News

Press Release

Blackmagic Design announced that the Blackmagic Cinema Camera and Teranex 2D Processor, as well as a number of other Blackmagic Design products, were used on one of this summer’s most talked about sequels, “Sharknado 2: The Second One.”

In Sharknado 2, the horror of thousands of sharks in tornados moves to New York City after the destruction of Los Angeles in 2013. Featuring the previously not shark-devoured cast members of the first film, including Ian Ziering and Tara Reid, who join celebrities such as Vivica Fox, Mark McGrath, Judd Hirsch, Matt Lauer and Robert Klein, the new movie tells the story of a freak weather system turning its deadly fury on New York City and unleashing a sharknado.

Produced by Los Angeles’s The Asylum and directed by Anthony C. Ferrante, Sharknado 2 was shot primarily in New York City with two days of additional photography in Los Angeles. Ben Demaree, who was the director of photography on the first film, returned for “The Second One” as well. The film includes a huge number of special effects, green screen shots and footage from other sources, such as NBC’s “The Today Show.” Filming of the movie included a number of different cameras, including the Blackmagic Cinema Camera (EF Model), which was used as a B camera for pick up shots.

“The Blackmagic camera was really great because it was lightweight and produced amazing images,” said Anthony. “We could grab and go with it for quick inserts and shooting spur of the moment shots, while knowing that we would always get high quality images we could work with. It gave us images that had real sharpness and clarity and helped get additional elements needed to theVFX guys for some of the complicated shots in the film.”

Anthony continued: “With one green screen shot where the main character, Fin [Ian Ziering], was battling a Sharknado, we finished shooting and realized we had missed an important close-up of his hand grabbing a chain. The lighting was already down. But we grabbed the Blackmagic camera and went up and got the shot, using natural light without worrying about relighting or setting up again, because we knew we could rely on the camera’s dynamic range to get what we needed. And it worked great and integrated perfectly with our earlier footage.”

Sharknado 2 also used a number of other Blackmagic Design products in the making of the film, including the Teranex 2D Processor standards converter, multiple Blackmagic Design Mini Converters and various DeckLink and UltraStudio I/O devices. Teranex 2D Processors were used to convert a number of different sources shown in the film, as news stations from around the city began reporting on the horrors of sharks riding in tornados.

“Teranex 2D was incredibly easy to use and made conversions quick and painless,” said Mark Quod, post production supervisor of The Asylum. “One of the best examples is with the use of footage coming in from The Today Show, one of the big scenes in the film. We had to use footage shot by The Today Show’s production group, and they record everything in HDCam SR 59.94. Sharknado 2 is being shot in 23.98, so every frame from The Today Show had to be converted to look seamless. Our Teranex made quick work of the conversion, and is a great product.”

Sharknado 2 will air on July 30 on the SyFy Network.

Press Photography

Product photos of Blackmagic Cinema Camera, Teranex 2D Processor, DeckLink, UltraStudio and Mini Converter 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.

Blackmagic Design announced the release of DaVinci Resolve 11 Public Beta 2. There are full licensed versions for Mac OS, Windows and Linux. These are no charge upgrades for existing customers. Also available on the web site at no charge are DaVinci Resolve Lite for Mac OS and Windows.

New items in this beta include:

– A New Deliver Page preset for “Video Sharing Export” - ideal for client previews etc

– Ability to perform deck capture to QuickTime Uncompressed, ProRes (Mac and Linux) and DNxHD

– Support for FCPX 10.1.2 XML (FCPX v1.4)

– Encode and decode support for Apple ProRes 4444 XQ on Mac and Linux

– Added AAF import zoom support for 3D Warp effect

– Added ability to specify 'Timeline Name' as file name during renders

– Improved H.264 rendering color compatibility

– Improved shadow recovery

– Improved DNG decode for some still image RAW images

Panasonic released new version of its AMA plug-ins for Avid NLEs. New version adds support for HD Proxy and 720/50p or 60p (on Mac OS X), and support for latest Avid software (Windows). Basic functionality (AVC-Intra, and DV / DVCPROHD import) is free, extended functions require purchasing software keys (AJ-PS001G, AJ-PS002G, AJ-PS003G, AJ-PS004G).

A new update to V-Ray 3.0 for Maya Beta is now available. Users may now define render regions using an object selection or image mask using the Render Mask feature. If you're participating in the public beta, be sure to download this latest version. For users that still haven't registered for the Beta program, join here. For more information, check out the the full feature list for this update.

New in this version:

– Render Mask support.

– Support for Maya 2015 (Mac OS X).

– Simplified render settings user interface.

– VRayFastSSS2/VRaySkinMtl: Optimized raytraced multiple scattering.

– Optimized rendering performance with tiled textures.

– Optimized primary visibility with Maya Hair and V-Ray Proxies.

– Reduced memory usage for hair and particles.

Press Release

Blackmagic Design announced an exciting Summer Special discount for the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera for the low price of 395 EUR ex. VAT. With a normal recommended retail price of 785 EUR, this Summer Special represents incredible value and is available for a limited time and will end on the 31st of August 2014. This Summer Special price is subject to limited availability, after which the price will return to the usual recommended retail price of 785 EUR.

Since its introduction, the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera has been used in thousands of independent films, television commercials, music videos and anywhere cinematographers need a high quality digital film camera in a stealthy super small size.

The Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera includes powerful features such as Super 16mm sized 1080HD sensor, super wide 13 stops of dynamic range, built in SD card recorder for Apple ProRes, lossless CinemaDNG RAW capture and active Micro Four Thirds lens mount, all in an attractive compact design.

This compact design allows the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera to be used in more situations where a larger camera would not be practical. It’s so small that it can be used in situations in the field where a larger camera could be dangerous. The camera’s film look even allows personal video to be shot with the style and creativity of a motion picture film.

Unlike regular video cameras Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera is a true digital cinema camera as it includes a super wide dynamic range image sensor with 13 stops of latitude, allowing feature film quality images. A common mistake in the television industry is the assumption that more resolution means higher quality. Most cameras produce"video" looking images that suffer from highlight and black clipping that limits details. Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera's wide dynamic range eliminates this problem and provides film quality with dramatically more detail retained in black and whites in the image. Once the shoot is complete, DaVinci Resolve Lite 11 color correction and online editing software can be used to adjust images and take advantage of this extra range in the images.

To eliminate the damage that low bit depth and high compression video storage creates, the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera includes a easy to use SD card recorder that allows the full sensor dynamic range to be recorded in professional ProRes 422 (HQ) format, as well as 12 bit Log RAW lossless compressed CinemaDNG format. These files can be read by high end video software as they are all open standard.

“We have worked hard to set up this exciting special price to allow more people to afford a super compact digital cinema camera that they can personally own. However stock is limited at this lower price so customers who want to buy at this price will need to move fast,” said Grant Petty, CEO, Blackmagic Design. “We are extremely proud of the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera and we want to thank all the cinematographers who have send us examples of the work they have completed with this camera. We want to thank everyone for the wise and intelligent feedback they have given us and we hope this special offer is a great way to show our appreciation to the wonderful customers we have. For us, this is a dream come true!”

Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera Key Features:

– High resolution 1080HD Super 16mm sized sensor with superior handling of image detail.

– Super wide 13 stops of dynamic range allows capture of increased details for feature film look.

– Compatible with extremely high quality Micro Four Thirds lenses. Compatible with other mounts via common third party adapters such as PL mount and Super 16 cine lenses.

– Built in SD card recorder allows long duration recording with easy to use media.

– Open file formats compatible with popular NLE software such as ProRes 422 (HQ) and lossless CinemaDNG 12 bit RAW. No custom file formats.

– Standard connections including mini jack mic/line audio in, micro HDMI output for monitoring with camera status graphic overlay, headphone mini jack, LANC remote control and standard DC 12 power connection.

– Built in LCD for camera settings via easy to use menus..

– Supports 1080HD resolution capture in 23.98, 24, 25, 29.97 and 30 fps.

– Compatible with DaVinci Resolve Lite color grading software.

Availability and Price

The Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera is available now for 395 EUR until 31 August 2014 subject to availability from Blackmagic Design resellers worldwide.

Press Photography

Product photos of the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera, 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.