This IBC, as well as new products, Blackmagic are announcing that we have acquired eyeon software and their amazing Fusion software. This software is amazing and it’s used on so many high end Hollywood feature films and is extremely powerful.
Blackmagic will also reveal 2 new cameras, a new Ultra HD multi view, new 12G-SDI based Ultra HD monitoring and a DeckLink card, new DaVinci Resolve update, a new 40 x 40 router, new mini converters and a lot more!
Watch out for:
- Blackmagic acquires eyeon Software
- DaVinci Resolve 11.1 Update
- Blackmagic Production Camera PL and Cinema Camera PL
- Blackmagic MultiView 16
- SmartView 4K
- Smart Videohub 40×40
- DeckLink 4K Extreme 12G
- Mini Converters with 6G-SDI and Ultra HD
- Mini Converter SDI to Audio 4K
- Mini Converter Audio to SDI 4K
- Mini Converters with 6G-SDI and Ultra HD
- Mini Converter H/Duty SDI to HDMI 4K
- Mini Converter H/Duty HDMI to SDI 4K
- Mini Converter H/Duty SDI to Analog 4K
- New Blackmagic Videohub Software
eyeon Software
For years we have been amazed by the incredible Fusion software and what an amazing feature set it has for compositing. It has been the tool used on over 1000 major Hollywood feature films and has been used on some of the most recent blockbuster movies for some of the most complex effects scenes in these movies. It’s an incredible tool and it’s really Hollywood’s secret to doing some of these major effects shots.
Now we have just completed acquiring eyeon software and for us, this is extremely exciting as, similar to DaVinci, we now have a second powerful software tool that has remarkable creative power. The guys at eyeon are also excited as now we can add better sales and support for eyeon’s software tools. So I think it’s a very good match.
If you have never taken a close look at Fusion, please check out the eyeon web site. There are some nice videos there showing what it can do.
But what I think is really amazing is the whole “node” based way of working. I think when you first see Fusion and its nodes, it can look a little intimidating, but then when you realize what you are looking at, it suddenly hits you how easy and clean this way of working is.
If you have used a timeline in an NLE, then you might think this is an easy way to add layers and do effects. However when you start doing anything complicated in a timeline, such as add a few clips, then add a few effects to each clip, with each effect having multiple parameters to adjust, it can get very complex, very quickly.
We all know what that’s like when you are trying to adjust something and you have to dig around looking for the correct parameter to adjust and try and work out which plug on what layer it’s on. It can become quite complex and cumbersome.
This is what nodes solve. With nodes, each thing to do is a little node, and you have a whole collection of effects you can just connect up to do anything you like. When you want to adjust anything in a shot, you just check on the node and adjust it. It’s all right there, laid out very simply and you can see it all. It’s so incredibly simple. It’s just like plugging in LEGO bricks.
What’s funny is that it becomes a bit addictive and I find you want to just spend hours plugging in different effects and experimenting! It’s very creative, once you see how simple it is.
Of course, Fusion has a massive palette of effects. There are motion graphics, a fantastic tracker, color correctors, particles, great keyers, plus even fantastic paint with rotoscoping and onion skinning. The whole environment is full 3D and there is incredible 3D tools and simulations. There are way more features than I can list here!
We will be showing Fusion on the Blackmagic Design booth at IBC and if you are coming to the show, please drop by. We will also be posting the latest full release of Fusion 7.0 and this is the latest edition of the software, and it’s even better than ever!
We think this acquisition of eyeon Software is very exciting and we will keep you updated with what we do and we look forward to chatting with existing Fusion users about what we can do in the future as we grow the software team working on it.
http://www.eyeonline.com
DaVinci Resolve 11.1
The DaVinci Resolve software we released recently has been received really well and we have been so happy with the response. It’s nice when you work hard and people are happy with the results because then you feel all the late nights and lost sleep were worth it!
However of course, there are always some little things we missed or could not quite get the time to add into the update so we have this new DaVinci Resolve 11.1 update to fix that!
We have added in a bunch of new features including a new full screen timeline view, editable in and out points in the viewer, gap trimming, the ability to add multiple transitions simultaneously, independent track heights, fade in and out opacity settings on video tracks and the ability to swap edits. Also now when folders are dropped into the media pool, the whole folder hierarchy is preserved. So there are lots of little updates in this release.
This software is available now to download from the support page on our web site.
https://www.blackmagicdesign.
Blackmagic Production Camera 4K PL
Blackmagic Cinema Camera PL
Also new this year are two new cameras. What we have done is added models of our Blackmagic Production Camera 4K and Blackmagic Cinema Camera with PL lens mounts. This means you can use cinema lenses on the camera, which is great because these two cameras are being heavily used on feature films now so it’s great to have models with PL lens mounts.
The PL mount is made out of machined steel so unlike the cheap adapters made from aluminum, the PL lens mount on these cameras won’t bind onto the lens and get stuck. There are nice big tabs to allow you to put good positive pressure on the lens fastening ring, and the whole mount is incredibly strong so it can hold a heavy lens. Because the whole chassis of this camera is machined out of aluminum, it has a lot of strength and can hold these heavy lenses.
When we were originally designing this camera design it was going to be a PL mount. That’s why we chose to machine the chassis out of a block of solid aluminum. However when halfway through development we realized that a lot of people who would want this camera would want something better than a DSLR, and they would most likely have Canon lenses. So we changed the design to EF for the original model.
Since that time we have been busy releasing other models, however now we have been able to come back and release a full PL mount model. What’s funny is when you look at these new cameras, it’s quite surprising to see how small the camera itself is and it’s not much smaller than the lens mount. The choice of metal chassis makes the whole combination work well.
Of course the PL mount front face can be removed and you can shim it yourself. So you can collimate a lens onto the camera for matching the lens and camera perfectly. The PL mount also lets you use decades of “vintage glass” so you can get the look of old cinema film by using the very lenses they used back in those days.
We now have 5 models to choose from in this chassis, with 2 different sensors and 3 different lens mounts. This means you can choose from a 4K sensor with 12 stops of dynamic range, global shutter and large Super 35 size, or the 2.5K sensor with 13 stops of dynamic range, rolling shutter but better low light performance. So you can choose the model that’s best for the type of work you need to do.
The Blackmagic Production Camera 4K PL is US$2,995 and the Blackmagic Cinema Camera PL is US$2,295. We are building these cameras now so they should be available from next week.
https://www.blackmagicdesign.
Blackmagic MultiView 16
The Blackmagic MultiView 16 is a new multi view that lets you see up to 16 SDI inputs on a single display. It supports Ultra HD so that means you can use an Ultra HD TV or monitor and see all your views in twice the resolution and twice as sharp as normal HD multi view. With the large screen televisions now supporting Ultra HD resolutions, you can get an amazing quality monitoring solution.
The Blackmagic MultiView 16 also supports any combination of SD, HD and Ultra HD SDI inputs because it includes 16 6G-SDI inputs with each input including a re-sync and loop output. Also, any input can be routed to any view, and you route from the front panel or via the external Ethernet connection. We have used the Videohub protocol for the external control so our Videohub software will control it!
I think this is a great solution for broadcast and master control monitoring, but it can also be used on post production to keep track of multiple video feeds. Because you can switch between 4, 9 and 16 view layouts, it’s quite flexible.
Blackmagic MultiView 16 will be available in October for US$1,495.
http://www.blackmagicdesign.
SmartView 4K
We have a very nice new Ultra HD rack mount monitor called SmartView 4K. SmartView 4K is a full resolution Ultra HD broadcast monitor with a native resolution of 3840 x 2160, a bright LCD screen plus features such as 3D LUTs, adjustable on screen markers, H/V delay, blue only, external Ethernet control, tally and more.
SmartView 4K features multi rate 12G-SDI inputs that automatically switch between SD,HD and Ultra HD formats up to 2160p60. With 12G-SDI, SmartView 4K supports full resolution Ultra HD high frame rate support. SmartView 4K also features a machined metal design that has front panel controls and it even has a VESA mount on the rear for non rack mounting. It also includes a built in AV power supply as well as a separate DC supply for battery use.
This monitor looks amazing and the pictures on it are amazingly sharp. SmartView 4K will be available in December when the supply of LCD’s arrives and it will retail for US$1,995.
https://www.blackmagicdesign.
Smart Videohub 40×40
We have a new larger router model as part of our routers family based on 6G-SDI technology and it also handles SD, HD and Ultra HD SDI connections simultaneously on the same router at the same time.
This new model also features a machined metal front panel so they look really nice, but they also include a full control panel with a 5 inch high resolution LCD screen so you can see what you are routing. The screen is much larger on this model because it’s 2 rack unit in size to accommodate the 80 BNC connections for the SDI connections.
The control panel includes buttons to direct select a crosspoint, a spin knob for scrolling router cross points as well as a “take” button. The LCD screen can display nice large labels and the new routers include over 10,000 separate unicode characters so we can handle non roman labels such as Japanese, Chinese and more.
The LCD screen can also display video from the video inputs or even outputs. We call this new feature “visual routing” and it allows you to scroll through the router destinations or sources and see the connections as video on the LCD screen as the labels updates. This model also has redundant power supplies.
Smart Videohub 40×40 features 40 inputs and 40 outputs for $2,995 and it will be available in October.
https://www.blackmagicdesign.
DeckLink 4K Extreme 12G
Our DeckLink cards have always featured the latest video technologies and now we have a new model that features the latest 12G-SDI connections. DeckLink 4K Extreme 12G is even better than just a 12G-SDI capture card, because its includes Dual Link 12G-SDI capture and playback as well as a fast 8 lane PCI Express Generation 2 connection to the computer.
That means it has extremely high performance and can do dual stream video capture and playback at resolutions up to 2160p60. Dual stream capture and playback at these resolutions allows dual stream 3D as well as simultaneous fill and key capture and playback even when operating at Ultra HD at 60 frames per second.
It also supports the HDMI and analog connections our other DeckLink cards have, but we have moved the HDMI onto a second mezzanine card. That card can also be easily removed if you want to install it as a single card. However the reason we have used a second daughter card on this model is because we have 2 sockets for optical fiber modules.
We have started doing this on a lot of our 12G-SDI products, where we are also putting sockets for optical modules, so that means if you want to run optical fiber, you can install it direct into the product. 12G-SDI optical modules are not available yet, however you can use 6G-SDI modules for lower frame rates. Later when SMPTE 12G optical fiber modules are available, you will be able to install them for optical fiber support.
We have added optical fiber sockets to a range of our 12G-SDI products and that includes Teranex Express, SmartView 4K, DeckLink 4K Extreme 12G and the Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K can be upgraded from its default 6G-SDI optical module to a 12G-SDI optical module when available.
This new DeckLink card is the perfect solution to DaVinci Resolve 11 high end online editing and color correction, however it is also fantastic for a range of software for Mac OS X, Windows and Linux computers.
DeckLink 4K Extreme 12G will be available in October for US$1,495.
https://www.blackmagicdesign.
New 4K Mini Converters
We have continued to upgrade our Mini Converter range over the past year and we are now introducing even more models of Mini Converter with 6G-SDI for use in SD, HD and Ultra HD video systems.
The new models are Mini Converter SDI to Analog 4K, Mini Converter Analog to SDI 4K and are perfect when you need to embed and de-embed audio. This also means all our relevant Mini Converters now support Ultra HD and we have a whole family of converters that work in SD, HD and Ultra HD.
These new models replace the old models and are all available now for $295 which is lower cost than the older HD models these new ones replace.
https://www.blackmagicdesign.
Mini Converter Heavy Duty 4K
We have also upgraded our heavy duty mini converters to use the same 4K design as the standard models. These heavy duty ones are similar, however feature an extremely strong metal chassis that can be run over with a car without damage!
We even ran one over with a Centurion tank and it survived and kept working. These are extremely tough converters and are fantastic for live production and outdoor use.
These new models include the Mini Converter H/Duty SDI to HDMI 4K, Mini Converter H/Duty HDMI to SDI 4K and Mini Converter H/Duty SDI to Analog 4K. These models will be available in October for US$345 each.
https://www.blackmagicdesign.
Blackmagic Videohub software 6.0
We have a new software update for all Videohub routers and this new software completely replaces the older software and it’s much nicer to use and it also separates out the setup utility from the router control panel software into separate applications.
The Blackmagic Videohub Control has a new user interface with nicely designed buttons that allows you to customize and control the Videohub routing from your desktop. For setting up and labeling routers, there is a new software utility called Blackmagic Videohub Setup and you can use this to setup all Videohub routers on your network or connected via USB.
The new Blackmagic Videohub software is simple and easy to use and supports the latest technologies such as high resolution “Retina” displays that use paper resolution screen displays. Blackmagic Videohub Setup also lets you save and load router configurations for backup.
This new Blackmagic Videohub Software 6.0 is available now for download free from our web site. If you have a Videohub router, then please download and upgrade!
https://www.blackmagicdesign.