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Press Release

Blackmagic Design announced that grading for Disney’s epic science fiction movie “Tomorrowland” was completed by Company 3's Stephen Nakamura using DaVinci Resolve. As “Tomorrowland” is the first title to be released in Dolby Vision, Nakamura also used DaVinci Resolve to create a pass for the new Dolby Vision projection system.

Directed by two-time Oscar® winner Brad Bird (“Ratatouille,” “The Incredibles”) and shot by Oscar-winning DP Claudio Miranda (“Life of Pi”), “Tomorrowland” follows Frank Walker (George Clooney), a former boy genius inventor, and Casey Newton (Britt Robertson), a bright teen bursting with scientific curiosity, as they embark on a danger filled mission to unearth the secrets of an enigmatic place somewhere in time and space that exists in their collective memory as Tomorrowland.

“‘Tomorrowland’ is somewhat brighter and more saturated than real life, but it's not an extreme look, as there are no crushed blacks or clipped highlights,” said Nakamura. “I built a lot of Power Windows in Resolve to very subtly help smooth out the effects. The movie is full of wild, elaborate visual effects, and there are always some enhancements that we can do in the grade when we see everything projected and in context with the other shots.”

According to Nakamura, there is an amazing VFX sequence when one of the characters first enters the world of Tomorrowland. He explained: “It’s a roughly two-minute-long moving shot with an enormous number of elements that Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) created. I was color grading at ILM while they were building the effects, and I used Resolve's soft clip and highlight tools within Color Match, along with some chroma keys, to increase and decrease saturation from particular portions of the frame.”

Nakamura also used DaVinci Resolve’s soft clip and highlight features during the Dolby Vision pass.

“When converting the files from the traditional d-cinema P3 format into the PQ format, you can make the brightest part of the frame more than twice as bright, and you can get really deep blacks. Brad and Claudio were interested in taking advantage of this high dynamic range, just in a subtle way,” said Nakamura. “A lot of the Dolby Vision grade was really about re-interpreting the material so it has a wider dynamic range without overpowering anything. For example, a bright part of the frame, like a lamp, wouldn't completely overpower the actors' faces as it potentially could.”

He concluded: “Even though the Dolby Vision pass gave me the potential to let highlights go brighter than anything you'd ever see in traditional d-cinema, I used DaVinci Resolve's soft clip and highlights features a lot to help retain the original feel of the standard 14 foot-lambert version in the Dolby Vision 31.5 foot-lambert version.”

Press Photography

Product photos of DaVinci Resolve 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.

About Company 3

Company 3 is a group of post production facilities for features, commercials and music videos. Known for our creative color artistry, pioneering technology and global reach, Company 3 is trusted to deliver a quality product every time.

Company 3's incredible talent roster includes John Bonta, Sofie Borup, Sean Coleman, Paul Ensby, Siggy Ferstl, Bob Festa, Billy Gabor, Greg Fisher, Dave Hussey, Beau Leon, Tim Masick, Stephen Nakamura, Tom Poole, Tyler Roth, Rob Sciarratta, Stefan Sonnenfeld and Damien Van Der Cruyssen. www.company3.com. Twitter: @Company3

About Dolby Vision

Co-developed with Christie Digital, Dolby Vision uses state of the art optics and image processing to deliver high dynamic range (HDR) with enhanced color technology and contrast ratio for a richer, more detailed viewing experience in the cinema. Dolby Vision delivers HDR with enhanced color that has been praised by filmmakers for its amazing contrast, high brightness and color range that more closely matches what the human eye can see. With Dolby Vision, the blacks are truly black and the colors are vibrant.

Unique to the Dolby Vision projection system, beyond its brightness and vivid color reproduction, is its ability to deliver HDR with the contrast ratio that exceeds 1,000,000:1. The Dolby Vision projection system has been able to achieve a contrast making it a powerful tool to showcase bright elements of the movie, while maintaining the details in the shadows.

About Disney’s “Tomorrowland”

From Disney comes two-time Oscar® winner Brad Bird’s “Tomorrowland,” a riveting mystery adventure starring Academy Award® winner George Clooney. Bound by a shared destiny, former boy-genius Frank (Clooney), jaded by disillusionment, and Casey (Britt Robertson), a bright, optimistic teen bursting with scientific curiosity, embark on a danger-filled mission to unearth the secrets of an enigmatic place somewhere in time and space known only as “Tomorrowland.” What they must do there changes the world—and them—forever.

Featuring a screenplay by “Lost” writer and co-creator Damon Lindelof and Brad Bird, from a story by Lindelof & Bird & Jeff Jensen, “Tomorrowland” promises to take audiences on a thrill ride of nonstop adventures through new dimensions that have only been dreamed of.

The film also stars Hugh Laurie as brilliant scientist David Nix, Raffey Cassidy, Tim McGraw, Kathryn Hahn, Keegan-Michael Key and Thomas Robinson.

“Tomorrowland” is produced by Damon Lindelof, Brad Bird and Jeffrey Chernov and directed by Brad Bird, with John Walker, Bernard Bellew, Jeff Jensen and Brigham Taylor serving as executive producers. “Tomorrowland” opens in U.S. theaters on May 22, 2015.

Convergent Design constantly works to add more features and functionality to the Odyssey family of professional monitor/recorders. This release includes new features & functionality and adds more power, performance and versatility to the Odyssey7Q+, Odyssey7Q and Odyssey7. Convergent Design continues to update and expand the capabilities of the Odyssey7Q+, Odyssey7Q and Odyssey7 monitor/recorders to help extend the lifespan of their products.

New Features in the Release:

Expanded Odyssey LUT System, including custom 3D-LUTs

– Improved & Expanded set of Preset LUTs

– Support for user-loadable custom 3D-LUTs (up to 140, Odyssey7Q, Odyssey7Q+)

– 17x, 32x, 33x, 64x, 65x 3D-LUT (.CUBE format) Supported

– .CUBE Luts translated for Odyssey using CD 3D-LUT Converter App

– LUTs are currently for MONITORING only, not “baked in”

– LUTs viewed during recording noted in XML file metadata

– Extended and Legal Range LUTs Supported (EE vs LL)

LUT Routing to Tools & Outputs

– Image Analysis Tools can measure “LUTTED” image or original source

– Video outputs can independently turn ON/OFF LUT or Mirror OLED

Anamorphic Desqueeze

– 2.0x, 1.5x, 1.33x Support

– Corrected image sent to video outputs, recording unaffected

4K / 2K Monitoring Modes (Odyssey7Q, Odyssey7Q+)

– 17:9 Letterboxed within 16:9 image or Center-Cut to 16:9

– Letterbox or Center-Cut image sent to video outputs, full frame recorded

Monochrome Monitoring Mode

– View Luma only or individual Red, Green, or Blue channel in grey tone

Dual Zebras

– Set high & low for each, can overlap, separately selectable colors

Expanded False Color Mode

– Added Pink for Six colors

– Each color set high & low, can overlap

Expanded OLED Controls

– Advanced Monitor Calibration Control

– Color channel bias controls, SMPTE color bars reference

Improved Multi-Stream Mode Switching

– Switch between inputs without image flicker or glitch

Safe Eject at Power Down

– Automatically closes all file directories on shut down

Improved Sony FS RAW color reproduction

– Improved image quality in CinemaDNG and Apple ProRes recording

– FS700 Apple ProRes recording with S-Log2 or REC709(800%)

– FS7 CinemaDNG & Apple ProRes require SGamut3.Cine Color Space

Fixes & Improvements...

– FIXED Aud Out (Headphones) unmute

– FIXED Audio gain settings when switching Analog to SDI

– FIXED Safe Eject process to remove OLED flashing during procedure

– FIXED FS700 4K RAW -> HD Apple ProRes detection

– IMPROVED 4K Apple ProRes playback

– IMPROVED 4K pixel zoom 1:1 and 2:1

– IMPROVED PSF output support in all modes

– IMPROVED Reduced overall power usage

– IMPROVED Interlaced playback support

– IMPROVED 4K -> HD Apple ProRes playback

Software Updates...

– CD Apple ProRes Transfer Utility 1.7

– LUTs viewed during recording noted in XML file metadata

– Pomfort LiveGrade Support for Odyssey LUTs

Panasonic has announced a collaborative initiative between Panasonic and NewTek to promote and support interoperability between AW-HE130 integrated PTZ cameras and NewTek TriCaster multi-camera video production systems. The AW-HE130 is the first integrated pan/tilt/zoom camera with a production-quality, built-in MPEG-4 streaming encoder, audio embedding and Power over Ethernet+ (POE+) compatibility, enabling a single-wire digital broadcasting solution. Together with TriCaster switchers, the HE130 offers creative possibilities never before available for remote, mobile and streaming production. In addition to supporting IP control of and accepting IP streaming inputs from the HE130, appropriately configured TriCaster systems will soon employ Panasonic's "Easy IP Set UP" software (native in the HE130) to facilitate rapid setup and reassignment of cameras. The Panasonic HE130 is the successor to the extraordinarily popular AW-HE120 three-sensor IP-enabled integrated PTZ camera, used by hundreds of broadcasters, sports teams, universities and houses-of- worship. The HE130 adds many useful features including MPEG-4 streaming up to 24 Mbps of production-quality video and audio, optical image stabilization, 3G-SDI output (up to 1080/60p), POE+ and three new high-sensitivity, low-noise 1/3" 3-MOS imagers.

Press Release

Blackmagic Design announced that all signal distribution at the event areas for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest (ESC), hosted at the Wiener Staatshalle in Vienna, Austria, was delivered via an SDI based live production workflow featuring six Blackmagic Design Smart Videohub routers.

The audiovisual (AV) infrastructure for the annual European wide extravaganza, now in its 60th year, was devised by Vienna based live event specialist Concept Solutions and distributes HD video signals to more than 125 monitors and screens throughout the multi purpose indoor arena.

As well as the main staging hall, where 60 countries competed for the chance to perform in a live two hour televised spectacular, the ESC also had dedicated halls for media, backstage and catering, the judging panel, VIPs and the official ESC delegation. Each was equipped with a multitude of displays and screens to keep attendees up to date and a Smart Videohub 12x12 or 20x20 was assigned to manage video signals for each individual zone. Three video channels produced by the production hub were delivered to screens; the main hall feed for rehearsals, semi finals and the grand finale, an information channel for competitors and an internal communications channel. More than a hundred Blackmagic Design Mini Converter SDI-HDMI were also installed throughout the arena’s SDI infrastructure.

Florian Weber of Concept Solutions explains the rationale for multiple video routers: “The hall based complex meant that each zone within the event were quite distinct, both in terms of purpose and location, and we had to balance this with a reliable, failsafe audiovisual workflow that would perform perfectly throughout weeks of rehearsals and performances. Assigning a router to each hall gave us a simple and clear structure for our signal distribution, and any issues would be quick to spot and rectify during a live production. The SDI infrastructure ensures we had reliable signal path throughout the complex that meets industry standards.”

“Each area was also distinct in terms of what the people in that particular room require in terms of information, so we have the ability to tailor the content they are watching depending on their needs. For example, the media room needed to get a real sense of the main hall events, whereas the backstage areas required a more varied flow of information and entertainment to keep the show running smoothly at all times. We rely on the Smart Videohub for many of our live events, and we knew that they would be the most effective choice for staging such a major spectacle.”

Press Photography

Product photos of Smart Videohub, MiniConverters 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.

The new Blackmagic Camera 2.4 software update adds frame guides support and new camera control setup software for Blackmagic Production Camera 4K as well as general performance improvements.