Original article written by Joseph Cottle for Church Production.

Our friends at BZBGear asked Church Production to take a look at their new mini switcher, the BG-QuadFusion-JR, and, without a doubt, we are looking forward to getting our hands on this thing.

Yes, it’s small, and that’s a good thing. Most churches are working with limited space, and the QuadFusion-JR fingerprint is almost negligible. It’s just a tick under 11” x 4 ½” and not even 1 ½” deep. In that tiny package, the QuadFusion-JR packs a wallop, but we’ll get to that in a minute. Before all that, this thing just looks clean.

All this for $749? That’s bonkers...

The dual-tone case pulls in BZBGear’s token color scheme with a black setting behind the user interface and orange making up the bottom and sides, a fun way to make the little switcher subtly stand out. We love BZBGear’s design instincts here, which we’ve seen before with their Adamo camera line–they build their gear with aesthetics in mind, not just function. This subtle color scheme continues to the interface itself with buttons arrayed in gray, muted green, muted orange, and all outlined in white. The faders and the T-bar are simple black and white. The color placement helps the user quickly navigate functions on the interface, with audio, video, and menu functions each receiving their own respective button colors. As a person who likes color coding, I think that’s really smart.

A simple overview  of the interface offers all the basics of a video production:    

●               Preview and Program Bus

●               T-Bar for manual fades

●               Cut and Auto buttons for transitions

●               Transition type quick controls

●               Audio faders

●               PiP and Still recall

●               Function buttons for a variety of control tasks, like starting the stream, recording, and keying options.

●               Menu navigation  

But all those controls just scratch the surface. The QuadFusion-JR really shines in its signal capabilities. The back of the unit offers control and connectivity that’s usually found in switchers of much higher price and larger size. Check out these specs:

●               Livestream encoding over LAN or USB 3.0

●               Line Audio in/out

●               Two-channel mic inputs

●               Dual HDMI / DisplayPort

●               Three HDMI inputs

●               Tally / GPI port

●               DCB2 port for external control for keyboard, wireless tally, or device cascade

●               Multiview and Program Outs

●               MicroSD slot for program capture  

All of that is external control surface and external inputs/outputs. The unit can also be controlled completely with free-to-download control software.  

I have to say that the BG-QuadFusion-JR presents almost unbeatable value for churches needing no-frills video production. This unit is, really and truly, a one-stop shop for every basic video production need, but then it offers keying, PiP, still storage and recall, on-board streaming, recording, tally control, and audio embedding with mixing controls on the control surface. All for $749? That’s bonkers, and, frankly, blows other value brands out of the water.  

Yes, there are a couple of drawbacks —video resolution is maxed out at 1080p60, and the control software only runs on Windows. But realistically, the value proposition is unbeatable. Most churches needing a one-stop production and streaming solution won’t be worried about 4K, 6K, or 8K  video, and software like Boot Camp offers a workaround for those of us who just can’t stand to work on a PC.  

The BZBGear BG-QuadFusion-JR has got us excited here at Church Production, and we can’t wait to get our hands on one to test out.

Joseph Cottle

Joseph is a minister and the Production Director at LifeMission Church. He’s led church production for over a decade & has a degree in Music Business and Journalism from Ferris State University. Follow him on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, or Substack.

Original article written by Joseph Cottle for Church Production.