Fremont, CA - June 14, 2018 - Blackmagic Design today announced that Sky News UK has integrated a series of Ultimatte 12 compositing processors and an Ultimatte Smart Remote 4 to produce dynamic virtual studio segments for its award winning 24 hour rolling news cycle, in particular for its ‘Sunrise’ breakfast programming.

The installation forms part of a major relocation project, which saw the news broadcaster move to new, state of the art studio facilities within Sky Campus in West London. “Our key aim was not only to retain the extremely high quality production values that Sky News is renown for, but also to ensure that we were able to create depth, scale and variety when presenting news output,” explains Ben Wickham, head of studio output, Sky News.

The three walled greenscreen takes up around half of the studio, and is predominantly used for Sky News’ virtual news studio, built within a highly realistic 3D VR environment. Within the virtual set, a video wall can be deployed for welcome sequences, lead item discussions, correspondent reports, sports bulletins and weather forecasts.

Ben explains that this is where the cleanness of Ultimatte’s keying and spill suppression come into their own: “As well as a range of different presenters’ hair colors, skin tones and clothing, it has to deal with changes in camera angle, and greenspill from the three walls on presenters’ heads and shoes. The Ultimatte’s real time edge handling and color separation means that we can always be confident of the results on screen, no matter how many different VR studio slots we have in the running order.”

News programming in the studio is captured by five cameras, including two dedicated VR units; one on a jib and a pedestal unit operated remotely from the gallery. “Our VR elements have to be as flexible as possible, so we can cut between our VR camera signals and also transition between the virtual set and the presenters’ desk in the other half of the studio,” continues Ben. “The integration between studio set and VR cameras has to be seamless.”

Sky News is already expanding its use of VR with Ultimatte 12 with enhancements to its editorial news elements, for example, creating a series of real life locations to recreate timelines of key news events. “Often we simply can’t film in these locations live, as they may still be an active crime scene, however by constructing a virtual recreation, we can have a presenter walk through the scene, giving the story an added dimension,” explains Ben.

“We chose Ultimatte 12 primarily because its precision, wide color space and real time image processing would match Sky News’ rigorous demands for production excellence at all times,” Ben concludes. “It’s critical that any VR elements we introduce into our studio productions retain as much authenticity as possible. Ultimatte’s flexibility, combined with high quality VR builds ensures that viewers will continue to turn to the channel as a reliable and information news source.”

Press Photography

Product photos of Ultimatte 12, Ultimatte Smart Remote 4 and all other Blackmagic Design products are available at www.blackmagicdesign.com/media/images.

About Blackmagic Design

Blackmagic Design creates the world’s highest quality video editing products, digital film cameras, color correctors, video converters, video monitoring, routers, live production switchers, disk recorders, waveform monitors and real time film scanners for the feature film, post production and television broadcast industries. Blackmagic Design’s DeckLink capture cards launched a revolution in quality and affordability in post production, while the company’s Emmy™ award winning DaVinci color correction products have dominated the television and film industry since 1984. Blackmagic Design continues ground breaking innovations including 6G-SDI and 12G-SDI products and stereoscopic 3D and Ultra HD workflows. Founded by world leading post production editors and engineers, Blackmagic Design has offices in the USA, UK, Japan, Singapore and Australia. For more information, please go to www.blackmagicdesign.com.

Press Contact

Nick Govoni
Zazil Media Group
(e) nick@zazilmediagroup.com
(p) +1 (978) 866 7354

Fremont, CA — June 12, 2018 - Blackmagic Design announced today that URSA Mini 4.6K was used by Kei Takahashi on the shooting of a promotion movie for TROJAN men’s suits private brand by the Japanese major department store Daimaru Matsuzakaya. DaVinci Resolve Studio, DaVinci Resolve Mini Panel, UltraStudio 4K and MultiDock were used for editing and color grading, with HyperDeck Studio 12G used for backup recording.

Kei Takahashi, the founder of a Tokyo-based production company KID, specializes in shooting, directing and editing music videos and commercials. For the TROJAN spots, KID provided everything from shooting to editing and color grading.

TROJAN is a men’s suit brand known for a slim silhouette for physically fit Japanese men. This new promotion movie features Masakiyo Maezono, a former national football player and famous football commentator and TV personality, who is shown playing keepie-uppie in TROJAN suit.

“The main reasons I chose URSA Mini 4.6K for this Promotion movie is that I wanted soft looks and high speed recording. High speed recording made it possible to show the dynamic movements of keepie-uppie and details of the stretched suit. I kept in mind the flexibility and functionality of the suit when I was shooting. I planned to grade the footage after shooting so I used RAW 3:1 for recording,” Takahashi said.

He continued: “I used a zoom lens by Sigma. URSA Mini 4.6K’s great merit lies in the fact that you can easily change the lens mount, which widens the scope of lens you can use. I can cope with any project with this single camera, whether the project’s budget is low or high. Even if you are restricted to reasonably priced lenses, you will get high quality images because of the 4.6K image sensor and 15 stops of dynamic range. On top of that, I like the URSA Viewfinder very much because it is sharp and clear.”

He also edited and graded the material using DaVinci Resolve Studio. DaVinci Resolve Mini Panel was used for grading. In the post production workflow, UltraStudio 4K served as an I/O device for video outputs with the MultiDock as a data storage system.

“I regularly use DaVinci Resolve not only for grading but also for editing. By using DaVinci Resolve as an editor, I can spare myself the trouble of conforming — or making a mistake in conforming — timelines from another NLE by EDL or XML. Moreover, you don’t need to produce a huge amount of extra proxy material that would take up disk space. Even if you’re required to make editorial changes on a timeline in the middle of grading, you can just switch to the editing page and modify the timeline easily, without going to another NLE and starting the conform process all over again. I also like the feature to customize the keyboard shortcuts in any way you would feel comfortable, as well as the data burn feature to visually put timecode for reference. I find it amazing that you can even put audio plugins on the Fairlight page if needed,” he said.

“As for grading, I aimed for high contrast looks. I focused on sharpening the face with the midtone detail parameter, in order to create masculine looks with subtle details on the model’s face. After grading, the image looked more masculine and powerful. The wheels and rings on DaVinci Resolve Mini Panel are fantastic. I like its tactile feel and delicate sensitivity. DaVinci Resolve Mini Panel facilitates and shortens the whole grading process from primary to secondary, leaving out the necessity to use a mouse or keyboard. The less I touch a mouse or keyboard, the more I can keep myself focused on creativity,” he concluded.

Press Photography

Product photos of URSA Mini 4.6K, DaVinci Resolve Studio, DaVinci Resolve Mini Panel, UltraStudio 4K, MultiDock, HyperDeck Studio 12G and all other Blackmagic Design products are available at www.blackmagicdesign.com/media/images.

About Blackmagic Design

Blackmagic Design creates the world’s highest quality video editing products, digital film cameras, color correctors, video converters, video monitoring, routers, live production switchers, disk recorders, waveform monitors and real time film scanners for the feature film, post production and television broadcast industries. Blackmagic Design’s DeckLink capture cards launched a revolution in quality and affordability in post production, while the company’s Emmy™ award winning DaVinci color correction products have dominated the television and film industry since 1984. Blackmagic Design continues ground breaking innovations including 6G-SDI and 12G-SDI products and stereoscopic 3D and Ultra HD workflows. Founded by world leading post production editors and engineers, Blackmagic Design has offices in the USA, UK, Japan, Singapore and Australia. For more information, please go to www.blackmagicdesign.com.

Press Contact

Nick Govoni
Zazil Media Group
(e) nick@zazilmediagroup.com
(p) +1 (978) 866 7354

Fremont, CA - June 7, 2018 - Blackmagic Design today announced that Ocala, Florida-based NOW Church has installed an URSA Broadcast professional broadcast camera, ATEM 4 M/E Broadcast Studio 4K live production switcher and ATEM 1 M/E Advanced Panel hardware control panel. The products will be used to help capture 4K footage of NOW Church’s high energy worship and concert like productions, as well as interviews, video announcements, and music segments viewed by its global audience.

Best known for its creativity and stewardship, NOW Church is a fast growing multicultural Christian church located in Ocala, Florida. With its active local congregation and international reach, the church’s weekly Sunday sermons and other events are aired via local Florida broadcasters, as well as online through its broadcast quality online campus that’s viewed in more than 125 countries.

Ricky Perinchief of Proton Global Media Group installed the URSA Broadcast, ATEM 1 M/E Advanced Panel, and ATEM 4 M/E Broadcast Studio 4K at NOW Church and helped integrate the system to accompany its existing workflow that included URSA Mini Pro, Micro Studio Camera 4K, Blackmagic Studio Camera, and other ATEM production switchers. The URSA Broadcast with a Video Assist 4K and the URSA Mini Pro with an URSA Studio Viewfinder act as the main cameras, alongside five Micro Studio Camera 4Ks that are set up around the church to capture all angles of the pastor and band for sermons, concerts and other church events. Two of the Micro Studio Camera 4Ks are wireless, including one on a track on the ceiling controlled by a remote control chassis, and one on a DJI Ronin M Stabilizer.

The cameras are fed into the ATEM 4 M/E Broadcast Studio 4K, two via wireless transmitters, with the ATEM located 120 feet away from the main stage. All of the outputs of the switcher are fed into a Smart Videohub 20x20 and routed to the return camera outputs and campus televisions in the pastor’s study, the nursery, and the church lobby. The team also uses two HyperDeck Studio Pros to record the program output and a clean feed output to use for B-roll.

“We are very impressed with the URSA Broadcast,” said Ricky. “The full length of the zoom range is awesome. We use it with two different HD B4 lenses, and there’s no softness on the edges. We are able to use the entire zoom ratio even at F1.7. I think that opens up a whole other market of churches. Even those that aren’t lit properly for broadcast, with this camera they would be able to gain down the lens at F1.7 to give them the brightness they need. We’re very happy with the camera’s native 2/3” sensor and the abundance of buttons and switches. Whether you’re in the studio world or ENG world doing remote work, this camera has everything you need, and the price point is unbeatable.”

Using the ATEM 4 M/E Broadcast Studio 4K to switch the camera feeds has allowed NOW Church to be more flexible than ever before. “In the church world having something that is more versatile, like the ATEM 4 M/E Broadcast Studio 4K, is great,” said Ricky. “Our clients use the different M/Es for things like broadcast, IMAG and in house projection. Having the ability to do more with different feeds for different places is a very cool option. It is very easy to go between the M/Es on the ATEM 1 M/E Advanced Panel, because everything is laid out so well.”

In addition to operating during the weekly sermons on Sundays, NOW Church’s control room doubles as a recording studio during the week. By using the ATEM 1 M/E Advanced Panel to control the ATEM 4 M/E Broadcast Studio 4K, Ricky has streamlined the switching process during broadcasts, as well as the process of converting the control room to a recording studio. The panel’s mobility and power over Ethernet allow his team to easily move the setup between rooms.

“We love the T-bar, the shortcuts with the macros and how everything is laid out on the panel,” said Ricky. “It’s very user friendly and everything is where it needs to be. For the church world, having something at this price point is huge. For the functionality it has, I think it’s a no brainer. Then when our broadcast is over, we can easily move the ATEM 1 M/E Advanced Panel from the desk in the control room to a separate engineering room. That way, everything stays on the network and we only have that one cable to plug in for the panel, which gives us everything we need. It’s super lightweight and well built. This would also be a great feature for mobile trucks, or other control rooms like ours that are multi-purpose.”

He continued, “We also have Micro Studio Camera 4Ks at various points in the room, and beingable to have the ATEM 1 M/E Advanced Panel control the PTZ type functions of the pan and tilt heads for these cameras is incredible. I think macros are where it’s headed in the industry. With this panel, that’s easy to do.”

Ricky concluded by saying, “What these products do is give the user options with their price points and 12G-SDI features. You can have SDI across the board. You can convert SDI to HDMI if needed. You can do 4K now or in the future. Blackmagic Design really connects the dots and gets what people need. That’s a huge plus for churches, especially those run by volunteers. To have everything talk to each other, to be able to recall your template and have everything snap back to the way it was, to load your graphics, to get your DSKs programmed, to get your cameras colored and matched up the way they need to be, and then have it snap back with one button is great. Blackmagic Design takes the guess work out of it.”

Press Photography

Product photos of URSA Broadcast, ATEM 4 M/E Broadcast Studio 4K, ATEM 1 M/E Advanced Panel, URSA Mini Pro, Micro Studio Camera 4K, Blackmagic Studio Camera, Video Assist 4K, URSA Studio Viewfinder, Smart Videohub 20x20, HyperDeck Studio Pro and all other Blackmagic Design products are available at www.blackmagicdesign.com/media/images.

About Blackmagic Design

Blackmagic Design creates the world’s highest quality video editing products, digital film cameras, color correctors, video converters, video monitoring, routers, live production switchers, disk recorders, waveform monitors and real time film scanners for the feature film, post production and television broadcast industries. Blackmagic Design’s DeckLink capture cards launched a revolution in quality and affordability in post production, while the company’s Emmy™ award winning DaVinci color correction products have dominated the television and film industry since 1984. Blackmagic Design continues ground breaking innovations including 6G-SDI and 12G-SDI products and stereoscopic 3D and Ultra HD workflows. Founded by world leading post production editors and engineers, Blackmagic Design has offices in the USA, UK, Japan, Singapore and Australia. For more information, please go to www.blackmagicdesign.com.

Press Contact

Nick Govoni
Zazil Media Group
(e) nick@zazilmediagroup.com
(p) +1 (978) 866 7354

TORONTO—Jesse Sukunda, Julia Schwartz and Ian Duchene are likely the most envied teenagers in Canada. They get paid to play video games on Canadian network channels Family Channel and Family CHRGD. Half of their show, “Gaming Show (In My Parents’ Garage),” takes place in the studio—Jesse’s parents’ garage—and half takes place in the field, with our crew at Banger Films managing the show’s technical setup. Blackmagic Design products are an integral part of our studio workflow.

When Family Channel was looking for new original programming, Banger Films, which specializes in heavy metal documentaries and live concerts, created and developed the “Gaming Show (In My Parents’ Garage),” which was greenlit for 10 episodes.

We had to figure out how to be successful long term with a modest budget, and after researching how to bring gaming content into the production mix, I turned to my Blackmagic Teranex 2D Processor to convert content from different gaming platforms. It worked perfectly, so I built out the rest of our workflow with Blackmagic.

Blackmagic’s SmartView monitor of set of “Gaming Show (In My Parents’ Garage)”FULL HOUSE
Our video sources include professional cameras, gaming consoles, PC, and three consumer action cameras, and it’s critical all sources are closely monitored. We use the Blackmagic’s SmartView Duo monitors for high-quality filtering and scaling, so the image retains a lot of fine detail and we can identify any problems immediately. My gear rack also includes a Blackmagic Design SmartScope Duo. With so many varied sources it’s important to be able to check that every feed is sending legal video because we need to pass Disney’s quality control requirements for delivery.

REVIEW CAPABILITY
We use the Blackmagic UltraStudio Express to capture a multiview output from an ATEM 2 M/E Production Studio 4K switcher. This allows our different departments to review takes and ensure continuity within the footage. Every take gets recorded as a multiview proxy file on the hard drive and piped back into the switcher, allowing anyone to review takes and camera angles. This is played back to 17-inch SmartView HD monitors for viewing by the camera and lighting departments or sent to a consumer TV in the green room. The ATEM switcher has so many outputs, allowing me to mix and match SDI and HDMI for any need.

We often shoot out of order so we need to make sure things like set and wardrobe are consistent scene to scene. The Smartview monitors allow us to review content right on set, which makes everybody’s life easier.

In the end, I don’t know how we could have done the show without the SmartView monitors and other Blackmagic Design gear.

Andrew Kowalchuk is the technical director for "Gaming Show (In My Parents Garage)". He can be reached atandrew@bangerfilms.com.

For more information, visitwww.blackmagicdesign.comor call 408-954-0500.