FREMONT, Calif.—“Texas Legacy in Lights,” a new live action projection mapping film, was captured with Blackmagic Design URSA Cine 12K LF and Blackmagic PYXIS 6K digital film cameras, the company said today.

Director John Franklin Rinehart of Austin Film Crew created the project for the Gonzales Memorial Museum, producing a first of its kind narrative film that’s projected twice a day against the large exteriors of the museum.

Rinehart collaborated closely with director of photography (D.P.) Alex Walker for the project. “When we first conceived ‘Texas Legacy in Lights,’ the world's first live action projection mapping film, which covers the Texas Revolution of 1835, there were a lot of technical questions and challenges that came up right off the bat. Alex and I were pioneering something together, solving problems that didn’t yet have answers. There were moments on set where we’d look at the monitor and realize we were capturing something that had never existed before,” said Rinehart.

The project’s main challenge was properly shooting for the architecture of the Gonzales Memorial Museum, which is 96 feet by 32 feet, about one and a half times the size of an IMAX screen.

“When you’re shooting for projection mapping, you’re shooting for the architecture of the building itself. We picked different points in the building’s architecture and different surfaces that would house various parts of the story, with the plan to blend the images together so that you could see the whole narrative on one giant canvas. In a way, we were shooting multiple films simultaneously and then compositing them into a single experience,” said Rinehart.

Rinehart selected the URSA Cine 12K LF as the A camera due to its large format RGBW sensor, oftentimes shooting with up to five URSA Cine 12K LFs at once.

“There’s something about shooting large format that you just can’t replicate: the shallow depth of field, the scope, the cinematic feel. Even though we were doing something very foreign to audiences, as people aren’t used to seeing multiple pieces of the story on screen at the same time, we still wanted to keep it incredibly cinematic and familiar so the audience could lose themselves in the story. At the end of the day, this wasn’t about being a technical marvel. It was about telling an incredible story in a different way,” he said.

The PYXIS 6K was an ideal workhorse B camera, complementing the URSA Cine 12K LFs, said Rinehart. “We loved the PYXIS’s form factor; it was very stripped down and nimble. We could rig it up in different locations, do overheads and move it around without requiring a lot of crew.”

The URSA Cine 12K LFs’ sensor quality and high resolution capabilities were paramount as the team had to shoot very wide to allow for the building’s architecture. “Having the ability to crop into the image became the backbone of our editing process. Since we had that extra resolution, we were able to be very creative in how we problem solved in post, in a way that no other cameras currently on the market would allow,” said Rinehart.

“For example, at times we would use a tight shot on the right of the building and a wide shot on the left, showing the exact moment from two different framings simultaneously. In traditional filmmaking, these are shots you would usually cut back and forth between. But in this case, we had both images playing simultaneously. The audience on the left side of the museum would have a different experience from those on the right.

“To make that work, we needed to shoot wide because there are different areas of the building’s architecture, and if you let the image bleed over, it ends up distorting. You have to mask out a window or other architectural elements, so the image almost seems to sit behind the architecture rather than fighting against it. To do that, you need a lot of latitude in your image to punch in and reframe. That’s where the URSA Cine really came in handy,” said Rinehart.

The scale of the project often required five URSA Cine 12K LFs shooting simultaneously, all capturing one take. “We put our whole building together like a mosaic. Different façades yielded different images at various times, so if we wanted the entire image to come from a single scene, we needed five angles shooting simultaneously,” said Rinehart.

“Since all the shots were shown at the same time on different parts of the building, we couldn’t cut back and forth like traditional filmmaking, so I couldn’t hide performances between different takes. It had to be a single continuous take that encompassed the entire performance. That meant shooting with coverage for tights and wides simultaneously, getting two different masters, two different tights and an overall master of both characters in the frame—all at the same time.”

The cameras continued to prove themselves in post. Rinehart shot in Blackmagic RAW, which he called “second to none” when it came to being lightweight and working well inside DaVinci Resolve Studio.

The team used Resolve Studio across editing, color grading, visual effects (VFX) and audio post production, with Rinehart noting its all-in-one toolset as crucial to achieving the tight 45 day turnaround for post.

“At one point, we were compositing the town of Gonzales burning, placing fire elements along the outside of the building and bending those to the architecture itself. We had 42 layers of 12K footage being pushed through the timeline, which is an extraordinary amount for any system to handle. The fact that it could actually play back in real time blew my mind. That’s not something you could do with any other codec or software combination unless you were running on a supercomputer or dealing with a ton of proxies,” said Rinehart.

“For the actual projection mapping work, we relied heavily on the crop and feathering features in Resolve,” he said. “We could quickly blend images without having to grab a mask tool and manually work on them. Just being able to line up horizons quickly, that’s absolutely fantastic.”

“We mixed and mastered everything inside of the Fairlight page, including all the sound effects, dialog, music--the whole mix. I was really thrilled with how it performed. Even when I was pulling in a lot of VST3 plugins, it didn’t bog down the system,” he said. “We used the Fusion page as our primary VFX tool for particle effects and compositing. The node based workflow inside Fusion is really hard to beat.”

Since the film was projected on the side of the building, grading had specific challenge. “With projection mapping, you don’t have a beautiful white screen. We were projecting onto a weathered sandstone museum with aging, color variations and surface inconsistencies. Each image had to be color corrected specifically for the part of the building it would hit,” said Rinehart.

“We had to go onsite and perform a live grade of each element to ensure it had the correct color for its specific section of the building. Sometimes that required creating gradients because the stone was darker on the bottom and lighter at the top. So, we had to create graduated corrections, essentially blending two different color grades within a single image to account for the surface variations.

“This is where DaVinci Resolve’s ability to switch between node based grading and layer based editing really shone. We could create multiple correction layers with different masks and gradients, adjust them independently, and see the results in real time on the actual building.”

More information is available on the company’s website.

Blackmagic Design announced a range of new products it will launch at the 2026 NAB Show, April 18-22 in Las Vegas, led by its first immersive camera system for Apple Vision Pro.

The Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive 100G is being billed as the world’s first immersive cinema camera designed for live production with Apple Immersive Video. Featuring dual 8Kx8K RGBW sensors with 16 stops of dynamic range, URSA Cine Immersive 100G uses 100G Ethernet to deliver the bandwidth needed to output live immersive video for the first time.

Also new for the camera is the Blackmagic URSA Live Encoder, a live processor module that compresses live immersive video into Apple ProRes for output as SMPTE-2110-22 IP video, allowing customers to combine the stereo, high frame rate image streams into a single 100G Ethernet connection.

“Live immersive production is here, and it’s extraordinary,” said Grant Petty, Blackmagic Design CEO. “URSA Cine Immersive 100G makes it possible, and the images from this camera are just incredible to watch. It truly feels like you’ve been transported to the middle of the action. From sports to concerts, this opens up an entirely new world in live production!”

URSA Cine Immersive 100G features new sensors designed for incredible quality images at 8K x 8K per eye. Using the same revolutionary RGBW sensor design as URSA Cine, the new dual sensor layout features larger photo-sites, delivering 16 stops of dynamic range. The unique RGBW architecture provides equal amounts of red, green and blue pixels for incredible color super sampling. This means it is optimized to deliver incredibly rich colors and provide the ultimate in image quality and flexibility, even at the high frame rates live immersive video requires, the company said.

The Blackmagic URSA Live Encoder enables the Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive 100G to be used for live immersive production. It encodes live video into ProRes for output as SMPTE-2110 IP video via the high-speed 100G Ethernet port, creating an entirely new live immersive viewing experience. Plus, the camera data rate is under 50 Gb/s, so customers can combine two cameras into a single 100G Ethernet connection.

The URSA Cine Immersive 100G was recently used for Spectrum Front Row, a series of live Lakers games in Apple Immersive during the 2025-2026 season, which are now available to watch on demand using the Spectrum SportsNet and NBA apps for Apple Vision Pro.

Blackmagic’s first immersive camera, the URSA Cine Immersive has been used on a number of high-profile immersive productions, including MotoGP: Tour De Force, Debut at the BBC Proms, an upcoming documentary featuring Real Madrid, and NASA’s recent Artemis II launch.

Blackmagic will also debut its Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF 100G, with 100G Ethernet for high frame rate SMPTE-2110 live production output up to 440fps. Building on the digital film features of the URSA Cine 12K LF, including the large format RGBW 36x24mm sensor, the new model adds dramatically faster networking for cinematic live production workflows.

The camera will be available Q3 from US$8,995.

Software Updates
DaVinci Resolve 21 will be demo-ed at the Blackmagic booth, updated with a new Photo page,which enables colorists and photographers to use Hollywood’s most advanced color tools for still photos.

Other updates include new AI tools such as IntelliSearch for fast content searching, CineFocus for focal point adjustment, tools for facial refinement, and more. The Krokodove toolset adds over 70 new graphics to Fusion, Fairlight folders simplify audio track management, plus there are improvements to keyframing, MultiMaster trim passes, layer list node graphs and more.

DaVinci Resolve 21 public beta is available for download now from the Blackmagic Design website

Also new is Fairlight Live, a new software-based live audio mixer with spatial audio mixing and SMPTE-2110 broadcast workflows. Fairlight Live easily handles thousands of audio channels, working with standard computer audio or USB audio from ATEM live production switchers. Fully customizable, it has built-in effects and professional features such as a cue player, talkback busses, snapshots and more.

(Fairlight Live public beta is available immediately from the Blackmagic Design website free of charge)

Switchers
Two new additions to Blackmagic’s ATEM live production switchers platform, the ATEM 4 M/E Constellation IP and ATEM 4 M/E Constellation IP Plus are fully SMPTE-2110 native. They retain the features of the existing ATEM Constellation SDI based switchers, so they are familiar to users, allowing a seamless transition between SMPTE-2110 and SDI based switchers in facilities that have both.

Designed for high end broadcast and live production, the new design features front-to-back cooling, extensive redundancy, support for SMPTE-2022-7 on all 100G video ports, redundant PTP clock connections, 2 x 10G Ethernet for control ports and redundant AC power supplies.

The ATEM 4 M/E Constellation IP will be available in June from US$7,995.

Also new is the ATEM Monitoring Rack Panel, a new combination monitoring converter and control panel that can be used with ATEM Constellation IP live production switchers. It converts SMPTE 2110 IP to HDMI and 12G-SDI for connecting to monitors, however it also has front panel input buttons for controlling the switcher as well as an LCD and talkback connections.

It will be available in June from US$995.

Storage, Recording and Cloud
The new HyperDeck ISO Recorder 100G is a new SMPTE 2110 IP video recorder with 100G Ethernet that lets customers record all their cameras for live production. This means customers can also use DaVinci Resolve for live action replay. HyperDeck ISO Recorder 100G uses a single 100G Ethernet connection to connect all 8 video channels, plus it records high-quality Apple ProRes video to network storage via 100G Ethernet.

It will be available in June from US$4,995.

Blackmagic Cloud Store Ultra provides ultra-high performance flash storage with up to 48TB capacity and two independent 100G Ethernet connections that lets customers record and edit simultaneously without either workflow interfering with the other. Available in 24TB and 48TB models, it also features RAID 5 support, dual redundant power supplies and Blackmagic Cloud sync.

It will be available in June from US$8,835.

Conversion and Connectivity
The Blackmagic SDI Expander 8x12G converter lets customers connect all their 12G-SDI gear to the latest 100G Ethernet SMPTE-2110 IP systems. The converter supports 8 bi-directional 12G-SDI connections and has 2 separate 100G Ethernet connections allowing SMPTE-2022-7 redundancy.

It will be available in June from US$2,995.

The Blackmagic Media Dock Ultra is a new high performance dock for Blackmagic Media Modules with two fully independent 100G Ethernet ports. It also features SDI and HDMI status monitoring and Blackmagic Cloud sync that lets customers use Blackmagic Media Modules as extremely high performance removable storage.

It will available in June from US$2,995.

The new Blackmagic StudioBridge 10G PWR lets customers bridge eight separate 10G Ethernet SMPTE-2110 connections into modern 100G SMPTE-2022-7 redundant systems, allowing users to combine up to 8 separate cameras or converters into a 100G Ethernet IP video system. If the 10G Ethernet products use a single connection, then the Blackmagic StudioBridge 10G PWR will also bridge into the 2 x 100G Ethernet connections for a redundant broadcast system. Plus this converter has four separate internal power supplies so it can provide each of the 10G Ethernet connections with 90W PoE++ power.

It will be available in June from US$2,495.

The Blackmagic UpDownCross 100G standards converter lets customers simultaneously convert up to eight separate channels of SD, HD and Ultra HD video to any other standard. The new converter has redundant 100G Ethernet for full SMPTE 2022-7 compliance and a dedicated NMOS control port.

It will be available in June from US$2,435

The Blackmagic Ethernet Switch 820 is a new high performance, low latency model designed for advanced broadcast systems. It includes 8 x 100G and 2 x 10G Ethernet connections plus simple front panel SMPTE-2110 routing. Blackmagic Ethernet Switch 820 also has two redundant PTP clock Ethernet connections, a separate NMOS control port and a dedicated management port.

It will be available in June from US$2,295

Blackmagic Design will be in Booth N2502 in the North Hall of the LVCC.

SPRINGFIELD, Ore.—In 2007, I began filming Mark Warmer restoring an Mopar Muscle Car and the “Graveyard Carz” series began. Shortly thereafter, Warmer and I co-founded production company The Division, focusing on reality television, and today “Graveyard Carz,” a reality show chronicling the restoration of Mopar Muscle Cars that are often deemed beyond repair, is the longest-running series on MotorTrend’s linear network.

Over the years we’ve learned a lot, particularly when it comes to streamlining workflows and increasing efficiency. We’re a small crew, handling virtually everything in-house: shooting, editing, mixing, color correction, producing, mastering, delivering and social media. (I even do voiceover for the show.)

Better Collaboration
Previously, our post workflow was hampered by the fact that any last-minute edits involved changing multiple projects and tracking multiple changes across multiple versions. In moving to DaVinci Resolve Studio, I was most excited by team collaboration via Blackmagic Cloud. My hope was that I could color-correct while my fellow executive producer, Jeffrey Osborns, could mix—in a proper DAW [digital audio workstation], like DaVinci Resolve’s Fairlight. Even more, I hoped that our talented editor and animator Nick DeAngelo would be able to add b-roll—all simultaneously. We still have some details to iron out, but overall, I’m very pleased with the improvements to our workflow.

While the move to DaVinci Resolve Studio and Blackmagic Cloud was an essential step forward, I thought why not streamline further by bringing editing into production (vs. just post) for larger, multicam shoots with an ATEM Television Studio HD8 ISO switcher?

I knew the ATEM ISO model shined when used with DaVinci Resolve for postproduction, so why not direct and capture episodic shoots in a live production style, with pre-edited segments enhancing efficiency, while maintaining the flexibility to further edit in post?

For these shoots, we record onto the local hard drive, saving the .DRP file (i.e., a DaVinci Resolve Project file) along with it. This enables us to switch cameras and direct the shoot in a “live” style while maintaining the flexibility to edit afterwards. The ability to edit with proxies and then switch to Blackmagic RAW at the push of a button for final grading is unique. This can be a fast and appealing workflow if you don’t mind working with multiple cameras in the sync bin.

Pre-Editing Segments
Now, we can pre-edit larger segments while making sure we have coverage of the action. We use headsets to communicate during the shoot, with the ATEM operator informing the crew which camera is being used or how to adjust a shot. While this live directing approach is something we’ve done without a switcher, it’s a terrible waste of resources when it’s so easy to have someone simply push buttons and edit the segment live. It gives the editor a huge leg up when they have a large segment.

Additionally, it’s much more pleasant for a producer to watch something that appears to be edited. It’s also possible to mix cameras in this workflow, and even to process the resulting .DRP in such a way as to produce a classic multicam clip, if that workflow is more appealing.

As an independent production company, we have leveraged social media for promotion from the very beginning—so using the ATEM for multicam live streams is also exceptionally valuable to us. We’ve used it to live stream on social media platforms, and I am confident we will continue to do so.

For more information, contact Blackmagic Design at
408-954-0500 or visit www.blackmagicdesign.com.

FREMONT, Calif.—Blackmagic Design said the Associated Press has completed the transition of its global video-editing platform to DaVinci Resolve Studio.

The large-scale enterprise deployment includes several hundred licenses, supporting AP’s 24/7 global news operations and helping enable the creation of more than 1,500 video projects daily.

“AP produces video from more than 100 countries, delivering content to thousands of broadcasters, publishers and digital platforms every day,” said Derl McCrudden, AP vice president and head of global news production. “In support of that crucial journalism, we are working with DaVinci Resolve Studio to equip our journalists with state-of-the-art editing and production tools.”

The deployment included extensive integration with AP’s workflows and involved the development of several new capabilities in DaVinci Resolve Studio designed with breaking news in mind. These improvements included Growing Transport Stream Editing, which allows journalists to begin working on live incoming video feeds directly from AP’s media asset management system without waiting for complete file transfers. This means video can be cut and distributed within seconds after footage arrives.

As part of the deployment, AP now uses DaVinci Resolve Studio’s cloud-based preset and graphics distribution system, including graphics templates, project settings and export settings. This eliminates manual downloads and ensures branding and production standards are maintained across all locations.

Resolve has also been integrated with AP’s MAM to enable scalable cloud rendering. By distributing project rendering to cloud-based nodes, AP can automatically scale capacity during major news events and scale down when demand decreases. This reduces reliance on local rendering by journalists and editors, keeping workstations free for creative work and optimizing infrastructure costs, the companies reported.

The deployment has also simplified the software-management process. With single sign-on license management, AP uses Blackmagic Cloud to monitor, assign and redistribute Resolve licenses across its global user base.

As part of the deployment, AP journalists and field operatives were also given a comprehensive training program focused mainly on storytelling rather than technical editing. AP super-users collaborated with DaVinci Resolve Certified Trainers to develop an internal video-on-demand library, enabling staff to learn at their own pace and ensuring sustainable knowledge transfer.

FORT WORTH, Texas–At Front Row, our mission is to redefine entertainment by pushing boundaries and mixing imagination with innovation. One of our regular productions is the quadrennial Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, a 21-day event and one of the most prestigious contests in classical music.

The 2025 edition delivered more than 130 hours of multicamera 4K HDR coverage over three weeks. The preliminary and quarterfinal rounds took place at Van Cliburn Concert Hall at Texas Christian University, with the finals at Bass Performance Hall, all in Fort Worth.

The broadcast for each Cliburn competition gets a little bigger and, along with our producing partner Framework Productions, we try to push the envelope more each time, both technically and creatively.

Blackmagic Cloud
Between recent competitions, we solved some workflow problems, but we also upgraded to 4K, doubling the data rates and creating a new challenge, because storage is very expensive. By leveraging Blackmagic Cloud, we recorded directly to a Blackmagic Cloud Store 20TB and enabled point-to-point remote offloading to our post facility with Blackmagic Cloud Store Max 48TB.

At the facility, a Blackmagic Ethernet Switch 360P ensured seamless performance across seven or eight different editing stations, all working off the same Cloud Store Max, by providing the “air traffic control” we needed for efficient collaboration.

We managed Dropbox deliverables for media outlets and distribution partners, including “The Cliburn” YouTube channel, local television, Chinese distribution partners and Medici, the largest classical music platform in Europe. We ran Blackmagic Cloud for our ProRes files and high-resolution ISOs, which were live-synced to our backup facility, while smaller deliverables synced via Dropbox.

With nine 45-minute shows plus 2.5-hour line cuts, ISOs, etc., the ability to have a complete set of “transferred” media immediately after each segment saved us hours of 4K transfer time. Orchestrating both Dropbox and Blackmagic Cloud deliverables streamlined the entire process, removing the complications of running hard drives between multiple locations.

We still created hard-drive backups, but even that was simplified: connecting via a 10G cable to the Blackmagic Cloud Store 20TB allowed overnight transfers, replacing the usual scramble to clear Solid State Drives (SSDs) for the next day’s show. We were able to completely eliminate the bottleneck of SSD transfers and having five or six decks of content that had to be dropped. The peace of mind of having all those programs in the cloud the entire time was amazing. For the first time ever, I didn’t worry about the safety of our media.

Security Plus
It was also a game-changer from a disaster recovery perspective, since everything was backed up immediately. It made our media manager’s job so much easier, because he could start organizing and naming everything, focusing on more important tasks instead of spending hours copying files.

Looking ahead, we are already anticipating replicating the workflow at the junior version of the competition in 2027. The Blackmagic Cloud workflow enables us to do so much more in terms of remote media management, simplifying the process and reducing the number of people that are onsite in the control room.

This year marked our most successful distribution strategy to date, thanks to the freedom we had to focus on our content delivery rather than worrying if the media was where it needed to be. With Blackmagic Cloud at each and every step of the way, the entire workflow was streamlined end-to-end, enabling us to concentrate on telling the story of the competition.

For more information, contact Blackmagic Design at
408-954-0500 or visit www.blackmagicdesign.com.

SANTA CLARITA, Calif.—Migrate Sound is a recording and audio postproduction studio specializing in all aspects of audio production, including voiceover, dialogue, group and sound effects recording, sound designing and mixing, remote and on-the-go (OTG) recording, mix to picture (stereo and surround), copywriting, translation and adaptation.

With clients ranging from television and streaming networks to movie studios and advertising agencies, the majority of my projects include radio promos for Fox, Amazon Prime, Hallmark, Audible and more. I produce about 30 to 40 promos per year across a variety of genres, including comedy, drama, reality television and entertainment, or contest-based shows.

Sweeps are a notoriously busy time and as they happen four times a year, efficiency and ways to streamline and advance my workflow are always top of mind. I recently upgraded my studio, migrating from legacy Fairlight to DaVinci Resolve Studio for audio post just in time to tackle Fox’s February sweeps promos, which had me creating numerous radio spots for a variety of shows. Armed with the Fairlight Desktop Audio Editor and Fairlight Console Channel Fader hardware, I went to work.

Compressed Voiceover
Having done this for the better part of 30 years, it comes very naturally to me, but the promo is an art that requires fine instincts and the ability to condense an entire episode of a show into 30 seconds. Producing a radio promo means capturing the listener’s attention quickly and delivering a clear, compelling message within a very short time frame, all while maintaining high audio quality and adhering to branding guidelines.

Trying to fit the entire message into less than 30 seconds gets very tricky. The network gives us creative mandates, which include phrases that cannot be cut no matter what. DaVinci Resolve Studio’s ability to time-compress voiceover bits and soundbites from a show is a godsend. It’s done on the fly, it’s very fast and accurate and it doesn’t require the need to create a new clip.

DaVinci Resolve Studio’s AI-based noise reduction and voice isolation tools are like magic wands. Sound bites from TV shows can sometimes be noisy; with outdoor scenes comes background noise. While it makes sense on television because the visuals are there, it’s just confusing when used for radio. Though I’ve gotten rather skilled at filtering out distracting noises manually, the voice-isolation tools have made my job so much easier.

I was a bit hesitant to upgrade my studio as my original Fairlight system was still working great, so why rush? But I realized that staying up to date with technology is crucial for my business, or any business for that matter. I wanted to make sure my studio had the latest equipment, features and compatibility within our industry, so I can deliver to my clients and stay competitive.

As a business owner, a studio upgrade needs to deliver a return on investment and give me peace of mind that it’ll start up in the morning. I don’t have the luxury of moving to another room when there’s a problem with the one I’m working in. If my studio is down, my business is down. So, the most important thing to me is reliability and support, which comes seamlessly with Blackmagic Design.

For more information, contact Blackmagic Design at 408-954-0500 or visit www.blackmagicdesign.com.

FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla.—As a radio host and journalist in Haiti, I developed a deep passion for storytelling, music, and digital content over the course of my 20 year career. That passion led me to create Chokarella in 2010—a platform that amplifies Haitian culture through interviews, live shows, and original productions now shared to hundreds of thousands of followers through social media and our app.

I opened the first Chokarella studio in Haiti in 2015, starting with a Pocket Cinema Camera 4K. During the pandemic, I shifted quickly into live streaming, building out a workflow with ATEM Television Studio HD, HyperDecks, Video Assist, and ATEM Streaming Bridge.

Second Studio
To expand our reach, I recently opened a second studio here in Fort Lauderdale, featuring Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K, Pocket Cinema Camera 6K G2, ATEM Mini Pro ISO, ATEM Mini Extreme ISO, and DaVinci Resolve Studio. We needed a production setup that could deliver broadcast-quality visuals, integrate seamlessly with live streaming and multi-camera recordings, and fit within our budget. The Blackmagic gear checked all those boxes, providing cinema-quality imaging without the price tag of other high-end systems.

For live productions, cameras with LUTs feed into the ATEM Mini Extreme ISO, and for pre-recorded content, we shoot in 6K Blackmagic RAW, then color grade and edit in DaVinci Resolve Studio, exporting in 4K. The ATEM Mini Extreme ISO handles our livestreams directly, which makes everything faster and more reliable.

The Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K and Pocket Cinema Camera 6K G2 have had an impressive impact on our productions by allowing our team to quickly deliver high-quality videos, even those that incorporate multi-camera live switching. The Pocket Cinema Camera 6K G2s are usually secondary cameras in our multicam setups because they’re perfect for wide or mid shots during live streams.

The Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K is my go-to for 4K interviews, music sessions, and documentary-style content. The image depth is beautiful, and open gate recording lets me reframe in post for multiple aspect ratios without losing quality. The built-in ND filters also make shooting outdoors or under studio lights a breeze.

Full Control With Multiple Angles
For smaller shoots with a straightforward two to three camera setup, I use the ATEM Mini Pro ISO, which works well for our one-on-one interviews, solo content creation, podcast recordings, or pre-recorded segments where we don’t need a ton of inputs. When I need full control with multiple angles, I turn to the ATEM Mini Extreme ISO—its eight inputs are essential for events like live panels, concerts, and events with multiple additional angles.

In post, I use DaVinci Resolve Studio for color grading to maintain a consistent aesthetic across content. I also love Resolve’s multicam editing for interview cuts, Fusion for motion graphics, and Smart Reframe to prep clips for TikTok and Instagram. On the audio side, I use Fairlight for noise reduction, voice isolation, EQ, and compression to make sure everything sounds clean and professional.

Most days, I handle post myself, but for larger projects, I have two editors who also work in Resolve. Blackmagic’s gear has helped us level up our production quality while keeping everything efficient, fast, and in-house.

LOS ANGELES—As Korn’s cinematographer for the past 20 years, I’ve worked closely with the band to capture everything from music videos and studio sessions to global tours. When it came time to document their 30th anniversary show, I wanted to do something we’d never done before, something that matched the scale and energy of the band’s legacy while pushing the boundaries of how a concert can be filmed.

The idea? Invite the fans to shoot it.

Korn has always embraced technology and they’re constantly looking for ways to connect with fans on a deeper level. So, when I pitched the idea of using the Blackmagic Camera mobile app to let fans become part of the film crew, the band was totally on board.

Mobile Production
Blackmagic Camera adds Blackmagic Design’s digital film camera controls and image processing to iPhone, iPad, Android phone and tablets, so anyone can create the same cinematic look as a Hollywood feature film from their smart device. It has color space directly integrated to preserve the dynamic range and when footage goes to post, it is consistent with footage shot on any other Blackmagic Design camera. This was crucial for consistency between fan footage and mine, as I was shooting on a Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro.

We blasted the opportunity out on social media, inviting the first 200 fans who signed up to act as filmmakers for the night. Each downloaded the app, which is free for anyone, with a custom preset we provided to ensure a uniform recording format and upload settings. Time-code syncing was as simple as using each phone’s time of day.

DaVinci Resolve’s cloud-syncing capabilities made the phone-to-Blackmagic Cloud workflow seamless and hands-off for the fans. As fans were shooting, clips were uploading to the cloud right away. In another use case, the editor could have been working on the footage moments after it was filmed.

The footage we got was unlike anything I’ve ever shot. We had fans filming their journeys to the concert, the energy in the crowd and the raw chaos of the mosh pit. Some of the most striking moments were from right inside that pit—immersive, sweaty and emotional. It’s a perspective I could never have achieved with a traditional rig, nor would I want to disrupt those moments by pointing a professional camera in someone’s face. But thanks to Blackmagic Camera, we had hundreds of lenses capturing a deeply authentic experience from every possible angle and in cinematic quality.

Cloud Stores
We used Blackmagic Cloud Stores as local drives to sync and back up all footage. To stay organized, I relied on Blackmagic Organizations within Resolve to set up collaboration groups. We had one group for fan footage, another for our internal production team and another for editorial. This structure gave us creative flexibility while keeping everything secure and accessible.

One of the things I appreciate most about Blackmagic Camera is that it lowers the barrier to entry. Picking up a professional camera for the first time can be overwhelming; all the buttons, menus and controls can feel completely foreign if you haven’t worked in production before. But your phone? That’s something you’re already on constantly.

This app flips that learning curve on its head. You open it on the familiarity of your phone, while also experiencing the exact same user interface that’s found on Blackmagic Design’s entire line of cameras. You’re learning to frame, expose and shoot using the same visual language that professional DPs use in the field. It’s an incredible gateway into the craft.

For more information, contact Blackmagic Design at 408-954-0500 or visit blackmagicdesign.com.

TORONTO—In 2019, I founded The Live Stream King, a Toronto-based livestreaming and audiovisual solutions provider. With more than 600 live streams under our belt, The Live Stream King has produced and streamed a range of events for clients such as Walmart, TD Bank and more. In 2025, we introduced a modular OB truck to expand the company’s offerings even further.

Over the past several years, I’ve seen the company grow exponentially, allowing us to service customers in diverse industries ranging from weddings to concerts and sports to religious gatherings. Our success in North America has been one of the many reasons why we launched an OB truck to achieve seamless setups and flexibility to meet our clients’ needs. Because many of the projects we work on require in-venue configurations, we opted for a modular approach that can be easily adjusted and allows us to use only what’s necessary for each project, no matter how small or big.

Designed To Stream
Our OB truck is equipped with Blackmagic Design products that allow us to deliver each project with precision. For large events, we usually use an ATEM 2 M/E Constellation 4K live production switcher paired with an ATEM 1 M/E Advanced Panel 10. For events that need a more mobile and compact setup, we use an ATEM Television Studio HD8 ISO live production switcher and for smaller productions, we rely on an ATEM SDI Extreme ISO live production switcher.

We also use an URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2 as well as a Pocket Cinema Camera 6K and DaVinci Resolve Studio for editing. Recently, we started using the DaVinci Resolve Replay Editor for multicamera editing and replays for sports.

At the heart of our workflow, a Blackmagic Videohub 40x40 6G router is paired with the ATEM 2 M/E Constellation 4K, which is primarily used for large gigs where we need a lot of inputs/outputs. We also use a Videohub 20x20 with the ATEM SDI Extreme ISO to feed projectors, confidence monitors, screens and internal routing to our system, eliminating the need for multiple SDI splitters and resetting cables.

Signal flows are managed through our main Videohub 40x40 6G. By having a networked interface and app control in our iPads, every team member can make changes to their tasks and preferences as needed. The small preview screen on the Videohub 40x40 6G ensures that the appropriate signal is coming in when assigning it. For the truck setup, each person can use their iPad or the Videohub Smart Control Pro, allowing them to make changes to their own screens or inputs/outputs without having to be physically next to the switcher.

Videohub Setup
The Blackmagic Videohubs allow inputs to be assigned to any output very quickly, eliminating the need to manually unplug and plug cables. Sometimes we may want to send different feeds to different devices for display, recording, monitoring or GFX purposes, so having the Blackmagic Videohubs as our central component rather than tons of cables smooths out our workflow.

Looking back at some of the projects we worked on recently, like the Badminton and Racquetball Association winter competition, snocross racing events and plenty of conferences, I am amazed at how we were able to rely on the Blackmagic Videohubs to manage all of our SDI workflows so efficiently. Having input all cameras and media sources to the Blackmagic Videohub, then outputting them back into the ATEMs, monitors and the rest of the gear, was extremely easy and allowed us to deliver each project with superior quality.

For additional information, contact Blackmagic Design at 408-954-0500 or visit
www.blackmagicdesign.com.

TV Tech: What do you anticipate will be the most significant technology trends at the 2025 NAB Show?

J. Dave Hoffman: I think AI and remote workflows are going to be major themes this year. Assistive AI is becoming a game-changer for modern broadcast workflows, transforming how content can be produced and managed. By using AI-based tools to streamline tedious tasks, broadcasters can speed up their workflows and produce even higher quality content. In For example, DaVinci Resolve features like automatic transcription and audio classifying can help boost efficiency, especially in fast-paced environments like newsrooms, where material is unscripted and every second counts. Remote production is also revolutionizing broadcast workflows by making it possible to collaborate from anywhere. With tools like the ATEM Streaming Bridge, broadcasters and creators can work together on shows and build a global network of high-quality remote broadcast studios. Our Blackmagic URSA Broadcast G2 camera demonstrates how remote workflows are making a difference, given its ability to upload videos directly to Blackmagic Cloud, making media instantly accessible at the studio. Editors around the world can even sync and edit footage live in DaVinci Resolve while the camera is recording, so breaking news can be delivered to air within seconds. With these innovations, traditional broadcast studios can more easily transform into dynamic, remote operations. Between AI and new cloud capabilities, we’re entering a new era and I think we’ll start to see just how far these technologies can take us at this year’s show.

TVT: What will be your most important product news?

JDH: It’s less about a single product and more about making workflow connections. Standing on their own, our products are phenomenal, but creating an end to end workflow that is effective, affordable and produces high quality content is where we really thrive and what excites our customers. That said, I’m excited for attendees to learn more about some of the products we’ve announced since last year’s show. In particular, our Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive, which is the world’s first commercial camera system designed to capture Apple Immersive Video. Paired with DaVinci Resolve, users will have the ability to edit Apple Immersive Video for the first time. We’re taking pre-orders for the camera now so I think showgoers will be eager to lean more from us in person.

TVT: How is your new product different from what’s available on the market?

JDH: Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive is the world’s first commercial camera system designed to capture Apple Immersive Video. Apple Immersive Video is a brand-new storytelling format that leverages 8K, 3D video with a 180-degree field of view, and Spatial Audio to transport viewers to the center of the action. The camera enables creators to put the viewer in the action, compared to pulling the action out to the viewers — it’s opening up a whole new world for how we consume content and offering viewers an unparalleled sense of realism and immersion.

TVT: What is it about the NAB Show that brings you back every year?

JDH: We love talking to our customers, and while we are having all kinds of conversations with customers throughout the year, NAB provides somewhat of a “zoom-out” effect. Our CEO, Grant Petty, always says something along the lines of “we can’t wait to see what you do with our products” when announcing something new, and while I usually have a good idea as to how customers will use our products, I am never disappointed to have customers tell me or, in many cases, show me first hand what amazing things they have done with or products! It’s a unique environment where you’re talking to customers from every walk of life, every industry, back to back, all week. After it’s over and everyone catches their breath, you’ve got a good sense of where the industry is as a whole and where the priorities and interests are moving forward.

It’s become a virtuous circle: Advances in graphics and editing technology lead to higher quality and better-looking content, especially on mobile devices. The audience becomes accustomed to these improvements, which drives the need for further advances in improved quality and content appearance.

Advanced graphics and editing are the unsung heroes of modern video production and the trends and technology that support these heroes will be on full display on the 2025 NAB Show floor in Las Vegas.

As consumers become accustomed to high-quality visual content across all their devices, broadcasters are feeling the pressure to meet these expectations with their own content to stay competitive, according to Sarah Jones, senior technical solutions specialist for Blackmagic Design, Americas.

“This demand means broadcasters are upgrading production equipment and investing in technologies capable of delivering higher resolutions and cinematic images,” Jones says. “While this could impact production budgets, today’s technologies are more accessible than ever before, packing professional features into affordable budgets, so we’re seeing a reduction in the barrier to entry when it comes to the use of cutting-edge technology.”

Standing Out
Uniqueness is also becoming more important in the video graphics and editing sector. With content providers serving out so many channels in an ever more-crowded video universe, being different and eye-catching is vital for building audiences.

As a result, “a significant trend we’re seeing at ENCO Systems is the need for both customizable channel branding and dynamic graphics insertion,” says Bill Bennett, media solutions and
accounts manager for the company.
“Broadcasters and streamers often have the same content feeding several different channels, each requiring its own branding, so they rely on our ClipFire video playout system to separately brand each signal.

“Furthermore, these same folks like to host cost-efficient automated channels with dynamic, compelling graphics which change with real-time data [think weather or sports], so we’ve been able to help them do that, too,” Bennett adds.

Of course, serving out all these extra channels costs money, which is a commodity that content providers cherish. That is why economy is a third trend influencing the graphics and editing sector, with vendors doing their best to devise solutions that deliver advances without emptying the bank.

“​​Whether an individual content creator or a large broadcaster, many are looking to achieve more with less,” Vizrt Chief Marketing Officer Chris Black tells TV Tech. “They’re looking for workflows and technology that can support them creating more content, faster, with multiple aspect ratios for dual outputs, leveraging their current investment without the need to add in new tech, or hire new people. Two big focuses we are seeing are the use of dual-aspect ratios for social media content alongside linear or multiregion
advertising to monetize content across various demographics.”

At the same time, production teams are seeking new ways to scale up their operations that are inherently flexible and efficient. “As a result, we are seeing the further democratization of media technology,” Black says. For instance, “cloud-native and web-based HTML5 graphics platforms with intuitive UI are offering existing graphics templates for individuals to use, increasing efficiency in time to air.”

What They’ll Be Showing
Blackmagic Design will have two booths in South Hall Lower, (SL216 and SL8016), and will showcase cameras, DaVinci Resolve postproduction software and hardware, its wide range of SMPTE-2110 IP video products, the ATEM family of live production switchers, streaming solutions, network storage and more, according to Jones.

“Pairing our URSA Cine Immersive and DaVinci Resolve provides an end-to-end workflow to support these evolving interactive needs, providing the means to capture and edit 8K, 3D video with a 180-degree field of view,” Jones says. “The Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive is the world’s first commercial camera system designed to capture Apple Immersive Video, and DaVinci Resolve provides the ability to edit Apple Immersive Video for the first time.”

When it comes to automating time-intensive tasks, DaVinci Resolve Studio’s Neural Engine-backed AI tools can significantly speed up workflows. “This comes into play, for example, with our facial recognition technology, which can automatically detect, track and organize footage based on an individual’s face, eliminating the need to search and organize manually,” Jones says. “Similarly, smart reframe tools intelligently resize and reposition footage to fit various aspect ratios, facilitating content repurposing across platforms.

ENCO Systems will showcase its ClipFire flagship multichannel playout and ingest platform which can service a lot of needs (and channels) from a single box, according to Bennett.

“We’ll be showing where we think the future of broadcast graphics are headed, thanks to our Qimera Virtual Production produc,” Bennett says. “Built on the massively popular Unreal Engine, Qimera generates stunning truly three-dimensional graphics which humans can interact with and walk around in 3D space, complete with graphics (and backgrounds) that move as the humans do in-camera, making for some incredibly compelling video. We’ll also be showing the new MOS newsroom automation hooks we’ve built into Qimera recently, to automate the data that’s making those 3D dynamic graphics so compelling.”

Also in the West Hall, Vizrt will demonstrate Viz Connect Audio, “which offers unparalleled connectivity, visibility, and control of audio sources on an NDI network,” Black says. “We are particularly excited about Viz Connect Audio, and how it seamlessly integrates with our flagship TriCaster, the TriCaster Vizion.”

This year’s show will be the first time that the multi-award-winning TriCaster Vizion will be demoed at NAB Show, offering the latest in IP connectivity, configurable SDI I/O, powerful switching, audio mixing and state-of-the-art graphics. “Show attendees can also expect to see advancements in Viz Engine’s seamless integration with Unreal Engine,” Black says. “Building on benchmarks for ease of use and performance, Vizrt will demonstrate—via Viz Arc—enhanced control of the latest versions of Viz Engine 5 and Unreal Engine 5.”

Vizrt also plans to display its latest advances in immersive graphics, cloud, automation, and AI. “We aren’t just showing technology,” Black concludes. “We are showing real-world solutions that solve everyday production challenges across three experience areas and several solution pods.”

NEW YORK—The Joyce Theater, a 472-seat dance and performance venue in the heart of Manhattan, has supported the dance community since 1982 by providing a home for more than 400 domestic and international companies, as well as by offering an annual 45-to-48-week season, allowing more than 150,000 audience members to experience diverse, popular and challenging performances.

As the theater’s director of production, I oversee numerous aspects of video production, including our practice of providing a video monitor feed to the backstage areas during performances. This can also be used for archival recordings of performances, with the Blackmagic Micro Studio Camera 4K G2 taking a wide shot of the full stage.

The dance companies that perform here use this footage for daily notes, as a record of a particular performance or for teaching purposes for new dancers or stage managers. In the past, we recorded to VHS and then to DVD. Until 2024, we used a consumer handy­cam, but as digital files are the prevailing format, we updated our own workflow and now use several Blackmagic Design products to achieve this digital archival format.

Upgrade To Blackmagic
As a not-for-profit organization, we had to be mindful of the best way to go about this change. Due to funding concerns and other projects at the theater, we couldn’t just rip out our video workflow and start anew. We had to leave some older equipment in place, which meant we had to consider new equipment that would work with our SDI cabling and distribution points, which are at least 15 years old. We upgraded our handycam to a Micro Studio Camera 4K G2 and implemented numerous Blackmagic Design converters to make it all work.

The Micro Studio Camera 4K G2 is positioned in the back of the theater above the last row of seats, allowing for a wide view of the stage. It is connected to a Blackmagic Mini Converter SDI to Analog 4K with a single analog output to an SDI distribution box that sends an NTSC signal to monitors in several backstage locations. The SDI output on the converter is split to two locations that can handle a higher quality signal, currently set at 1080p29.97.

One branch goes to our stage manager’s monitor. The other branch runs to a Blackmagic Mini Converter SDI Distribution in the production office. This distribution point sends the 1080p signal to a monitor in the green room and to a Teranex Mini Audio to SDI 12G, which combines the audio signal from our sound console and the SDI feed from the camera. From there, a HyperDeck Studio HD Plus broadcast deck provides the recording point, and a video signal is sent to a monitor located in the production office via HDMI.

Integrated Simplicity
The fact that all the Blackmagic equipment works so well together makes the setup easier, and the ability to switch between media types in the recording process is great. On any given day, the performing company may ask for an archival recording of a rehearsal or performance, and some companies also request archival recordings with the headset feed for teaching and/or training purposes.

We are set up to add the headset feed into the audio feed, either in stereo or mono, as we frequently pan the show feed to one channel and the headset feed to another so that the company can practice and train cue calling with or without the headset feed.

The Blackmagic gear, particularly the converters, allows us to better serve the companies that perform here with minimal cost and without having to endure a huge overhaul. It’s difficult for any small arts organization to upgrade equipment, but the companies gain added benefits by having the archival recordings balance the cost. We anticipate many more years of success in sustaining dance, sharing the art form with audiences and supporting the companies that come through our doors.

More information is available at www.blackmagicdesign.com.

FREMONT, Calif.—With the 2025 Sundance Film Festival now underway, Blackmagic Design has announced that more than 40 notable projects at event were created using its products, including its digital film cameras, DaVinci Resolve Studio editing, color grading, visual effects (VFX) and audio post production software, and more.

The projects included “André is an Idiot,” “LUZ,” “Twinless” and “Ricky,” that were shot with Blackmagic Design cameras, and projects such as “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,” “Dead Lover,” “Rains Over Babel (Llueve sobre Babel),” “Plainclothes” and “Opus” that relied on DaVinci Resolve Studio throughout post production.

According to “André is an Idiot” DP Ethan Indorf: “We used the URSA Mini Pro 12K as our two shot when André was talking with Tommy Chong, and the URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2 on a few interviews in the film. The Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro came in handy when our A cam was tied up on the car rig. It was lightweight and quick to fire up when time and space were an issue.”

In Sundance’s “LUZ,” dual stories of challenging family dynamics unravel in Chongqing and Paris, with the characters’ lives colliding in a virtual reality (VR) world as they begin parallel quests to rekindle familial love. DP Benjamin Echazarreta used a Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K digital film camera to capture the VR sequences, noting: “We mounted the Pocket on a small gimbal and fixed it to the actors to capture POV shots, bringing the VR world to life. We chose the Pocket since its lightweight, compact design and cinematic image quality allowed us capture the unique POV shots we were after.”

Sundance 2025 projects that used Blackmagic Design cameras and gear during production and post included:

• “André is an Idiot”: DP Ethan Indorf used Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 12K, Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2, and Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro digital film cameras as B and C cameras;
• “Come See Me in the Good Light”: Editor Berenice Chávez and Assistant Editor Aliyah Bryant used DaVinci Resolve for testing and online conforming;
• “LUZ”: DP Benjamin Echazarreta used Pocket Cinema Camera 4K to capture the VR parts of the film, including mounting the camera on an actor for POV shots;
• “Omaha”: DP Paul Meyers, ASC used DaVinci Resolve Studio to grade dailies;
• “Rains Over Babel (Llueve sobre Babel)”: Editors Gala del Sol and Hadley Hillel used DaVinci Resolve Studio to edit the film, along with Assistant Editors Jose Varón and Felipe Aguilar;
• “Ricky”: Director Rashad Frett and DP Sam Motamedi used Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro to capture interviews and DaVinci Resolve Studio for dailies;
• “Sunfish (& Other Stories on Green Lake)”: DP Marcus Patterson used DaVinci Resolve for LUTs and dailies;
• “Together”: Editor Sean Lahiff used UltraStudio 4K Mini capture and playback devices while editing the film, while DIT Reece Flemming used Blackmagic Video Assist 7” 12G monitor/recorder, DaVinci Resolve, various Smart Videohub routers and Blackmagic MultiDock 10G disk array;
• “Twinless”: DP Greg Cotten used Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K digital film camera for second unit work and car mounted scenes and DaVinci Resolve for on set previewing and dailies; and
• “The Wedding Banquet”: DIT Richard McSweeney used Blackmagic Videohub 20x20 12G router, SmartScope Duo 4K monitor and UltraStudio 4K Mini.

Sundance 2025 Projects that used DaVinci Resolve and DaVinci Resolve Studio for grading included:

• “André is an Idiot,” graded by Marcy Robinson of Nice Shoes;
• “Atropia,” graded by Mikey Rossiter of Rare Medium;
• “Bulldozer,” graded by Pat Fitzgerald of Light Iron;
• “Bunnylovr,” graded by Josh Bohoskey of Rare Medium;
• “Come See Me in the Good Light,” graded by Stephen Derluguian;
• “Dead Lover,” graded by Conor Fisher;
• “En Memoria,” graded by Ayumi Ashley of Rare Medium;
• “Hal and Harper,” graded at Picture Shop by Tom Forletta;
• “Heightened Scrutiny,” graded by Shanna Maurizi of Dungeon Beach;
• “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,” graded by Nat Jencks of PostWorks New York;
• “It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley,” graded at Company 3 by Andrew Geary;
• “The Librarians,” graded by Marcy Robinson of Nice Shoes;
• “Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore,” graded by Luke Cahill of Different by Design;
• “Middletown,” graded by Luke Cahill of Different by Design;
• “Move Ya Body: The Birth of House,” graded by Jack Lewars of PostWorks New York;
• “Opus” graded by Mitch Paulson of Picture Shop;
• “Out For Delivery,” graded by Ayumi Ashley of Rare Medium;
• “The Perfect Neighbor,” graded by Allie Ames of PostWorks New York;
• “Peter Hujar’s Day,” graded by Andrew Geary of Light Iron;
• “Plainclothes,” graded by Nat Jencks of PostWorks New York;
• “Predators,” graded by Brian Boyd;
• “Prime Minister,” graded by Frederik Bokkenheuser of Picture Shop;
• “Rains Over Babel (Llueve sobre Babel),” graded by Elliott Powell with a DaVinci Resolve Mini Panel;
• “Sabar Bonda,” graded by Himanshu Kamble of Bridge PostWorks;
• “Seeds,” graded by Natacha Ikoli at Nice Dissolve with DaVinci Resolve Mini Panel, as well as DaVinci Resolve for iPad and Blackmagic Cloud;
• “Serious People,” graded by TJ Seiler and Mikey Rossiter of Rare Medium;
• “Sorry, Baby,” graded by Marcy Robinson of Nice Shoes;
• “Sugar Babies,” graded by María Carretero;
• “Sweet Talkin’ Guy,” graded by Alastor Arnold of FotoKem;
• “Third Act,” graded by Sam Zook of Mom&Pop;
• “Tiger,” graded by Andrew Francis of GAHBA Studios;
• “Together,” graded by Sean Lahiff;
• “Touch Me,” graded by Drew Tekulve of Paradox Post; and
• “The Virgin of Quarry Lake (La Virgen de la Tosquera),” graded by Leo Fallas of Fermento Color.

KALAMAZOO, Mich.—Michigan’s Kalamazoo College has deployed a variety of Blackmagic Design gear, including cameras, switchers and recorders for campuswide production.

The deployment includes a full TV production studio in the college library, three mobile streaming kits for athletics, lectures and concerts and three performance venues and campus chapel—all outfitted with Blackmagic Design production gear, the company said.

“Kalamazoo College sees media production and media literacy as vital tools for educating students for a rapidly evolving future, and most of our media department staff comes from real-world broadcast backgrounds,” Jaakan Page-Wood, media producer and studio instructor for Information Services at Kalamazoo College, said.

The college’s Upjohn Library Commons is home to a studio used for TV production class, class projects, video presentations, marketing and internal video content. It’s outfitted with four Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K Pros, each with Blackmagic Focus Demands and Blackmagic Zoom Demands, that record to four HyperDeck Studio HD Plus broadcast decks. The signals are then fed into an ATEM 2 M/E production switcher complete with ATEM 2 M/E broadcast panel. Two HyperDeck Studio 4K Pros are also used. One feeds the switcher for selectable video content and the other is used for recording from the switcher, the company said.

“The Studio Camera’s large display is great for teaching because it’s so dominant that it really focuses the students on what their camera is looking at, and I can see what they are doing from a distance in the control room,” Page-Wood said. “The zoom and focus controllers work well with them, and the integrated tally light is a huge help when teaching the students when they are on standby or when their camera is hot.”

The college also has five SmartScope Duo 4Ks to give the technical director a clear view of all four cameras, he said, adding that the director also can see the cameras, a program feed and a selectable aux monitor. “A SmartView 4K is used for program and preview, and a Web Presenter 4K handles streaming,” said Page-Wood.

Page-Wood also created the college’s mobile streaming kit, which is used during graduations, assemblies and student performances on the central campus quadrangle. The kit includes an ATEM switcher and panel, HyperDecks, ATEM Camera Converters, ATEM Studio Converter and Mini Converters Optical Fiber 12G, he said.

“We use this kit, along with a bunch of tactical fiber cables, to turn our outdoor spaces into a multicamera recording space,” Page-Wood said. “We usually have six cameras going, and we use the comms on the camera converters to talk back and forth.”

The college’s two small mobile streaming kits each feature an ATEM Mini Pro live production switcher. One is used in the Anderson Athletic Center and athletic fields to stream more than 100 sporting events a year. The second is used for lectures and student performances, as well as a backup for athletics, the company said.

“Athletics has a variety of spaces where permanently installed equipment isn’t feasible, so we move this kit around to different sports and stream from wherever need be,” Page-Wood said. “Our natatorium has a networked camera that feeds into the fixed production studio, so we often stream swimming events from the library via the web presenter.”

To assist in the production of theatrical and artistic performances, the college has deployed five additional ATEM Mini Pros across the campus, including in the Dalton Theater, Recital Hall, Dewing 103, the Nelda K. Balch Playhouse and Stetson Chapel.

More information is available on the Blackmagic Design website.

FREMONT, Calif.—Blackmagic Design today unveiled new features for its Blackmagic Cloud, including a new icon view with thumbnails that can be scrubbed to preview footage and a new inspector panel for easy viewing of clip metadata.

Blackmagic Cloud customers can also now share a presentation with a client who is not a Blackmagic Cloud member via URL, making it possible to collaborate and conduct group chats. All customers currently using Blackmagic Cloud will see these new features immediately.

The cloud-storage app has a new icon view that customers can select at the top right of the window. It shows thumbnail icons for media files. Customers can scrub the thumbnails by moving the mouse over the icons to scroll through a clip. If they switch back to list view, the icons reflect the media file's contents, the company said.

Most media files have already been converted to image icons, though some are being processed and will be completed in the coming days. Blackmagic Cloud supports generating thumbnail icons from a range of common media file formats. Any format not yet supported will display generic icons, it said.

The new metadata inspector panel on the right side of the Blackmagic Cloud storage app window allows customers to select the info icon on the top right and open a tab to see the selected clip’s metadata. There is also a scrollable view of the clip media, which makes it easy to select clips in list view, Blackmagic said.

Blackmagic Cloud Presentations now offers the ability to invite clients into a presentation with a URL. If customers select to share a presentation with someone who is not a member of Blackmagic Cloud, then a URL will be generated that can be copied and pasted into an email, it said.

The Blackmagic Cloud login window has also been localized into German, Chinese, Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Turkish and Ukrainian.

“Since we launched Blackmagic Cloud, we have been continuously updating and releasing new features to make it even easier for customers to share and collaborate globally,” said Blackmagic Design CEO Grant Petty said. “Customers have continued to provide feedback, and we are excited to be able to add the ability to preview clips in a thumbnail, view clip metadata and review clips with clients who are not members of Blackmagic Cloud using a simple URL.”

The new Blackmagic Cloud features are available today for no additional charge at www.cloud.blackmagicdesign.com.

More information is available on the company’s website.

ONTARIO—Back in 2021, suffering from severe pandemic-related cabin fever, I decided to do something I’d never done before: make and release some ultra-short horror movies entirely online.

And so, with a tiny self-funded budget, a lot of goodwill and plenty of favors, we managed to shoot six short horror movies in six days with a crew of only 12 people. “Creepy Bits” was born as a web series and released into the world on YouTube—one at a time—in the lead-up to Halloween 2021.

All Together Now
Without the usual budget to pay people to do it all for us, we had to figure out a good workflow to manage postproduction. In the end, DP Gregory Bennett and I chose to use DaVinci Resolve Studio because we both already owned the studio license, and Resolve had recently added editing to its mix of capabilities. Since we were going to use DaVinci Resolve for color grading anyway, we thought it would be easier for us to do all post-production in the application.

“Creepy Bits” season one ended up having a very successful festival run playing at 17 international festivals, garnering 24 award nominations, five wins and two distribution deals. It did well enough for us to get the interest of LaRue Entertainment in making another season, but this time with 15 times the budget and five times the run time.

Unlike season one, this time we’d have a lot more data and five editors to work with, so after thoroughly researching workflows, we ended up choosing DaVinci Resolve Studio again largely because of the new cloud features.

“Creepy Bits” season two was shot in May 2024 with two Alexa LF cameras in ProRes 4444XQ and in 4.5K open gate. We created two identical 32-Terabyte RAIDs and filled up about 22 TB of them with the footage from the show. Our DMT, Mollie Milchberg, not only ensured all the camera cards were copied properly, but she also created new Blackmagic Cloud projects for each episode, ingested, audio synced, relabeled all the footage and then created an assembly edit timeline from the script supervisor’s logs.

Cloud Collaboration
By the time we had finished filming, we had two full backups and a Resolve project ready to be edited. Each of the five editors went home with HD proxies they could work from for editing, and all they had to do was log into their Blackmagic Cloud account, open their episode, and relink their proxies.

Gregory and I kept the two RAIDs with the masters (the editors worked off proxies), and all the projects were stored in the cloud. This enabled the entire post team of about 15 different people to work off the same cloud library (with working files on local drives) and saved us piles of time and money from not having to constantly courier hard drives around. And at any point, I was able to pop into any episode and see where things were at in real time with zero confusion about which version to look at.

When it came to color correction, Gregory was able to do a first pass from his copies of the masters at his studio, and when we were ready for the online, we did it together at mine.

The combination of Resolve’s world-class color grading, competent NLE, integrated media transcoding, and the new cloud-based workflow proved to be an excellent choice and enabled us to finish VFX-heavy post on 105 minutes of new content in just under four months, with a comparatively small team and tight budget.

More information is available at www.blackmagicdesign.com.

Today Blackmagic Design released DaVinci Resolve 19.1, which the company said includes a range of features and improvements that will give users more control and significantly speed up their multicam, audio and visual-effects workflows.

DaVinci Resolve 19.1 is available now as a free download and you can find the full details on the updates here.

Additionally, Blackmagic Design also released Fusion Studio 19.1, which adds new Fusion effects including generators so users can quickly create backgrounds such as stage curtains, a star field and gradient or radial lines. There are also new title templates to make it easy to add more interesting titles to the user’s work, including those with a glass effect, rainbow style or gradient outline. In addition, Fusion media inputs will now honor upper- or lower-field dominance for interlaced footage. This means the effects users apply will display and render correctly based on the original scan pattern.

A new tool in Fusion lets users export USD assets and scenes from compositions, including all geometry, lighting and cameras, speeding up postproduction visual-effect workflow. This update also includes support for USD 24.08 with improved MaterialX performance and polygon and B-spline viewer toolbar controls.

Fusion Studio 19.1 update is available now as a free download here.

FREMONT, Calif.— Spanish production company Ruima Video Art managed all technical production aspects, including IMAG (image magnification), of this summer’s Maspalomas Costa Canaria Soul Festival with acquisition control and delivery solutions from Blackmagic Design.

The festival, broadcast from the scenic Playa de San Agustín in Gran Canaria, Spain, was recorded live and later aired as two 50-minute programs on Radio Televisión Canaria. The eighth annual festival, which ran from July 19-21, featured an eclectic lineup of international soul and R&B artists.

“The 500-square-meter beach transformed into a stunning stage for the festival, though it also posed significant technical and logistical challenges,” Pedro Ruiz Mateos, founder of Ruima Video Art, said.

The beach, however, lacked any video infrastructure, creating a challenge for maintaining reliable signal integrity. Harsh environmental conditions like high temperatures and sand compounded matters.

“That [the environmental conditions] necessitated a robust, low-latency system to tackle the entire production process—from acquisition and monitoring to distribution and vision mixing for both IMAG projection and recording,” he said.

Ruima Video Art relied on seven Blackmagic Design cameras. Two Blackmagic URSA Broadcast G2 cameras, positioned in the front of house, captured the artists’ performances while an additional unit mounted on a nearly 28-foot (8.5-meter) hot head crane provided wide and dynamic shots. “Blackmagic’s SMPTE fiber chains provided video, program return and power with camera control,” Ruiz Mateos said.

Four Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K Pro G2s—two fixed and remotely controlled and two manually operated—provided extra coverage. Camera control and remote shading was done with the ATEM Camera Control Panel.

Ruima Video Art used an ATEM 2 M/E Constellation HD live production switcher to switch the HD broadcast as well as the HD feeds for the IMAG (image magnification) display. A Blackmagic Videohub 40x40 12G router handles signal distribution and management. Each camera ISO and the final program out was recorded using eight HyperDeck Studio HD Plus broadcast desks.

“At the heart of our broadcast, the switcher’s multilayer mixing capabilities and advanced transitions ensured we could adapt swiftly to the dynamic festival environment, delivering a great viewing experience for audiences,” Ruiz Mateos said.

“We fed a 6-meter [nearly 20-foot] wide, 3-meter [nearly 10-foot] tall LED wall positioned behind the video village, and other repeater screens, with live feeds from the ATEM switcher, to help bring those further back in the audience closer to the performances,” he said.

The program mix and camera ISOs were all captured in 1080p25 for subsequent editing and color correction. “Once we completed post-production, we packaged everything up to comply with the broadcaster’s technical standards, delivering a 1080i50 program via FTP to the television network,” he said.

More information is available on the company’s website.

TV TECH: What do you anticipate will be the most significant technology trends at the 2024 NAB Show New York?

BOB CANIGLIA: It’ll be interesting to see how companies are embracing SMPTE ST 2110. We see it as an important tool for the industry from a simplicity and flexibility standpoint, and recently announced a whole suite of products for the everyday user. Our new line of ST 2110 products provides the network infrastructure that allows video engineers to implement video over IP at their own pace. Some of these products convert signals to 10G Ethernet, and some include SFPs for a fiber connection if users need to accomplish a fiber run over a long distance. If an HDMI cable or SDI cable can’t do the job or if users slowly want to move into the ST 2110 environment, they can take a piecemeal approach using our products. We’re trying to avoid an all-or-nothing environment by doing this, instead allowing video engineers to keep using the products that they're using and augment their workflow as needed with this extra capability.

TVT: What will be your most important product news?

CANIGLIA: 2024 has been a big year for Blackmagic Design, from hundreds of new features and powerful new AI-based tools in our latest release of DaVinci Resolve 19, to two new cameras in our Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K and PYXIS 6K, to our host of Blackmagic 2110 IP Converters and our exciting new Blackmagic Replay workflow, we are addressing the needs of customers across industries. From live production, AV and broadcast to filmmaking and post, there is truly something for everyone in our product lineup this year. 

TVT: How is your new product different from what’s available on the market?

CANIGLIA: Our focus is always on empowering the end user with affordable, high-quality products. For example, DaVinci Resolve 19, which remains completely free for anyone to download and begin using immediately, introduced a powerful new DaVinci Neural Engine AI tool with more than 100 feature upgrades including advanced noise reduction, isolation and tracking and smart reframe that automatically adjusts the framing of shots for different aspect ratios. Our Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K is a revolutionary new digital film camera that includes a new large format RGBW 36 x 24 mm sensor with larger photo-sites for 16 stops of dynamic range, interchangeable PL, LPL and EF lens mounts, and industry-standard Lemo and Fischer connections. URSA Cine is the first digital film camera with ultra-fast, high-capability Cloud Store technology built right in. At under $15,000, this camera gives users access to a Hollywood-quality camera at an affordable price.

TVT: What is it about the NAB Show New York that brings you back every year?

CANIGLIA: Being at NAB Show NewYork really provides the opportunity to speak to our customers in depth. Historically at NAB Show in Las Vegas, we have a bunch of new products that we’re introducing to the masses for the first time. By the time NAB Show New York comes around, customers have used the products or digested the information and considered how they might work in their own setup. This brings with it a wealth of insight and feedback. So, when we interact with customers in New York, it is more of a back-and-forth and we can get a bit deeper into their specific needs and use cases.

Video over IP, in the sense that’s used in film and television, sometimes feels like a newer idea than it really is. That might be because the high-end, uncompressed ST 2110 standard took a while to finalize, or because of its rather forward-looking demands on IT infrastructure, both of which made a quick uptake less feasible than many might have preferred. The compressed alternatives might be a reaction to that—but alternatives inevitably mean choices with profound implications.

“I think the original promise was that if you go IP, you save money” says Axel Kern, senior director, Cloud and Infrastructure Solutions at Lawo. “Pretty quickly the industry confirmed the opposite. Investing in switches is definitely not saving you money [and] you have to deal with the complexity and abstraction of IP.”

More Options Now Available
With that in mind, Kern contends, considering ST 2110 to be a direct replacement for SDI is missing the point. “That wasn’t the original promise—it [offers] higher agility and significantly higher flexibility of doing things. Now, with IBC 2024 coming, there are many options where you can really see flexibility that’s not possible on an SDI backbone.”

Kern suggests that the circumstances of specific installations tend to suggest an approach. “if you’re a truck owner, there is a decision between baseband and IP. If you’re a facility, you have this option to go IP and if it’s a ‘brownfield’ approach, where you take part of your facility… brownfield would allow you to go IP and test it out. Greenfield approaches would go IP full stop. The other topic you have to consider is how much of the gear you’re putting in your truck can be found with purely SDI capabilities.”

Somewhat-compressed alternatives allow facilities to sidestep the need for extremely expensive networks, as Kern says. “We see this when people use NDI or even SRT [Secure Reliable Transport] over the wild internet to connect facilities and do remote production,” he said. “This is the logical consequence of things like NDI, which are still high quality but for a fraction of the bandwidth.”

Involving the public internet makes cloud resources more available, though there’s recently been caution over the sheer bandwidth of video in circumstances where cloud providers charge per unit data leaving the network.

“The egress costs on cloud are sometimes outweighing the inventory cost you would have going your own way,” Kern adds. “Doing a like-for-like in the cloud is not the way forward. What we look for is whether we can make use of the technology the cloud brings us, microservices and software-as-a-service applications which you can spin up on commercial, off the shelf IT gear.”

“We introduced video over IP a long, long, long time before it became a standard,” says Edgar Shane, general manager, Engineering and Product Development for JVC. “We integrated [it] into video cameras well before the infrastructure was ready. Most of the stuff I see on a daily basis today is stuff we’ve been doing for years.”

JVC’s Connected Cam architecture handles video at modest bandwidths, making wireless and public networks a plausible alternative to costlier modes of transport. The software-definability of the camera’s encoder also offered a degree of future-proofing.

“It used to be that you had to have your camera and an IP encoder separately,” Shane says. “So, we integrated IP encoders into the cameras… enabling NDI in those cameras is easy, because we already have the encoder built in. On our cameras today you can select NDI or SRT, which is still needed when you send video over the internet.”

The explosive success of NDI might suggest an industry still cautious about the bandwidth demands of ST 2110, though Shane is clear about the different intent. “[2110] is pretty demanding of IP infrastructure,” he said. “You need to have minimum latency and precise switching… but it’s for a different audience. If you’re routing the whole house for broadcast it absolutely makes sense.”

At the higher end, though, even NDI can begin to demand more than an average office network. “NDI exists in two formats,” Shane says. “There’s full NDI, which is 180 Mbps, then there’s NDI HX2 and HX3 which is only 20-30 Mbps. This is important because customers are using standard gigabit Ethernet and people are saying they can have several cameras. [But ] for full NDI, people are putting in 10-gigabit networks.”

Economies of scale in the IT market seem likely to make ST 2110 steadily easier. But as Shane relates, the brute force approach of more bandwidth is just one solution in a world with ever more CPU horsepower.

“Cameras evolve,” Shane says. “The front end with the lens and sensor evolves less because it’s traditional. Newer sensors have more sensitivity and 4K and beyond, but we’re exploring better codecs. HEVC allows us to send video with lower bitrate and higher quality. We’re also exploring AI, because our latest PTZ cameras feature object tracking. They can recognize human beings and you can select which person out of three, four, five people.”

Sony, too, describes a combined approach. “In broad strokes, IP and 2110 have become pretty common within broadcast, live production,” says Deon LeCointe, director of Networked Solutions at Sony Electronics’ Imaging Products & Solutions. “And that’s not just 2110—we find a lot of our customers are using 2110, NDI... some people have started using SRT.”

LeCointe concurs that costs remain a bugbear at the high end. “From where I sit, 2110 is being sold as a premium over SDI. SDI has been around for decades. The cost to build the chips is lower, the cost to build a product that can support 2110 is higher.” Even so, he predicts, the finances seem likely to ease naturally. “The cost of COTS equipment is coming down… we’re in a space that moves forward much faster than the broadcast industry does.”

“What’s new,” LeCointe says, “is people focusing on how to leverage IP. We can add 5G live production, private 5G or even in the future public IP… there’s a potential for 5G to be leveraged by smaller networks and vendors as well to get from camera to a control room to a broadcast head end.”

Sony’s approach combines purpose-built hardware with software-based solutions—something video over IP was always intended to facilitate. “From a hardware perspective,” LeCointe concludes, “cameras, switchers, and monitors all have 2110. We have been really pushing the envelope on 5G, we introduced our new RPU-7 with the NXL-ME80, which is a little box that can do eight channels of video. Nevion is a software solution that has visibility across your entire media environment, to ensure that media flows get from sources to their destinations.”

Craig Heffernan, UK technical sales director, describes a considered approach. “We looked at how everything had settled in the IP market… and decided that 2110 was the route we wanted to go, in comparison to NDI or an alternative. It lets us do what we do best, which is to put some customization into it. We can have Blackmagic connected technologies but also be open enough to bring in third parties.”

The company’s key innovation is a codec that handles high-resolution, high-frame-rate material on 10-gigabit networks. “We’re compliant in terms of how 2110 works, but within that is the Blackmagic IP10 codec, which for us replaces TICO… we needed to get 2160p at 50 and 60 frames into a 10-gigabit space, with headroom. We wanted it to be entirely lossless and we wanted to keep the Ethernet network costs down.”

Attractive as that is, the advantage of IP has often been manufacturer agnosticism. Heffernan assures us that the company intends to make IP10 a standard. “We’ve released the whitepaper. The nature of the world is we’re happy to be part of the portfolio but we’re not everything to everyone. We want to create a network of OEM and developer support so the interaction between Blackmagic and non-Blackmagic is there for the customer. It’s being discussed with SMPTE.”

Blackmagic’s approach summarizes the ambitions of the industry: Economies of scale are making video over IP more affordable. Task-specific hardware seem on the way out. Flexibility is a watchword.

“Our cameras’ ability to stream back to control via SRT means we get a high quality, reliable connection into the bonded 5G at very low latency and very high quality,” Heffernan concludes. “The cost of satcom, private uplinks and all of those environments could be done away with.” Video over IP, in all its forms, is probably closer than ever to fulfilling its promise. “It’s quicker to deploy, faster to set up, easier to manage.”

CUPERTINO, Calif.—Blackmagic Design has announced that it will be launching an end to end solution for producing cinematic Apple Immersive Video for Apple Vision Pro. The company is billing the Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive offering as the world’s first commercial camera system designed to capture Apple Immersive Video. 

Apple Immersive Video for Apple Vision Pro is a brand-new storytelling format that leverages 8K, 3D video with a 180-degree field of view, and Spatial Audio to transport viewers to the center of the action. 

For the new solution, Blackmagic Design announced updates to DaVinci Resolve, the industry-leading post-production software, that will give professional filmmakers the ability to edit Apple Immersive Video for the first time. Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive and a new version of DaVinci Resolve that supports Apple Immersive Video for Apple Vision Pro will be released later this year.

“We are thrilled to announce the first-ever commercial camera system and post-production software that supports Apple Immersive Video, giving professional filmmakers the tools to create remarkable stories with this powerful new format pioneered by Apple,” said Grant Petty, Blackmagic Design CEO. “Built on the new URSA Cine platform, URSA Cine Immersive features a fixed, custom, stereoscopic 3D lens system with dual 8K image sensors that can capture 16 stops of dynamic range. With this innovative system, filmmakers can record remarkable moments like action-packed scenes, unique perspectives, stunning landscapes, intimate performances, and more, all with incredible fidelity, offering viewers an unparalleled sense of realism and immersion.”

Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive features a fixed, custom lens system pre-installed on the body, which is designed specifically for Apple Immersive Video, the company reported. 

The sensor delivers 8160 x 7200 resolution per eye with pixel level synchronization and an incredible 16 stops of dynamic range, so cinematographers can shoot 90fps stereoscopic 3D immersive cinema content to a single file. The custom lens system is designed specifically for URSA Cine’s large format image sensor with extremely accurate positional data that’s read and stored at time of manufacturing. This immersive lens data — which is mapped, calibrated and stored per eye — then travels through post production in the Blackmagic RAW file itself, the company explained. 

In addition, an updated version of DaVinci Resolve will introduce powerful new features to create a comprehensive workflow for immersive video on Apple Vision Pro. Blackmagic customers will be able to edit Apple Immersive Video shot on the URSA Cine Immersive camera. A new immersive video viewer will let editors pan, tilt and roll clips for viewing on 2D monitors or on Apple Vision Pro for an even more immersive editing experience. Transitions rendered by Apple Vision Pro will also be able to be bypassed using FCP XML metadata, giving editors clean master files. Export presets will enable quick output into a package which can be viewed directly on Apple Vision Pro, Blackmagic reported. 

The evenly weighted camera body is built with a robust magnesium alloy chassis and lightweight carbon fiber polycarbonate composite skin to help filmmakers move quickly on set. Customers also get 12G‑SDI out, 10G Ethernet, USB-C, XLR audio, and more. The fold out monitor has a large 5″ HDR touchscreen on one side and an external color status LCD on the other. The right side of the camera features a dedicated assist station with a second 5″ HDR touchscreen that allows crew to work around the camera without needing external monitors.

An 8-pin Lemo power connector at the back of the camera works with 24V and 12V power supplies, making it easy to use the camera with existing power supplies, batteries, and accessories. Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive comes with a massive 250W power supply and B mount battery plate, so customers can use a wide range of high voltage batteries from manufacturers such as IDX, Blueshape, Core SWX, BEBOB, and more. Customers will also receive a top handle, antennas for high speed Wi-Fi, baseplate, 24V power supply and high voltage B mount battery plate for quick set up, the company said. 

Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive comes with 8TB of high performance network storage built in, which records directly to the included Blackmagic Media Module, and can be synced to Blackmagic Cloud and DaVinci Resolve media bins in real time. This means customers can capture over 2 hours of Blackmagic RAW in 8K stereoscopic 3D immersive, and editors can work on shots from remote locations worldwide as the shoot is happening.

The new Blackmagic RAW Immersive file format is designed to make it simple and easy to work with immersive video within the whole post production workflow, and includes support for Blackmagic global media sync. Blackmagic RAW files store camera metadata, lens data, white balance, digital slate information and custom LUTs to ensure consistency of image on set and through post production, the company explained. 

Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive is also the first commercial, digital film camera with ultra fast high capability Cloud Store technology built in. The high speed storage lets customers record at the highest resolutions and frame rates for hours and access their files directly over high speed 10G Ethernet. The camera also supports creating a small H.264 proxy file, in addition to the camera original media when recording. This means the small proxy file can be uploaded to Blackmagic Cloud in seconds, so media is available back at the studio in real time.

Blackmagic Media Dock accelerates post production workflow by making it faster and simpler to start editing and performing color correction. Customers can mount up to three Blackmagic Media Modules for high speed access to media from multiple URSA Cine Immersive cameras all at the same time. The four high speed 10G Ethernet ports allow up to four separate edit workstations to connect directly and is extremely fast, even when a lot of users are connected at the same time.

Blackmagic URSA Cine immersive features include: 

• Dual custom lens system for shooting Apple Immersive Video for Apple Vision Pro.
• 8K stereoscopic 3D immersive image capture.
• 8160 x 7200 resolution per eye with pixel level synchronization.
• Massive 16 stops of dynamic range.
• Lightweight, robust camera body with industry standard connections.
• Generation 5 Color Science with new film curve.
• Dual 90 fps capture to a single Blackmagic RAW file.
• Includes high performance Blackmagic Media Module 8TB for recording.
• High speed Wi-Fi, 10G Ethernet or mobile data for network connections.
• Optional Blackmagic URSA Cine EVF.
• Includes DaVinci Resolve Studio for post production.

DaVinci Resolve immersive features include: 

• Support for monitoring on Apple Vision Pro from the DaVinci Resolve timeline.
• Ability to edit Blackmagic RAW Immersive video shot on Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive.
• Immersive video viewer for pan, tilt and roll.
• Automatic recognition of Apple Immersive Video (left and right eye) for dual file stereo immersive content.
• Option to bypass transitions rendered by Apple Vision Pro.
• Export and deliver native files for viewing on Apple Vision Pro.

Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive and the update to DaVinci Resolve will be available later this year from selected Blackmagic Design resellers worldwide.

FREMONT, Calif.—Blackmagic Design has announced Blackmagic Cloud Sync, a new feature of Blackmagic Cloud storage that allows a camera to sync media into a DaVinci Resolve bin while the camera is recording. 

That means the editors can see media arriving within seconds and start editing, even while the camera continues to record. Blackmagic is calling this “a revolution in broadcast workflows” where the editors can see and edit with media, seconds after it's been recorded in a camera, from any location globally.

“Live syncing media from our cameras directly into DaVinci Resolve bins is a workflow revolution. This simply has never been possible before,” said Grant Petty, Blackmagic Design CEO. “It's just like live streaming into the DaVinci Resolve bin, even when dozens of DaVinci Resolve systems are collaborating via the same Blackmagic Cloud project. This is very exciting and it looks amazing when you see it working live!”

The new Blackmagic Cloud live sync feature will be public beta in mid-June as a free download for Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K and Blackmagic URSA Broadcast G2. The Blackmagic Camera app for iPhone will include this feature in an update in the coming weeks. This live sync will also be added to other cameras such as Blackmagic PYXIS 6K and Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K shortly. This update to Blackmagic Cloud will be included free with current Blackmagic Cloud media sync plans. There will be no additional costs, the company said. 

Live sync on Blackmagic Cloud with cameras recording live into a DaVinci Resolve bin will be demonstrated on the Blackmagic Design Cine Gear 2024 booth #S5125.

Blackmagic Cloud live sync builds on the ability of the latest Blackmagic cameras, such as the Cinema Camera 6K, PYXIS, URSA Cine and URSA Broadcast G2, to record a full resolution HD proxy in H.264. These files are live synced to Blackmagic Cloud as they are recorded, and then also live synced down to all DaVinci Resolve workstations that are connected to the same cloud project. 

On the camera, the customer simply logs into Blackmagic Cloud and selects a DaVinci Resolve project before recording. Then the recording will start live syncing to all connected DaVinci Resolve workstations. Editors can edit while colorists color correct. Plus if customers have multiple cameras recording at the same time, then the new multi sync feature will show all cameras in a multi view, so the editor can pick the best angle, the company reported. 

In many ways this workflow is similar to live streaming into the edit software, the company explained. If the user starts playing, the playback will never end as the media is syncing into the viewer just in front of the play head. The editor can see the play indicator jump back as each segment of clip arrives and the clip continues to grow in length. Plus the clip icon in the bin will show a red record indicator to show this clip is still recording on the remote camera.

This means when a camera starts recording, a remote DaVinci Resolve system can start editing and color correcting as the scene is shot, then a DaVinci system back on set can see the color grade the moment the camera stops rolling. It means you don't need a complex color grading setup on set, as a post production facility can do it on a large DaVinci panel with color accurate monitoring. Then the on set DaVinci Resolve system can be used for playback of these color graded shots the moment the shot has been completed. It’s concurrent post production and shooting, where both happen on the same shot at the same time, the company explained. 

For news workflows, a camera such as URSA Broadcast G2 can start recording and syncing into the editing system the moment an historical event starts to unfold. The editor doesn't have to wait for the camera to stop recording, as they can edit a news segment the moment the camera starts rolling, getting the segment to air in seconds.

If a broadcaster wants to get the media to air as it records, they just have to go back a few seconds in the DaVinci Resolve viewer and press play. DaVinci Resolve will then play back the media as it arrives in a very similar way to live streaming. DaVinci Resolve becomes the media decoder and player!

Key features include: 

• Live syncs up to Blackmagic Cloud the moment recording starts.
• Within seconds the media shows up in the DaVinci Resolve bin.
• Edit and color correct as the camera records.
• No faster way to get media on air for broadcast news.
• Allows remote color grading of shots, syncing back on set in real time.

Efficiency, AI and the need to optimize remote production capabilities are among the watchwords among editing and graphics vendors as the 2024 NAB Show approaches.

“Key trends in TV/video graphics include the need for greater efficiency, which is essential in enabling broadcasters to remain and grow more profitable,” said Carol Bettencourt, vice president of marketing for Chyron. “Accuracy is also vital. On the sports side, we’re seeing a trend toward even more rapid playout. And finally, an overarching trend is increasing interest in cloud workflows.”

That’s not all. “Remote collaboration continues to be a driving force within the video editing world, and really in the post-production world as a whole,” said Sarah Jones, senior technical solutions specialist for Blackmagic Design. “Producers and operators want to enable their teams to edit from any available system, from anywhere on the planet, while maintaining security,” added Ray Ratliff, Vizrt’s Product Evangelist, XR. “These requirements are driving cloud MAM and HTML client editing.”

Pushing the Boundaries
There’s also a growing demand for immersive experiences, which are driving innovations in augmented reality and virtual reality graphics, according to Daniel Evans, senior vice president of sales for Magnifi, a San Francisco-based developer of AI for broadcast technologies. 

“Additionally, the rise of 4K and even 8K content is pushing the boundaries of visual quality,” he added. “Cloud-based editing solutions are gaining traction, enhancing collaboration and flexibility. Furthermore, AI-powered tools are streamlining workflows, from automated editing to real-time graphics generation.”

With changing viewer expectations and shorter attention spans, there is pressure to create visually captivating and easily digestible live sports events, says Steven Heimbold, CEO of Singular.live. “But it is also important to make the creation of quality graphics more accessible for all levels of sport, with solutions that offer fast onboarding and a great user experience,” he added.

At press time, many NAB Show editing and graphics exhibitors had not unveiled their plans, including Avid, although the company is implementing AI in many of its products, including  ScriptSync AI in Avid Media Composer, which uses AI-enabled speech-to-text technology to generate transcripts and automatically align media clips to scripts and transcripts. Avid’s new Media Composer PhraseFind AI, likewise, also uses AI speech-to-text, letting editors search for clips using keywords, with automatic detection of 21 languages.

Blackmagic Design will showcase DaVinci Resolve Studio post-production software, the ATEM family of live production switchers, and Blackmagic Cloud Store, a storage that syncs and shares media with Dropbox and Google Drive.

“DaVinci Resolve is a complete post-production solution that lets everyone on a team work together on the same project at the same time,” Jones said. “Traditional editing has a linear workflow with each editor handing off to the next, introducing errors and mountains of change logs to keep track of at each stage. With DaVinci Resolve’s collaboration, each editor can work on the same project, in their own dedicated page with the tools they need.

“With the introduction of Blackmagic Cloud, editors, colorists, VFX artists, animators and sound engineers can now simultaneously work together from anywhere in the world,” Jones added. “Plus, they can review each other’s changes without spending hours reconforming the timeline.”

The Latest in AI
Perhaps no element of the content creation process has been impacted more by AI than editing and graphics, and advances in the technology will be omnipresent on the show floor.

Chyron’s booth will include a sneak peek at some of the latest graphics features the company has developed specifically for NBC Sports. 

“Attendees will also see a beta version of PRIME 5 [Chyron’s live production engine] and how that robust platform is coming into its own as a mature offering,” said Bettencourt. Cloud-based workflows are also on deck. “We’ll also showcase PAINT 9.6, the latest iteration of our legendary illustrated replay offering, now with brand-new AI features including seamless telestration across camera angles,” she said. “Virtual Placement will be on display as well.”

New enhancements to the Magnifi platform enhancements include advanced editing and storytelling capabilities, multichannel audio ingest, frame-accurate scrubbing capabilities, and rules-based package automation, according to Evans. “Additionally, we will highlight new features such as ‘AI-enabled Ball Tracking’ and ‘Bulk Autoflip.’

Magnifi is also introducing what Evans calls “design system as a service at scale”—an AI solution seamlessly integrated into the design system using LLM and a botable image generation solution. “We will also be demonstrating how one of the premier Division I Athletics programs leverages this platform to modernize their creative workflows across video, marketing, advertising, and player commercialization efforts,” he added.

More Flexible Workflows
Singular will launch “overlays.uno,” which provides an optimized operator interface for Singular.live graphics.

“The Singular platform addresses the trend of accessibility by providing a low barrier to entry for users,” said Heimhold. “It allows content owners and creators to design and animate graphics, integrate data seamlessly, and enhance the overall production quality, contributing to engaging new audiences. Our cloud-based system saves hardware costs, supports agile workflows, and allows for customization based on specific requirements, which aligns with the industry trend towards more flexible production workflows.”

Vizrt will show how data-driven storytelling, XR and AR graphics, and virtual sets driven by its Viz Engine can create stunning visuals for covering important events. The company will also showcase tools for live sports production and analysis including Viz AI, Viz Flowics, Viz Libero, 3Play, Viz Arena, Viz Virtual Studio and TriCaster. 

“With Viz AI, onscreen objects like cars or players can be tracked without multilayer tracking systems, eliminating complexity, and expanding the possibilities of sports analysis,” said Chris Black, global head of brand and communications/AI evangelist, who sees 2024 as a year packed with important broadcast-worthy elections and international sports events.

This fact “means those who provide coverage must be on top of their game to deliver information to a global audience beautifully,” he said.  

To help broadcasters meet this goal, Vizrt will be showing how data-driven storytelling, XR and AR graphics, and virtual sets driven by its Viz Engine can create stunning visuals for covering important events. The company will also showcase tools for live sports production and analysis including Viz AI, Viz Flowics, Viz Libero, 3Play, Viz Arena, Viz Virtual Studio and TriCaster. 

“With Viz AI, onscreen objects like cars or players can be tracked without multi-layer tracking systems, eliminating complexity, and expanding the possibilities of sports analysis,” Black concluded.

Register for the 2024 NAB Show, April 14-17 in Las Vegas at https://nabshow.com/2024/

The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers is a highly respected organization that works to establish technical frameworks for the creation and distribution of films and television programs. Although it is not the only group involved in broadcast standards, some of its good works involve such critical signal distribution standards as the Serial Digital Interface (SDI), ST 2022 and ST 2110.

SDI, first defined in 1989, remains a popular and reliable method of transporting high-quality video signals from point-to-point within a facility or field production. (The current version of SDI is “SMPTE ST 2083.”) However, since 1989, our world has become increasingly data-oriented and it soon became obvious that transporting broadcast-quality video signals over IP networks was both necessary and advantageous. SMPTE’s first standard to marry SDI video with IT was the ST 2022 standard.

“When the need for uncompressed IP networks in live TV production arose, companies turned to the SMPTE ST 2022 family of standards, the online media-over-IP standard available at SMPTE, to build infrastructure,” said Thomas Bause Mason, SMPTE director of standards development. 

“SMPTE ST 2022 was designed for content contribution, and was not well-suited for live TV production. A better standard needed to be created that reflected the needs of live TV production.”

That standard is ST 2110. First published in 2017, it is catching on quickly. 

“When it comes to large-scale infrastructure, almost all new facilities built [that have] IP networks for production are using SMPTE ST 2110,” Mason said. “SMPTE ST 2110 was also greatly adopted by equipment manufacturers, and SMPTE ST 2110 products are widely available.”

Core Parts Are Done
The core parts of the SMPTE ST 2110 standards family are done and were published starting in 2017, Mason said. Since then, all documents in the family except for one (ST 2110-30) went through revisions to clarify their provisions and to fix minor issues, while considering compatibility with existing implementations. These revisions were published in 2023. (SMPTE recently announced that SMPTE Standards will now be available at smpte.org to members at no additional cost.)

Perhaps the biggest benefit of using ST 2110 is that it uses standard IP networks. This has many advantages, including a large body of IP specialists that can build and maintain such networks. Another big advantage is that high-speed networks suitable for live television use commercial-off-the-shelf products that are relatively common and inexpensive. 

SDI, as well as it works, is for television only. SMPTE ST 2110 uses what the rest of the world uses.

Manufacturers are wasting no time building products compatible with the ST 2110 standard.

“Imagine has introduced SMPTE ST 2110 technology into almost every product family in our line,” said John Mailhot, CTO for infrastructure at Imagine Communications. “We see ST 2110 as the basis of design for almost every large media project in our pipeline, and even small/medium facilities are seriously considering the redundancy and scalability advantages of an ST 2110 approach.”

Mailhot said that Imagine’s Selenio Network Processor uses SMPTE ST 2110 to carry up to eight uncompressed UHD signals in each direction over 100G network interfaces, alongside their related audio and ANC components. This consolidation reduces the amount of cable (fiber) and the associated construction and project management time significantly.

“The ability to pick-and-choose from a marketplace of QSFP [quad small form factor pluggable] optical power options ensures that 100G [and 400G] IP connections can reach even the farthest corners of large facilities or even campuses,” he said. “In university settings, we are able to run 100G network connections between sports facilities on opposite corners of large campuses, building consolidated production environments that would have been much more expensive and difficult using traditional SDI approaches.”

Launching Products
Blackmagic Design launched two products last year using the SMPTE ST 2110 standard: the 2110 IP Converter and the DeckLink IP. The 2110 IP Converter 3x3G is a rackmount converter that converts 3G-SDI devices to 2110 IP broadcast systems, and the DeckLink IP is a family of three PCIe cards that capture and playback 10-bit uncompressed, broadcast-quality video directly into ST 2110 IP-based broadcast systems.

“Blackmagic Design views ST 2110 as an important tool for the industry,” said Dave Hoffman, business development manager for Blackmagic Design. “From a simplicity and flexibility standpoint, ST 2110 creates a universal language we can all speak and work in.”

Hoffman pointed out the features that make the company’s 2110 IP converter the right fit for many applications.

“Unlike using an array of miniconverters, the Blackmagic 2110 IP Converter 3x3G is rack-mountable and includes a front panel with an LCD, so users can walk up and change settings at any time,” he said. “The front-panel LCD also has the benefit of allowing live video monitoring of all input and output channels. Plus, the LCD includes network diagnostic tools to assist in troubleshooting issues in complex 2110 IP broadcast systems.”

Matrox Video offers both point-of-use ST 2110 converters as well as ST 2110 network adapters for OEM applications.

“ST 2110 is important for broadcasters, venue and stadium operators, and other media companies seeking to move to IT-based production workflows,” said Francesco Scartozzi, vice president of sales and business development for Matrox Video. “As an open SMPTE standard, like SDI, customers can choose best-of-breed products from their preferred vendor and maintain compatibility. ST 2110 production workflows use general-purpose networking equipment, which means users can easily upgrade an ST 2110 network from 10GigE to 25GigE, and even (in the future) to 100GigE without changing the whole infrastructure.”

Scartozzi said that another advantage ST 2110 offers is its ability to process video, audio and auxiliary data streams separately, depending on the capacity of the network. For example, with the right network connection, one Matrox ST 2110 NIC can support up to four 25 Gbps links and can process up to 32 channels of HD with full redundancy enabled.

“Matrox Video is an expert in ST 2110 and supported the standard before its SMPTE ratification,” he said. “We provide components to OEMs, who then build end-user products for media production, and are being used in ST 2110 productions worldwide today. The knowledge and expertise we gained during the development of ST 2110 OEM network cards has been poured into Matrox ConvertIP, which converts 3G/12G SDI to/from ST 2110. This lets broadcasters work with baseband signals inside their IP video network, and display ST 2110 on SDI/HDMI monitors.”

Manufacturer Agnostic
Chris Scheck, head of marketing content at Lawo, pointed out that an advantage of ST 2110 is that it is manufacturer-agnostic. That means customers can pick the best gear for their operations and production workflow, and avoid being locked into any particular manufacturer’s equipment universe. 

A recent addition to Lawo’s IP-native product portfolio is .edge, its hyper-density SDI/IP conversion and routing platform with up to 192 SDI connectors on 2RU.

“We recently introduced HOME Apps for server-based multiviewer generation, up/down/cross conversion, stream transcoding and graphics insertion,” Scheck said. “A lot more HOME Apps are on the roadmap, some of which will be introduced over the coming months.”

Scheck said that both these product lines feature JPEG XS compression and decompression for lossless, yet bandwidth-saving stream transport. On top of that, Lawo’s HOME Apps support NDI, SRT, H.26x, and will support more formats/protocols as soon as they become relevant.

PAC-12’s New 2110 Facility
ST 2110 is making strides in the real world of big-time sports production as well. The Pac-12 Network, a major collegiate sports producer on the west coast, recently fired up a 42,000 square-foot broadcast and production facility that it will use for production of more than 850 live events each year.

The Pac-12 Network system, designed and installed by Advanced Systems Group, uses a hub-and-spoke design where content acquired at the sports venues is backhauled to control rooms in San Francisco. This model reduces onsite staff and minimizes reliance on costly mobile trucks. 

Pac-12 also exploited the universities’ existing Internet 2 IP backbone for A/V transport and centralized production, creating the largest private IP network in the U.S. dedicated to sports. Pac-12 selected the Imagine Magellan control system for IP routing, control and monitoring, and Arista high-speed Ethernet switches. Imagine’s Magellan formed the ST 2110 orchestration backbone of the facility, while Arista’s switching and routing is the core transport component. 

There were many other vendors involved in the Pac-12 build, including Calrec Artemis audio consoles, Grass Valley K-Frame video switchers, Ross XPression graphics, Evertz Dreamcatcher replay systems, just to name a few. The audio in the Pac-12 Netword system is AES67, a standard for audio-over-IP that’s part of the ST 2110 protocol. Interoperability between the two is paramount, and requires careful network orchestration so that the two transports are handled separately and all I/O’s align properly.

“Implementing audio redundancy within an IP infrastructure is not a trivial undertaking,” said Dave Van Hoy, president of Advanced Systems Group. “We got caught in a couple of places where those became very interesting challenges. Everything worked out, with many thanks to the impressive cooperation of the Calrec, ASG and Imagine teams. It was definitely a learning lesson.” 

Identifying What's 2110-Compliant
The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) is a non-profit organization founded by leading manufacturers to promote the adoption of standards as the industry transitions toward an IP future. AIMS has catalogued nearly 300 products related to SMPTE ST 2110 from 45 manufacturers (available at ).

“Originally a specialized solution for high-end or spatially constrained projects, SMPTE ST 2110 has evolved into the primary choice for designers building reliable, scalable IP-based systems,” said Andrew Starks, marketing working group chair for AIMS. “There is a tremendous innovation happening within the SMPTE ST 2110 community.”

Does this mean that the industry is rolling toward a future that is all IP and does not use SDI?

“SDI’s affordability, industry-wide familiarity, and proven reliability ensure its continued relevance,” Starks said. “Presently, most SMPTE ST 2110 systems incorporate some level of SDI integration, acknowledging its practicality and the need to support legacy equipment.

“This reality underscores the importance of interoperability between SDI and SMPTE ST 2110,” Starks added. “Such interoperability influenced key aspects of ST 2110’s design, notably in the handling of ancillary data (ST 2110-40). As SMPTE ST 2110 equipment becomes more affordable, and as the industry gains more tools and expertise in managing IP media networks, we anticipate a shift towards predominantly IP-based systems.”

The economy, familiarity and ever-growing capacity of IP networks make them a natural medium for carrying television signals. As SMPTE ST 2110 takes hold and more products are exposed to more people, expect to see ST 2110 forming the backbone of an increasing number of facilities.

LOS ANGELES—At elzo Designs, we bring professional live streaming and production workflows to life with a focus on creating a cinematic experience for emerging digital media, such as podcasts. We often implement Blackmagic Design products in our installations because of the compatibility that the ecosystem provides. 

We have had a lot of conversion needs throughout the various installations
we’ve done and we’ve found a huge advantage to using Blackmagic Design converters, in particular the Teranex Mini IP Video 12G and the Blackmagic Micro Converter BiDirectional SDI/HDMI 12G, both of which have helped us immensely with numerous projects.

Integrated Set of Tools  
On a recent project for a large manufacturer that included building four micro virtual production stages, we deployed the Teranex Mini IP Video 12G, that allows the client to convert video to IP and route it over the existing ethernet network, and then convert IP video back to SDI. 

We created banks of IP addresses, and found any component on the network just by our IP list, including computers, cameras, switchers, and other converters. That was really fascinating and helped us design the studios with a set of tools as opposed to individual pieces, because we understood how it all fit together.  

We also completed a project where we created a remote rig, which again was fascinating because we were accessing the rig by dialing into a computer to which all our components were attached. Everything that had an ethernet cable needed to be plugged into a switcher that then went into the computer, and then we could see everything.

This setup bridged everything from broadcast to production to computer networking and solved an enormous headache we had created for ourselves because we originally saw everything as standalone products; but they’re not. All the components talked to each other and worked seamlessly together, and the Teranex Mini IP Video 12G was a big part of that.

The Micro Converter BiDirectional SDI/HDMI 12G is another headache solver because it can convert SDI to HDMI and HDMI to SDI simultaneously, and since it supports camera control protocol conversion, it’s so easy for us to use with Blackmagic Design cameras and live production switchers. 

We can use the Pocket Cinema Camera with SDI-based ATEM live production switchers, or Blackmagic Design broadcast cameras with the HDMI-based ATEM Mini line, and still get full control of the camera color corrector, tally and even remote recording without having to think about the different connections.

Simplified Connections
We can connect either SDI or HDMI from the converter out to the switcher input, the switcher program out to the converter input, and then the HDMI or SDI converter input connects to the camera. We just have to name the cameras correctly, and the converter finds the cameras (however many we have), and the connection is incredibly stable as well. 

This option blew us away when we first discovered it. We did a bunch of power cycles with it, and it worked perfectly every time. The camera control protocol worked flawlessly and allowed us to really depend on it for remote image control and adjustment.

While bigger and more expensive pieces of gear are usually prioritized in installations, the smaller pieces of gear are just as important and often go overlooked or under considered. Blackmagic Design converters are like the mortar between the bricks. We now design within the Blackmagic ecosystem specifically because of its converters. l

For more information, contact Blackmagic Design at 408-954-0500 or visit
www.blackmagicdesign.com.

If you’ve bought a new car in the past eight years, you probably have noticed a trend: Many controls are now on a large touch panel. If you bought a larger video production switcher in the past 10 years, you may have noticed the same thing.

Now that touch panels are part of the control interface for production switchers, users and manufacturers alike are gaining strong experience in ergonomics and convenience. Talking to users, there is no question that touch panels bring important and worthwhile new features to switchers—but they also say that there is no substitute for a button-and-lever control panel.

“For quick actions like switching cameras, tactile hardware panels are best—your hands instinctively know where to go,” said André Dantzler, president of SociallyU, which operates a well-equipped studio in Chattanooga, Tenn. “But for complex setups like customizing multiviewers, [a computer or touch-panel interface] gives you much more intricate control.”

In SociallyU’s studio, a Blackmagic Design ATEM Constellation 8K switcher and several Ultimatte 4K keyers (also by Blackmagic Design) are used to create virtual backgrounds. Dantzler relies on Blackmagic’s ATEM Software Control to provide a touch-panel interface for the switcher.

“The ATEM Software Control lets you get detailed in ways hardware switchers can’t,” Dantzler said. “You can easily rename inputs, adjust advanced camera settings, and build up media assets. [It gives us] the best of both worlds: the ATEM Software Control for detailed setup since it’s free and doesn’t require additional hardware, and the Constellation 8K switcher’s physical panel for quick live actions.”

From My Cold Dead Hands…
Michael Lange, a freelance technical director in Madison, Wisc., agrees that touch panels definitely have a place in the world of production switchers.

“A touch panel allows you to create a custom interface or menu for a specific show,” he said. “For example, if you needed to create a custom screen for recalling a set of macros or effects, you could do that. On some systems, you can completely customize the look and feel of that menu, so there’s a lot of power there to augment traditional control surfaces.”

However, don’t think even about taking away his traditional pushbutton-and-lever control panel.

“On any live broadcast, I prefer physical buttons and levers—you need an interface you can feel, without looking down,” Lange said. “You need an interface where you can build muscle memory. Touchscreens typically don’t allow for that, and they’re too error prone. Touchscreens do have their place in switcher interfaces, but they excel at configuring settings and displaying menus.”

“For fast-paced shows, you need an interface you can feel,” he said. “The learning curve is definitely greater for a traditional interface, but that’s by design. With greater flexibility and power, comes a greater learning curve, much like learning to play the piano.”

Lange typically does his live switching work using Vizrt production switchers, and Jon Raidel, global CoE lead for cloud and live production at Vizrt, concurs with Lange’s observation.

“On any live broadcast, I prefer physical buttons and levers,” Raidel said. “This is critical for speed. You need an interface you can feel, without looking down. You need an interface where you can build muscle memory. Touch screens do have their place in switcher interfaces, but they excel at configuring settings and displaying menus. For fast-paced shows, you need an interface you can feel.”

Manufacturers listen carefully to the requests they get from working technical directors, and what manufacturers hear is that TDs overwhelmingly prefer a pushbutton-and-lever control panel for a fast-paced program.

However, they also hear that the ability to reconfigure settings as needed is a feature of value.

“The touchpanels that we find on video control surfaces such as the FOR-A HVS492WOU are not only capable of displaying a much greater amount of information at once, they’re exponentially faster in terms of data entry,” said Ken Sorrell, CTO for Production Technology Partners as well as the touring video director for Christian/crossover artist Lauren Daigle. “They also make on-the-fly adjustments or changes quite easy, which is important when directing anything live.”

User Requirements
“Overall the design of the control surface has remained consistent associated with user’s comfort and use requirements,” said Greg Huttie, vice president for switchers at Grass Valley. “There has been some incorporation of touchscreens with certain areas of the surface, along with heavy usage in the display screen tied to the menu. All changes we’ve incorporated have been vetted by the TD community in keeping with their fervent belief in maintaining tactile feel when it comes to punching a live show or sporting event.”

Huttie does notice that there are some situations where touch-panel interfaces get used.

“Productions are now tasked with creating revenue related to more than a single production output,” He said. These secondary or ‘plus programs’ are utilizing touchscreen control surfaces more frequently than the standard primary production.”

Technical directors—the people who sit at production switchers and make split-second decisions about which button or control to use—all have one voice when it comes to switcher control panels: “Don’t take away our buttons!” Still, touch panels and related computer control capability clearly have a place in modern production switchers. And their role will probably get bigger.

“While the design of the production switcher control panel has remained fundamentally unchanged, the development of control technology, such as touch displays, has allowed users to access configuration parameters quickly and easily,” said Nigel Spratling, vice president for production switchers & servers at Ross Video. “There is still a place for switches and levers, however, the latest control technology is now very much part of the modern production switcher.”

However, with the accessibility of new technology and with the shifting landscape of the live production industry, video production switchers are now being used in a wider array of live production spaces and are being operated by users of all age groups and experiences, Spratling adds.

“In response to this changing landscape, contemporary video production switchers must offer users the flexibility to choose their preferred mode of operation,” Spratling said. “Experienced users are likely to prefer the positivity and precision of physical controls, while beginners might find a touchscreen interface less intimidating with unnecessary controls stripped away. The future of video production switcher controls is likely to be a hybrid, accommodating various user preferences.”

The Crux of it
And that might be the crux of it. I’m old enough to remember when film editors described the “tactile” feel of working with film, and how it was part of the art form. There is very little of that particular tactile feel going on today, as virtually all editing is done electronically on computers.

“With more financially accessible hardware and software introduced to the market over the last several years, and more people entering the industry because of that accessibility, there certainly has been a shift, though I would say a traditional panel and lever style switcher is probably still the most common among industry veterans,” said Bob Caniglia, director of sales operations for the Americas at Blackmagic Design. “As the next generation of creatives comes up, it has been interesting to see how industry demands have been shifting.”

“For example, our ATEM Software Control, which comes free with our ATEM live production switchers, provides even more controls,” Caniglia said. “It can be run on Mac or Windows, and can even be duplicated so more than one person can work on the same workflow simultaneously. Having software like this running on an iPad [for example] allows for great flexibility and level of detail. However, a more traditional interface may make more sense for a straightforward workflow. Having a combination allows users to find the ideal balance for any given setup.”

Hot Topic du Jour
Also, the hot topic du jour is artificial intelligence. Will there be a day in the coming years when Alexa or Siri is the technical director for the Super Bowl or the Olympics? Or even for the six o’clock news?

I know, you’re thinking, “That’s impossible.” Perhaps you are right. However, the big benefit of touch panels used to control production switchers is flexibility.

“A key benefit of touchscreen interfaces is configurability,” Spratling said. “If a manufacturer adds new functionality to its video production switcher, it is a relatively quick design of the software interface to support it. However, to support the same functionality with physical buttons, a redesign of the switcher panel may be required and the user to purchase the newly designed panel. Some manufacturers even allow users to customize their own touchscreen interface!”

In the coming years, might we see a switcher that can understand spoken commands like, “Take camera 2,” or “Key in Marsha’s lower-third?” Once the AI learns the rhythms of a news broadcast, could it do as good a job as an alert, well-trained human?

That is the logical extension of the flexibility provided by touch panels and computer interfaces now appearing on production switchers.

Production switchers are the heart of any live production system. It used to be that they were all about mix/effect busses and chromakeyers, but today’s switchers really are where the action happens in the live production process. 

Editor's note: This article was updated on Jan. 24. 

BALTIMORE—Delivering multimedia solutions since 1999, Kolrom Multimedia has created hundreds of films and presentations for a myriad of organizations and businesses. With three green screen studio locations across Maryland and New Jersey, including a full wraparound 24x18-foot deep cyclorama wall, each of our projects receives premium service from experienced designers, filmmakers, editors, illustrators, and animators. 

Providing pre- through post-production services for films, documentaries, educational videos, commercials and more, our green screen studios host multicamera virtual events and live streams, including talk shows, telethons and lectures, as well as for virtual production, music videos and VFX work. 

Seamless Signal Monitoring
With such a diverse portfolio of services, accuracy is key, and we’ve finetuned our workflow, right down to signal management and monitoring, to create a seamless capture to delivery experience for our customers. Signal monitoring is also paramount, even though it may seem like a simple part of the overall workflow.

Our green screen studios are equipped with Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K Pros and Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4Ks, which are fed into Ultimatte 12 HD and Ultimatte 12 HD Mini real-time compositing processors. From there, the feeds are sent into our ATEM Mini and ATEM SDI live production switchers, which include the ATEM Mini, ATEM Mini Pro, ATEM Mini Extreme ISO and ATEM SDI Extreme ISO models, and then into the Blackmagic Audio Monitor 12G. The final step for the workflow is our HyperDeck Studio HD Mini and HyperDeck Studio 4K Pro recorders, which the Blackmagic Audio Monitor 12G feeds into.

With presentations, talk shows, and lectures as highly sought-after services from us, the spoken word is vital to those deliverables, and as such, audio, and by extension, audio monitoring, are key. When looking for a simple, clean way to monitor audio without having to rely on our control room’s television’s speakers, we turned to the Blackmagic Audio Monitor 12G. 

We selected it because we needed an accurate audio and visual representation of the levels, which the Blackmagic Audio Monitor 12G delivers with its two bright audio level meters on the front panel. We even have the flexibility to select between VU or PPM or Loudness scales with a choice of EBU or BBC meters, from -45 to +3 decibels, -12 to +12, or 0 to 7, depending on the scale. 

Matching Audio to Video
Additionally, on the video side, the built-in LCD lets us monitor the video source, which lets us know that the audio matches our incoming video feed, and includes source information, video format and the audio channels being monitored. If needed, the HDMI 2.0 output also allows us to monitor on UHD displays.

We also appreciate the Blackmagic Audio Monitor 12G’s compact design, which fits perfectly in our rack and our workflow, freeing up precious desktop space while seamlessly monitoring audio. It’s simple with its at-a-glance level monitoring—while still being powerful enough, with its dual subwoofers, extra wide range speakers, and class D amplifier—to impress clients hanging out in the control room. 

Additionally, the majority of our customers are non-profits, so they need to promote their organizations and marketing and fundraising programs as cost effectively as possible. As such, we strive to implement professional, yet affordable gear in order to provide top-notch services but at a cost that’s reasonable for our customers. Blackmagic Design has allowed us to do just that across its product lines, from something as simple as audio monitoring to creating more complex virtual environments. 

For additional information, contact Blackmagic Design at 408-954-0500 or visit
www.blackmagicdesign.com.

The move to high definition didn’t make viewers work hard to notice the improvement. It was easy to promote, in TV showrooms or at broadcast equipment conventions. 

The shift from HD to UHD is almost as big a jump in linear pixel count, and while the same level of immediate uptake probably wasn’t expected on the consumer side, broadcast clients have begun demanding it almost as a matter of course.

It’s no surprise to see an outside broadcast truck covering an event in 2023 with “UHD” as a proud part of its livery. Sometimes that’s done for future-proofing, and sometimes to satisfy early adopters at home. Whatever the motivation, UHD creates technological and operational challenges, especially as ever bigger events demand drive for ever higher levels of gloss. That increasingly means high dynamic range and UHD, always with the pressure to somehow do it all with the same resources as conventional HD. 

Future-Proofing
There are now a number of ways to do that, and many of them diverge from the sort of technology that broadcast has long been used to. Arri’s Multicam system marries its Amira camera—itself not quite a UHD device, but usually near enough—with a fiber adapter and compatibility with the sort of control panels and other truck tech that put engineering people in a place of comfort. 

Similar things are possible even on lower budgets with equipment from Blackmagic Design, which not only has cameras with studio accessories and lots of spare resolution, but also switchers, recorders, and the Resolve application.

Sony has also put its high-end cinema cameras into the parts of broadcast which seek to bring a little Hollywood sparkle to live TV, although by sheer hours broadcast, the company’s more conventional studio cameras are still doing the lion’s share of the work. 

Peter Sykes, strategic technology development manager at Sony in the U.K., confirms that the motivations for UHD are “a combination. The future-proofing part is very, very important, because prestige content will be archived. Especially for sports events, archive is a consideration once you get to the top tier events… if you want to put something in the archive, do it at the highest quality.”

In the immediate term, though, the pressure to please subscribers remains key. “The image quality is something people will look at when they’re trying to differentiate themselves from their competitors,” Sykes confirms. “You can get the consumer TVs, and the bitrates are available as they weren’t in the very early days—but if you have a premier league football game, the rights for that game are very, very expensive and you need a good look. They’re always trying to get the best rights, and that’s a way to differentiate.”

It’s been over a decade since Sony launched its first 4K broadcast camera, though Sykes points out that HDR had to wait on standards activity. 

“Live broadcast producers were operating in an HD SDR environment, mainly, and our first developments looked at increasing the resolution,” Sykes said. “As a follow-on stage about a year later, in the mid-2010s, HDR in live production really started to capture everyone’s imagination. It was the ITU which developed the specifications for TV production. When those arrived the pathway was opened up to start producing live content, and that’s where HDR really did capture everyone’s imagination.”

It’s Not Just the Technology
Equipment is one thing; technique is another. “There is a technology aspect to all this,” Sykes confirms, “but there’s also an operational aspect to it as well. It wasn’t just the technology that needed to be addressed, but fitting the technology into existing workflows was a challenge. Imagine you have outside broadcast companies with operators in the trucks, camera shaders, vision supervisors, all having lots of experience in HD SDR, to then come along and say we can’t have two trucks, we have to have a simultaneous workflow so we have some new practices, but we don’t want to have to completely retrain.”

Automatic downconversion is one option—once a picture has been engineered for HDR, there’s enough consistency for a machine to create the accompanying SDR output. 

“If you look at some of the work the BBC has been doing, they’ve developed their own LUTs, and we’ve also issued some LUTs of our own, which are freely downloadable from our website to do conversions from HDR to SDR.”

Sykes concludes, though, with the observation that while truck technique is key, dealing with large sensors and high resolutions demands the best of camera operators, too. “If you’re going to shoot the halftime show at a major event, you’re going to put your exceptionally good talent on that.”

Ready For Anything 
Blackmagic Design’s approach to high-resolution broadcast came from slightly different beginnings. Darren Gosney, technical sales manager for the company, begins on a technical note: 

“We were one of the key manufacturers driving for 6- and 12-gigabit SDI technology across a lot of live products,” Gosney said. “We wanted to move away from dual and quad link for high bandwidth content. One of the things we’ve really pushed for is UHD for HD prices—all the way back to when we launched the first ATEM switcher with 6G SDI capabilities, 10 years ago.”

“What that’s let us do is to allow not only high-end broadcaster to work in UHD, but also other people to experiment,” he added. “What we’ve noticed over the past 10 years is where that’s bled into other areas, the AV and live events workspace. If you’re hosting live music events or high-end concerts, you’ll have huge LED walls at the side of stages and in those instances high resolution is beneficial. If you’re pumping through low-res content it’s hard to distinguish what’s going on.”

High Frame Rates
On smaller screens, some of the most tech-savvy consumers exist in the world of computer gaming. High-bandwidth workflows were adopted early to satisfy viewers who demanded high frame rate, if not high resolution.

 ome of the earliest applications for images beyond traditional 25- or 30-frame broadcast standards were targeted at applications other than broadcast. Esports needs high frame rate for much the same reason that conventional field sports need high frame rate. It’s the same reason 720-line 50- and 60-frame formats existed, and it’s why 1080p60 pictures have since become an everyday occurrence. 

Even before 60p became common for live sports broadcasting, gaming tournaments often meant putting together 3Gbps infrastructure to handle live cameras and feeds from both the player monitors and in-game virtual cameras. Still, pushing resolution beyond HD meant four physically separate links until 6- and 12-gigabit SDI, or more recently various IP options, found ways to fit UHD pictures down a single cable.

“Esports is a huge emerging market,” Gosney says, “and has been for the last few years. The technology there sometimes exceeds what you’d see in broadcast. We’ve done extensive work with the likes of ESL, a big esports conglomerate across Europe. They use capture cards to get content in and out of workstations.”

The company’s Ursa Mini cameras, with their Super-35mm sensors, are examples of a multipurpose approach that’s only recently become commonplace; big sensors with lots of resolution which can be cropped to suit the job at hand.

“We’ve used the really powerful sensor we had in our other 6K camera so that you have the dual-ISO capability, which is really good in low light if you’re in a conference center, or for darker concerts,” Gosney says. “Because it has the resolution, you can also put a B4 broadcast lens on there and go shoot an interview, then shoot the VTs which are interspersed with the live production… that is one of the huge benefits of that camera.”

Much as the Ursa series is perfectly capable of shooting HDR images, Blackmagic’s implementation through its switchers is a work in progress. It’s a reminder that HDR is a system, not a product, although the company is well-placed to build that system. 

“Other manufacturers do cameras, or switching, or routing, but we have every part of the puzzle,” Gosney says. “We can connect end to end and it gives customers confidence that things will work cohesively. Things like the ATEM ISO lets you run a fleet of 4K cameras through our HD television studio switcher, and it’ll record an iso feed in low bandwidth H.264. Then, you’ve got the option to drop that into post, cut, then relink to the camera originals working in 4K or 6K or even higher.”

With that sort of capability available even from the company which positions itself as the affordable option, the offset between what producers want and can have, and what the audience is actually watching, seems set to persist or even widen. With the technology democratising, though, the best conclusion might be that it may not matter that much, because if we want UHD and HDR at 60 frames, we can increasingly have it, from high school sports to the Super Bowl. 

In a live stream, Blackmagic Design’s CEO Grant Petty unveiled three new cameras, two new control panels, a new camera app for iPhones, a new router  and a host of software upgrades for  DaVinci Resolve 18.6, Fusion Studio 18.6, Blackmagic Web Presenter 3.3 and ATEM Switchers 9.2.

The new cameras include Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K ($2,595; available now). The new high end digital film camera features a full frame 6K sensor, 13 stops of dynamic range, L-Mount lens mount and dual native ISO up to 25,600 for incredible low light performance and recording to CFexpress cards. 

This new model also offers a massive 24 x 36mm 6K sensor, allowing for large format cinema camera image quality in a portable, lightweight body. Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K uses an L-Mount for lenses which works with a wide range of new and vintage lenses for a wider range of creative choices.

The second new camera is Blackmagic Micro Studio Camera 4K G2 ($995; available October 2023), which is the next generation model of the popular Blackmagic Micro Studio Camera 4K. 

The new model retains tje compact design of the original model, but now upgraded with a 4K digital film sensor with 13 stops of dynamic range and dual native ISO up to 25,600 for incredible low light performance. In addition, Blackmagic Micro Studio Camera 4K G2 adds 12G-SDI for operation up to 2160p60, and a new USB-C expansion port for recording Blackmagic RAW to external disks as well as network control via Ethernet adapters.

The third camera, Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K Plus G2 ($1,345; available now) is an updated studio camera model which adds 12G-SDI allowing customers to connect it to SDI based switchers such as ATEM Constellation. The new model also adds support for remote camera control over networks via REST APIs and talkback on 3.5mm headsets. Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K Plus G2 retains the same amazing 4K digital film sensor with 13 stops of dynamic range, MFT lens mount and compact all-in-one design of the previous model. 

The company also unveiled the Blackmagic Camera App (free; available now). It adds digital film camera controls to the Apple iPhone. Based on the same operating system as Blackmagic Design's award winning digital film cameras, these professional features give iPhone content creators the same tools used in feature films, television and documentaries. Support for Blackmagic Cloud allows creators to collaborate and share media with multiple editors and colorists around the world instantly.

The company also launched ATEM 1 M/E Advanced Panel 20 and ATEM 1 M/E Advanced Panel 30 (from $3,899; available October 2023).

The two new hardware control panels that are designed to access the full power of ATEM Constellation HD and 4K switchers. The new ATEM 1 M/E Advanced Panel 20 and 30 models feature the same elegant design as the 2 M/E and 4 M/E Advanced Panels, but in a compact size to fit into any broadcast studio space. The new 1 M/E panels include up to 3 system control LCDs, buttons for control of 4 upstream keyers, 4 downstream keyers and 4 M/E rows as well as a joystick, T-bar fader and more.

In addition, it showed off a new router, the new Blackmagic Videohub 80x80 12G ($9,995; available November 2023). A larger 80x80 12G-SDI router that lets customers connect and route any combination of SD, HD and Ultra HD on the same router at the same time. Blackmagic Videohub 80x80 12G features a front panel with shortcut buttons, an LCD which can display labels or live video, a machined metal spin knob for browsing video sources, reference connections and redundant power. 

In addition, it released a number of new software updates, including DaVinci Resolve 18.6, Fusion Studio 18.6, Blackmagic Web Presenter 3.3 and ATEM Switchers 9.2.

The new DaVinci Resolve 18.6 update include: 

• New Blackmagic Camera cloud workflow syncs captures to cloud projects.
• Support for Blackmagic Cloud Storage with synced project media and files.
• Automatic proxy generation and upload to Blackmagic Cloud Storage.
• Support for outer text stroke in titles and subtitles.
• Ability to assign and apply favorite keywords to clips and markers.
• Support for Fusion USD scenes with materials and volumes.
• Import multiple mono audio files with suffixes as a multichannel clip.
• Support for target audio loudness standards on renders.

BOISE, Idaho–Before the DSLR revolution, working in news was a rite of passage for many videographers, myself included. While I began my video career at the local news station and spent four years learning the ropes, I eventually transitioned to indie filmmaking and more recently, commercials. 

Given my career trajectory, I didn’t expect to return to news 11 years later, but when I saw a job listing for a freelance videographer with the main requisites including a background in news and ENG style cameras, but specifically “no DSLR style cameras,” I was intrigued. The gig consisted of live shots and field interviews covering a trial, and even though it had been more than a decade since I did a live shot, I had done hundreds in the past and felt comfortable doing them again.

Trial Coverage
I ended up covering a six-week trial with the Blackmagic URSA Broadcast G2 camera by my side. At a base level, an ENG camera was needed for this workflow as internal audio recording via full-sized XLR inputs was a must for the stick mic, and an SDI output for the LiveU transmitter was also not up for negotiation. 

In addition, I knew the URSA Broadcast G2 would give me easy and affordable media options for recording (SD, CFast, SSD), plenty of external connection ports, and on top of the camera’s color being unbeatable, Blackmagic cameras have the best menu systems of anything I’ve used. Being able to jump through menus is very important when working fast in live news.

My lens was a Fujinon XA16x8A-XB4, and this is where the URSA Broadcast G2 really set things apart. One of the best things about using the camera is that its B4 mount creates an affordable opportunity to use some high-quality glass. The Fujinon is an 8-128mm parfocal servo zoom lens with a T/1.9 fixed aperture. It’s inexpensive (I bought it used), sharp, fast, clean and covers the sensor of the URSA Broadcast G2 in UHD mode.

All-Weather Gear
I was outside the entire six weeks, with the weather ranging from 19 degrees F with snow and wind, up to 85 degrees F with the sun beating down on us. The URSA Broadcast G2 never had a temperature issue, and I never had any problems with viewing the screen and EVF or getting proper exposure.  

In general, news happens fast and is unpredictable. Interviews are long and, on the fly, so you can’t afford to let your arms get tired. People get pushy, so you need to have a presence. A DSLR-style camera, while more than capable from an image/audio capture standpoint, is not advantageous in a news setting. 

Being able to shoulder a camera that has some weight to it, having a sharp viewfinder right at the appropriate eye level, and having all the controls accessible for changing settings without diving into a menu is imperative for a camera in an ENG environment. You only get one take, and I can’t pause the world and waste time diving into menus to change brightness or increase my audio levels. You need those controls accessible on the fly, and that’s right where they are with the URSA Broadcast G2.

For additional information, contact Blackmagic Design at 408-954-0500 or visit
www.blackmagicdesign.com.

SDI is on its way out, right? I mean, anything that’s been around for three-plus decades in the television industry must be either in a museum or just waiting for the final switch to be turned off. Right?

In an industry that has had its technology turned on its head and disposed of at astonishingly fast intervals, somehow the Serial Digital Interface has been one of the few islands in a churning sea of change. First standardized in 1989 as SMPTE 259M, SDI was created to support uncompressed standard-definition television at data rates up to 360 Mbps. It was immediately accepted in high-end products and systems, and eventually found its way down to lower-cost products—as just one example, today you can get an SDI-to-HDMI adapter for less than $40.

Not Dead Yet
Over the years, SDI was modified surprisingly quickly to adapt to changing television standards. Today, the latest version is known as 24G-SDI (SMPTE ST 2083), which supports 4K video at 120 fps and 8K video at 30 fps, using a data rate of 24 Gbps.

Is that enough? As other connectivity options push their way into television systems—and as a new crop of technology specialists with their roots in the IT world become broadcast engineering managers—will SDI’s sunset come anytime soon?

“I remember being at IBC years ago and seeing signs with the slogan ‘SDI is Dead’ or something to that effect,” said Todd Riggs, director of product management at Ross Video. “While eye-catching and a bit of marketing fun, obviously that was an exaggerated statement that has proven to be inaccurate. I don’t believe we will see the end of SDI any time soon, as it is still the dominant transport for most customers worldwide and easiest to deploy.”

Ross Video is a major manufacturer for the broadcast industry, and Riggs has a window into the company’s product planning.

“Manufacturers are still spending a lot of money in R&D to develop new and very powerful products using [SDI] as the primary transport,” he said. “There are certain workflows and system designs that will become more and more IP- or cloud-based, as they lend themselves really well to those topologies. However, I think we are going to live in a hybrid SDI/IP world for a very long time.”

High Comfort Level
Other manufacturers see the same thing.

“SDI still plays an essential role in providing A/V connectivity for many broadcast facilities and mobile production trucks,” said Deon LeCointe, director of networked solutions at Sony Electronics. “Although the industry is already in the midst of implementing IP and cloud technologies for various applications, there’s still a high comfort level with using SDI for ad-hoc applications like flypacks, where the simplicity of SDI allows for faster deployments with minimal configuration.”

And there are additional factors that endear SDI to video facility operators.

“When it comes to professional workflows, SDI is fast, reliable, secure and never buffers,” said Bob Caniglia, director of sales operations for the Americas at Blackmagic Design. “This is especially important in television facilities and broadcast studios where live programming means professionals can leave nothing to chance.”

Yet, we all know that SDI is not the only connection standard in the broadcaster’s toolkit. 

The strongest competition probably comes from SMPTE ST 2110, which defines how professional media can be distributed over managed IP networks. The SMPTE ST 2110 standard specifies the carriage, synchronization, and description of compressed and uncompressed video streams over IP for real-time production, playout and other professional requirements.

Since SMPTE is the standardization body for both SDI and ST 2110, it makes sense that the two standards play well together. Yet as the use of ST 2110 grows, some in the industry see that there is nowhere for SDI to go but down. John Mailhot, CTO and director of infrastructure product management at Imagine Communications, has thought about how the end of SDI might happen.

“SDI will continue for as long as the supply chain produces the transceivers and crosspoint chips—ultimately that will be the limiting factor,” he said. “As SDI use declines over time, some of these chips may become harder to get.”

Mailhot sees ST 2110 as the technology of choice for larger facilities, especially if UHD or HDR is in the requirements.

“The ability to scale to very large, and to integrate best-of-breed offerings across the spectrum of vendors makes ST 2110 a winner,” he said. “[Where there is] a need to integrate some SDI equipment, our Selenio Network Processor has a high-density synchronizing gateway application that allows customers to integrate SDI and IP. This provides a path into IP at a pace that suits the customer’s overall system strategy.”

Yet, not everyone is positive that a future of ST 2110 and IP connectivity is coming quickly.

It Simply Works
“SDI is definitely NOT winding down,” said Joshua Vanarnhem, product manager for routers at Evertz. “We are seeing an increase in SDI router sales, and we are still actively developing SDI solutions and products to answer the needs of our industry. For example, our latest SDI router—the NEXX—leverages the latest technology and provides a full-featured routing platform to meet the demands and workflows of an enterprise-class routing system. Yet it still maintains the simplicity of SDI, where customers can just plug in their SDI input or output and are good to go.”

Vanarnhem pointed out the benefit of SDI that makes it still highly useful in a world where technology specialists so often sing the praises of network topologies: SDI is simple.

“Simple is a great word to explain SDI, as it just simply works,” he said. “Simply plug one wire for one signal; simply patch in a waveform monitor to troubleshoot, and simply be able to meet all the industry’s functional workflow needs. SDI can simply support SD, HD and all the way up to 12G for UHD. HDR? No problem.”

What we can make of this is that SDI is still here, it still works, and it works at the highest-quality signal levels used in professional facilities today. Manufacturers are not only still making SDI products, they are designing new SDI products to meet the growing and changing demands of modern television production and distribution. That a 34-year-old technology is slugging it out and still relevant is impressive—it speaks to the good work done by SMPTE and its technology groups.

So many things have disappeared since SDI was first standardized: SD broadcasting, CRT displays, cameras with tubes, robotic devices that used a grabber arm to pull a videotape from a rack and feed it into a player. And remember necessities like timebase correctors, proc amps and delay lines? They have all vanished into the cloud of modern video production and distribution… which is often described as “in the cloud.”

However, SDI is still with us, modified along the way to keep pace with our rapidly improving quality and production standards. It would be interesting to know if the product that was once marketed using the slogan “SDI is Dead” is still being made. Wouldn’t it be ironic if that product struggled and died, while SDI is still meeting the needs of broadcasters?

PHILADELPHIA—The virtual production program at Drexel University’s Westphal College of Media Arts and Design is using Blackmagic Design’s Ultimatte 12 HD and Ultimatte 12 HD Mini real-time compositing processors as part of its virtual production workflow.

Program director Nick Jushchyshyn is also responsible for the school’s Animation, Capture and Effects Lab (ACE-Lab) and its Immersive Research Lab (IRL). Together, these university offerings use Blackmagic Design cameras, compositors, switchers, routers and other technology for course work and to teach the latest production workflows. This technology also is used for events, live productions, hybrid meeting spaces and remote learning, the company said.

The ACE-Lab is the university’s hub for student learning and activities related to animation, visual effects (VFX), motion capture, 3D scanning, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and a variety of other traditional and immersive forms of digital media. Along with various class, meeting and screening rooms, the lab also features a 40-by-40-foot studio with a 25-by-17-foot green screen cyclorama, motion capture system, studio lighting equipment, full dome immersive projection system and room scale VR systems, it said.

“We’ve used Blackmagic Design for many years as part of our volumetric, stereo photometric and stereo 360 VR systems, VFX courses related to green screen compositing and 3D camera tracking courses. We’ve also used it for remote learning and streaming pre-COVID,” said Jushchyshyn. “However, I recently completely rebuilt the A/V architecture of the lab’s main teaching studio around Ultimatte 12 HDs, ATEM SDI switchers and more. The Ultimattes and ATEMs have been transformational for us.”

The price of the Ultimatte 12 has made it possible for the institution to acquire several units. “It’s truly a full featured compositing unit,” he said. “Virtual production interfaces real world video equipment with digital 3D technology, and we use tools like Unreal Engine and Ultimatte to teach the students these skillsets, since they are the same technology used in major sports broadcasts, network news and weather. We even use Ultimatte 12 HD Mini as a bidirectional interface for our HDMI Pocket Cinema Camera 4Ks, which we didn’t necessarily buy for live use, but can now bring into an SDI live virtual production space.

An Ultimatte 12 HD assists Jushchyshyn in his office where a Micro Studio Camera 4K and the compositing engine are used with an ATEM Mini for meetings interviews and classes. The Ultimatte 12 HD key is fed to Unreal Engine. “That creates a 3D environment that appears to be a full TV studio with a moving camera on a dolly track,” he said.

More information is available on the company’s website.

LAS VEGAS—Amazon Studios’ The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is widely known as perhaps the most expensive and lavishly produced series in the history of television and streaming media. But a NAB Show session, “A Case Study: Color and Finishing in the Cloud,” also highlighted how the program’s pioneering cloud-based collaboration tools promise to revolutionize production processes in years ahead for many other series, large and small.

During the session, Jesse Kobayashi, co-founder of The Modern Film Consortium and VFX producer on The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, discussed how Blackmagic Design, Company 3 and Amazon Web Services (AWS) collaborated to create an entirely cloud-based infrastructure for conform, color-grading and to deliver the show.

”This technology has done something that’s important,” Kobayashi said. “It’s democratized storytelling. What’s so amazing about being here at NAB Show and speaking to you about our experiences in creating The Rings of Power is that when you walk the floor, you now see these tools available to all of us and to shows of all sizes. That is really exciting.”

While the results of these technologies can now be applied to productions large and small, which are being exhibited by vendors like Blackmagic Design and AWS, much of the original development work for the cloud-based production tools was designed to handle a production of mind-boggling scale and complexity. 

“We had 186 hours of 4K camera dailies,” Kobayashi said. “We tracked over 9,164 visual effects shots. And we delivered more than 480 minutes of blockbuster action to Amazon Studios from a production that involved 12 global VFX vendors spanning three continents around the world.

“We knew we needed a modern solution in order to deliver a show like this,” he said. “Working with the team at Amazon, they knew the answer for this was going to be leveraging the cloud in a way to bring together this global workforce in an efficient way.”

To do that, they set up a Pixstor storage solution in Auckland, New Zealand, and had 100-Gbps connections between two studios in Auckland. These were connected to AWS cloud storage in Sydney, Australia. Finally, they created a pioneering camera in the cloud system to deliver footage securely to AWS by working with Rebel Fleet in New Zealand.

“This gave us the flexibility, the automation and the protection that we needed to feel safe that our most important asset or camera negative was being stored securely,” he said.

To develop a system so all the creatives around the world could collaborate, they turned to Blackmagic Design — already an integral part of the production, supplying equipment and software — and the post-production firm Company 3.

Blackmagic Design worked closely with Company 3’s dedicated engineering team to facilitate the creation of what would be essentially a post-production studio in the cloud, with color-precise High Dynamic Range (HDR) monitoring synced live at each location. Based on AWS architecture, the solution allows media to be manipulated and conformed in the cloud as if all involved were in the same location, using local storage to hold the media.

Looking ahead, Kobayashi is already working on some new projects using these tools. But companies need to pay attention to a number of new requirements if they want to take full advantage of them, he stressed.

“Understanding the importance of interconnectivity and having the right people when it comes to IT staff, asset management and storage, is crucial,” Kobayashi said. “Those things need to be as much of a standard part of production as having trucks and food on the set.”

LAS VEGAS—Blackmagic Design showcased a host of new products and software updates on the first day of the 2023 NAB Show, including the ATEM Television Studio 4K8, updates to DaVinci Resolve and the ATEM 4 M/E Constellation 4K.

“Recently we launched the new ATEM Television Studio HD range, and customers have been very happy with them,” said Grant Petty, Blackmagic Design CEO in announcing the ATEM Television Studio 4K8. “However we’ve also been working on a 4K model. The ATEM Television Studio 4K8 is exciting as it has 10 independent 12G-SDI outputs which can be used for external recording. That’s great for when customers want a high quality solution for multi-cam editing as all outputs are in sync and have matching timecode with full audio mapping.”

The company said that the ATEM Television Studio 4K8 would be priced $4,595 when it becomes available in July. The new live production switcher combines all the broadcast features of the ATEM Television Studio HD with additional support for Ultra HD standards up to 2160p60.

Other new products and updates include: 

• ATEM 4 M/E Constellation 4K ($8,995, available in June) – a new Ultra HD model of the ATEM Constellation family with 40 x 12G-SDI standards converted inputs with support for standards up to Ultra HD 2160p60. 
• DaVinci Resolve 18.5 (free update, beta available now) – a major new update which adds new AI tools, over 150 feature upgrades such as Resolve FX relight, speech to text editing, automatic subtitling, AI audio classification, Universal Scene Description file support, new menus on the Cut page that let customers work faster while allowing more time for being creative, and Fusion USD support for faster workflows. Additionally, Content creators can now upload videos directly to TikTok, and a new option for vertical aspect ratio output makes creating content for social media even easier.
• Blackmagic Camera 8.1 (free update, available now) – an update which adds support for vertical aspect ratio video to Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Cameras, allowing users to create cinematic vertical video for platforms such as TikTok.
• Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 12K OLPF ($6,385, available now) – a new model of the world’s most advanced digital film camera which adds a high performance optical low pass filter to the 12K Super 35 image sensor. The OLPF reduces artifacts such as moire and aliasing, while preserving the color and critical image detail Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 12K is renowned for. 
• URSA Mini Pro 12K Added to Netflix Approved Camera List – the camera was recently added to the Netflix Approved Camera List. Officially titled “Cameras and Image Capture: Requirements and Best Practices”, the list highlights the capture requirements necessary to be qualified as an approved camera by the streamer, including dynamic range, resolution, codec, workflow compatibility and more.
• DeckLink IP ($345, available in June) – a new family of PCIe cards that capture and playback 10-bit uncompressed, broadcast quality video directly into 2110 IP based broadcast systems. 
• Blackmagic 2110 IP Converter 3x3G ($595, available in June) – a new rack mount converter which converts 3G-SDI devices to 2110 IP broadcast systems. 

A video of CEO Grant Petty discussing the new products is available here,

Today, there are myriad digital cinema cameras available in the marketplace. Netflix, the largest of the video streaming services, has created a useful guide for which of these cameras are recommended for use on their scripted programming. 

If a camera meets these specifications, it is not only approved for use on Netflix productions but should be considered a top choice for purchase by most production companies.

Rigid Standards
Netflix collaborates extensively with the creative community, camera manufacturers and globally recognized experts to approve cameras that support its production workflows. Approved cameras are evaluated to meet image capture benchmarks for dynamic range, color accuracy, detail rendition, signal to noise ratio, resolution and key workflow requirements, the streaming media company says.

In addition to the camera program, in 2018 the company launched the Netflix Post Technology Alliance and introduced a logo program that will help creators identify that their original programming meets Netflix technical and delivery specifications. Netflix said “manufacturers of products bearing this logo are closely partnered with Netflix. They have early access to the Netflix technical roadmap and collaborate with Netflix on technical support, training and updates.”

Netflix said it doesn’t expect all products in the media production process to have the logo and the alliance is not designed to endorse or force creatives to use certain tools. “As an artist, you should use the tools that make sense for your production, are best suited to your workflows, and serve your creative interests,” Netflix said. “With that in mind, this logo is an identifier to quickly tell you a product has been vetted for delivery to Netflix, and that the company who makes the product is committed to ongoing support and innovation.”

Netflix requires that 90% of a program’s final total runtime be captured on approved cameras using the following basic capture requirements. 

The company expects a camera with a true UHD 4K sensor with a minimum of 3,840 photosites across and a capture format (RAW or an intra-frame compressed codec); 16-bit linear or 10-bit log processing; and capture transfer function (e.g., S-Log3, Canon Log 2).

Bit depth must be 10-bits or greater; data rate (a minimum 240Mbps at 24FPS); scene-referred color space (S.Gamut3, ALEXA Wide Gamut, REDWideGamut etc.); and a camera system capable of jamming timecode to an external source with the code written into metadata.

Netflix also requires daily black balancing of the camera’s sensor; avoidance of spanned clips (i.e., single takes spread out on multiple cards); extra resolution for anamorphic imaging and use of aspect ratios less than or equal to 2:1.

Not Set in Stone
This list of basic Netflix requirements isn’t absolute. Not all cameras that meet these basic capture requirements are approved. However, these requirements are Netflix’s minimum specifications necessary for a camera system to be considered for approval. Other attributes taken into account include dynamic range, form factor, stability and workflow compatibility.

Netflix does allow limited use of non-approved cameras in certain situations. But the producer has to check with Netflix first about use of non-approved cameras on a production slated to be aired on the network. Nothing is set in stone and camera specs for nonfiction documentary content are more flexible.

The list of Netflix-approved cameras, especially for non-technical production executives, has proven to offer a useful guideline for the purchase of digital cinema cameras. Since camera models change so frequently, so does Netflix’s list. The latest posted update of added Netflix-approved cameras was Dec. 12, 2022 (it was updated last week with the addition of the Canon EOS R5 C).

Netflix emphasizes that its rules are not frozen, but general. Sometimes capabilities can be added to cameras with third party accessories. Some non-approved cameras might be required on a production for a special type of shot. Netflix says it is open to considering all possibilities.

Avoid Overkill
Camera buyers, however, can be assured that Netflix-approved cameras have been vetted thoroughly and the list is an excellent path to finding the best cameras to purchase or rent for a production. No filmmaker wants to do a production and later find their gear does not meet the minimum standards of a streaming service.

Even if a camera model is not on the Netflix-approved list, it can still be a good purchase decision for a specific application. Remember, the Netflix list is for shooting scripted dramatic shows for streaming. Not every producer is doing such critical production work. Often the capabilities required on a Netflix production are not needed.

For example, when shooting news, documentaries or YouTube productions, a Netflix-approved camera is overkill. Action cameras, like GoPros, don’t meet Netflix standards but may be used for special shots on Netflix productions. There are many camera choices for varying applications. Creative videographers should never be confined to a single list of cameras.

This list represents the top end of available digital cinema production cameras. All meet Netflix’s approved standards for shooting scripted television. Each is part of an extensive system of accessories. And these models also represent the most expensive video cameras on the market today. 

Netflix-approved Cameras

ARRI ALEXA Basic, Mini LF and 35

Blackmagic Design URSA Mini Pro

Canon EOS C300 Mark II, EOS C500 Mark II; EOS C700, EOS C70 and EOS R5 C

Panasonic AU-EVA1; VariCam LT 4K S35; Lumix BGH1; Lumix, BS1H; Varicam 35; Lumix S1H Mirrorless and AK-UC4000 studio camera

RED Digital DSMC2 with Gemini 5K S35 sensor; DSMC2 with Helium 8K S35 sensor; DSMC2 with Monstro 8K VV sensor; DSCC2 with Dragon-X sensor; Komodo 6K; RED Ranger with Helium 8K S35 sensor; RED Ranger with Monstro 8K VV sensor; RED Ranger with Gemini SK S5 sensor and V-Raptor 8K VV DSMC3

Sony Venice 6K; FX6; PXW-FX9 XDCAM 6K; Venice 2; PXW-Z450 4K UHD; PXW-Z750 4K; FX3 and FR7 Cinema PTZ camera

FREMONT, Calif.—Blackmagic Design has introduced three new models of Blackmagic Videohub 12G zero latency video routers that let customers connect and route any combination of SD, HD and Ultra HD on the same router simultaneously. 

Blackmagic Videohub 12G models feature a front panel with shortcut buttons, an LCD which can display labels or live video, and a machined metal spin knob for browsing video sources. Blackmagic Videohub 12G is available immediately from Blackmagic Design resellers worldwide from $1,395.

Blackmagic says its Videohub 12G eliminates cable mess because customers can plug all their SDI equipment into the router, then do connections electronically. This voids the need for complex system diagrams because customers can connect any video input to any video output, or even a single video input to multiple video outputs. This means monitors can view any source in the studio. 

This capability lets customers use multiple HyperDeck recorders for redundant mastering. Or customers can route video to multiple streaming processors for all their broadcast platforms. Blackmagic Videohub 12G can also be used to add extra inputs to an ATEM switcher.

The built-in front control panel lets customers route video, ideal for live production racks that don't have the space for extra hardware panels, according to the company. The front panel is similar to a Videohub Master Control Pro and features a spin knob for browsing, direct entry buttons for speed and an LCD for displaying labels. However because the panel is built into the router, customers can also see live video on the LCD. The LCD also has menus so it lets customers change router settings.

With a built in LCD, Blackmagic Videohub 12G can show customers live video of all their router inputs. This means customers can see all router inputs as live video before customers change a route. There are also labels displayed below the live video to make it easy to identify the input customers are viewing. 

This allows customers to scroll up and down the router sources in alphabetical order and see each input as live video, even if the inputs are different video standards. 

All models of Blackmagic Videohub 12G feature advanced 12G-SDI connections which are multi rate so they support any SD, HD and Ultra HD video format up to 2160p60 and will connect to any SD, HD-SDI, 3G-SDI, 6G-SDI and 12G-SDI equipment. Plus Blackmagic Videohub 12G also supports routing any video standard on the same router at the same time. 12G-SDI gives customers high frame rate Ultra HD via a single BNC connection that also plugs into all of their regular HD equipment. 

For more information, visit www.blackmagicdesign.com.

The role of the cloud is now well entrenched in broadcast and cinema production, but some traditional tools remain. This gives flexibility to production workflows that would have been unthinkable 15 years ago, when everyone’s attention was focused on the digital/HD transition.

At the 2023 NAB Show, April 15-19, there will be something old and something new. One of the latest technologies is the use of “volumes” to provide hyper-realistic backgrounds for live and cinema production.

The following is a sample of new production gear that will be shown in Las Vegas next month. 

Knocking Down Barriers
Pixotope, a provider of virtual production software solutions, will showcase its Graphics XR Edition, which includes a range of tools that simplify setup and operation in connection with the use of LED volumes, by reducing the technical complexities and associated resource costs of XR workflows and environments.

“With XR Edition, Pixotope is knocking down a major barrier to virtual production adoption by addressing the challenges that have previously made it difficult to leverage XR outside of major blockbuster productions,” said David Dowling, chief revenue officer of Pixotope. “It effectively removes the need for proprietary hardware, bringing users an off-the-shelf XR solution that enables bigger, better stories with greater ease.”

Blackmagic Design will roll out its line of network storage solutions, including Cloud Store, Cloud Store Mini and Cloud Pod, all of which let users share media files between multiple users on a global scale. The devices also understand proxy workflows, allowing a whole timeline and its media to be shared in minutes with responsiveness similar to a directly connected drive.

“We noticed how other storage solutions on the market didn’t offer the performance needed by the feature film and TV industry, so we took it upon ourselves to build something for our customers that’s not only fast but also reliable, portable and accessible in terms of costs,” said Bob Caniglia, director of sales operations for the Americas at Blackmagic Design. “The resulting Cloud Store, Cloud Store Mini and Cloud Pod are easy to set up and use, while providing secure access to media files globally with syncing and sharing media via Dropbox and Google Drive, allowing users from around the world to collaborate.”

Open Architecture
Panasonic will feature its Kairos line of IP-based production switchers. Kairos is an IT-based open architecture platform that enables functional enhancements and control linkage with external devices by adding software. At the show will be the next-generation Kairos Core 200 and Kairos Core 2000 mainframes, which offer improved functionality and performance, including many more inputs and outputs, improved video-processing performance and enhanced file-storage capacity.

Avid will be on hand to demonstrate its Maestro suite of graphics design and production tools for broadcasters. From news tickers and data-driven visuals to interactive and augmented reality content, Maestro provides solutions and tightly integrated workflows to add content on-screen in a coherent and engaging way.

LiveU will focus on flexible workflows such as remote/decentralized production, and cloud-based management and distribution help to allow delivery of high-quality, dynamic live content. LiveU will also showcase its latest 5G offerings and cloud-based solutions, which use the company’s low-latency, high-quality transmission protocols.

Rolling out its latest NDI-capable switchers is For-A, which will introduce the HVS-190, a 1-M/E version of the company’s flagship HVS-490 video switcher. As with the HVS-490, the HVS-190 also supports high-bandwidth NDI and NDI HX input and output. In addition to these switchers, FOR-A’s MFR-3100EX all-in-one production center, ClassX graphics, Insight media server, and SOAR-A live production platform are all upgradeable to NDI.

Ross Video will feature its 12G ready Ultrix FR12, the latest version of its award-winning Ultrix Router. The FR12 router has an integrated production switcher that allows customers to build an infrastructure with greater flexibility, performance and integration. The Ultrix FR12 is targeted at studios, OB vans and flypacks.

Monetizing Content
Dalet will highlight its Dalet Flex media asset management and workflow solution, which lets users seamlessly produce, curate, orchestrate, archive, deliver and monetize content. With its new mobile app, FlexMOBILE, you can bring the power of Flex to your fingertips with the ability to find, preview, comment, review and approve your assets from anywhere.

TVU will demo its RPS Link Encoder and Channel Plus. The RPS Link Encoder provides multicamera, synchronized remote production capability, targeted for use in remote locations where reliable wired IP connections are unavailable or inadequate. Channel Plus, a cloud-based playout service with integrated ad sales support, enables broadcasters to create live and VOD channel programming from a simple web browser with minimal training and experience.

Matrox will spotlight its ConvertIP line of 4K distribution products that can send zero-latency 4K over 1, 10, and 25 GbE cabling systems. Built on Internet Protocol Media Experience (IPMX), ConvertIP encoder/decoder line supports 4K60 4:4:4 IP signal transport.

Vizrt will highlight its AR and virtual studio capabilities in live production through Viz Virtual Studio and Viz Engine 5. Together, Viz Virtual Studio and Viz Engine 5 enable the creation of interactive 3D virtual sets, AR graphics, and mixed reality presentations, elevating audience experience through XR with hyper-realistic quality.

“Viz Virtual Studio in combination with Viz Engine 5 is a game changer for visual storytellers,” said Chris Black, head of brand and content at Vizrt Group. “Presenters can simply walk through 3D spaces, while the camera follows them and captures the interaction with XR infographics in an XR set that illustrates the story.”

NewTek will showcase the latest in its TriCaster line at the 2023NAB Show. On display will be the new Flex Control Panel, TriCaster Mini X, its sports replay solutions, and more. CaptureCast, the company’s flagship lecture capture solution for enterprise and education technology, will also be available.

Teradek, which will exhibit as part of the Creative Solutions Group in the North Hall, will focus on 4K with the debut of Prism Mobile, a camera-back video encoder with integrated cellular bonding, delivering 4K HDR live video from the toughest network environments. 

Teradek says it developed Prism Mobile “to provide better connectivity, seamless portability, and more reliable video contribution for professionals in the field.” It features two built-in high-performance cellular modems, and support for nine simultaneous network connections across WiFi, Ethernet, and Cellular offering the connectivity required for going live at sporting events, political rallies, and conferences. 

FREMONT, Calif.—Blackmagic Design announced today that Aomori Cable Television built its new 4K production and retransmission workflow using a number of Blackmagic Design products, including ATEM 4 M/E Broadcast Studio 4K live production switchers, ATEM 2 M/E Advanced Panels and Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K Pros.

Located in Aomori City, Japan, Aomori Cable Television primarily retransmits programs from key TV stations and FM radio stations, as well as Internet and mobile communication businesses. The station also produces and broadcasts live programs for the city of Aomori as a third sector company of Aomori City.

“The switcher we had installed about 10 years ago began to malfunction and it was time to update. We were ready to move to 4K and decided to install the ATEM 4 M/E Broadcast Studio and the ATEM 2 M/E Advanced Panel," said Nao Miura of Aomori Cable Television.

“Two sets of the ATEM switcher fit within the budget of one set of our previous switcher system. And since we were planning on adding another studio, we decided to install the ATEM switchers expecting to use them simultaneously,” he explained. 

The company’s first 4K studio expansion took place in 2021, which was done to accommodate the live broadcast of Aomori City's PR program that started the same year. To accommodate the growing need for content, Aomori Cable Television installed four Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K Pros along with an ATEM Camera Control Panel and three HyperDeck Studio HD Pro broadcast decks.

“We considered a second switcher as more like a backup, but now, we have both switchers running at full capacity,” Miura said. “While one switcher is used, the other switcher is used for live broadcast programs or emergency press conferences.”

All outputs from the cameras and video playouts are sent to a Smart Videohub 12G 40x40 router, and program outputs from the switchers are recorded on HyperDeck Studio HD Pros. In addition to the ATEM switchers, the team also uses MultiView 16, MultiView 4 HD, nine SmartView 4K monitors, a SmartView Duo monitor, six units of the Blackmagic Audio Monitor 12G for audio monitoring and a number of Mini Converters and Micro Converters for signal conversion, the companies explained. 

"The studio and sub control room are located on different floors. Each Studio Camera 4K Pro is connected with a single 10G Ethernet cable, so we were able to set up the studio quickly. With four Studio Camera 4K Pros fed into the ATEM switcher via 6A LAN cables, we were able to connect everything such as power supply and tally. The compactness of the Studio Camera 4K Pros allows us to use it in a very small studio with a low ceiling,” said Miura.

Since Miura’s team, which is in charge of broadcasting and program production, is very small, he appreciates that the ATEM Camera Control Panel allows them to adjust camera settings from the sub control room while technical staff are not in the studio.

“I used to talk to my colleague via intercom to precisely adjust focus, and sometimes I had to run to the studio and make adjustments if no staff was present,” he said. “The ATEM Camera Control Panel allows me to control the settings with knobs, so I can make adjustments more quickly than sending some instructions over the intercom. It worked just as I had expected.”

“Similarly, the HyperDeck Studio recorders are connected to the ATEM switcher via LAN cable so they can be remotely controlled, allowing me to trigger recording command from the switcher,” Miura continued. “The editing system is also on the same network, so we can send footage on SSD to the editing system via a transfer software, allowing editing without moving physical media."

“The affordability of Blackmagic Design's products allows us to purchase more equipment as we go along to get the studio just the way we want it. We were also able to build the studio flexibly because we could set up and wire the equipment ourselves, using tutorial videos as reference,” Miura concluded.

FREMONT, Calif.—Blackmagic Design today announced that full service production facility Brilliant Screen Studios has deployed a post production workflow that utilizes DaVinci Resolve Studio editing, grading, visual effects (VFX) and audio post production software at all levels of the process, on both internal as well as client based work.

Established in 2005 by Ace Underhill, the facility was initially based in San Diego. In 2011, Underhill met Zack Ward and the two began collaborating on projects. Ward is best known for having played the bully Scut Farkus in the 1983 Christmas classic “A Christmas Story” and had since moved into producing and directing, in addition to continued acting on various projects. The company moved to Los Angeles to expand operations, offering both production and post services, and now also offers a production rental division and most recently, a virtual production arm.

Underhill and Ward began building a one stop production facility using cutting edge technology to service an independent market, while also working on their own productions. “This way we streamlined our workflow for our own projects while using this knowledge to help our clients save money and time,” said Ward.

While they found ways to achieve this in production, post production continued to elude them. “The garble of post production drove me crazy,” he added. “Constant upgrades, mismatched software, conform issues, communication errors, VFX shot logging, deliverables, and more. Just a royal pain in the butt. Yet, it has been the accepted process for anyone who isn't a big studio with a huge budget.”

“One of the biggest challenges of post production was all of the round tripping to and from different applications throughout the process,” noted Underhill. “If any changes were made to editorial, then VFX, sound and color all had to be updated and re conformed.”

To solve that dilemma, Underhill began looking for tech solutions. The facility was already using DaVinci Resolve Studio for color grading, and Underhill was aware of the advancements Blackmagic Design had been making in other aspects of post, all built within the software.

“The inciting incident was when I had to spend a week manually realigning the aspect ratio and all the post transforms of our entire film from another editing package to DaVinci Resolve for color grading,” explained Ward. “I'm not proud when I say I got madly frustrated at a process that seemed like it should be automated and instinctive. And that's when Ace said, ‘I think I've found a solution.’”

For the company, it was a natural transition to editing in DaVinci Resolve Studio, and quickly, the facility’s in-house music composers and VFX artists began embracing Fairlight and Fusion, respectively. “Everyone fell in love,” said Ward.

“DaVinci Resolve eliminates all of that complication and time wasted by providing an all in one post solution that everyone can access,” added Underhill. “The Resolve collaborative workflow also allows members of our team and clients to work remotely when necessary and saves us time and money as an all encompassing solution. This, in turn, allows us to provide the greatest value to our clients and to our own films that Zack and I produce.”

Beyond DaVinci Resolve Studio, the facility has embraced a wider range of Blackmagic Design products, particularly for its virtual production work. “We currently shoot with the URSA Broadcast G2 cameras and use racks of Smart Videohub CleanSwitches, HyperDeck Studio 4K Pros, SmartView 4K monitors, UltraStudio 4K and Ultimatte 12 4K units, as well as various Blackmagic converters, all wired with 12G and genlocked, which is crucial for virtual production,” said Underhill. “Integrating Unreal Engine into our LED volume and green screen stages puts us on the leading edge of film and TV technology, and Blackmagic products are integral to that workflow.”

Brilliant Screen Studios continues to expand, and with that comes more offerings for both clients and its own in house projects. “Our brand new finishing theater has both DaVinci Resolve and Fairlight control surfaces to maximize efficiency and quality,” added Underhill. “Our new virtual production stage is integrated into this workflow as well, giving us at the ability to stream out cameras live from set or post to clients anywhere in the world.”

For Ward, a long history in the film industry, from actor to producer and director, has shown him the pitfalls every filmmaker faces. “I've spent 43 years in the entertainment industry, and I feel like I'm just getting started,” said Ward. “And now I can see DaVinci Resolve is creating a paradigm shift in production. The law has always been, ‘Good, fast or cheap. You only get two.’ But now we're getting closer to almost getting all three. As the workflow gets smarter and smoother, it allows us to really flow from prep all the way through post. That is an exciting new world we intend to be leading.”

FREMONT, Calif.—Blackmagic Design has announced that Art'istic Production deployed a multicamera OB featuring the Blackmagic URSA Broadcast G2 cameras and ATEM Constellation 8K live production switcher to capture and broadcast the National Volleyball League (LNV) in France on beIN Sports.

With diverse requirements, including the need to deploy mobile camera operators before, during and after the game, the URSA Broadcast G2's versatility proved compelling for Art'istic Production who won the tender to produce live coverage on behalf of LNV and broadcast by beIN Sports.

"We had both control room and camera equipment needs, and very early on, Blackmagic Design emerged as the ideal technical partner. It's a brand that we know offers outstanding performance and is excellent value for money,” said Arthur Brousmiche, founder of Art’istic Production.

For acquisition, the decision was taken to use three URSA Broadcast G2 cameras supplemented by the Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K Pro. The former, for example, are used as shoulder mounted cameras with operators courtside, he explained. 

"These positions can capture the coach's team talks during timeouts while providing close ups of the action on the court and watching spectators,” he said. 

With games being played all over France and a significant disparity in the venues hosting those matches, the main challenge was capturing a clean image.

"What I like a lot, and that I was able to test in numerous halls, many of which are municipal gyms, is the camera's performance in low light," noted Brousmiche. "The image quality is excellent as are the higher frame rate options."

When it comes to the gallery, the centerpiece of the production workflow deployed by Art'Istic Production is an ATEM Constellation 8K with an ATEM 2 M/E Advanced Panel for hardware control.

"There was a need to invest in a high performance production switcher that would give our client complete confidence in our ability to deliver," explained Brousmiche. "The transition control features, the multiview, the SuperSource, at a price like that? There is a lot to like about this switcher."

Rebuilt at each venue, the temporary OB currently relies on a mix of 12G-SDI and 10G Ethernet connectivity to provide live camera feeds back to the gallery, the companies said. 

"Volleyball is one of the only sports with a net that is covered from courtside, which means a set number of fixed camera positions, with no movement required. The studio camera was an ideal fit, given the all in one design and its SMPTE fiber like workflow," explained Brousmiche.

The RJ45 connection means that power, video and comms are sent down a single piece of Cat6a copper Ethernet cable up to distances of 100 meters and converted to SDI in the gallery using a Blackmagic Studio Converter.

"A few months ago, we didn't know where to go with an exciting and complex challenge like this," concludes Brousmiche. "Thanks to Blackmagic Design we have been able to implement a lower cost, high performing broadcast quality workflow.”

FREMONT, Calif.—Blackmagic Design has announced a number of new products and updates, including ATEM Television Studio HD8, Blackmagic Studio Camera 6K Pro and ATEM Microphone Converter.

It also unveiled software updates for Blackmagic ATEM Switchers 9.0, which provides support for the ATEM Television Studio HD8 range and general performance and stability updates and Blackmagic Camera Setup 8.0, which adds support for new Blackmagic Studio Camera 6K Pro and Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K Pro G2. 

The new ATEM Television Studio HD8 is a new family of all in one live production switchers that combine broadcast features with extreme portability. These new switchers feature broadcast grade control panels with advanced features such as streaming and recording. There is also an ISO model that can record all video inputs and can connect to up to eight remote cameras. These new switchers also support live streaming, talkback and optional internal storage. 

"These new ATEM Television Studio HD8 switchers are amazing as they pack so many features into an extremely portable design," said Grant Petty, Blackmagic Design CEO. "However we also wanted them to be high end broadcast grade switchers so customers don't have to compromise. We have achieved this as they feature full broadcast control panels, innovative audio mixing, plus streaming and recording all built in. It’s very exciting!"

Key features of the ATEM Television Studio HD8 features include:

• All in one switcher and control panel design.
• Supports connecting up to 8 x SDI cameras.
• Wide range of professional video effects included.
• Internal media for stills and motion graphics.
• 4 ATEM Advanced Chroma Keyers for green/blue screen work.
• Includes SuperSource multi layer processor with 4 DVEs.
• 8 x standards converted 3G-SDI inputs.
• 9 x 3G-SDI program video outputs and 2 x 3G-SDI aux outputs.
• Audio mixer supports limiter, compressor, 6 band EQ and more!
• 16 way multiview for monitoring all cameras on a single monitor.
• Live stream via Ethernet or mobile phones via USB.
• Records to USB flash disks or optional internal cloud storage.
• USB output operates as a webcam and supports all video software.
• ISO model supports recording all video inputs for later editing.
• ISO model records a DaVinci Resolve project file.
• Supports remote internet connected cameras on ISO model.
• Includes free ATEM Software Control for Mac and Windows.
• Localized for 13 popular languages.
• Expands audio inputs with ATEM Microphone Converter.

ATEM Television Studio HD8 is available immediately from Blackmagic Design resellers worldwide from US$2,995. For more information, please find the press release and images here. 

Another new product is the Blackmagic Studio Camera 6K Pro, a new more powerful studio camera model that features an EF lens mount, a larger 6K sensor for improved colorimetry and fine detail handling, ND filters and built in live streaming via Ethernet or mobile data. 

Blackmagic Studio Camera 6K Pro shares the same compact all-in-one design of the studio camera family with a lightweight carbon fiber reinforced polycarbonate body, large integrated 7" HDR viewfinder and powerful broadcast connections.

Also announced today is the Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K Pro G2, an updated model that now includes built in live streaming.

Blackmagic Studio Camera 6K Pro features include:

• Native 6K sensor with 13 stops of dynamic range.
• Compatible with a wide range of popular EF lenses.
• Live streaming for global remote cameras via Ethernet of mobile data.
• Built in 2, 4 and 6 stop remote controllable ND filters.
• Large 7 inch high brightness viewfinder.
• Includes 12G-SDI, HDMI, 10G Ethernet connections.
• Single 10G Ethernet allows SMPTE fiber style workflow.
• Professional mini XLR inputs with 48 volt phantom power.
• Optional focus and zoom demands for lens control.
• Blackmagic Studio Converter allows all connections via Ethernet.

Blackmagic Studio Camera 6K Pro is available immediately from Blackmagic Design resellers worldwide from $2495. For more information, please find the press release and images here. 

In addition Blackmagic introduced the ATEM Microphone Converter, a new audio analog to digital converter that lets customers add additional microphones to ATEM switcher models such as the new ATEM Television Studio HD8. Featuring a MADI connection, it means customers don't have to configure any complex settings because the connection is a simple BNC cable. The design features amazing quality with an extremely low noise floor of -129dBV, a dynamic range of 131 dB(A), low distortion of 0.002% and uniform tolerances across all channels. The design also features an HDMI monitoring output with scrolling waveform displays. 

ATEM Microphone Converter features include:

• Expand audio inputs with ATEM Microphone Converter.
• Robust converter style design.
• Connects via MADI for multi channel audio.
• Extremely low noise floor of -129dBV.
• Ultra high dynamic range of 131 dB(A).
• Precise input matching and low distortion of 0.002%.
• Includes HDMI monitoring output with scrolling audio waveform display.

 ATEM Microphone Converter will be available in Q2 from Blackmagic Design resellers worldwide for $395. 

A detailed presentation of the new products and updates by the company founder and CEO Grant Petty is available here. 

TV TECH: What do you anticipate will be the most significant technology trends at the 2023 NAB Show?

DAN MAY: We anticipate that the 2023 NAB Show will showcase technology that enhances efficiencies across studios, newsrooms and productions of all shapes and sizes, resulting in faster and more engaging content for audiences. Virtual production and virtual sets will again be at the forefront of this year’s show with solutions like our Ultimatte 12 real-time compositing processors, which offer greater creativity and versatility while reducing the cost and need for physical sets.

Remote collaboration will also be a focal point, with tools like Blackmagic Cloud and Blackmagic Cloud Store, Cloud Store Mini and Cloud Pod network storage solutions streamlining entire post workflows, allowing creators to work together more efficiently while unconstrained by one fixed studio or location. From collaborative tools that enable the next wave of remote production, to virtual technology that creates dynamic and visually appealing on-air environments, this year’s NAB Show will highlight exciting displays of innovation and progress across the industry.

TVT: What will be your most important product news?

MAY: We are excited to be showcasing our recently announced new models of Ultimatte 12 real-time compositing processors. Designed at lower cost while retaining the same high-quality processing for incredible edge handling, greater color separation, amazing color fidelity and better spill suppression, the line includes: Ultimatte 12 HD Mini ($495), an advanced real-time keyer with HDMI connections, perfect for use with Blackmagic Studio Cameras, Pocket Cinema Cameras and ATEM Mini live production switchers; Ultimatte 12 HD ($895), an advanced chroma keyer in an affordable HD model; Ultimatte 12 4K ($2,495), an advanced chroma keyer with 12G-SDI connections for HD and Ultra HD work; and Ultimatte 12 8K ($6,995), an advanced chroma keyer with Quad Link 12G-SDI for HD, Ultra HD and 8K.

Designed for the next generation of broadcast graphics, Ultimatte 12 enables newsrooms of all sizes, from massive sets to at-home studios, to present weather, sports, news and entertainment in a cinematic-quality environment with real-time photorealistic composites.

TVT: How is your new product different from what’s available on the market?

MAY: Ultimatte 12 revolutionizes the broadcast industry, offering innovative features within four unique and affordable models that set it apart from traditional composting solutions. All models of Ultimatte 12 include built-in frame stores for keying using stills for backgrounds, eliminating the cost of external equipment. With its advanced real-time compositing capabilities, Ultimatte 12 allows users to create high-quality and visually interesting virtual sets—without the need for a larger physical space. This is because Ultimatte 12 allows users to load pre-rendered still frames from a 3D modeled broadcast set, enabling massive sets to be created in smaller spaces with frame stores. Additionally, Ultimatte 12 features one-touch keying technology that analyzes a scene and automatically sets more than 100 parameters, and Ultimatte Software Control app for Mac and Windows lets you control all Ultimatte 12 models without the additional cost of a hardware control panel. A low-cost solution, Ultimatte 12 helps to democratize virtual workflows, providing productions big and small with access to photorealistic composites and virtual sets. 

TVT: NAB is celebrating its centennial this year. How many NAB Shows have you attended and do you have any particular standout memories of past shows?

MAY: I’ve been to 18 NAB Shows, and each one is full of good memories. My standout memory has to be NAB Show 2012 when we announced our first camera, the Blackmagic Cinema Camera. It was an amazing experience to not only announce a camera and share our innovations with the industry, but also the response to it was incredible. We are so thankful to all our customers who have supported us over the years as we’ve continued to develop our cameras to where they are today; from the Blackmagic Cinema Camera to the URSA Mini Pro 12K, we’ve come a long way.

Producers of “When We Were Shuttle” shot the PBS documentary on a Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K digital film camera and color graded with DaVinci Resolve Studio editing, grading, visual effects VFX and audio post production software, the company said this week.

“When We Were Shuttle,” which premiered on PBS in November 2022, is a documentary commissioned by Miami PBS member station WLRN, exploring the Space Shuttle Program through six exceptional men and women who worked behind the scenes to make it fly. Through their recollections and personal archives, the film dives into the core of the humanity behind the Program, with a unique, grassroots look at the way Shuttle affected life until the program’s end in 2011. Directed by Zachary Weil and photographed by Kyle McConaghy, the film premiered at the Kennedy Space Center's IMAX theater in October 2022.

In 2019, Weil produced a documentary called “When We Were Apollo” for WLRN. The film was well received and the station asked about future projects. “The space shuttle seemed like a very natural segue from this first effort,” he said.

McConaghy chose Blackmagic Design’s Pocket Cinema Camera 6K for its form factor.  “From a handling standpoint, the Pocket 6K is so well designed,” he said. “We were following our subjects around just holding the camera, and looking at the footage, you would think at the very least we had an easy rig or even some more significant stabilization. But the size and weight are pretty ideal for handheld work.”

Though the production was often a “run and gun” style, Weil and McConaghy still wanted as high a cinematic quality as possible, while being sensitive to storage needs. “Aside from the beautiful image and form factor, shooting long interviews with Blackmagic RAW is such a game changer,” continued McConaghy. “We shot at full 6K (6144 x 3456) using constant quality settings Q3 or Q5 and I couldn’t believe how many hours of footage we were able to shoot with just one or two CFAST cards.”

McConaghy color graded the project himself in DaVinci Resolve Studio. “Zack and I drew a lot of our look inspiration from the archival material that we collected,” said McConaghy. “A lot of it was captured in either 16 mm film stock, or Kodachrome if it was still photography. So we talked a lot about trying to create and foster a look that was the total opposite of the subject matter that we were dealing with, that being space. Space is a very sterile and cold environment. Our solution was to really go in the opposite direction: shoot and grade our subjects to feel warmer and more familiar.”

McConaghy also appreciated the abilities Blackmagic RAW gives in the grading process. “Post was a dream with the camera,” said McConaghy. “Blackmagic RAW’s highlight retention was great, which helped us dial in a slightly retro look to match the archival material.”

“When We Were Shuttle” is available at https://video.pbsnc.org/video/when-we-were-shuttle-zdzfps/

FREMONT, Calif.—Disney employed Blackmagic Design’s Ultimatte 12 real-time compositing processors and HyperDeck Studio 4K Pro broadcast decks as part of its massive virtual production workflow for the live-action version of “Pinocchio,” the company said this week.

Starring Tom Hanks as Geppeto, the CGI retelling of “Pinocchio” required one of the largest virtual production workflows ever used for a feature film, which included several massive sets at Cardington Stage in London.

Jim Geduldick, director of virtual production and senior vice president of Dimension North America, supervised virtual production. He and his team integrated Simulcam, the live compositing of virtual objects with live action, with Unreal Engine’s real-time 3D CGI creations, allowing any crew member or actor to control or react to virtual objects in real time. 

While this approach has been used on previous projects, none were of the scale necessary for “Pinocchio,” Blackmagic Design said.

To address the massive undertaking, Geduldick created several virtual production carts built around Ultimatte 12 advanced keyers, Ultimatte Smart Remote 4 and HyperDeck Studio 4K Pros that could be moved anywhere they were needed on set, the company said. 

“No one had ever tried to do this across multiple sets for three months straight,” said Geduldick. “There was so much happening each day, and we had to make sure we could get a cart wherever and whenever they were needed. We could not have done that without Ultimatte and HyperDeck.”

Initially, Geduldick used two Ultimatte 12s per Simulcam feed, but with software improvements Blackmagic Design made to the keyer, he was able to use a single Ultimatte 12 per Simulcam setup by the end of the production, the company said.

“The workflow used Simulcam with layers of augmented CG layers and Ultimatte 12 as the keyer. The images were then integrated into Unreal Engine in real time. We could do front plates and back plates through a single Ultimatte, and we relied on the Ultimatte’s hardware-based processing to send a real-time key to Unreal,” he said.

“You can’t beat Ultimatte’s hardware-based real-time keying. Offloading to hardware saves so much data use that is needed elsewhere on set.”

The workflow relied on the HyperDeck Studio 4K Pros to create custom playlists along with basic playback and recording. This enabled a workflow in which virtual elements and specific lighting setups could be played back through Unreal Engine, the company said.

“The Simulcam and Ultimatte workflow was amazing,” he said. “The DP, VFX supervisor and camera operators would know where they were landing because they could see it using Ultimatte. Lighting and atmospheric decisions could be done right on set

“Virtual production only works if you can react and make creative decisions in real time, and that is what the Blackmagic Design products allowed.”

More information is available on the company’s website.

GLENDALE, Calif.–As a premiere full-service creative and production studio, Butcher Bird Studios handles a wide range of production styles, from streaming and AR/VR to cutting edge virtual production strategies. While we frequently produce fairly standard content for a variety of clients, we have become known for creating live interactive virtual events for customers such as Legendary Digital, Netflix, Twitch and more. 

When dealing with so many different types of production workflows, signal conversion is key and it boils down to three main areas: SDI workflows in an HDMI world, video game capture and in-studio monitoring.

When operating in the live space, using SDI is imperative since it does not require an electric handshake and it locks. It can be barreled, run at great lengths and it’s durable. It’s just so much more reliable than HDMI in every way and more convenient than fiber. However, your average monitor or television isn’t going to come with SDI capture hardware. 

Mini & Micro Converters
Enter Blackmagic Design’s Mini Converters and Micro Converters—we rely on a variety of models including SDI to HDMI, HDMI to SDI, BiDirectional SDI/HDMI and SDI Distribution, all which make it possible to spread feeds across the studio.

When it comes to video game capture, Butcher Bird produces an enormous amount of content. Typically, our production switchers are SDI, while video game consoles are HDMI. We convert signals in all sorts of ways so that we can switch to the gameplay feed in our production, all with no input lag for the gamer.

Hidden Away
Obviously, I have lots of Mini and Micro Converters, so they sit in a drawer that is meticulously organized by use, type and resolution. I have a Micro Converter velcroed to every television in my production space to allow SDI into it, powering off the set’s USB port. Additionally, my Blackmagic MultiView 16 sits in a rack with my Ultimatte 12 4K compositing processors, so I can monitor each piece of our greenscreen keying workflow. 

With this in place, I can achieve massive video distribution and monitoring, both for camera professionals and clients. I think of the converters as the building blocks of my signal flow workflow. With Micro Converters, I can turn every television and monitor in my studio into an access point for a client or crew member to monitor. 

Since I work in the live space, this is very important because virtually every person in the building needs to be able to see the program feed instantaneously to contribute to the show. This would not be possible without video and signal conversion. l 

For more information, contact Blackmagic Design at 408-954-0500 or visit
www.blackmagicdesign.com.

FREMONT, Calif.—Blackmagic Design has announced that more than 60 projects at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival used its digital film cameras, DaVinci Resolve Studio editing, grading, visual effects (VFX) and audio post production software and Blackmagic Cloud as part of their workflows.

“Using Blackmagic Cloud has made major improvements in how I have been able to work during these pandemic days where many long-time collaborators have relocated," said Colorist Natacha Ikoli of Nice Dissolve. “For complex conform with multiple archives and sources, it meant being able to start color a little earlier than we normally would because conform could take place while look set sessions were happening. Blackmagic Cloud also gave me the flexibility to work from Nice Dissolve's studio, from my home studio in Brooklyn and in France seamlessly, never worrying about the latest versions of the project.”

Some of the Sundance projects that used Blackmagic Design cameras include:

• “A Common Sequence” Co directors Mary Helena Clark and Mike Gibisser used Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 4.6K and Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro digital film cameras;
• “Fantastic Machine” Directors Axel Danielson and Maximilien Van Aertryck used Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro;
• “Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project” DP Derek Wiesehahn used Pocket Cinema Camera 4K and URSA Mini Pro 4.6K;
• “Going Varsity in Mariachi” Sound Recordist Charlie Vela used Pocket Cinema Camera 4K for select sequences;
• “Infinity Pool” DP Karim Hussain used Pocket Cinema Camera 6K for insert and 2nd unit shots;
• “Nam June Paik: Moon Is the Oldest TV” DP Nelson Walker used Pocket Cinema Camera 6K for select interviews;
• “Rye Lane” DP Olan Collardy used Pocket Cinema Camera 4K for select scenes; and
• “Sometimes I Think About Dying” DP Dustin Lane used Pocket Cinema Camera 6K for B unit photography.

Some of the Sundance projects that used DaVinci Resolve and DaVinci Resolve Studio for production and post production include:

• “The Accidental Getaway Driver” graded by Houmam Abdallah of AFATECS;
• “Against the Tide” graded by Nicolas Perret at Gump Studios and onlined by Clément Allemand of Lemon Studio;
• “Aliens Abducted My Parents and Now I Feel Kinda Left Out” graded by Drew Tekulve of Paradox Post, with VFX artist Connor Bennett of Kaleidoscope Pictures also using DaVinci Resolve Studio for color keying;
• “All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt” graded by Alex Bickel of Color Collective;
• “Bad Press” graded by Dan Edwards of Changing Frames;
• “Blueback” graded by Olivier Fontenay;
• “Cat Person” graded by Alex Berman of Goldcrest Post, New York;
• “A Common Sequence” graded by Co directors Mary Helena Clark and Mike Gibisser;
• “Divinity” graded by Sofie Borup of Company 3, with Editor Steve Forner of Bonch Post and Editor Kevin Greutert also using DaVinci Resolve Studio for transcoding and VFX pulls;
• “Drift” graded by Christophe Bousquet;
• “Earth Mama” graded by Sam Daley of Light Iron;
• “Eileen” graded by Nat Jencks of PostWorks New York;
• “The Eternal Memory” graded by Pamela Valenzuela of Filmo Estudios with Teranex 2D Processor standards converter used for up conversions and transcoding;
• “Fairyland” graded by Sam Daley of Light Iron;
• “The Family Circus” graded by Mike Howell of Color Collective;
• “Fancy Dance” graded by Raphaëlle Dufosset at Confluential Films;
• “Fremont” graded by Mikey Rossiter of Rare Medium, with DP Laura Valladao also using DaVinci Resolve on set to make in camera shooting LUTs;
• “Girl” graded by Simone Grattarola of Time Based Arts;
• “Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project” graded by Paul Byrne at Confluential Films;
• “Going Varsity in Mariachi” graded by Samuel Gursky and Jeffrey Chance of Irving Harvey;
• “I Have No Tears, and I Must Cry” graded by J. Cody Baker of Company 3;
• “Infinity Pool” graded by Jim Fleming with DaVinci Resolve Advanced Panel;
• “Invisible Beauty” graded by Natacha Ikoli of Nice Dissolve with DaVinci Resolve Mini Panel and DaVinci Resolve Micro Panel, as well as DaVinci Resolve for iPad for mobile quality control, DaVinci Resolve Speed Editor keyboard, Blackmagic Web Presenter 4K streaming solution and Blackmagic Cloud;
• “It's Only Life After All” graded by Luke Cahill of Different by Design;
• “Jamojaya” graded by Tom Poole of Company 3, with Taylor Mahony of Tunnel Post also using DaVinci Resolve Studio to grade dailies;
• “Joonam” graded by Natacha Ikoli of Nice Dissolve with DaVinci Resolve Mini Panel and DaVinci Resolve Micro Panel, as well as DaVinci Resolve for iPad for mobile quality control, DaVinci Resolve Speed Editor, Blackmagic Web Presenter 4K and Blackmagic Cloud;
• “Judy Blume Forever” Lead Assistant Editor Elizabeth Le used DaVinci Resolve Studio for transcoding;
• “Kim's Video” graded by Eric Masunaga of Modulus Studios;
• “King Coal” graded by Luke Cahill of Different by Design;
• “L’Immensità” graded by Andrea Baracca of Flat Parioli;
• “La Pecera” Editor Clara Martínez Malagelada used DaVinci Resolve for transcoding;
• “A Little Prayer” graded by Jane Tolmachyov of Goldcrest Post, New York;
• “Magazine Dreams” graded by Tom Poole of Company 3;
• “Mamacruz” graded by Juan Ventura Pecellín Curiel of Antípodas Film Lab;
• “Mami Wata” graded by Nicolas Lossec;
• “Mirror Party” graded by Samuel Gursky of Irving Harvey;
• “Mutt” graded by Joseph Bicknell of Company 3;
• “My Animal” graded by Sam Gilling and Marc Boucrot with a DaVinci Resolve Mini Panel, with editors Marc Boucrot and Jacqueline Castel also using DaVinci Resolve Studio and Blackmagic Cloud for editing, audio post production and some VFX work;
• “Nam June Paik: Moon Is the Oldest TV” graded by Samuel Gursky and Jeffrey Chance of Irving Harvey;
• “Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls” graded by Tyler Roth of Company 3;
• “Passages” graded by Yov Moor;
• “The Persian Version” graded by Philipp Orgassa of Basis Berlin;
• “Plan C” graded by Brian Hutchings of Different by Design;
• “Radical” graded by Ana Montaño of True Colour Mexico;
• “Rest Stop” graded by Samuel Gursky of Irving Harvey;
• “Rotting in the Sun” graded by Lead Colorist Ernie Schaeffer of Caffeine Post with DaVinci Resolve Studio also used for online editorial and mastering and Blackmagic Cloud used for collaboration;
• “Run Rabbit Run” graded by Brett Manson;
• “Rye Lane” graded by Cheat's Jack McGinity on behalf of Goldcrest Post and onlined by Jemma Fox;
• “Shayda” graded by Edel Rafferty;
• “Sometimes I Think About Dying” graded by Bradley Greer of Kyotocolor;
• “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie” graded by Stefan Sonnenfeld and Adam Nazarenko of Company 3;
• “The Stroll” graded by Luke Cahill at Lightwave Post;
• “Talk To Me” graded by Marty Pepper;
• “Theater Camp” graded by Nat Jencks of PostWorks New York;
• “To Live and Die and Live” graded by Paul Byrne at Confluential Films;
• “Twice Colonized” graded by Mathieu Marano of CineGround and Anders Christensen of Kong Gulerod Film, with VFX by CineGround's Thomas Le Lay;
• “Victim/Suspect” graded by Luke Cahill of Different by Design;
• “You Hurt My Feelings” graded by Nat Jencks of PostWorks New York; and
• “Young. Wild. Free.” graded by Walter Volpatto of Company 3.
• Additional Blackmagic Design gear used on Sundance projects includes:
• “Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls” DIT Nick Zarvis used DaVinci Resolve Studio;
• “Radical” DIT Francois Nobécourt used DaVinci Resolve Studio, UltraStudio 4K capture and playback card and Smart Videohub 12x12 router;
• “Shortcomings” DIT Keith Putnam used Smart Videohub 20x20, UltraStudio HD Mini, DaVinci Resolve Studio and Mini Converter SDI Distribution;
• “Sometimes I Think About Dying” Editor Ryan Kendrick used Blackmagic Web Presenter; and
• “Theater Camp” DIT Kimberly Sauer used DaVinci Resolve Studio, UltraStudio 3G Recorders, UltraStudio 3G Monitors and Smart Videohub 12x12.

FREMONT, Calif.—Blackmagic Design today made available a free download of its DaVinci Resolve for the Apple iPad, which can be downloaded for free from the Apple iOS Store.

The iPad version offers the same color correction and editing tools used by Hollywood. It also supports Blackmagic Cloud multi-user collaboration as well as powerful AI tools, such as magic mask, voice isolation and dialog lever and smart reframe for social media video content distribution, Blackmagic Design said.

Some of the more noteworthy features include:

• The cut page, which is useful for projects with tight deadlines requiring quick turnaround times as well as for documentary work. Among the cut page features available are source tape for visual media browsing, fast review and smart editing tools to expedite editing. The sync bin and source overwrite tools enable fast multi-cam program editing. 
• The DaVinci Resolve for iPad color page, an advanced color correction tool used in Hollywood to color and finish high-end feature films and TV shows. The tool is approachable to make getting started easy for new users.
• AI processing powered by the DaVinci Neural Engine, which powers looks like magic mask, which can locate and track people with a single stroke, invert a person mask and stylize the background. Smart reframe repurposes footage to different aspect ratios by recognizing action in a scene and panning to create square or vertical versions of the content to post on social media. Voice isolation makes it possible to remove loud, undesirable sounds from interviews as well as dialog recoding from noisy locations.

 The release is optimized for the iPad Pro with M1 and M2 chips, Blackmagic Design said. 

The company today also announced DaVinci Resolve 18.1.2 with updates to DaVinci Resolve Speed Editor firmware, supporting iPad Bluetooth are available.

More information is available on the company’s website.

FREMONT, Calif.—C&I Studios has completed post production on “From DC, I Love You” with Blackmagic Design’s DaVinci Resolve Studio editing, grading, visual effects (VFX) and audio post production software.

The bi-coastal post workflow was enabled by the Blackmagic Cloud and Blackmagic Cloud Store Mini network storage solution, it said.

“To the Cities that I Love” is an anthology series that chronicles relationships and how they come to an end. For “From DC, I Love You,” editing, color grading and sound mixing were done in Los Angeles, and media management was completed in New York City.

C&I Studios relied on Blackmagic Cloud to host the project library on the DaVinci Resolve Project Server, providing instant collaboration on the same timeline for the dispersed team, Blackmagic said.

“With DaVinci Resolve Studio 18, we all worked from the same timeline in Blackmagic Cloud,” said Joshua Miller, founder and CEO of C&I Studios. “Blackmagic Cloud meant we didn't have to send the DRPs [DaVinci Resolve project files] back and forth. All footage was loaded onto our server, and then with a Blackmagic Cloud Store Mini in each location syncing media, everyone in any studio could work on the project at once….”

“We just finished several projects where I had to make proxies of huge files. Because of the speed of the Blackmagic Proxy Generator and ability to process raw files, our projects moved flawlessly,” he said.

With a Blackmagic Cloud Store Mini in Los Angeles and New York City supporting each local team, the media stayed synced and shared throughout post.

“This was everything for us. We were already using 10G speeds in our network, so to be able to transfer directly from our server to the Cloud Store Mini created one seamless process for our workflow. Our DRP was then in the cloud, and we could simultaneously collaborate on the project. Someone was working on color while someone else was editing, meaning the overall post process was faster and more efficient,” said Miller.

Prior to Blackmagic Cloud, Miller noted that he would have to send the DRP to the next team member in line, and around and around again. “It was difficult because you had to be careful about working on the latest version that was individually sent to you. With Blackmagic Cloud, we no longer have to work piece by piece or worry about version control. Blackmagic Cloud changed our entire workflow,” he said.

“You can collaborate on a project at the same time anywhere in the world with your team, whereas before everything had to be in network, in one building or mailed out. Now anyone in the world can work on one project. As an international company, this is crucial to our success,” he said.

More information is available on the company’s website.

ALEXANDRIA, Va.—Covid has forced lots of changes in how live shows are produced, and it’s unlikely that we will completely go back to the way things were done in 2019. In this new era, it is common for live feeds over conferencing systems like Zoom to be fed into production switchers and mixed into programs on the fly.

A video feed from a computer running Zoom or even a computer running OBS, vMix or other videocentric conferencing software is just a video feed as far as a switcher is concerned. Still, there has been a lot of this going on lately, and there are some best-practices to be followed to get optimum results.

Grass Valley’s Agile Media Processing Platform (AMPP), the company’s production and distribution technology, can be run either on premise or in the cloud.

“AMPP is format agnostic, so it is easy to combine traditional SDI or IP sources with the streaming formats that can be generated from teleconferencing software like SRT, RIST and NDI,” said Peter Abecassis, senior product marketing manager at Grass Valley. “Just because it’s software doesn’t mean it’s not a professional broadcast tool. The K-Frame CS-X chassis has three M/Es and six keyers with 2D DPM per M/E, and can be controlled by any GV panel, such as the Kayenne.”

Zoom Rooms
Integrating Zoom Rooms (Zoom’s video conferencing app) or other conferencing feeds into a K-Frame CS-X chassis is straightforward, Abecassis said.

“Using Zoom Rooms, the app can be configured to output an NDI stream,” he said. “AMPP’s NDI Discovery Service allows operators to automatically find and list all NDI sources running on the available network. This includes ‘external’ sources that may not be currently loaded on any AMPP fabric. Any NDI source on the network can then be quickly added to an AMPP router panel or dashboard and routed, mixed, or processed like any other source.”

Tedd Tramaloni, business development manager for production switchers and video servers at Ross Video, said that almost any switcher will accept a range of signal types, so it’s better to consider other aspects of a switcher.

“Choosing the right switcher involves much more than simple I/O or transport stream compatibility,” he said. “Reliability, user experience, ease of operation, useful feature set, adaptability and manufacturing experience are all key factors to consider when choosing a production switcher.”

Depending on the specific model, Ross production switchers can accept SDI, NDI, HDMI, or IP transport streams.

“Connecting a Zoom computer to a Ross switcher can be a simple process depending on the specific Ross production switcher being used,” Tramaloni said. “Some models, such as Graphite or Carbonite Black Solo, have HDMI inputs that allow direct connection between a computer and the switcher, while other models, such as Carbonite Ultra, Carbonite Black or Acuity, can accommodate SDI signals that have been converted through external devices. If IP is required, either the Ultrix Carbonite or Ultrix Acuity switchers can be used.”

Frame Sync Capability
Tramaloni pointed out that signals from a mix of studio devices and conference computers will not be synchronized, so the switcher should have frame sync capability on every input. He added that most Ross Video switchers have frame sync capability built-in, but it’s good to check to be sure that the switcher can handle non-synchronous inputs.

Blackmagic Design’s ATEM switchers have an interesting twist if your goal is to “broadcast” your switcher output via a Zoom or other conference feed.

“All ATEM Mini and ATEM SDI live production switchers, ranging from the Pro to the Extreme ISO models, allow our customers to combine Zoom with local studio feeds,” said Bob Caniglia, director of Americas sales operations for Blackmagic Design. “All models feature a USB feed that operates as a simple webcam source. That means customers can plug into a computer and get working with any video software, like Zoom. The software is tricked into thinking the ATEM is a common webcam, but it’s really a live production switcher.”

CJ Kramer, president of Kolrom Multimedia Inc., a production company in Baltimore, uses Blackmagic ATEM switchers for its Zoom conferencing applications.

“When Covid forced our production into an all-virtual workflow, we used the ATEM switchers to also capture the feed of a Zoom/video calls to serve as additional inputs,” Kramer said. “Additionally, we would line-in animated or video backgrounds that we created to serve as the backgrounds for the respective key(s). The ATEM Minis completely changed and improved the service we were providing for our customers, who were just looking for simple, uncomplicated and inexpensive solutions.”

Conference-Friendly
Other manufacturers are also integrating conference-friendly features into their production switchers. One such company is NewTek, which has a long history of conference-friendly products.

“Our NewTek TriCaster 1 Pro, TriCaster 2 Elite (turnkey systems), and Viz Vectar Plus (cloud-based system), all support our Live Call Connect feature which automatically extracts callers from a range of video conferencing applications, not just Zoom,” said Liam Hayter, senior solutions architect at NewTek. “Currently, we support Zoom, Teams, Discord, Tencent, WhatsApp, Facetime and Messenger.”

Bringing feeds into the switcher is just part of what these switchers can do.

“Now, with every TriCaster and Viz Vectar Plus system supporting Neural Voice Isolation on all audio inputs, we can also clean up audio with air conditioning and general background noise,” Hayter said. “Our video inputs support procamp color correction, keying and cropping, which enables even remote guests with a green screen to join in on a virtual set.”

USB Webcam
If you already have a switcher or camera that you need to feed into a conferencing system, an easy way to accomplish that is to get a device that will convert the switcher’s output into a USB signal that resembles a webcam. (This is the feature that some Blackmagic switchers have, as described above.)  

I needed to do exactly this for one project, so I got a $20 HDMI-to-USB adapter that let me feed the camera’s HDMI output into a USB port on a computer. The computer accepted the signal as though it was a webcam, and using it with Zoom and other conferencing software was a breeze. 

At the receiving end, the picture and sound quality was excellent (by Zoom standards).

Suddenly, the remote participants went from peering at poorly focused and framed video from a laptop’s 79-cent camera to getting the output of an $8,000 studio camera. Everyone thought the $20 adapter was a fine addition to the studio’s equipment.

So many things are rapidly changing in the broadcast industry, including the products and techniques required to acquire and broadcast signals. Some old-timers might turn up their noses at the quality of a conferencing feed, but the fact remains that integrating conferencing feeds was impossible as recently as five or six years ago. In a couple more years, image and sound quality will only improve—then there will be no question about integrating such feeds as well as using conferencing systems like Zoom to broadcast out as an ad hoc network.

They will then have become an important and necessary part of the broadcast signal chain.  

FREMONT, Calif.—Blackmagic Design has announced the immediate availability of its new Cintel Scanner G3 HDR+ with redesigned light source to enable real-time HDR film scanning in Ultra HD.

The new high-intensity LED grid array light source, first demoed in April at the NAB Show, allows users to capture better quality images from scanned film at higher film scanning speeds, it said.

The new scanner retains many features of the Cintel Scanners, such as digital servos, gentle capstan drives, advanced color science, 35mm and 16mm film support and an elegant architectural design that can be mounted on a wall. 

Well-suited for unlocking archived film libraries for conversion into new Ultra HD masters for uploading and streaming, the Cintel Scanner G3 HDR+ features a light source that is six times more powerful than previously available. The RGB LED grid array illumination source has a square array of 576 high-power LEDs arranged in a grid pattern. More light is focused onto film with a new light cylinder, it said.

Tens of thousands of kilowatts of power make up each illumination flash for a single frame. HDR scanning speed is now up to three times faster at full real-time speed of 30 frames per second in Ultra HD. The scanner also leverages improved color science and up to an additional 3.5 stops of HDR range, it said.

A new film inspection mode allows users to confirm the condition of the original film, enabling them to find any scratches or dust. A single button push focuses the light source in a single direction, which allows dust and scratches to be seen instantly, it said.

The light source is fully software-controllable to give users better control and the ability to check film before scanning.

“We’ve been demonstrating this new light source technology over this past year, and we are now very excited to be able to include it in our newest Cintel Scanner G3 HDR+ model,” said Blackmagic Design CEO Grant Petty.

“The new Cintel Scanner G3 HDR+ has all the great features of our previous model, plus now it includes an all new high-intensity light source so our customers can get incredible image quality scans, and also at higher speeds.”

The Cintel Scanner G3 HDR+ is available worldwide from Blackmagic Design resellers for $32,045.

More information is available on the company’s website.