Python Blackmagic Design ATEM REST API

To provide a web API for interfacing with ATEM Switchers. The API is designed to be as simple as possible and to be as flexible as possible.

Why build a web API for ATEM?

This API allows developers to interact with ATEM Switchers without having to write desktop code. Instead, developers can now interact with an ATEM through the browser using simple web APIs with Javascript.

• Fully Documented in Postman
• Web Example
• Get tally data
• Fade to black
• Trigger Cut
• Trigger auto transition
• Set preview
• Set program
• DSK Tie
• DSK Cut
• Ping switcher
• Upload / manage media pool
• Audio control
• Tested using ATEM Television Studio HD
• Docker Image
• Support for options from env or config file
• Support for multiple switchers
• CI/CD Testing with GitHub Actions (will probably require creating or updating a more fully featured mocking tool like PyATEMSim but with better support)

Clone PyATEMAPI to your machine by running:

git clone https://github.com/mackenly/PyATEMAPI.git

Install the required packages by running:

pip install -r requirements.txt

While in the directory of the project, run server.py to start the server. Pass in as parameters the IP address of the ATEM switcher and a simple passphrase for basic authentication. If running on native python, best practice is to read these variables in with the read command in Linux/Mac or the Read-Host command in Windows:

read -s PASSPHRASE
read SERVER_IP
python3 server.py

$securedValue = Read-Host "Passphrase" -AsSecureString
$bstr = [System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal]::SecureStringToBSTR($securedValue)
$env:PASSPHRASE = [System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal]::PtrToStringAuto($bstr)
$env:SERVER_IP = Read-Host "Atem Device IP"
python server.py

NOTE: Some versions of powershell support Read-Host "Password" -MaskInput as well, which would reduce the above command to simply:

$env:PASSPHRASE = Read-Host "Passphrase" -MaskInput
$env:SERVER_IP = Read-Host "Atem Device IP"
python server.py

Alternatively you can use the --ip and --passphrase command line options though these will result in the passphrase being in plaintext in command line history logs such as .bash_history, other Linux/Mac shell histories, or $env:APPDATA\Microsoft\Windows\PowerShell\PSReadLine in Windows.

python server.py --ip 127.0.0.1 --passphrase Password1

After starting the server, you can use the web API to interact with the ATEM Switcher.

If you would like to test this API, you can use a tool called PyATEMSim. In the directory of the simulator, simply run python atem_server.py and you will be able to interact with the simulated ATEM switcher's provided IP and port via this API. This simulator doesn't provide all the functionality of a real switcher and seems to have issues with input numbers, so don't rely on it for important testing.

The API documentation is available through Postman at https://documenter.getpostman.com/view/19380446/UzQpvT1y.

To demonstrate and test the API, a basic web controller example is provided. To run the example, enter the web-example directory, modify the constant at the top of script.js with the values you're using to run the server, and then open the index.html file in a browser.

The application can be run via docker. This can be built using the repository defined container definition or using the DockerHub registered container.

The atem device ip and passphrase for the API will be pulled from environment variables. To do this we'll need to create and env file called .env which will be used by our docker and docker-compose instructions later. Just create the .env file and edit it to have the following variables:

SERVER_IP=192.168.1.42
PASSPHRASE=MySecretPassword

You can run the application from the built images in DockerHub.

docker run -d -p 5555:5555 --env-file=.env mackenly/pyatemapi:latest

docker-compose up -d

You can also explicitly define the path to the env file if you are managing multiple configurations:

docker-compose --env-file .env_alt up -d

You can then bring the service down with a standard docker-compose down command:

docker-compose down

docker build -t pyatemapi .
docker run -d -p 5555:5555 --env-file=.env pyatemapi

Contributions are welcome. Please open an issue or pull request on mackenly/PyATEMAPI.

The MIT License (MIT)