RØDECaster Video 1.4 Firmware Released – 4K Capture Mode, Individual NDI Outputs, RØDECaster Sync for the Whole Range

Firmware Update

by Nino LeitnerToday

Subscribe to News - Accessories

RØDE has pushed out firmware 1.4 for the RØDECaster Video, Video S, and Video Core, and this one is bigger than the usual maintenance drop. The headline is a new 4K Capture Mode that turns the console into a UHD multi-camera capture and NDI distribution box with 4K ISO recording to SSD, and RØDECaster Sync now works with every current console in the family. Let’s take a closer look at what changed, and where the fine print is.

So here is the short version, and it’s truly an exciting update: 4K capture is now possible with the RØDECaster Video line via a free firmware update – honestly something I didn’t think is possible with a mere software update.

In 4K Capture Mode, the RØDECaster Video takes in up to four UHD (3840×2160) HDMI feeds at 30fps, while the Video S and Video Core take three, and each of those feeds can be sent out as its own NDI stream and recorded as an isolated 4K file in H.264 or H.265 to an attached SSD. A parallel Full HD Capture Mode does the same thing at 1080p60 for those who need the frame rate more than the pixels. RØDECaster Sync links any RØDECaster Video console to a RØDECaster Pro II or Duo over a single USB-C cable, merging both into one nine-channel mixer with shared recording, DSP, and video control from the audio console’s faders and SMART pads. Rounding it out are OTIO timeline export for Premiere Pro, audio input from USB webcams, and keyboard shortcuts in the RØDECaster App. The update is free.

RØDE has been iterating on this platform at a fast clip since we published our first-look review of the RØDECaster Video at launch, where it was still a full HD switcher with 1080p ISO recording. Since then we covered the free NDI update in firmware 1.2, which added four NDI inputs and one NDI output plus PTZ control, then the RØDECaster Video S as the smaller sibling, and earlier this year the RØDECaster Video Core, the headless model that introduced RØDECaster Sync alongside EDL export for DaVinci Resolve. Firmware 1.4 is the point where those threads converge, and I think it is the most consequential update the range has had since NDI arrived.

A second personality for the same hardware

The important thing to understand about 4K Capture Mode is that it is not a resolution setting inside the existing switcher. It is a separate operating mode, and switching into it (or into Full HD Capture Mode) reboots the console. You get there via Settings and then Modes on the hardware, or through Device Configuration, System, and Modes in the RØDECaster App. RØDE describes standard operation as your live production environment and capture mode as your high-resolution capture and distribution environment: two workflows, one box, but never at the same time.

That distinction matters because of what gets switched off. According to RØDE, media and graphic playback, overlays, multi-camera scenes, and keying are all disabled in capture mode. The octa-core engine is instead pointed entirely at ingest, encoding, and network distribution. Simple HDMI switching remains, but RØDE positions it primarily for monitoring rather than as a produced program feed. If your show relies on lower thirds, picture-in-picture scenes, or a downstream key, you stay in the standard FHD Switching Mode, which is unchanged.

So who is this for? The obvious answer is anyone who already runs a switcher elsewhere, whether that is OBS, eCamm Live, or a broadcast production system, and wants the RØDECaster to be a clean multi-camera front end feeding it. In the 1.2 firmware the console could only send one NDI output. Now the original RØDECaster Video can push four independent UHD sources onto the network, with each NDI output individually enabled or disabled, and on that model output 4 can carry either camera 4 or the multiview. In RØDE’s video the network side is described as NDI HX, so we are talking about the compressed flavor rather than full-bandwidth NDI. That is the sensible choice for four UHD streams over a single Ethernet port, but it is worth knowing before you plan a latency-sensitive workflow around it.

4K ISO recording and what RØDE is not saying yet

The ISO side is where I expect most of the interest. Every HDMI source can be recorded as its own 4K file straight to the external SSD, in H.264 or H.265. For a video podcast delivered in 1080p, that means a 2x punch-in on any camera in the edit, alternate framings, and vertical cutdowns for social, all without adding cameras. RØDE’s own pitch is that a reaction on a camera you did not cut to live is no longer lost. Combined with the OTIO export for Premiere Pro (and the Resolve EDL export from 1.3), the console hands you the ISOs and a reconstructed timeline of your live cut to refine.

What RØDE has not published, at least in the announcement material and the launch video, are bitrates or a recommended SSD throughput for four simultaneous UHD streams. Long-GOP H.264 and H.265 at 30fps are not demanding by cinema camera standards, but four of them plus program audio hitting one USB drive is a real sustained write load, and anyone considering this for paid work should establish what their drive does over a two-hour session before trusting it. I would also note that both capture modes use a global frame rate, so you set 30fps (UHD) or 60fps (1080p) for the whole system rather than per input. There is no 4K60 option; the Full HD Capture Mode exists precisely to give you the frame rate at the lower resolution. This is probably a processing limitation.

Audio does not go away in capture mode

This is the part that separates RØDE’s approach from a generic multi-channel capture card. The full RØDECaster audio mixer keeps running in both capture modes, and every NDI output and every ISO recording appears as its own custom routing destination. One NDI feed can carry the full program mix, another can carry a single microphone, and the ISO files can have their own mix again. For installed AV, corporate, and education setups where different downstream systems need different audio, that is the feature I would expect facilities people to care about most.

The multiview has also been reworked for the mode. There is a standard layout that adds audio levels, recording and storage status, network information, and transmission speed, or a quad layout that just shows the four inputs with optional audio meters for HDMI 1 through 4. Remote control in the RØDECaster App gives you the multiview, simple HDMI switching for full HD monitoring, input inspection, drop markers, and multiview settings, so you are not flying blind even though the traditional switching surface is simplified.

RØDECaster Sync comes to the Video and Video S

When RØDE introduced RØDECaster Sync with the Video Core, the logic was obvious: a huge installed base of Pro II and Duo owners could add a video layer to their existing audio setup without replacing anything. The odd part was that the flagship RØDECaster Video and the Video S were left out. Firmware 1.4 closes that gap. Any RØDECaster Video console now pairs with a Pro II or Duo over one USB-C cable: USB port 4 or 5 on the video console, USB 1 on the audio console, and a prompt to enter sync mode on the Pro II or Duo.

Once synced, the two devices share a single nine-channel mixer, and those nine channels can be drawn from inputs on either unit. In practice that gives you up to six XLR inputs with a Pro II or up to four with a Duo, alongside the video console’s own inputs and outputs, which is more physical I/O than any RØDECaster configuration has offered so far. The initial channel layout is inherited from whatever configuration the video console has loaded, and any rearranging you do in sync mode stays on the video console after you disconnect. Recording, channel DSP, and custom output mixes are all shared, and hitting record on the audio console starts and stops the entire production, with all files landing on the SSD attached to the RØDECaster Video so audio and video stay together.

The control surface side is what will sell this to solo operators. The Pro II or Duo’s physical faders, mute and listen buttons, touchscreen, and SMART pads all operate across the combined system, and a new Video SMART pad type can be assigned to inputs, scenes, media, overlays, switching, cuts, auto-switching, and fade to black. If you are already riding microphone levels during a podcast, the video cut is now under the same hands. Small point, but for one-person productions that is the difference between a smooth show and a scramble.

The smaller additions

Beyond the two headline features, RØDE lists OTIO timeline export for Adobe Premiere Pro, joining the DaVinci Resolve EDL export from version 1.3, so both major NLEs can now rebuild a live multi-camera cut. The RØDECaster Video family can also accept audio from compatible USB webcams, and keyboard shortcuts have been added for the Scene Builder and remote control windows in the RØDECaster App for Windows and Mac. None of these will make a headline, but the OTIO support in particular removes a real friction point for Premiere editors, who until now had no native timeline export at all.

Price and availability

Firmware 1.4 is available now as a free update for the RØDECaster Video, RØDECaster Video S, and RØDECaster Video Core. At the time of writing, the RØDECaster Video sells for $809 / €968.36 / £999, the RØDECaster Video S for $614.90 / €454.94 / £466.80, and the RØDECaster Video Core for $559 / €519.57 / £536 (GBP prices include UK VAT, EUR prices are CVP’s ex-VAT figures). The RØDECaster Pro II or Duo required for RØDECaster Sync is sold separately. For more information, please visit the RØDE website.

Does a capture mode that drops the switcher features fit the way you run your shows? Don’t hesitate to let us know in the comments below!