A new line of Tilta cage has been announced for medium sized camcorders. The shoulder-mount configured rigs are designed specifically for the Canon C200, Sony FS5, Panasonic EVA1 and Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro. Tilta has become quite well known for it’s camera-specific cages. We’ve seen heavy support in the top and low end spectrums of the market, with skin-like support for RED as well as modular designs for mirrorless cameras. Tilta has now taken a turn to the mid-range market, targeting specifically the Canon C200, Panasonic EVA1, Sony FS5 and Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro. Speaking on the line as a whole (each is very similar, just ergonomic shifts to cater for specific cameras) the Tilta cage is broken down into 4 main components: Bottom Plate with shoulder support Top Plate Rear battery plate Extension arm Bottom Plate The bottom plate is the heart of the system. It has 15mm LWS rods on the front, rosettes on both sides, 15mm rod mounts to the rear (non pass-through) and padded shoulder support. Pretty standard stuff, but there are a couple of nice unique features. The plate is both VCT and ARRI Dovetail compatible – two solid industry-standard mounting options for tripod mounting. There is also a slider plate that mounts directly to the camera, this allows fore/aft adjustment to perfect balance on the shoulder, but the neat little feature I like is the lens/lens adaptor support on the front. Lens mounts and particularly lens adaptors on mid range cameras are not so solid; you can get a lot of play with the likes of the Sony FS5 and metabones adaptor. This lens support can help prevent movement, mounting to the plate itself keeps things very compact. Extension Arm The extension arm bolts to the rosette on the side of the bottom plate, extending the native camera handle for better ergonomics. The extension cable is brand specific (Sony/Panasonic/Canon etc.). It would’ve been nice to see one-touch adjustment to this arm like we see with other manufacturers. Top Plate The top plate is where features changes model to model. All offer camera to native top handle mounting in a compact fashion. The Tilta cage for the EVA1, FS5 and USRA Mini Pro all have front and rear 15mm rod support. Fronts can be used for accessories like magic arms for external monitors, follow focus motors, recorders etc. The rears are reserved for the battery plate. The Canon C200 Tilta cage top plate doesn’t feature front rod support, instead has a rosette on the rear for the battery plate, and “precision fitting and grip for Optional C200 top Handle”. Battery Plate All battery plates are primarily designed to mount via the top plate of the Tilta cage. I really like this way of rigging; it gives you the ability to strip the bottom plate if you want to go lightweight; it also gives you greater adjustment of fore/aft on the camera on the bottom plate. If you prefer to mount them on the bottom plate, this can be done via hex screw and simply using the 15mm rods on the bottom plate. Battery plates are available in Gold or V-Mount, and have the following outputs: • (2) 12v DC outputs • (1) 8v DC output • (1) 14.8V PTAP output Availability is expected early March 2018 for each Tilta cage, with pricing range from $650-$730.

Blackmagic Design’s new camera, the URSA Broadcast, is a 4K-capable live event and studio-focused camera that builds on the URSA Mini Pro lineage, but in a form factor that lends itself to ENG work. The camera, priced at $3,500, is at a more accessible price point than many other broadcast cameras on the market. All the details below:  The Blackmagic Design URSA Broadcast Designed to work with B4 mount broadcast lenses, the Blackmagic Broadcast camera has internal ND filters (¼, 1/16th and 1/64th), 4K sensor and records to dual C-fast and SD card slots. The camera records 1080i or 2160p video into NLE friendly .mov files, with a .mxf recording option promised in a future update. The B4 lens mount allows for electronic control of iris, focus and zoom, and the B4 mount can be swapped out for EF, PL or F mounts. Beyond the different lens mounts, a full range of Blackmagic accessories are available for the camera including gold and V-mount battery plates and fiber converters. The Blackmagic Design URSA Broadcast On the surface, the URSA broadcast seems like a feature-rich and shoulder-friendly camera at an impressive price point. The camera is available now and we’ll post updates and video as the camera starts to make its way into the field. Technical Highlights: 4K sensor dual CFast and dual SD card slots ⅔” B4 mount Support for DNxHD 220X, DNxHD 145, Apple ProRes 4444 XQ QuickTime, ProRes 4444 QuickTime, ProRes 422 HQ QuickTime, ProRes 422 QuickTime, ProRes 422 LT QuickTime and ProRes 422 Proxy QuickTime, CinemaDNG RAW, CinemaDNG RAW 3:1, CinemaDNG RAW Internal ND Filters (1/4, 1/16th and 1/64th) Optional PL, EF and F mounts available Available ports: Dual XLR mic/line audio inputs w/ phantom power, 12G‑SDI output XLR 4 pin power output for viewfinder power, headphone jack, LANC remote control and standard 4 pin 12V DC power connection 4 inch touchscreen display What do you think of the new Blackmagic Design broadcast camera? Comment below!

Blackmagic Design have had quite the year. From releasing cutting edge hardware, like their recently announced Decklink 8K Pro, the mighty Ursa Mini Pro and their fantastic Micro and Mini controllers, to the latest major update for DaVinci Resolve. You’d have thought Grant Petty and his team were done for 2017! Today, however, they announced an all new DaVinci Resolve Training and Certification Programme. Ecosystem Apple, Adobe and Microsoft all learnt a long time ago that certified trainers and end-users, qualified via the relevant exams, played a key role in the growth of their software communities. Having been both an Apple and Adobe certified trainer during the past ten years, I know only too well what an important part these networks of highly-skilled instructors and training partners play in the ecosystems of these companies. Courseware After a lot of preparation, Blackmagic have now announced the start of their own, internationally-recognised, DaVinci Resolve Training and Certification programme. The first course to be available will be a three-day intro to all aspects of DaVinci Resolve 14, based on The Definitive Guide to DaVinci Resolve 14 written by Blackmagic’s own Paul Saccone. An advanced colour grading course, written by my friend and colleague Daria Fissoun, will follow next year and, further down the line, other advanced editing and workflow courses will become available. These too will be based around official courseware and exams, put together by Blackmagic and taught by certified Blackmagic trainers, such as myself. Blackmagic describe The Definitive Guide to DaVinci Resolve 14 as a “step-by-step training guide that covers basic editing, color correction and Fairlight audio in DaVinci Resolve 14. The book is designed for both new users and established professionals that are switching to DaVinci Resolve from another editing system.” The Definitive Guide to DaVinci Resolve 14 Certification All courses will be available online, as well as in a classroom environment. However you choose to learn, the courses are all run by Blackmagic Design Certified Training Partners, such as my own UK company Korro Academy * (you can search for your local one here) and delivered by official certified trainers. With a pass threshold of 80% or higher, their exams will allow only the most highly-skilled end users to become officially recognised by Blackmagic, and will be added to an online database of certified professional users. Blackmagic Design Training Partner Trainers In preparation for the launch of their new training and certification programme, Blackmagic have spent the last twelve months running train-the-trainer courses for around 300 hand-picked specialists from around the world. I was very flattered to be one of the individuals invited to join this group and, with people like Warren Eagles, Denver Riddle, Steve Hullfish, Robbie Carman and others also involved, it’s safe to say that future trainees will be in capable hands! The DaVinci Resolve Training and Certification Programme is a major new cog in the Blackmagic Design machine, helping to pad out their support offerings around the globe and no doubt leading to more and more skilled operators in their products. * As one of our sponsors, all cinema5D readers receive a 10% discount off training at Korro Academy using the code KORROC5D What do you think about certified training? Do you plan on taking the courses or exams? Let us know in the comments below!

As already stated by Blackmagic Design: “DaVinci Resolve 14 is the world’s first post production tool designed for true multi-user collaboration.” In this article we’ll sum up the main features and capabilities regarding multi-user collaboration in DaVinci Resolve Studio. A multi-user collaboration workflow could be a complex mission without the right tools dedicated to this kind of post production environment, and one that may lead to lengthy conforms and synchronization issues. With DaVinci Resolve 14 editors, assistants, colorists, and sound editors can make conforming and managing changes in parallel on the same project and at the same time. This is made possible by an impressive arsenal of multi-user coloration tools like project management, open storage, bin locking, built-in chat and timeline comparison. Project management The new DaVinci Resolve Project Management software makes collaboration possible by managing traffic and saving the changes from each user. The software allows setting up a shared project database so users can log in and start working on their projects. It’s really straightforward and made easy thanks to a friendly graphical user interface which contains dedicated icons and indicators. Bin and timeline locking Bin and timeline locking allow multiple assistants and editors to work together without the risk of overwriting each other’s work. One user can create bins for organizing footage and adding metadata, while another works in a different bin. The bins and timelines remain “read only” until they are unlocked by the user that’s working on them. This feature is a must-have on a collaborative post environment because it helps accelerate the workflow without running over each other’s work. Built-in Chat DaVinci Resolve grants editors the ability to quickly message and communicate with assistants, sound designers and colorist with its built-in realtime chat feature, making it an essential tool for the whole post-production team. Timeline Comparison This is a really cool interface in DaVinci Resolve Studio which allows to visually compare timelines between an editor and assistant.  There are also options to delete, move or trim, so working together on the same timeline becomes possible via a very friendly graphic user interface. Timeline Comparison This recent BMD tutorial demonstrates all of these collaboration options between five users: editor, assistant editor, colorist, colorist 2 (the main purpose of DaVinci Resolve is grading after all…) and audio editor, and is definitely worth watching. Also, visit the multi-user collaboration page to learn more. At first glance, it seems that BMD have put a lot of effort to turn their industry-standard color-correction platform into a professional NLE, and have delivered a nice, easy-to-use, yet powerful multi-user collaboration interface (Read more in our article : The Battle of the NLEs).  It’s worth mentioning that I’ve been following various DaVinci Resolve Facebook groups to discover that there are some bugs and mishaps when actually using the software for heavy editing tasks. Have you used DaVinci Resolve Studio on multi-user collaboration environment tasks? Let us know your experience in the comments below.

From a journalist’s point of view, I have always hoped for the opportunity to interview two particular respected people from our industry – individuals that, in my opinion, are responsible for making TV and filming equipment much more accessible and affordable at both ends of price spectrum. In reality, there is nothing really that connects them more than sharing a vision and passion to innovate. I’m talking about RED’s Jim Jannard and Blackmagic Design’s Grant Petty. While I’m yet to interview Jim, I had a chance to have a one-on-one open and honest talk with Grant Petty while attending Inter BEE 2017, the local broadcast industry exhibition that takes place in Japan.  Grant – who is undoubtedly one of the people we can consider as having brought affordable working tools to production companies and individuals – was kind enough to openly share with me some of his views regarding our filming and TV industry. We had a chance to talk about topics such as what made him start a company that strives to produce affordable equipment including cameras, the reason behind Blackmagic Design ceasing to announce new cameras before bringing them to the market, and lastly, if there is anything we should expect to see from them in the near future. For those of you who do not have the time to watch the discussion and are still asking yourselves, “How come Blackmagic Design is not able to supply a camera in time?”, here is a spoiler alert: it only takes ONE part to be delivered late at the factory to cause delays across the entire production chain of such an electronically complicated camera, making it impossible for the manufacturer to deliver it in time. I truly hope that opening a small window into the manufacturers’ world can serve to cultivate an open conversation to better understand the process of the people behind the brand name, as well as communicate the needs, wishes and thoughts of users like us.

That age-old question: what gear should I get? In this episode of cinema5D essentials, I decided to answer this question once and for all, in a video as entertaining and educational as I could think of. Which Gear Should I get? For the last 9 years we’ve been constantly on a quest to find better gear to work with and make digital filmmaking easier and more affordable. As we like to work with the gear we test, my new Gear Guide is an attempt to share some of the experience I’ve had with the equipment along the way. Note that this gear guide reflects only Seb’s gear recommendations for the time being. The other authors of cinema5D will follow. Some of our regular readers will notice that the video is targeted at a broader audience looking for gear tips and recommendations. We receive requests for gear tips quite regularly but, even though we try to answer them individually, this can unfortunately be difficult sometimes due to our everyday workload. Gear Used in the Video The video should really speak for itself, so I will not go through the seven essential pieces of gear in this text. Instead, I would like to give you some background on the video production itself. Camera I used the Blackmagic URSA Mini 4.6K as it gave me beautiful, cinematic 4K rendering in a studio environment. I never use it outdoors, but in a studio environment there is no other affordable camera that’s so easy to use and gives such a pleasing picture. I went back and forth between camera and computer to check and implement my shots into the evolving editing timeline and it was an effortless process. Lens My lens of choice was the Zeiss CP.2 50mm Macro T/2.1. This is probably my favourite lens of all time and, although it’s bulky and expensive, whenever I put it on a camera I just love the image it gives me. Additionally, its macro design means I’m not as limited on how close I can get to an object. Bokeh and highlights are beautifully cinematic. Lights I mention the ALZO 3200 Low Noise in the video, which I used with the ALZO 36″ soft box. While it doesn’t have the best build quality, it is super affordable and is an extremely bright light with a great, clean white rendering. I used it as a key light for the top-shot gear photos and every single shot in the video. Due to its special design it is just a little inconvenient to use, but produces a relatively low fan noise. The second light I used was the Aputure Light Storm 120d. It has a lower output than the ALZO, but delivers good light color and is convenient to use. I used this one with a 24″ Westcott beauty dish, the best soft box I know albeit not the largest, which makes it perfect for a back light. I added two additional CTB gels to give me that blue back-light tone on my skin. The blue color in the video comes from a tiny light that will knock your socks off. The Luxli Viola 5″ is a very small LED that lets you dial in any color you like. It isn’t cheap, but it’s the perfect background color light and is super convenient to use. I have two of these, but only used one of them for the video. Tripod The Sachtler FSB-6 with quick legs was my tripod of choice. It’s getting on in years now and the FSB-8 would be a better option today, but it still gets the job done even though the URSA Mini is a bit on the heavy side. I hope you found this video and gear lists helpful. We have never had a proper gear guide on cinema5D, but I know we’re one of the websites where people regularly look for gear tips. With over 3600 articles on our site, it can be pretty hard to find stuff, so hopefully this gear guide will make things a bit easier. Let us know how you liked this episode of cinema5D essentials. And if you have gear tips of your own, why not share them with us and the rest of the world?

There’s an email from Apple ghosting around the interwebs that may find its way to your inbox, too: Final Cut Pro 7 won’t be starting up once you upgrade to the upcoming macOS High Sierra. We’re witnessing the final death to the classic Final Cut Pro. Time to make a choice! RIP Final Cut Pro 7 This is it, people. The classic Final Cut Pro 7 is officially dead. If you were part of the mob struggling to accept the new kid on the block, called Final Cut Pro X and introduced back in 2011, then this news might be the final stab to the heart. You might wonder what took Apple so long – after all, Final Cut Pro 7 lived for another 6 years after the introduction of Final Cut Pro X. Perhaps it was FCPX’s rough start that made Apple hesitate for so long. Anyway, it’s finally time to move on. The Final Death of Final Cut Pro 7 If you haven’t got the email from Apple yet, then you probably don’t know what’s going on here. In order to get you up to speed, here is the official announcement by Apple: Dear …: Our records show that you may be using applications included in Final Cut Studio. We wanted to share some important compatibility information about these applications and macOS High Sierra, which will be available this fall. Older versions of Apple pro video applications — including applications in Final Cut Studio — will not launch on a computer running macOS High Sierra. New versions of Apple pro video applications — including Final Cut Pro X, Motion 5, and Compressor 4 — are compatible with macOS High Sierra. You can purchase these applications on the Mac App Store. You can learn about the transitioning from older versions of Final Cut Pro to Final Cut Pro X here. For more information about compatibility of Apple pro applications on macOS High Sierra, please view this support article. Sincerely, Apple If you’re still using Final Cut Pro 7 for your editing work, this is bad news. On the other hand, it was just a matter of time, really. Its direct successor, Final Cut Pro X, has now reached version 10.3.4, having evolved quite a bit from its miserable first releases. However, if you’re not into the way Apple thinks NLEs, there are plenty of alternatives! Alternatives to Final Cut Pro 7 It’s no longer just Apple vs. Avid like in the old days. There are other players with really good NLE solutions on the market. There’s Adobe Premiere Pro which has evolved steadily from its beginnings in the 1990s. Then there’s Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve, of course – not only a full-blown color grading suite but now a NLE, too. A few alternatives to Final Cut 7. Avid Media Composer might still be the king of the hill when it comes to classic editing, but Premiere Pro follows hot on its heels. If you’re not into the subscription model of Adobe Premiere Pro, you might want to have a look at Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve. This gives you not only the industry-standard color grading suite, but also an NLE and, since version 14 is imminent, a full-blown audio editor too. All for free with a few limitations, or, if you want the whole package, for $299. Following Blackmagic Design’s business model, Avid also offers a free version of its famous Media Composer, too. Spanish company SGO, who now offers the free Mistika Insight, takes the same line. There are other (paid) applications, of course, such as GrassValley Edius or Vegas Pro. Or, if Apple finally managed to convince you, maybe Final Cut Pro X is the right choice. For another $299 it’s yours. Conclusion There are a lot of alternatives to the now-defunct Final Cut Pro 7. However, if you still have FCP7 projects sitting in your computer, you might want to double check if you’ll ever need to work on them again, as these project files are not compatible with Final Cut Pro X. Once you’ve upgraded to macOS High Sierra, you won’t be able to open them again. You could skip High Sierra, of course, but that would only delay the problem down the line. Anyway, it’s sad to finally say goodbye to this piece of software. Final Cut Pro 7 served many of us very well in the times of the indie cinema revolution in 2008 with the introduction of the Canon 5D mark II. Farewell! Links: Avid Media Compser Free | Final Cut Pro X | DaVinci Resolve | Premiere Pro | Mistika Insight Which one is your NLE of choice? What kind of payment model do you prefer? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Both versions of the Blackmagic Design Video Assist are receiving some significant price drops. Links to US and Europe retailers below! The Blackmagic Design Video Assist is field monitor and recorder compatible with both HDMI and SDI-capable cameras that has proven quite popular with shooters thanks to its Apple ProRes and Avid DNx-encoding capabilities to dual low-cost SD cards. While not sporting as many bells and whistles as some offerings from the competition, both the 5” HD-only Video Assist and the 7” Video Assist 4K from Blackmagic Design are still solid alternatives that give you various tools such as waveform, zebras, peaking, false colour, XLR inputs, LUT support (4K version only) and more — and all this at a relatively competitive price. The good news is that Blackmagic Design has significantly dropped the price on both units. And yes, the offer is available to customers on both sides of the Atlantic. The base model, 5” Blackmagic Design Video Assist has dropped by about $100, and is now available for $395 from B&H, or £315/€357 from CVP. With a $300 discount, the larger 7” Video Assist 4K received has the larger price drop, so this may be your chance to grab a bargain. It is now available for $595 from B&H and £475/€539 from CVP. This puts both models in just a slightly higher price bracket than the most budget-oriented field monitors out there, but with the added benefit of being able to dual-record to edit-friendly codecs with low-cost, easy-to-find SD cards. Blackmagic Design Video Assist 4K with LUT support Sure, these Blackmagic monitors may not offer things like Raw recording, high frame rates or HDR, but if you are in the market for a solid monitor/recorder and don’t want to break the bank, they could be a good alternative from a very reputable brand. For more information about the latest firmware updates for these products, make sure to check out our post HERE. Are you a Video Assist user? Why not share your experiences in the comments section below?