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Blackmagic Design announced that Shanghai based Luminary Visuals Studio produced a new commercial with URSA Mini 4.6K cameras and DaVinci Resolve Studio for Garibaldi Watches, which claims to be the maker of the world’s thinnest denim watch.

Luminary Visuals is a boutique production studio based out of Shanghai, known for their creative high level work for renowned brands such as Subway, MG Cars, Superdry, Bose and Hilton.Having worked previously on a kick-starter campaign with Garibaldi Watches, Luminary Visuals was given free reign to creatively come up with something cool within a small budget.



“They wanted us to show versatility in the brand, and how their watches are adaptable to all styles and professions. I decided early I wanted to do something more cinematic and to use this project as an opportunity to try a new technique in editing,” said Alessio Avezzano, Creative Director of Luminary Visuals.

The new technique Avezzano wanted to try is the zoom effect used extensively throughout the commercial to switch the shot between a close up of the watch and a larger scene that gives viewers an idea of who is wearing the watch. To create the zoom effect, he needed two cameras.

“This was a very small budget, but we wanted to still get high end results. I was really excited to use the URSA Mini 4.6k and at the cost we were able to rent two for the zoom effect you see in the film,” Avezzano revealed.

The two URSA Mini 4.6K cameras were set up next to each other, one with a 35mm focal length and the other with an 85mm. During action scenes the actor was asked to freeze while Avezzano ran in closer toget a 100mm macro shot of the watch.



The commercial was recorded in ProRes 422. “I knew the URSA Mini 4.6K is able to capture various high quality formats, ranging from RAW to different flavors of ProRes. The 4.6K ProRes 422 format was suitable for this project because I required to zoom in editing without losing image detail. Actually nowadays I tend to shoot more in 2k Prores 444, which still gives me an unbelievable image.” he continued.

“We had to shoot everything within one day at eleven locations, which meant moving very fast across Shanghai from 6am to sundown. The Ursa Mini 4.6K cameras allowed us to move as fast as we needed due to its compact size,” he recalled.

Color correction for the commercial was completed in DaVinci Resolve Studio. “The URSA Mini 4.6K and DaVinci Resolve were clearly made for each other. The experience is seamless!” said Avezzano.



“After using it on the Garibaldi project, I fell in love with the color science and cinematic look of the URSA Mini 4.6K camera. We had previously owned a much more expensive camera and rented bigger cameras depending on the job. But with the Ursa Mini 4.6k, I realized what a great investment it would be. Now I’m a proud owner of this camera and I won’t need to rent bigger cameras as much any more as I will get high end results at an affordable cost,” he concluded.

Press Photography
Product photos of all Blackmagic Design products, are available at www.blackmagicdesign.com/press/images.

About Blackmagic Design
Blackmagic Design creates the world’s highest quality video editing products, digital film cameras, color correctors, video converters, video monitoring, routers, live production switchers, disk recorders, waveform monitors and real time film scanners for the feature film, post production and television broadcast industries. Blackmagic Design’s DeckLink capture cards launched a revolution in quality and affordability in post production, while the company’s Emmy™ award winning DaVinci color correction products have dominated the television and film industry since 1984. Blackmagic Design continues ground breaking innovations including 6G-SDI and 12G-SDI products and stereoscopic 3D and Ultra HD workflows. Founded by world leading post production editors and engineers, Blackmagic Design has offices in the USA, UK, Japan, Singapore and Australia. For more information, please go to www.blackmagicdesign.com.

The MixPre-3 and MixPre-6 have been designed to provide flexibility in powering. Here are some recommended powering options:

• 4 x AA batteries (with MX-4AA battery sled) or 8 x AA batteries (with optional MX-8AA battery sled). NiMH rechargeable or Lithium primary AA's are recommended. Alkaline batteries will provide the shortest run times in most digital electronics.
• 1 or 2 L-Mount Lithium-Ion batteries with optional MX-LMount battery sled
• USB-C port via optional MX-CHARGE AC power wall adapter
• USB-C port via MX-USBY cable and a computer with 2 USB-A ports
• USB-C port via a compatible USB-C to USB-C cable and a computer with a USB-C port
• D-Tap to L-mount adapter for use with the optional MX-LMount battery sled.
• See http://www.hawkwoods.co.uk/Prods/Product/LR-05.
• Hirose to L-mount adapter for use with the optional MX-LMount battery sled.
• See http://www.hawkwoods.co.uk/Prods/Product/LR-06.
• Anker PowerCore+ 20100 USB-C, Ultra-High Capacity Premium Portable Charger, 20100mAh USB-C battery with USB-C to USB-C cable. See https://www.anker.com/products/A1371012.

To fully power the MixPre-3 or MixPre-6 from a USB power source not listed above, you will need BOTH of the following:

• USB-C power source that is compliant with the USB powering specification and is able to output 7.5W
• USB-C cable that incorporates the correct pull-up resistors to identify itself as able to provide 7.5W

If either of these conditions are not met, the MixPre recorder will operate in low power mode: maximum 2x 48v phantom channels, no HDMI, no USB-A. You can still use all of the MixPre’s channels, but only a maximum of 2 can be phantom powered.

NOTE: A USB-A power source used in conjunction with a USB-A to USB-C cable cannot deliver the required 7.5W for full power operation.

Due to the complex nature of the USB-C specifications for powering requirements, Sound Devices cannot make recommendations for USB-C power supplies, batteries or cabling other than our purpose-designed accessories. We have no control over other manufacturer’s products and their (non-)compliance with the published USB-C specifications.

Director of Photography Bobby Bukowski (When We Rise, Weeds, The Messenger, Arlington Road) has completed production of the upcoming Netflix series Gypsy, starring Naomi Watts and Billy Crudup. Bukowski shot the 10-episode dramatic series with VariCam 35 4K camera recorders.

Watts leads the series as Jean Holloway, a psychotherapist who begins to develop dangerous, in-timate relationships with the people in her patients’ lives, with Crudup playing her husband. All 10 episodes will be released by Netflix on June 30, 2017.

With Netflix requesting 4K RAW acquisition, Bukowski approached Oliver and Erik Schietinger, principals of TCS (New York, NY). After hearing from him about the shooting style and look he was pursuing, they recommended the VariCam 35 for the shoot and ultimately supported the production with the rental of two VariCam 35s outfitted with Codex high-speed 4K uncompressed RAW re-corders.

“DPs we’ve worked with have been impressed with the VariCam 35, especially its ISO 5000, which sounded ideal for Gypsy: Bobby told us he wanted to light softly, using ambient light, without the use of direct light,” Oliver Schietinger said. “The VariCam opens new possibilities in low-light cir-cumstances, and essentially puts ‘two film stocks in one camera’ at the disposal of the cinematog-rapher.”



Bukowski said he conducted a long test of the VariCam 35, trying out the dual 800/5000 ISOs in in-terior/exterior, in daylight and available light, then took footage to a DI suite to evaluate color grad-ing. “I was pretty astounded at the ISO 5000 performance—there was not nearly as much noise as I’d anticipated,” he said, “and what noise existed was quite pleasant, beautifully random, as with an analog film grain.”

“Beyond light handling, I found the camera’s color space quite pleasing,” Bukowski added.

Gypsy was in production last September through February 2017, with much of the psychological drama being shot in built and practical interiors representing the therapist’s home, office and be-yond. A much smaller portion of the footage was shot in day and night exteriors. The two VariCam 35s, with Cooke S5/i prime lenses, were largely utilized in studio mode, with Bukowski able to take advantage of the camera’s relatively small body for Steadicam and handheld work.

The DP said he predominantly shot at ISOs 800 and 1250, but would occasionally open to ISO 5000 to “exploit existing light.” He also used ISO 5000 when lighting talent. “Obviously, we wanted our star to look soft and beautiful, and we were never lighting directly,” Bukowski recounted. “I would often shoot at ISO 5000 and bounce light multiple times, off one white card then to another, then directing through a diffusion frame. I can’t imagine working that way with another camera—it essentially changed the way I light.”

“That’s the greatest gift of the VariCam: the impetus to drop old habits, reinvent techniques and re-define who you are as an artist,” he continued. “It’s wonderful and exciting to look at your craft through a different prism.”

Gypsy was posted at Harbor Picture Company (New York, NY), under the supervision of colorist Joe Gawler.

Tutorials in the new EDIUS Basics series describe basic functionality of the Grass Valley EDIUS Pro 8 and Workgroup NLE applications. First three videos cover both online and (in the case of EDIUS Workkgroup) offline license activation.

The talented LightWave artist Peter Waldemar from Poland shows his artistic skill and mastery of architectural design and visualization. If you share Peter's passion for architectural visualization and would like to learn more about his creative process, then you are in luck! Peter has created a beautiful architectural scene which he has made available to the entire LightWave community for free! Download it now for a hands on look at this wonderful example of architectural visualization including some very elegant furniture designs all created with LightWave 3D.