News

Blackmagic Design has released a new update for DaVinci Resolve 12 Studio. This software update improves the performance of H.264, H.265, OpenEXR, VariCam, MPEG-4 and AVC on both Mac and Windows. It also adds new options for smaller font sizes on burn-ins, ARRI RAW sharpness, RED SDK v6.1 and more.

What's new in DaVinci Resolve 12.3

• Decode support for HEVC/H.265 QuickTime video in DaVinci Resolve Studio on Windows
• Added Media Storage context menu option to directly add storage locations without opening Preferences on Mac and Windows
• Ability to add Media Storage locations without restarting Resolve on Mac and Windows
• Added support for reading Reel Names in OpenEXR media
• Added decode support for Sony MPEG2 video files
• Added support for ARRI RAW sharpness when using the ARRI Full Res Debayer
• Added support for smaller font sizes on burn-ins
• Added support for keyboard shortcut for loop on the Edit Page
• Improved HEVC/H.265 decode performance on Mac in DaVinci Resolve Studio
• Improved H.264 decode performance on Windows
• Improved Varicam, MPEG4, AVC and AVC-Intra MXF decode performance on Mac and Windows
• Improved compressed OpenEXR decode performance
• Added support for RED SDK v6.1
• General performance and stability improvements

RED Digital Cinema and Avid announced that Avid DNxHR and Avid DNxHD recording formats will be coming to RED's DSMC2 line of professional cameras -- WEAPON, SCARLET-W and RED RAVEN. This addition will bring yet another powerful and intuitive workflow option to professionals shooting on this latest generation of RED cameras. Avid DNxHR and Avid DNxHD are renowned for their ability to reduce storage and bandwidth requirements, and Avid DNxHD has been accepted by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers as the foundation format for the VC-3 standard. Additionally, these formats offer seamless direct-to-edit experiences for professionals looking to keep the highest image quality possible, while leveraging the investments they've made in Avid in-house production systems. The Avid DNxHR and Avid DNxHD formats will be added to the already impressive simultaneous recording capability that RED's DSMC2 cameras currently offer via REDCODE RAW and Apple ProRes formats. Avid DNxHR and Avid DNxHD will be made available via a firmware upgrade in mid-2016.

Adobe released new updates to its Creative Cloud applications, including Premiere Pro CC and After Effects CC. Creative Cloud members and trial users will be able to download and install these applications using the Creative Cloud desktop application, or online. This update does not require project files to be updated.

Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2015.2

Alongside the fixes, which are listed here, a new High Quality Playback option has been added to the playback settings. In previous releases, Premiere's playback settings only gave users fractional resolution choices, and playback was optimized for real-time playback performance. At the default settings, frames typically have a slightly softer look during playback vs. pause, even when both are set to full resolution. Toggling on the new High Quality setting can provide a smoother viewing experience, where playback better matches the image quality of frames when paused. High Quality playback may result in dropped frames depending on the media and hardware configuration, and most users will find the default settings are still the best choice for real-time playback.

Adobe After Effects CC 2015.2 (13.7)

New version of Adobe's video compositing application After Effects CC 2015 features Maxon CINEWARE 3.0, new preference to auto-save when starting the render queue, improvements to Cache Before Playback previews, and many bug fixes. Maxon’s CINEWARE plug-in for After Effects has been updated to version 3.0, and now includes Live Link, which synchronizes the timelines in After Effects and CINEMA 4D (R17 SP2), support for the Cinema 4D Take System (R17), the ability to extract .c4d timeline markers, and other enhancements and fixes.

Press Release

Blackmagic Design announced that the highly anticipated Sundance film “Operation Avalanche” was shot using Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Cameras. The film, by award winning director Matthew Johnson and DPs Jared Raab and Andrew Appelle, was shot using the Pocket Cinema Cameras, along with a unique film conversion workflow to capture the look and feel of an underground 1960s documentary.

“Operation Avalanche” is a found footage film where four undercover CIA agents are sent to NASA posing as a documentary film crew, and what they discovered leads to one of the biggest conspiracies in American history. Matthew Johnson, the writer and director of the film, was the creator of the sleeper hit film “Dirties,” which won the Slamdance Film Festival in 2013 and was later released by Kevin Smith.

To capture Johnson and the DPs’ vision, the film had to be shot with the look of 1960s film stock and had to look like most of the footage was shot covertly. Shooting in RAW, footage was converted into a 2K scan from the Pocket Cinema Camera’s Super 16mm image. Footage was then graded after the final 16mm conversion.

“Basically, we wanted a final print that looks like it was shot in the 1960s and buried in the ground and found in 2015,” Johnson said. “We developed a one of a kind conversion process to pull this off. We shot all our guerrilla footage with the Pocket Cinema Cameras and then did a 1:1 Super 16mm conversion that we invented ourselves. The Pocket Cinema Cameras were perfect because we get great image quality and the Super 16mm gate is the same as a Super 16mm film gate, which made conversion much easier.”

Another benefit to Raab and Appelle of using the Pocket Cinema Camera was the camera’s small size and ability to shoot discreetly.

“In order to convincingly pull off the concept that ‘Operation Avalanche’ is a real documentary filmed in the 1960s, it was important for us to use as much of the real world as possible. Shooting discreetly in public is something we learned how to do on our last film, ‘The Dirties,’ and we were determined to keep using our formula in this film. We needed a camera that wasn't going to get us noticed too quickly, but could get us footage that was going to stand up to our complicated post process of making it look like archival 16mm film,” said Raab. “The Pocket Cinema Camera, with it's impressive dynamic range and tiny form factor, became indispensable to our process. In the final film, footage obtained from the Pocket Cinema Camera seamlessly cuts with beautiful archival film from the 60s, and I challenge anyone to be able to spot the difference.

“In one scene for the film, Matt Johnson's character had to sneak on to the set of a famous film, which was shooting near London in 1967. We set up a location scout at the actual studio where filming had taken place and had our characters arrive to the ‘scout’ in full costume. Luckily the studio had retained many of its original buildings, so out came the discreet Pocket Cinema Camera, and we started running scenes.”

“It is great working with a hardware company that is in lockstep with us in terms of quality and innovation,” finished Johnson.

Press Photography

Product photos of Pocket Cinema Camera 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.

New update for Blackmagic Design's ATEM switchers adds a new ATEM Switcher Utility design which includes support for firmware updates via Ethernet for all ATEM Switchers. Also included in this update is GVG 100 protocol for remote control of all ATEM Switcher models with an RS-422 connection, as well as optional mute for talkback on audio channels 15 and 16. The new version requires Mac OS X 10.10 / 10.11 or 64-bit versions of Microsoft Windows 8 and 10, a suitable USB 2.0 port and an Ethernet connection for switcher control. Before installing the software, Blackmagic recommends that you run "Uninstall ATEM" first. Next, update the internal software in your ATEM Switcher and ATEM Broadcast Panel after installing this software. Simply connect the ATEM Switcher with a USB cable and run the included ATEM Setup Utility software. Then repeat for the ATEM Broadcast Panel. After this update, check your switcher chassis IP address in the ATEM Setup Utility.

What's new in ATEM 6.7

Update via ethernet

New ATEM Setup application

Support for the GVG 100 Protocol

Mute for talkback on audio channels 15 and 16

General performance and stability updates