At least since I first became involved in live multicam television studio productions in the eighties here in the United States, the name of the human being who physically presses the buttons on a video switcher/mixer is called a TD (Technical Director). If there is another person who verbally directs from the control room, s/he is the Director, and the TD does whatever the Director says. (The role of the TD in other fields is different, i.e. in classic engineering, film production, software development and theatre.) Nowadays, at least two video switchers/mixers on the market (RØDECaster Video and YoloBox Ultra) offer autoswitch robotic TD capabilities, which allows a single person initiate cameras, start a recording and/or live broadcast and also simultaneously participate in an interview/conversation. This feature alleviates that single person from having to press buttons to switch cameras, and does so based upon the activity of the audio inputs of the participants.

In both devices, this can be made to work with any combination of audio which is embedded via HDMI from camera sources or from discreet microphone sources connected to the video mixer, either wired or wireless (in the case of the RØDEcaster Video). Both can either broadcast live and/or record live-to-drive, with optional ISO recordings of each camera source to correct anything in post-production, if there is any post-production.

The above will serve as an introduction to Aaron Parecki’s excellent comparison video between this very function in RØDECaster Video and YoloBox Ultra.

Related articles

• See my review of the RØDECaster Video: RØDECaster Video: finally a video switcher-recorder-streamer that is serious about audio too
• See my article: RØDECaster Video: 5 benefits to connect USB mics or USB interface
• See my YoloBox Ultra article: YoloLiv introduces YoloBox Ultra with bonding, ISO, NDI, more inputs and speed

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FTC disclosure

RØDE or YoloLive has not paid for this article. RØDE and YoloLiv have sent Allan Tépper units for review, including the RØDECaster Video. Some of the manufacturers listed above have contracted Tépper and/or TecnoTur LLC to carry out consulting and/or translations/localizations/transcreations. So far, none of the manufacturers listed above is/are sponsors of the TecnoTur, BeyondPodcasting, CapicúaFM or TuSaludSecreta programs, although they are welcome to do so, and some are, may be (or may have been) sponsors of ProVideo Coalition magazine. Some links to third parties listed in this article and/or on this web page may indirectly benefit TecnoTur LLC via affiliate programs. Allan Tépper’s opinions are his own. Allan Tépper is not liable for misuse or misunderstanding of information he shares.