News

Pdplayer 1.0.7.5, an updated version of Chaos Group's professional image sequence playback software, is now available for download. Chaos Group added EXR and DPX export, support for RGBA .vrimg channels generated by V-Ray 3.0, support for deep OpenEXR images, improved dynamic range of EXR, .vrimg, IEEE float TIFF images. They have also improved cache playback, color controls and fixed a number of things, so it is recommend that you update your copy!

SCRATCH and SCRATCH Lab now support Blackmagic Design capture and playback solutions including Decklink 4K Extreme and Ultrastudio 4K with Thunderbolt 2 technology. ASSIMILATE, the creator of SCRATCH DI software and SCRATCH Lab production dailies software, announced that the new version 8 of both of its popular applications now support the full range of Blackmagic Design DeckLink and Ultrastudio products for SDI and HDMI video output. The real win for artists comes from the ability to run SCRATCH and Lab with Blackmagic software applications on the same system, as well as having an additional high-quality 4K monitoring solution.

Press Release

Blackmagic Design announced that DaVinci Resolve 10 was used by freelance colorist Mark Todd Osborne for advanced color on the Hollywood film “Need for Speed.” Osborne worked at LA based production and post company Bandito Brothers’ state of the art facility on the 2K DI color for various screenings and previews.

“There was a team aspect that went into the post process for this film that enabled us to start work on color much earlier than the norm, which also allowed the color to evolve with the cut over time,” said Mark Graziano, Executive Vice President of Post Production at DreamWorks Studios. “In addition, this collaborative workflow afforded us the luxury of having screenings at a higher resolution with a more refined picture.

“Mark put us in a really fantastic place early on in the post process as far as 2K DI color,” he continued. “The workflow at Bandito Brothers coupled with Mark's color helped us put our best foot forward for important screenings very early on, five to six months in advance of delivery. It also enabled us to take our time through the process of refining the picture, as opposed to the frantic pace at the end of the film that is typical.”

In addition, Bandito Brothers were able to provide 2K color corrected footage for 3D conversions. According to Graziano, very rarely does a stereo conversion provider receive color corrected files to use for its conversion process, and Osborne's advanced color work made it much easier to address creative notes and made the overall 3D process smoother.

Based on the popular series of video games, “Need for Speed” is a high octane, action packed thrill ride that follows a street racer on a cross country race of revenge. Osborne was tasked with enhancing the film’s authentic look, while also creating a rich setting with high saturation and strong contrasts to help convey mood, tone and intensity. With numerous high energy race scenes and real life stunts, Osborne used DaVinci Resolve 10 to subtly heighten emotion and excitement, helping to draw the audience in through color.

“DP Shane Hurlbut introduced me to photographer Todd Hido, and we used his work as inspiration to achieve a natural look that still had an edge,” said Osborne. “We often had three or four different sources of greens, yellows and blues, so a mixture of warms and cools with different gradients across the frame, but still maintained a source of light. DaVinci Resolve’s Power Windows, custom curves, chroma keys and luminance keys helped me finesse these looks and enhance the qualities in Shane’s footage.”

Osborne noted that there were several major race scenes where color not only enhanced the intensity, but was also necessary for consistency. “The lighting alternated between sun and heavy clouds in one scene, and that change can distract the audience and take them out of the experience. I used Power Windows, keys and curves to maintain a consistent overcast look with cooler colors and a saturation pop for effect, which also helped convey a darker, more turbulent mood,” he explained.

Osborne added: “On the flip side, there was a big race sequence in the Red Rock Canyon desert, and the red rocks weren't filming consistently. We wanted them warm and yellow to play up the heat and tension, but sometimes they looked cool and blue. On top of that, the scene is shot in and out of cars, between the rocks and then back in the cars. DaVinci Resolve’s tracker was a big help in delivering precise color in a snap.”

Osborne was also able to rely on DaVinci Resolve’s auto key frame tracker without having to extensively track and key frames manually. “Tracking made so much difference for me,” said Osborne. “DaVinci Resolve’s auto tracking got it right the first time. Some shots can move too fast for a system to handle, and you have to go in manually and fix them, but that rarely happened with DaVinci Resolve. It’s these things that add up and save on time.

“It’s also so user friendly that I don’t have to think about the technology and tools when I work. Instead, I can focus on crafting the image and stay in the creative process. There was a lot of meticulous color that went into this film, and it draws the audience in and helps tell the story,” he concluded.

“We don't just have a dedicated DaVinci Resolve suite at our facility. Blackmagic Design makes up the backbone of our operations with a Videohub router, numerous DeckLink cards and HyperDeck Studio Pro SSD recorders. We were thrilled to have an artist like Mark showcase his creativity and sophistication in our color suite,” said Jacob Rosenberg, CTO and Director at Bandito Brothers. “Scott Waugh is not only the film’s director, but he’s also a co founder of Bandito and an editor on the film. So ‘Need for Speed’ was a really personal project, and we were all deeply invested. Mark came in and immediately invested himself 100 percent.”

Press Photography

Product photos of DaVinci Resolve, Videohub, DeckLink and HyperDeck Studio Pro 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 film restoration software for the feature film, post production and television broadcast industries. Blackmagic Design’s DeckLink capture cards launched a revolution in quality and affordability, 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 stereoscopic 3D and 4K workflows. Founded by world leading post production editors and engineers, Blackmagic Design has offices in the USA, United Kingdom, Japan, Singapore, and Australia. For more information, please check www.blackmagicdesign.com.

The V-Ray 3.0 for Maya Beta program is now open! This major release is just around the corner and Chaos Software would like your input to help make it their best update yet. A new Progressive Rendering Engine, support for several open source technologies, plus up to 5x faster ray tracing and rendering performance are some of the features included in the initial round of enhancements. The new website V-Ray.com has been updated with a complete list of new features and improvements to the already powerful toolset. V-Ray 3.0 for Maya public beta is available now and open to all V-Ray for Maya commercial users. Join today!

Press Release

Blackmagic Design announced that the Pocket Cinema Camera was used to shoot the first person point of view footage for McDonalds’ recent “SuperGood” ad campaign produced by Stern Advertising. Joe Murray, of Woodside, CA based production company Native Sons Films, was the director and cinematographer, and he used DaVinci Resolve 10 to transcode the Pocket Cinema Camera footage and to color correct the director’s version of the edit.

“The idea was to shoot the commercial from the point of view of a person eating, sharing and going throughout their day with McDonalds. Not only did that allow us to show the product and logo in almost every shot, but the first person point of view grabs the audience’s attention and makes them feel part of the experience,” said Joe. “I worked closely with Stern Advertising to ensure the spot had a positive vibe, high energy and constant movement to really engage the viewer.”

Mounted to the mouth guard of a motorcycle helmet, the Pocket Cinema Camera was chosen for its light weight and compact form factor while delivering RAW image quality and 13 stops of dynamic range.

“We had the camera operator and actors on bicycles, skateboarding, running into a meeting and dancing at a beach party. Movement was essential to the theme, and the Pocket Cinema Camera’s form factor was perfect,” said Joe. “We also cast real people, which provided extra personality and enhanced the natural feel. So at times we had actual skateboarders wearing the helmet and shooting with the camera, and it gave a really authentic feeling. A DSLR would have been too unwieldy and wouldn't have provided such a natural feeling of movement.

“I also wanted it to look authentic, as if you are looking through a human eye, not a camera, so the footage had to have a sophisticated, cinematic look. Even though it’s a roving, quick point of view, I didn't want over sharpened, highly compressed images or barreling distortion with a fish eye look. I wanted a naturalistic wide lens look with correct corners and smooth, high quality images, and I couldn't have done it with any other tool,” he continued.

With scenes ranging from bright light streaming through windows, sunshine coming through the trusses of a bridge and a beach campfire at dusk, much of the footage had an extreme contrast range, and Joe noted that the Pocket Cinema Camera’s latitude helped capture all detail. “A few of the images were created using a DSLR, and the quality difference was quite apparent. The DSLR was not able to record the dynamic changes in exposure and latitude that the Pocket Cinema Camera easily captured without clipping. The Pocket Cinema Camera’s extra latitude was what we needed. Even during the campfire scene on the beach, the camera captured everything from the shadows to the detail in the fire,” he said.

With the Pocket Cinema Camera’s 13 stops of dynamic range, the footage had all the information Joe needed to finesse it in post with DaVinci Resolve 10. “Being able to work natively with the RAW codec in DaVinci Resolve is a huge advantage over traditional H.264 DSLR codecs because there is much more latitude in the images as long as you expose the footage correctly. DaVinci Resolve has been my go to color corrector forever, and I wouldn't use anything else, it’s so powerful,” he concluded.



Press Photography

Product photos of Pocket Cinema Camera, DaVinci Resolve and all 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 film restoration software for the feature film, post production and television broadcast industries. Blackmagic Design’s DeckLink capture cards launched a revolution in quality and affordability, 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 stereoscopic 3D and 4K workflows. Founded by world leading post production editors and engineers, Blackmagic Design has offices in the USA, United Kingdom, Japan, Singapore, and Australia. For more information, please check www.blackmagicdesign.com.