Today NewTek, maker of the TriCaster and 3Play line of multi-function production and replace devices announced its latest product offering: the TriCaster Mini.
TriCaster began its illustrious career as a portable “lunchbox” alternative to the NewTek Video Toaster, or VT. When this all-in-one solution was release in 2006, it captured the imagination of many producers who could now bring the power of the VT system on the road in a package slightly larger than a lunch box. The following year, after requests from the industry for a more professional version of the TriCaster was released – the TriCaster PRO, which many professionals still use in the field today because of its BNC and XLR connectors. Then came various versions of the TriCaster PRO, the TriCaster Studio, TriCaster Broadcast, the 3Play, TriCaster 300 (the first HD TriCaster), The TriCaster 850 and its variants, the TriCaster 40 (same form factor as the Studio and Broadcast, but HD analog) and then the current Pro Line of TriCasters including the flagship TriCaster 8000.
The TriCaster Mini introduced today continues the legacy of TriCaster by offering the first truly portable package in several generations. Retailing at $7995, the TriCaster Mini with built in screen (HD-4i) has everything you need to produce a top quality webcast in a small form factor. The even smaller sibling to the TriCaster Mini with screen is the TriCaster Mini HD-4 retailing at $5995.
The really amazing thing about this device is that this device has all the features of the proline. Using HDMI inputs instead of SDI or analog inputs, the TriCaster Mini can easily ingest both camera and computer sources and will automatically adjust frame rates to compensate for non-standard sources. Innovative pro features such as pan/tile/zoom (PTZ) control is also built in, allowing the device to control dozens of serial and IP based cameras on the market. Unlike the TriCaster 40, which retained the interface of the non-pro line of TriCasters, the Mini has the same social media publishing features, iso recording, mix effects, special effects, and feature set of the 410, 460, 860 and 8000 models.
Here’s the monitor NewTek used for the Mini in its demonstration today. Here’s a link to SDI to HDMI converters. And some more expensive ones if you want to pass audio.
The TriCaster Mini is shipping now!
You can learn more about the new TriCaster Mini here: http://www.newtek.com/products/tricaster-mini.html.
Looks slick – Needs to be about half the asked price though.
I thought so when I first heard about this machine, then I realized it has the full feature set of the NewTek TriCaster Pro line. These are flying off the shelves.