News

Blackmagic Design announced that the home of leading Eredivisie football club AFC Ajax, Amsterdam ArenA has upgraded it's audiovisual production capabilities with the addition of Blackmagic MultiView 16 and two Smart Videohub 40 x 40 video routers. The Amsterdam ArenA is a multi-purpose stadium, hosting some 450 corporate events per year in its hospitality areas, as well as a dozen major annual music concerts including Rihanna, One Direction and the dance event Sensation. The ArenA's production facilities are primarily used, however, by Ajax Media, the club's content division. Ajax Media produces three in-house television channels during live games, including a live feed of the match action taken from the league's host broadcaster, mixed with bespoke sponsor logos and public transport information. Signals from all the Ajax Media cameras are routed through a Blackmagic Design MultiView 16 and to a Blackmagic Design Smart Videohub 40 x 40 before onward connection to a video switcher. The ArenA's Smart Videohub is mirrored by a second identical unit at Ajax Media's facility for post production of content.

Microsoft has announced the release of an updated Windows 10 operating system, codenamed Redstone. The OS was launched on August 2, 2016, and Steinberg already tested compatibility with this new release. Test results show that, in some cases, performance cuts varying between 5 and 10 percent can occur compared to the previous Windows 10 operating system. Steinberg's Quality Assurance team currently researches probable causes for these performance cuts and will evaluate potential solutions for customers concerned. The test's conclusion is that, except for the HALion product family which is still in the testing phase, Steinberg's current software range now officially supports Windows 10 Redstone.

With Panasonic's innovative auto-tracking software, the PTZ cameras can track the lecturer automatically. And with the advanced facial recognition technology, the camera keeps tracking the speaker as they move around the room while giving a lecture. During the lecture, speakers sometimes turn their back to the camera to explain, but Panasonic's auto-tracking software does not loose track of the lecturer in such occasions. Even if someone walks right in front of the lecturer to give a speech, it will continue to track the speaker without any interference. This is because the software recognizes the speaker based on the face data registered in the software based on a still image captured from the video feed. Auto-tracking software AW-SF100 is an option for all of Panasonic's PTZ HD/4K cameras: AW-HE130, AW-HE40, and AW-UE70. A 30-day trial version is now available!

Press Release

Blackmagic Design announced that multiple Micro Cinema Cameras and Pocket Cinema Cameras were used by Second Unit DP Igor Meglic to capture action scenes for Universal Pictures’ “Jason Bourne.” A Blackmagic Video Assist monitor and recorder was also used to verify camera positioning during shooting.

Directed by Paul Greengrass (“The Bourne Supremacy,” “The Bourne Ultimatum”), the film is the next installment of the Bourne franchise, which follows lethal former CIA operative Jason Bourne as he is drawn out of the shadows. Matt Damon returns to the role of Jason Bourne and is joined by Alicia Vikander, Vincent Cassel, Tommy Lee Jones and Julia Stiles.

Having also worked on 2007’s “The Bourne Ultimatum,” Meglic was familiar with the requirements for capturing the thrilling chase scenes and heart-pounding action that the second unit was responsible for on the film.

“One of the most important things when shooting action scenes for any movie is to stay consistent with the established look of the movie, so once you transition to an action scene, there’s no difference to the eye, and it feels like the same scene and style,” explained Meglic. “On ‘Bourne,’ it was especially important because of the particular visceral documentary style of the film.”

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Meglic continued, “We chose the Micro Cinema Cameras and Pocket Cinema Cameras because of the combination of size and performance they delivered, which in turn helped us match the look and style of the film. I haven’t found another camera that will deliver on those two things: being as light as they are while still delivering the image quality needed to blend in with the A cameras. I always try to extract as much as I can from a camera, so they are dealing with good footage in post, and the dynamic range on both cameras was very good.”

Meglic used five Micro Cinema Cameras to help capture the final car chase scene in the film, which took place on the Las Vegas strip. Mounted to the side of a S.W.A.T. truck, the Micro Cinema Cameras captured all the action as the truck plows through rows of cars on the strip.

“Cutting to these mounted shots really quickly gives your senses a jolt, and you see cars flying right by the cameras,” said Meglic. “In the same sequence, the car that Bourne is driving jumps onto the S.W.A.T. truck, and we put a Micro Cinema Camera on the ground right in front of the truck. We timed it so the camera captured Bourne’s car landing on the truck as the truck drives right over the camera. Our Key Grip Peter Chrimes had built a little cage for the camera, and even though all 8,000 lb. of truck ran over it, the camera survived.

“At one point, the S.W.A.T. truck crashes into a casino and drives inside,” he added. “We put Micro Cinema Cameras in between the slot machines where the truck hits. We got a great shot, and the cameras kept on recording.”

Several Pocket Cinema Cameras were also used during a chase scene in the Canary Islands. “We used three Pocket Cinema Cameras for a motorcycle and car chase scene, which required a very light camera that could be mounted onto the helmet and body of the stunt person on the motorcycle,” explained Meglic. “This was pretty serious stuff, and we had the guys going up and down stairs, over jumps and down very narrow alleys and streets. We used the footage for great POV shots.”

The Micro Cinema Cameras were also used to shoot the existing lighting environment on the Las Vegas strip. Set up as a four camera array system, all shutter and genlocked together with a single point trigger, the footage captured was then displayed on overhead panels while shooting the corresponding green screen plates with the actors. The Micro Cinema Cameras were positioned to shoot left, right, front and rear, creating a 360? shot of the area. Along with the plate cameras in the vehicles, all cameras recorded timecode so each exact frame of the plate shot would correspond to the lighting environment shot, creating a perfect match up.

A Blackmagic Design Video Assist was used to verify frame overlap and positioning of the cameras for each desired shot. All cameras were then transmitted via a quad splitter back to the command van to ensure camera rolling, frame accuracy and ability to watch the shot live.

Press Photography

Product photos of Blackmagic Micro Cinema Camera, Pocket Cinema Camera, Video Assist and all other 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.

Sony is committed to helping students learn the professional production skills that they will need today and in the future. Sony is providing a promotion valid from 1 August until the 31 of December 2016 to Students whereby the Student is entitled to claim a cashback when they have purchased one unit of any of the limited products shown on the table below from a dealer or reseller.