Fremont, California - Tuesday, September 24, 2019 - Blackmagic Design announced today that visual effects supervisor Rob Legato used a wide variety of Blackmagic Design products to create the virtual production environment for Disney’s “The Lion King.” The film, which was directed by Jon Favreau and features the voices of Donald Glover and Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, has earned nearly $1.5 billion worldwide since its July 19, 2019 opening.

With the technology available today, producing a 3D animated feature film doesn’t have to be a process of waiting for test animations from an animation team. Visual effects supervisor Rob Legato, an Academy Award winner for films such as “Hugo” and “The Jungle Book”, wanted to take the technology to a new level, and create a space where traditional filmmakers could work in a digital environment, using the familiar tools found on live action sets. “The goal wasn’t to generate each shot in the computer,” said Legato, “but to photograph the digital environment as if it were a real set.”

Bringing beloved characters back to the big screen in a whole new way, the story journeys to the African savanna where a future king must overcome betrayal and tragedy to assume his rightful place on Pride Rock. Like the original 1994 movie from Disney Animation, which was for its time an amazing accomplishment in 2D animation, the 2019 version pushed the abilities of modern technology once more, this time utilizing advanced computer graphics to create a never before seen photorealistic style. But beyond the final look, the project embraced new technology throughout, including during production, utilizing a cutting edge virtual environment. 

The production stage where “The Lion King” was shot might look strange, with unusual devices filling the main floor and an array of technicians behind computers around the perimeter, but these were just the bones of the process. To begin shooting, Director Jon Favreau and Cinematographer Caleb Deschanel wore headsets that placed them in the virtual world of Mufasa and Simba.

Rather than forcing the filmmakers to adapt to digital tools, Legato modified physical filmmaking devices to work within the virtual world. A crane unit was modified with tracking devices to allow the computers to recreate its motion precisely in the computer. Even a Steadicam was brought in, allowing Deschanel to move the camera virtually with the same tools as a live action shoot. The goal was to let production create in a traditional way, using standard tools that existed not just on a stage but in the computer. “In traditional pre vis you would move the camera entirely within the computer,” said Legato. “But in our virtual environment, we literally laid down dolly track on the stage, and it was represented accurately on the digital set.”

Blackmagic Design was not simply a part of the system, but the backbone for the process, providing the infrastructure for the virtual world as well as the studio as a whole. “We used Blackmagic products first as video routing for the entire building,” said visual effects producer Matt Rubin, “and at every stage of handling video, from capturing footage shot by the team using DeckLink cards, through Micro Studio Camera 4Ks as witness cameras, Teranex standards converters and various ATEM video switchers such as the ATEM Production Studio 4K and ATEM Television Studio HD."

Editorial and visual effects were networked together via Smart Videohubs routers to allow both departments access to the screening room, as well as act as sources to the screening room for shots. During virtual production, as the computers generated the virtual environment, DeckLink capture and playback cards captured the footage and played through a video network, feeding into a control station and recorded on HyperDeck Studio Minis. 

Once footage was shot and captured onto computers, the setup was turned over to visual effects company MPC to create the photorealistic imagery. Throughout the process of reviewing footage and maintaining an up to date edit, Legato and his team utilized DaVinci Resolve Studio and DaVinci Resolve Advanced Panels in two suites, with Legato applying color to shots as guides to the final colorists. The DaVinci Resolve project was often updated many times a day with new footage from MPC. Legato only screened for Favreau in context of the cut, rather than showing individual shots, so it was important to be able to balance shots to provide a smooth screening experience. The facility shared a DaVinci Resolve database to allow various team members around the facility to view the same timeline without tying up a screening room.

Despite the cutting edge systems used to virtually shoot the film, the final product reflects the true art form of filmmaking, simply by providing real tools for cinematography and a creative workflow throughout. “The virtual environment created a truly flexible world to shoot in,” said Legato. “From Caleb being able to move the sun to achieve the right time of day, or the art director able to place trees or set pieces during production, the virtual world allowed us an amazing platform to shoot the movie. It was definitely a new type of filmmaking, one with all the trappings of standard production, but even more flexibility to be creative.”

Press Photography

Product photos of DaVinci Resolve Studio, DaVinci Resolve Advanced Panel, Micro Studio Camera 4K, ATEM Production Studio 4K, Smart Videohub, Teranex Express, HyperDeck Studio Mini and all other Blackmagic Design products are available at www.blackmagicdesign.com/media/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.

Fremont, CA - February 26, 2019 - Blackmagic Design today announced that Grupo La República, a leading media organization in Lima, Perú, has incorporated a full Blackmagic Design workflow including URSA Broadcast cameras, ATEM Television Studio HD live production switchers, Blackmagic Studio Cameras and more. The investment is part of a company wide digital transformation and laid the foundation for RTV, Grupo La República’s new digital television channel.

Founded in 1981, Grupo La República is the second largest print and digital media organization in Perú, owning several print news publications including La República, El Popular and Libero. Recently, Grupo La República embarked on a digital upgrade by adapting all of its print content for its new digital platforms, including live news and sports programming via RTV.

“This digital transformation is something we’ve wanted to do for a long time, but to be successful we knew we needed to have the proper equipment,” said Alfieri Noce, chief technical officer of R&D at Grupo La República. “I’ve used Blackmagic Design gear in the past, so when we were ready to move forward, I advised on what we needed to make this happen.”

He continued, “The reason for implementing Blackmagic Design was very clear from the beginning. We needed budget friendly gear that also delivered the superior quality that Grupo La República is known for.”

Grupo La República started by incorporating three URSA Broadcast cameras to shoot several shows, including the political morning show “Sin Guión con Rosa María Palacios,” the sports show “Libero” and the pop culture entertainment show “Populovers.”

“A main factor for us in selecting the URSA Broadcast was the capability to use the lenses we already had, including older, after market HD lenses. With the URSA Broadcast, we were spared from having to repurchase an entire stock of lenses, which helped keep us on budget,” said Noce.

Additionally, Grupo La República has four Blackmagic Studio Cameras. “The Blackmagic Studio Cameras are extremely reliable and complement the URSA Broadcast cameras we have in studio,” continued Noce. “Some features that make the Blackmagic Studio Camera perfect for our productions is the 10” viewfinder, remote camera controls, the different input connections and how user friendly and intuitive they are.”

Grupo La República also implemented two ATEM Television Studio HD live production switchers which allow them to easily switch between cameras while shooting their RTV programming.

“Because of the dynamism of our shows, we need switchers that are reliable and easy to use. The ATEM Television Studio HD has really eased the production process for us, especially when switching cameras, zooming in and focusing on those details that we truly want to highlight during broadcast,” said Noce. “Another quality that impacted our decision when integrating them into our workflow was their compact design. Everything is so easy to control from the front panel, and they’re also super portable, so we can move them around as needed.”

Rounding out its digital upgrade, Grupo La República also relies on a SmartScope Duo 4K to monitor broadcasts, finding the waveform monitoring incredibly useful. Additional Blackmagic Design gear includes a Smart Videohub 20x20 router, SmartView 4K to monitor the program feed, and several converters, including Mini Converter Optical Fiber 12G and twelve Mini Converter SDI to HDMI 6G.

“Our goal for Grupo La República is to be fully equipped with Blackmagic Design gear,” Noce concluded. “We have two other studios in Perú, Chiclayo and Arequipa, that we’ll be taking some of our gear to as we purchase more for our Lima studio. That’s the great thing about Blackmagic Design, the price points allow you to expand your workflow as needed without hurting your budget.”

As Grupo La República’s digital transformation continues, the organization plans on rebranding RTV this year, launching it on its own independent website and fully relying on Blackmagic Design once again.

Press Photography

Product photos of URSA Broadcast, Blackmagic Studio Camera, ATEM Television Studio HD, SmartScope Duo 4K, Smart Videohub 20x20, SmartView 4K, Mini Converter Optical Fiber 12G, Mini Converter SDI to HDMI 6G and all other Blackmagic Design products are available at www.blackmagicdesign.com/media/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.

FREMONT, CALIF.—A notice has been sent out to Blackmagic customers in regards to its ATEM Television Studio HD platform. A bug was discovered in the original software that shipped with the system that could affect live event production.

The bug was reportedly caused by the compiler used to develop code running in the ATEM Television Studio HD. Only ATEM Television Studio HD models before serial number 3722525 running software 7.0 or 7.1 are affected. No other models of ATEM switchers have been affected. The problem was resolved with the Switchers Update v7.1.1.

Blackmagic is urging customers who have not updated to the Switcher Update 7.1.1 to do so as soon as possible via the Blackmagic Design website.