Blackmagic Design announced two new control panels for its switchers. The new ATEM 2 M/E Advanced Panel features 2 M/E rows with 20 input buttons and 2 independent system control LCDs for each row. The ATEM 4 M/E Advanced Panel features 4 M/E rows with 40 input buttons per row and 4 independent system control LCDs for each row. This large panel includes 24 LCD’s for custom labeling of every button on every row. Blackmagic Design ATEM Advanced Panels. Source: BMD In April 2020, Blackmagic Design already updated its compact switcher line – the company introduced the ATEM Mini Pro. The existing ATEM Mini received a little larger and more capable colleague. In yesterday’s live stream, Blackmagic Design introduced two new products for larger live productions. The existing ATEM 1 M/E Advanced Panel received two larger siblings – ATEM 2 M/E Advanced Panel and ATEM 4 M/E Advanced Panel. Let’s take a short look at the features and specs. Blackmagic Design ATEM Advanced Panels. Source: BMD ATEM 2M/E and 4M/E Advanced Panels Every ATEM Advanced Panel is basically an accessory for a Blackmagic Design switcher like for example the ATEM Constellation 8K that provides a better and faster workflow. The Constellation 8K is a switcher with 40 12G-SDI inputs, two 12G-SDI outputs, and 24 12G-SDI AUX outputs. Even though the switcher can function without the advanced panel via its built-in control panel or software control panel, Blackmagic recommends getting one of their Advanced Panels for faster and easier operation. The Advanced Panels have physical broadcast quality buttons, knobs, and a t‑bar fader to access all features in the switcher, all at the same time. The existing ATEM 1 M/E Advanced Panel features a single M/E row with 10 input buttons and 1 system control LCD screen. Although it’s a 1 M/E panel, users can control all M/Es in larger switchers. The input buttons feature user customizable colors and button label LCDs. There’s also a joystick for the DVE and a T-bar fader. The new ATEM 2 M/E Advanced Panel features 2 M/E rows with 20 input buttons and 2 independent system control LCDs for each row. Plus each row can control up to 4 M/Es in larger switchers. Both rows and all input buttons include LCDs for custom labeling. Each row also includes an independent select bus. This new model replaces the older ATEM 2M/E Broadcast Panel – it offers more features while being smaller. New ATEM 4 M/E Advanced Panel. Source: BMD Blackmagic introduced an even larger model with the ATEM 4 M/E Advanced Panel. It features 4 M/E rows with 40 input buttons per row and 4 independent system control LCDs for each row. This large panel includes 24 LCD’s for custom labeling of every button on every row. The Blackmagic Design live stream has been reuploaded to Youtube, so you can watch it to get a good overview of all the new features of the ATEM Advanced Panels. The panels offer transition control, transition styles (mix, dip, wipe, DVE and more), keyer control, fader bar for manually blend transitions, built-in fade to black (FTB) button, joystick for precise control, and more. For a full overview of the functions, you can also take a look at the Blackmagic Product Website. Price and Availability Both new ATEM Advanced Panels are now available for pre-order. The ATEM 2 M/E Advanced Panel retails for $6,159 and the larger 4 M/E model costs $18,485. There is no info yet when these new models will ship. We will keep you informed. Do you do live productions? Do you have experience with the ATEM 1 M/E Advanced Panel? Would you consider one of the larger panels? Let us know in the comments underneath the article.

Blackmagic Design announced a new update 8.2.3 for its ATEM Switchers. The update adds adjustable audio delay on the analog inputs on ATEM Mini models and it allows the DVE (digital video effect) to scale more than 100% in size on ATEM Mini and ATEM Mini Pro. Furthermore, Blackmagic Design announced a minor manufacturing update 3.1.2 to its Video Assist 12G 5″ monitor/recorder. ATEM Switchers and Video Assist 12G Updates. Source: Blackmagic Design The ATEM Switchers from Blackmagic Design have gotten quite popular as an affordable multi-camera solution. Even more so due to this year’s situation with lockdown and the significant increase in live streaming. Back in April 2020, Blackmagic Design introduced the new ATEM Mini Pro Switcher. When compared to the standard ATEM Mini, the Pro version adds a new hardware streaming engine via Ethernet, recording to USB flash disks and new multiview for monitoring all cameras and more. It is good to see that Blackmagic Design keeps updating its products with new firmware versions. What does the new 8.2.3 update for the ATEM Switchers bring? Blackmagic ATEM Switchers 8.2.3 Update The new software update 8.2.3 adds the following new improvements and fixes to ATEM Switchers: Adds adjustable audio delay on the analog inputs on ATEM Mini models. Users can select up to 8 frames of audio delay on analog microphone inputs. Allows the DVE (digital video effect) to scale more than 100% in size on ATEM Mini and ATEM Mini Pro. General performance and stability updates. ATEM Mini Versus ATEM Mini Pro. Source: Blackmagic Design Blackmagic Design further released a Developer SDK for ATEM Switchers 8.2.3 that allows updating of hardware control and software interfaces for ATEM production switchers. Blackmagic Video Assist 3.1.2 Update Another minor update from Blackmagic Design is a manufacturing update 3.1.2 for Blackmagic Video Assist 5” 12G monitor/recorder. For more information about the new Video Assists 12G, take a look at our article from IBC 2019. As always, all new updates are available free of charge and can be downloaded from the Blackmagic Design Support Center webpage. Do you use Blackmagic Design ATEM Mini or Mini Pro? What do you think about the new update? Let us know in the comment section underneath the article.

Blackmagic has announced a free firmware update for the original URSA Mini Pro G1. The initial Blackmagic Camera Setup update had a patch number of 6.9.3. However Blackmagic reported a problem with this firmware batch causing noise in the highlights. Firmware update 6.9.4 has addressed this bug, and provides all of the same features listed below: Add language localization support. Add slider and 1/3rd stop increments when adjusting ISO. Add common off-speed frame rate options above slider. Add ability to embed custom LUTs in Blackmagic RAW clips. Add sidetone level adjustment. Add improved ballistics and scaling of audio meters. Add choice of -18 or -20dB reference levels for audio meters. Add ability to remap the HFR button. Add ability to disable function and HFR buttons. Add ability to remap VTR and Ret buttons on B4 lenses. Add quick media switching from the heads up display. Add support for HDR metadata in SDI output. Add ‘LUT’ icon to status text overlays. Add ‘PRE’ icon to status text overlays for preset timecode. Add 2:1, 1:1 and 4:5 monitoring frame guides. Add customizable frame guides. Add ability to lock timecode to SDI Input. Retain jam synced timecode after power cycle. Improved jam sync timecode accuracy after playback. Improved stability when using external or program reference. Improved compatibility for embedded audio on SDI outputs. Improved accuracy of status text on SDI outputs. Improved ND filter status text. Improved auto exposure speed and performance. Improved media formatting user interface. What’s new in Blackmagic RAW 1.7 Added support for Panasonic EVA1 Blackmagic RAW clips captured by Blackmagic Video Assist. Added support for Canon EOS C300 Mark II Blackmagic RAW clips captured by Blackmagic Video Assist. Blackmagic RAW Adobe Premiere Pro plugin general performance and stability improvements.   So to confirm – anybody who did update to the 6.9.3 must update to 6.9.4 to fix the noisy highlight bug, all other features of the updates remain the same. Updates are valid for the original Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro G1 only; it’s always nice to see camera manufacturers keeping older camera bodies up to date. Installation notes and further info can be found on the Blackmagic website. Related Articles: Blackmagic Design URSA Mini Pro Review – Hands-On Video Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro – Real World Video Samples and First Impressions URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2 vs. G1 Dynamic Range and Latitude Test

In this cinema5D Quick Tip Video, I‘ll show you how to work with LUTs in Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve and how to avoid a mistake that many Resolve users make when starting out using LUTs. This tip is relevant for both the Studio- and the free version of DaVinci Resolve. Image credit: cinema5D A Few Words first Much of what I learned about software and techniques, for the last decade or so, I have learned online. There are lots of free and paid tutorials out there on the internet. Some better than others but with time and effort, it‘s possible to learn just about anything including post-production software and filmmaking techniques. I love comprehensive, hours-long step-by-step tutorials that walk you through whole software packages. But what I love even more are those small ones that focus around one specific piece of knowledge. I find it exciting to learn a new little trick that speeds up my workflow, improves quality or lets me do some cool new stuff. Because I think you might also be interested in such little nuggets of knowledge, I‘ll share what I have collected over the years. Oh, and one last thing: I did some teaching in the past, but it’s the first time I’m talking directly on camera — like most camera people I don’t fancy being in front of the lens, but I bit the bullet for you guys. :-) To LOG or not to LOG Because I would have loved to know what’s in this first Quick Tip Video when I began using Resolve, I have decided to start with a tip about LUTs. Since the advent of cameras that shoot LOG gamma many filmmakers very often employ LUTs to normalise their footage to REC.709 or REC.2020, convert colourspaces and to creatively style their productions. I don’t particularly like using LUTs — mainly because they “throw away” image information as you will see in der video — but sometimes it’s unavoidable or convenient. While DaVinci Resolve is a powerhouse of a software package, it does not hold your hand in any way and it’s easy to make mistakes that can mess up your work big time. In this tutorial, I covered the basics of how to properly use LUTs for whatever purpose. I used a LUT that normalises LOG down to REC.709, but the principles apply to LUT usage in general. If you have questions, ideas, suggestions or maybe have a little gem of knowledge to share yourself, please put them in the comments!

Blackmagic Design released DaVinci Resolve update to version 16.2.2 which brings various improvements and fixes like support for exporting .srt files without formatting, support for RED 7.3.1 SDK, ability to assign frame rate on YouTube, Vimeo and Frame.io renders and more. DaVinci Resolve 16.2.2 Released. Source: Blackmagic Design Blackmagic Design first announced DaVinci Resolve 16 at last year’s NAB. You can take a look at our article with the Resolve 16 first feature demo video here. Since then, Resolve 16 received a few updates already. Now Blackmagic Design announced the 16.2.2 version with few interesting updates and fixes. Let’s take a look at what has been improved. DaVinci Resolve 16.2.2 According to Blackmagic Design, the new DaVinci Resolve 16.2.2 Studio improves performance and addresses a few issues based on customer feedback. This is an overview of all the improvements and fixes included in DaVinci Resolve 16.2.2 update: Hardware-accelerated H.265 Main10 renders on supported Macs. Blackmagic RAW clip LUT name can now be viewed in clip metadata. Ability to assign frame rate on YouTube, Vimeo and Frame.io renders. Support for marking Frame.io comments in markers as complete. Nudge keyboard actions can be used in the sync clip dialog. Support for exporting .srt files without formatting. Support for RED 7.3.1 SDK. Support for the Rec.709-A gamma option for QuickTime player compatibility. Preference to automatically tag Rec.709 clips as Rec.709-A. Addressed level shifts playing some short H.264 clips on Mac systems. Addressed loss of audio transition when trimming clips in the timeline. Addressed issues with stabilization not being available in the inspector. Addressed issues with incorrect channel order for audio waveform display. Addressed an issue with previewing in Fusion when in proxies mode. Addressed an issue with using reference sizing with timeline wipe. Addressed an issue with aspect ratio metadata in some MXF renders. Multiple performance and stability improvements. Price and Availability As always with DaVinci Resolve, this update is available for free for existing customers in both free Resolve and in paid Resolve Studio. Both macOS X and Windows versions can be downloaded from Blackmagic Design Support Page. Blackmagic Design recommends backing up all active databases and current projects before upgrading to this release. They encourage all users to update Resolve 16 systems to version 16.2.2. Do you use DaVinci Resolve 16 for your work? Does this update bring any improvement or fix that you experienced? Let us know in the comment section below the article.

Chroma Key is used everywhere these days, but it can still be a humbling experience to properly pull a key if you‘re not doing it all day for a living. If you are working in the Studio version of Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve you do have one of the best Keyers in the world at your fingertips. But working the Fusion page is not for everyone. Don‘t fret — there is a decent Chroma Key hidden in DaVinci Resolve‘s Color page. When Blackmagic introduced the 3D qualifier to DaVinci Resolve I was impressed by how much better it was to select ranges of colors for secondary color correction, compared to the old qualifier algorithms. What I did not realize at first was that you could use the 3D qualifier to pull chromakeys. Turns out: you can! And boy does it work well! Check out this Quick Tip Video, where I‘ll show you how this works. A few Tips on Shooting Greenscreen Of course, the results of a chroma key depend on the quality of the footage you are trying to key. To get keyable footage, keep these things in mind: Use the highest possible quality your camera can record — maybe rent an external recorder if the internal codec is weak. Use the proper shade of highly saturated green or blue as a background. Just simple green cardboard does not cut it. Light the subject and the screen separately Put a Kicker-Light on the hair of your talent. Put a quarter or half CTO gel on it. Light the green screen as evenly as possible to about 40% brightness. Get as much distance between your talent and the screen as possible Make sure your white balance is correct Use Greenscreen over Bluescreen whenever possible. Digital cameras usually compress the blue channel the most and that’s exactly where you need information when keying Bluescreen. If you have questions, requests or ideas for future Quick Tip Videos, please write in the comments.

Blackmagic Design just announced a $500 price drop for its Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K (BMPCC 6K). This Super 35 6K-capable camera with EF lens mount is now therefore available for $1,995. BMPCC6K Gets $500 Price Drop. Source: Blackmagic Design Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K was announced last year in August. With that camera, Blackmagic Design offered an alternative body for customers who liked the Pocket 4K but wanted a larger sensor with 6K video and Canon EF mount. If you want to refresh the camera’s features and specs, make sure to check our extensive coverage of the BMPCC6K: Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Announced – Super 35 Sensor and EF Mount BMPCC 6K vs. BMPCC 4K – Which one is for you? BMPCC 6K Review & Footage – Five Reasons to Like the Pocket 6K Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Lab Test – Dynamic Range, Latitude, Rolling Shutter & More Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Gets $500 Price Drop B&H buy link: Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Was: $2,495.00 Now: $1,995.00 (Savings: $500.00) CVP buy link: Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Was: €2,275.52 Now: €1,907.39 / £ 1.665.83 (Savings: €368.13) The BMPCC6K features a Super 35 sensor with 6144 x 3456 resolution (16:9 ratio). It can record up to 6K 50fps video in Blackmagic RAW. In some resolutions, there are also various flavors of ProRes available. The camera has a Canon EF lens mount and the same dual gain ISO as the Pocket 4K – ISO 400 and 3200 (maximum ISO value is 25,600). The Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera features built-in CFast and SD UHS-II card recorders, and a USB-C expansion port for recording directly to an external SSD. On the back of the camera, there is a 5-inch touchscreen for monitoring and camera control. BMPCC6K Gets $500 Price Drop. Source: Blackmagic Design Only a few weeks ago, Blackmagic Design announced its new ATEM Mini Pro along with firmware update 6.9 for the BMPCC cameras. With the new firmware, Pocket 4K and 6K cameras can better function as studio cameras for live production with ATEM Mini. Video and control can be done via the HDMI connection, which is available as soon as the cameras are plugged in. The record light becomes a tally light so customers can see which camera is on air. The ATEM Software Control camera page has a camera control unit (CCU) style interface for adjusting and matching their cameras. Users can move the CCU control vertically for iris and left to right to adjust the black level. It’s the same as a broadcast CCU. There are also controls for color tint to balance camera as well as focus, gain, and shutter speed. At the same time, customers can still record Blackmagic RAW in the camera for editing later. BMPCC6K Gets $500 Price Drop. Source: Blackmagic Design Altogether, the BMPCC6K was offering a lot for its price even before the price drop. Now with the $500 off, it is a lot of camera for relatively little money in my opinion. If you are interested in buying the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K, we will be happy if you use the following links to our partner stores. With no extra cost, we get a small commission from your purchase which helps us running cinema5D. B&H buy link: Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Was: $2,495.00  Now: $1,995.00 (Savings: $500.00) CVP buy link: Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Was: €2,275.52  Now: €1,907.39 / £ 1.665.83 (Savings: €368.13) Were you planning on buying the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K? What do you think about this price drop? Let us know in the comments underneath the article.

Blackmagic Design just announced a new ATEM Mini Pro and new firmware updates for both Hyperdeck Studio Mini and Blackmagic Pocket Cinema cameras. The new ATEM Mini Pro adds a new hardware streaming engine via Ethernet, recording to USB flash disks and new multiview for monitoring all cameras. Hyperdeck Studio Mini gets a new v7.1 free software update which adds new H.264 codec, new AAC audio, codec, longer single file record durations and faster file transfers using Ethernet. Blackmagic Camera 6.9 update adds studio camera features such as remote control, tally and DaVinci color corrector to Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera. New ATEM Mini Pro. Source: Blackmagic Design Blackmagic Design ATEM Mini Pro ATEM Mini made it easy to create multi-camera productions for live streaming to YouTube and innovative business presentations using Skype or Zoom. It offers up to 4 video camera inputs for dramatically better quality images. ATEM Mini also has a USB port that works like a webcam so customers can use any streaming software. Blackmagic Design today announced new ATEM Mini Pro, which should be a new affordable live production switcher with all the features of ATEM Mini but now with extra features for recording, streaming and monitoring. ATEM Mini Pro includes a new hardware streaming engine to allow direct streaming via its Ethernet connection to YouTube Live, Facebook and Twitch. New ATEM Mini Pro versus ATEM Mini. Source: Blackmagic Design There is also support for recording the stream direct to USB flash disks in H.264 with AAC audio, plus support for recording to multiple disks for continuous recording. The new model also includes a multiview on the HDMI video output that allows all inputs to be monitored on a single monitor, as well as the live status of recording, streaming and the audio mixer. Each of the 4 HDMI inputs features their own dedicated standards converter. That means ATEM Mini will automatically convert 1080p, 1080i and 720p sources to the video standard of the switcher. The HDMI output is a true “aux” output so customers can clean switch each HDMI input or program to this output. If users are using program/preview switching, the HDMI out can be selected to preview, or on the ATEM Mini Pro model, it can be selected to display a full multiview. New ATEM Mini Pro. Source: Blackmagic Design Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K and 6K models can work as studio cameras with control sent via the HDMI connection to ATEM Mini. That means customers can control the camera settings as well as the camera’s color corrector from ATEM Software Control. There are two types of control interface, CCU layout for traditional tint color control and a DaVinci color corrector interface allowing the camera’s built-in DaVinci color corrector to add “looks” to their live production. New BMPCC Update for live productions. Source: Blackmagic Design The most important features of the ATEM Mini Pro: Features miniaturized control panel based design. Supports connecting up to 4 cameras or computers. USB output operates as a webcam and supports all video software. Live streaming via Ethernet supported on ATEM Mini Pro. Recording to USB flash disks in H.264 supported on ATEM Mini Pro. Two stereo audio inputs for connecting desktop or lapel microphones. Automatically standards converts and re-syncs all HDMI inputs. Includes free ATEM Software Control for Mac and Windows. Internal media for 20 RGBA graphics for titles, opening plates and logos. Includes ATEM Advanced Chroma Key for green/blue screen work. Multiview allows monitoring of all cameras on ATEM Mini Pro. Audio mixer supports limiter, compressor, 6 bands EQ and more. Supports remote HDMI control with Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Cameras. HyperDeck Studio Mini – Update V7.1 HyperDeck Studio Mini is a compact broadcast deck that is capable of H.264, ProRes or DNx codecs recorded to SD or UHS-II card media in either QuickTime or MXF file formats. HyperDeck Studio Mini has features such as 6G-SDI for all formats up to 2160p30, HDMI for monitoring, dual SD card slots for non-stop recording and built-in sync generator that lets customers daisy chain and synchronize multiple decks together. New Hyperdeck Studio Mini Update. Source: Blackmagic Design The Hyperdeck Studio Mini now gets a new free firmware update version 7.1. It adds multiple new features to HyperDeck Studio Mini broadcast recorders. The new updates include a new H.264 codec that supports true interlaced HD formats, a new AAC audio codec allowing uploading files direct to YouTube, much faster Ethernet transfers of 110 MB/s and support for longer duration in a single file of at least 3 hours. HyperDeck Studio Mini V7.1 Features: Longer single file record times of at least 3 hours. New H.264 codec with interlaced video support. New AAC audio codec allows H.264 file uploads direct to YouTube. Dramatically faster Ethernet file transfers up to 110 MB/s. Supports QuickTime and MXF file wrappers. Blackmagic Camera Update 6.9 New software update 6.9 for Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K and 6K models includes studio camera features. Now customers can connect to an ATEM Mini switcher and get control of the camera parameters, lens, and tally light. ATEM Mini can control up to 4 cameras via the HDMI video connection and ensure all cameras are matched for a professional live studio workflow. New BMPCC Update. Source: Blackmagic Design Blackmagic Camera Update 6.9 features: Works as a studio camera when connected to ATEM Mini. Designed from carbon fiber polycarbonate composite. Wide 13 stops of dynamic range for the film looks. Up to 25600 ISO for incredible low light performance. Features high-quality Blackmagic RAW recording. Built-in 5″ touchscreen allows accurate focus when shooting 6K. Blackmagic OS as used in URSA Mini and URSA Broadcast cameras. Supports remote tally, lens and color corrector with ATEM Mini. Pricing and Availability ATEM Mini Pro is available now for $595. Both HyperDeck Studio Mini v7.1 and Blackmagic Camera Update 6.9 are free updates and they are available now for download from the Blackmagic Design website. What do you think of the new Blackmagic Design ATEM Mini Pro and the new software updates? Are you doing live productions often? Let us know in the comments underneath the article.