News

Blackmagic Design today announced that DP Xavier Grobet used several Pocket Cinema Cameras to shoot select scenes for Paramount Pictures’ comedy “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.” Grobet required a small form factor camera that delivered cinematic images for the film’s in-vehicle shots and several actions scenes.

This was Grobet’s third time working with Directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, and Grobet noted that given the nature of the film and the war zone setting, the Pocket Cinema Camera was a natural choice.

“I was looking for a very small camera for my specific needs. We shot in a lot of cars and Humvees, so the camera needed to be compact. We didn’t want to shoot off of a process trailer, mounting the car on a rolling platform. We wanted to do it practically,” said Grobet. “I found the Pocket Cinema Camera to be outstanding. The latitude and definition are great, and I was most impressed with the dynamic range.”

New firmware 38.48 for Panasonic PX5000 and version 34.44 for PX270 camcorders adds enhanced functionality of P2 Cast network service. The new versions support a display function of thumbnail images and battery indicators onto P2 Cast; sending and receiving the menu data according to the command given through P2 Cast; time zone correction by GSP; and firmware update according to the command given through P2 Cast. To update, copy the downloaded update file of the to an SD memory card and refer to the installation procedure.

The new KMU–100 accepts the single 4K/UHD output of any existing camera and turns it into up to four 16x9 user-defined cropped windows that are sent out as four separate HD signals through HD-SDI! A unique 4K multi-camera production solution that delivers multiple virtual full HD (up to 1080p) scaled camera angles with minimal installation cost and simple operation.

Press Release

Blackmagic Design announced that both Fusion 8 and Fusion 8 Studio, the world’s most advanced visual effects and motion graphics software, is now shipping and is available for download from the Blackmagic Design website for both Mac OS X and Windows.

The release of Fusion 8 is the first ever Mac compatible release of Fusion, which was previously a Windows only product. Fusion 8 Studio is now also available in 10, 20 or 50 multi user licenses, making it easy to install in larger creative groups and studios. The multi user licenses feature a single USB dongle programmed with multiple licenses that plug into a machine running Fusion Server, which is installed by default with Fusion Studio. Fusion Server manages the licenses across the Ethernet network. That means licenses can be floating and are not tied to any single machine, making it easy to administer in large facilities with lots of users.

Now that Fusion 8 has come to the Mac, high end visual effects are available to even more users than ever before, opening the door to millions of motion graphic artists, broadcast designers, video editors, visual effects compositors, and 3D animators. In addition, projects can be easily moved between Mac and Windows versions of Fusion so customers can work on the platform of their choice. Now, anyone with a Mac or Windows computer can get access to the same high end visual effects tools used by Hollywood’s most elite artists.

Fusion 8 features a more intuitive and modern looking interface that makes it easier for new users to learn how to use the software, while also maintaining the consistency that long time users need to continue working without having to relearn anything. As part of the port to Mac OS X, the underlying architecture in Fusion has been modernized. Now that the port to Mac OS X is complete, the Fusion engineering team will work with the visual effects community to add even more powerful new features and continue modernizing the software's workflow and user interface.

Fusion has been one of Hollywood’s leading visual effects and motion graphics tools for over 25 years, and has been used on thousands of feature film and television projects, including blockbusters like Thor, Live Die and Repeat, the Hunger Games trilogy, White House Down, Battlestar Galactica and more.

Featuring a powerful node based interface, Fusion makes it extremely easy to build sophisticated visual effects compositions very quickly. Nodes are small icons that represent effects, filters and other image processing operations that can be connected together in any order to create unlimited visual effects. Nodes are laid out logically like a flow chart, so customers won’t waste time hunting through nested stacks of confusing layers with filters and effects. Unlike timeline based applications, it’s easy to see and adjust any part of a project in Fusion by simply clicking on a node.

With a massive toolset consisting of hundreds of built in tools, customers can pull keys, track objects, rotoscope, retouch images, animate titles, create amazing particle effects and much more, all in a true 3D workspace. Fusion can also import 3D models, point cloud data, cameras or even entire 3D scenes from Maya, 3ds Max or Lightwave and render them seamlessly with other elements. Deep pixel tools can be used to add volumetric fog, lighting and reflection mapping of rendered objects using world position passes so customers can create amazing atmospheric effects that render in seconds, instead of hours.

“Some of the world's best animators, designers and visual effects artists prefer using the Mac, but their choices for software have been either too limited or too expensive,” said Grant Petty, Blackmagic Design CEO. “With Fusion 8, there's finally a true professional, high end way to do motion graphics and create visual effects on the Mac! The improved, modernized code base also means that Fusion runs better on Windows than ever before too! The most exciting part of this release is that the free version now makes high end visual effects and motion graphics available to more people than ever. Projects created with the free Fusion 8 are fully compatible with Fusion 8 Studio, the paid version, making it easy for customers to make the jump when they need to!”

Fusion Versions

Fusion 8 is available in two versions:

Fusion 8 for Mac and Windows is free for customers and is now available to download from the Blackmagic Design website. Fusion 8 is a full professional 3D visual effects and compositing system that is suitable for independent effects, motion graphics, and broadcast design artists. Fusion 8 features integrated 2D and 3D compositing and motion graphics software with a massive toolset featuring paint, rotoscope, titling, animation, multiple keyers, an amazing 3D particle system, advanced keyframing, GPU acceleration, and support for importing and rendering 3D models and scenes from other applications.

Fusion 8 Studio for Mac and Windows is available now from US$995. Fusion Studio has all of the same features as the free version, but also adds advanced optical flow image analysis tools for stereoscopic 3D work, retiming and stabilization. Fusion Studio also includes support for third-party OpenFX plugins, unlimited distributed network rendering, and Generation for studio wide multi user collaboration to track, manage, review and approve shots when working with large creative teams on complex projects.

Availability and Price

Fusion 8 is available today for download from the Blackmagic Design website free of charge. Fusion 8 Studio for Mac OS X and Windows is now available for US$995, as well as in multi user licenses starting from US$8,955 for the 10 user license, US$17,895 for the 20 user license and US$44,495 for the 50 user license from Blackmagic Design resellers worldwide.

Press Photography

Product photos of Blackmagic Micro Studio Camera 4K, Video Assist, DaVinci Resolve Studio, Teranex Mini, UltraStudio Express 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 today that Intelligent Creatures used Fusion Studio on the highly acclaimed horror film “The Witch.” Led by Compositing Supervisor Eric Doiron and VFX Supervisor Geoff Scott, the Toronto-based post house used Fusion Studio as its main software for all of the film’s VFX. In addition, Intelligent Creatures used DaVinci Resolve Studio to pull VFX plates and do selective color grading during its VFX sequences.

“The Witch” is a supernatural indie thriller that first made waves at the Sundance Film Festival 2015, where writer and director Robert Eggers won Best Director in the U.S. Dramatic category. The suspenseful film tells the story of a 17th Century Puritan family that leaves their community and ventures into the unknown of New England. Tragedy begins to befall the family and suspicions of witchcraft grow as unsettling events happen in the woods surrounding the family’s farm.

Doiron, Scott and the team at Intelligent Creatures helped create the eery New England folk tale that was recently released by A24. Whether it was correcting and capturing the spirit of Black Phillip, the goat at the center of some of the family’s supernatural happenings, or creating the occult elements of the film’s final climatic scene, Intelligent Creatures used Fusion Studio to enhance the film through VFX.

“'The Witch’ was a fun project to work on because we got to really play up some of the spookiness,” said Doiron. “We added supernatural elements to the film to fully capture the dark spirit of witchcraft and the accompanying paranoia of the times.

“For example, we added levitation to a scene using Fusion Studio’s rotoscoping, paint and keying tools. With one plate shot on location and the other on a blue screen stage, we used standard wire rigs as well as a jib rig to lift and rotate things simultaneously. We used Fusion Studio to key each of the six levitating objects and perform extensive wire and rig removal and blue screen composites. In some cases Fusion Studio’s grid warp tool was used to animate patches of skin over the rigs.”

We also used Fusion Studio in a pivotal scene that involved an actor being hit by a cascade of logs. We started with a plate of logs falling onto a dummy which allowed us to get a natural interaction of the logs hitting, bouncing off and coming to rest. We then filmed a clean plate of the actor leaning against the pile and reacting. Using Fusion Studio, we painstakingly rotoscoped each of the falling logs to combine the two plates. Black Phillip was in the scene as well, so we filmed a plate of the goat whose lead and handler had to be removed and then used Fusion Studio's paint and roto tools to composite the goat into the final shot. Then the finishing touch was a gash and blood trickle on the actor’s forehead to really sell the impact.”

Additionally, Intelligent Creatures also used DaVinci Resolve Studio for select color grading on some of their VFX sequences.

“Fire was at the center of the levitation scene and we needed to use DaVinci Resolve Studio to balance it. The scene was shot with practical fire to get natural interactive lighting. While this was invaluable to get the look right, it proved difficult in the comp since the levels were constantly changing due to the flicker. Ultimately, we had to remove the interactive flicker and then add it back in through DaVinci Resolve Studio,” said Doiron. “That, along with using Fusion Studio to add smoke and atmosphere, really enhanced the scene and its spook factor.”

Press Photography

Product photos of Blackmagic Micro Studio Camera 4K, Video Assist, DaVinci Resolve Studio, Teranex Mini, UltraStudio Express 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.