourceCoords.ts/dveCoords.ts) is a labeled placeholder pending real hardware to calibrate against. - Real multiview capture — the UVC capture path has only been exercised against a generic webcam, not a real ATEM's multiview output.