News

Press Release

Blackmagic Design announced the new Blackmagic URSA Studio Viewfinder, a high resolution 7” studio viewfinder with variable tension mounting points, tally, external controls and more that turns Blackmagic URSA Mini into a true professional studio camera.

The Blackmagic URSA Studio Viewfinder features a large 7” high resolution screen and is perfect for camera operators working on live events at which they need to stand behind the camera and capture the action for hours on end. The all metal design is durable and features the highest quality variable tension mounting points available, as well as an articulated arm so the viewfinder can be raised, lowered, moved forward and backward. These mounting points can be set for the perfect amount of resistance so that customers can pan and tilt the viewfinder to whatever position they need.

This means camera operators can use the large viewfinder handles to move the camera completely independently of the viewfinder itself. This gives camera operators the ability to look directly into the viewfinder while the camera moves to follow the action.

The large RGB tally light on the rear of the monitor lights up red when the camera is on-air and orange for ISO recording. In addition, it includes customizable clip-on numbers that can be inserted for easy camera identification from up to 20 feet away.

When shooting a live event, it’s important to have physical buttons to quickly adjust settings on the fly. The Blackmagic URSA Studio Viewfinder features a physical dial, knobs and three customizable function buttons that let camera operators quickly adjust brightness, contrast, and peaking without having to hunt through menus while live on air. The customizable function buttons can be used for zoom, false color, edge focus detection, loading 3D LUTs and more.

The Blackmagic URSA Studio Viewfinder displays frame guides that can show the location of a lower third, graphic, logo or ticker so camera operators can accurately compose and frame shots. In addition to viewing the built in camera HDTV, 4:3, 2.4:1, 2.39:1, 1.85:1 and thirds frame guides, customers can also create up to three black or white custom cursors that can have variable height, width and position, making it easy to match the location for all the graphics that will be added live or during later broadcast. Frame guides are an essential function for every viewfinder, especially during live production where graphics and other elements are going to be keyed downstream.

When attached to URSA Mini, the camera sends information via the SDI connection to the viewfinder so customers can see the critical information they need such as recording status, camera settings, battery life and more while shooting.

The design of the Blackmagic URSA Studio Viewfinder makes it familiar and easy to use for anyone that’s worked with other traditional studio cameras before, as the layout of the controls follows a familiar industry layout. The base of the viewfinder also features a standard V-lock bracket for mounting and detaching the monitor to the URSA Mini handle so it can be quickly set up and repositioned in seconds. This is especially important for camera operators at live events where they might need to set up the camera quickly or when they might want to quickly remove the viewfinder because the camera is going to be used with a shoulder mount.

Also available today is Camera Update 3.2, which is a free software update for URSA Mini that turns it into a true professional studio camera. The update enables features such as talkback, tally, camera control, color balancing, lens control and more from ATEM switchers. The update also lets customers set the camera ID, reference timing, and SDI output options that also make URSA Mini compatible with any live production switcher. In addition, customers can also use the headphone connection on URSA Mini for talkback communication with the director.

When combined with the URSA Studio Viewfinder, URSA Mini becomes the world's most advanced Ultra HD live production camera. Unlike traditional studio cameras, which use older video technology, URSA Mini is a true digital film camera combined with a DaVinci Resolve YRGB primary color corrector and full broadcast studio camera features. That means customers get a new generation in image quality with incredible texture, detail, color and dynamic range that are far superior to standard broadcast cameras. There's also a B4 lens mount available that lets customers use their existing broadcast HD lenses with full lens control on URSA Mini PL.

“The new Blackmagic URSA Studio Viewfinder and the new Camera Update 3.2 software update turns Blackmagic Design’s URSA Mini cameras into a fully professional studio cameras that are better quality than traditional video based studio cameras but are also fully designed for an Ultra HD future,” said Grant Petty, CEO, Blackmagic Design. “The URSA Studio Viewfinder is designed to make it comfortable for camera operators to work on long events. Now broadcasters can get the same kind of amazing digital film quality that they can now use on live events that previously only Hollywood feature films has had access to!”

Blackmagic URSA Studio Viewfinder Features

Super bright 7” high resolution viewfinder with detachable sunshade.

Large handles and variable tension articulated pivot points to adjust viewfinder position.

Tactile physical dials, knobs and customizable function buttons for quickly adjusting settings.

Large RGB LED tally indicator with clip on perspex camera numbers for easy camera identification.

Integrated V-Lock mounting plate for quick setup and attaching to the URSA Mini top handle.

Connects to SDI input and power from camera, so no extra cables or power supplies needed.

Compatible with Blackmagic Video Device Embedded Control Protocol for full control of camera functions such as talkback, tally, color correction, image detail, gains, all lens functions and much more.

Availability and Price

Blackmagic URSA Studio Viewfinder will be available in Q3 for US$1,795, from Blackmagic Design resellers worldwide.

Press Photography

Product photos of the Blackmagic URSA Studio Viewfinder, and all other Blackmagic Design products, are available at www.blackmagicdesign.com.

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.

Press Release

Blackmagic Design announced the new Blackmagic 3G-SDI Arduino Shield which lets customers build their own custom controllers for cameras and other SDI devices. The Blackmagic 3G-SDI Arduino Shield will ship mid year for 85 EUR ex. VAT.

Building custom solutions for controlling cameras via SDI connections is difficult and requires high speed digital design skills. This means it’s quite difficult for broadcast engineers who want to integrate Blackmagic Design’s cameras into their own custom systems because they would need to build SDI based hardware to do remote control of those cameras using the Blackmagic Camera SDI Control Protocol. To solve this problem Blackmagic Design has created a new SDI expansion board for Arduino micro controllers called the Blackmagic 3G-SDI Arduino Shield to make it easier for broadcast engineers and technicians to create custom control solutions for Blackmagic Design cameras.

Arduino is a popular open-source electronics prototyping platform based on easy to use hardware and software. Similar to Raspberry Pi, which is more targeted at software engineers, Arduino is often the choice for hardware developers and is designed as a simpler, more flexible and lower cost way to build all kinds of custom projects.

Expansion boards are called “shields” in the Arduino world and Blackmagic Design decided to take advantage of this standardized expansion capability to build its Blackmagic 3G-SDI Arduino Shield interface card. Blackmagic Design has also written some sample code that shows how the Arduino communicates with the Blackmagic 3G-SDI Arduino Shield, and how the shield will then send the camera control commands to the camera.

The Blackmagic 3G-SDI Arduino Shield is a simple expansion board or “shield” that includes 1 SDI input and 1 SDI output. The SDI input allows any video source to be connected, and the SDI output is connected to the camera and has camera control protocol commands embedded into it. The Blackmagic 3G-SDI Arduino Shield is very easy to use by a software developer, as they just look up the camera control commands they want to use in the instruction manual and then add them to Arduino software code that sends them to the Blackmagic 3G-SDI Arduino Shield to be inserted into the SDI link.

The Blackmagic SDI Control Protocol uses the blanking space in an SDI data stream to send commands for things such as camera and lens control, color correction, program return, tally, talkback and more over SDI cables so customers don't have to deploy additional, expensive equipment and run extra cables. The protocol is well documented by Blackmagic Design in product manuals and is now also being supported by third party manufacturers. The Blackmagic SDI Control Protocol is built into Blackmagic cameras, ATEM switchers, DeckLink cards, Video Assist, and viewfinder products.

For example, customers could build a simple controller with a joystick on top of the SDI shield that sends camera control commands to adjust things like focus or iris. The possibilities are endless and customers now have an easy way to create completely customized solutions for use with Blackmagic cameras, switchers, cards and more.

The Blackmagic 3G-SDI Arduino Shield comes as a simple double sided SDI board, which also provides power to the Arduino. It also features a USB connector for updating the software as Blackmagic Design releases new features in the future. It uses the I2C bus, which means you can even connect it via a cable to the shield if you need to fit into a custom enclosure.

“Making Blackmagic Design products open and accessible lets customers use them in more ways than we could ever think possible,” said Grant Petty, CEO, Blackmagic Design. “The Blackmagic 3G-SDI Arduino Shield combined with products such as the new URSA Mini with our new Studio Viewfinder and studio camera software update is an incredibly powerful combination. It’s really a lot of fun to use and we are excited to see what kind of unique and interesting tools customers are going to build!”

Availability and Price

The Blackmagic 3G-SDI Arduino Shield will be available mid year for 85 EUR ex. VAT.

Press Photography

Product photos 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.

Press Release

Blackmagic Design announced DeckLink Duo 2, a new high performance capture and playback solution with 4 independent channels that can be assigned to either record or playback in any combination, all on a single plug in PCI Express card. Designed for developers and OEMs, DeckLink Duo 2 is the ideal solution for media play-out servers, multi screen digital signage servers, real time processors and more. DeckLink Duo 2 is available immediately from Blackmagic Design resellers worldwide for 455 EUR ex. VAT.

This new model of DeckLink Duo 2 features 4 independent 3G-SDI connections so it can now work in high HD frame rates and it supports SDI formats in SD and HD up to 1080p60. Each SDI connection is completely independent, meaning that each of the 4 connections can input or output entirely different video standards and content streams, all at the same time. DeckLink Duo 2 can also capture and playback at the same time, and also includes a reference connection for black burst/tri-sync. Developers can use the SDK to configure the four SDI connections to be any combination of inputs and outputs.

Featuring high performance 4 lane Generation 2 PCI Express, DeckLink Duo 2 takes up only one single PCI slot in the computer, which makes it the perfect solution for system integrators and developers that need completely customizable, flexible I/O configurations on a single card. DeckLink Duo 2 appears as 4 independent SDI cards to the host computer, even though it only uses a single PCI Express slot and is ideal for use in servers that need to handle multiple video streams for both simultaneous capture and playback.

“Developers building playback servers have been asking us for ways to reduce equipment size,” said Grant Petty, CEO, Blackmagic Design. “The new DeckLink Duo 2 is exciting because it’s like getting 4 independent SDI capture and playback cards in one! Best of all, the new SDK lets OEMs and developers control each SDI connection independently for incredible flexibility. This means customers can have any combination of inputs or outputs and for example they could have 4 inputs or 4 outputs or 1 input with 3 outputs or simply 2 inputs and 2 outputs. It’s really their choice and they can use the one card even when the systems they are building could vary from customer to customer.”

Availability and Price

The new DeckLink Duo 2 is available now for 455 EUR ex. VAT.

Press Photography

Product photos of the new DeckLink Duo 2, 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.

Press Release

Blackmagic Design announced Blackmagic MultiView 4, a new multi viewer that lets customers monitor 4 completely independent SDI video sources on a single display. Customers can monitor any combination of SD, HD and Ultra HD formats and frame rates all at the same time. Blackmagic MultiView 4 can output to regular HD monitors, however when customers plug in an Ultra HD display, they will get four times the resolution of a simple HD only multi viewer.

Blackmagic MultiView 4 includes four completely independent multi rate 6G-SDI inputs with separate loop through outputs that are compatible with existing SD, HD and Ultra HD equipment up to 2160p30. All inputs feature automatic frame re-synchronization, so customers can mix and match any combination of video standards and frame rates, including referenced or non-referenced NTSC, PAL, 720p, 1080i, 1080p, and Ultra HD up to 2160p30, all on the same display all at the same time.

Customers can output to either regular 1080 HD or high resolution 2160p Ultra HD screens. Because Ultra HD runs at 3840 x 2160, which is four times the resolution of regular 1080 HD, the images are extremely sharp. This means when customers use it with an Ultra HD monitor, they get 4 full resolution 1080 HD views all at the same time on the same monitor, with each view being full resolution HD with no scaling. When this feature is used with very large screen consumer televisions, extremely high quality master control monitoring systems can be built at very low cost.

Blackmagic MultiView 4 is the perfect solution for live production, on set, in control rooms, or any place where space is tight and customers don’t have room for extra monitors. Customers no longer have to connect multiple monitors, dozens of cables or run extra power. They simply plug in cameras, decks, switchers, routers and feeds into the SDI connections on Blackmagic MultiView 4 and can see everything with amazing clarity and detail on a single HD or Ultra HD display.

Designed to be plug and play, customers can simply connect sources and instantly see a standard 2x2 layout on an HD or Ultra HD television. Using the included Ethernet remote control software, customers can turn on audio meters, choose which audio to output, as well as create custom labels, and more. Blackmagic MultiView 4 is also compatible with the optional Teranex Mini Smart Panel for customers that need to add front panel controls. For the ultimate in broadcast reliability and redundancy, you can even power MultiView 4 via the AC connection as well as power over Ethernet.

Blackmagic MultiView 4 is designed using the same compact, elegant enclosure as Blackmagic Design’s Teranex Mini converters so they are small enough to be used in fly away cases, outside broadcast vehicles, housed in equipment racks or even sitting on a desktop. They are only one third of a single rack space wide, so customers can mount them on the optional Teranex Mini Rack Shelf side by side with additional MultiView 4 or Teranex Mini products.

“The new Blackmagic MultiView 4 is exciting because it’s like having 4 completely independent HD broadcast monitors on a single display,” said Grant Petty, CEO, Blackmagic Design. “Even facilities that aren’t working in Ultra HD yet can take advantage of the increased resolution and clarity when using an Ultra HD display to monitor regular HD sources. They get four times the resolution and four times the clarity of an older style HD only multi viewer! The extra resolution is really important on live productions where you’re monitoring camera feeds and need to check focus. Customers also get the ability to view mixed video formats with different frame rates at the same time on a single screen, and the quality is amazing!”

Blackmagic MultiView 4 Key Features

Advanced multi view allows the use of Ultra HD television for twice the image sharpness.

Display up to 4 SDI sources on a single HD or Ultra HD display via SDI or HDMI.

4 multi rate 6G-SDI inputs with loop through outputs.

Compatible with all SD, HD and Ultra HD equipment and formats up to 2160p30.

Automatic frame re-sync allows simultaneous display of mixed SD, HD and Ultra HD formats.

Standard quad split view.

Supported output resolutions: 1920 x 1080 and 3840 x 2160.

Compact portable ? width 1RU design with professional connections for easy installation.

Built in 90V - 240V AC international power supply for use anywhere in the world.

Remote control via Ethernet using the included Mac and Windows software.

Supports power over Ethernet (PoE+) which can also be used as a backup power source.

Blackmagic MultiView 4 can be looped for customized display arrangements.

Supports optional Teranex Smart Panel that adds push buttons and built in LCD monitor.

Supports optional Teranex Mini Rack Shelf for installation into equipment racks.

Availability and Price

MultiView 4 is available now for 465 EUR ex. VAT.

Press Photography

Product photos of the Blackmagic MultiView 4, and all other Blackmagic Design products, are available at www.blackmagicdesign.com.

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.

RED released, via a free firmware update, Avid DNxHR and Avid DNxHD recording formats for all DSMC2 cameras. Shooters now have the flexibility to simultaneously capture REDCODE RAW and Avid DNxHR or Avid DNxHD – bringing yet another powerful and intuitive workflow option to professionals shooting on RED. RED also announced additional DSMC2 accessory options to help shooters expand their arsenal. Some of the new products are DSMC2 Side Handle for compact handheld configurations; DSMC2 Jetpack-SDI Expander: an I/O expander designed for aerials, gimbals, and other lightweight/remote configurations with SDI connections; DSMC2 V-Lock Battery Module option that integrates with a variety of expander modules to power industry-standard V-Lock batteries while maintaining flexible I/O options; and RED PRO Touch 7.0” LCD. And as of today, users can now test drive RED's proprietary REDCODE RAW file format (R3D) with the new R3D Sample Page. The R3D Sample Page provides footage from numerous camera options and lighting conditions, giving users insights into the flexibility of R3D files when incorporated into a variety of industry-standard post production workflows.