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Blackmagic Design Announces New URSA Mini Pro 4.6K Camera

New camera combines incredible digital film image quality with broadcast camera features, built in ND filters, interchangeable lens mount and more.

Fremont, California, USA - March 2, 2017 - Blackmagic Design today announced URSA Mini Pro 4.6K, a new professional camera that combines high end digital film quality with the ergonomics and features of a traditional broadcast camera. URSA Mini Pro features a massive number of tactile control buttons, switches and dials that make it faster to use, built in optical ND filters, a new interchangeable lens mount, dual CFAST 2.0 and dual SD/UHS-II card recorders, and much more.

URSA Mini Pro 4.6K is available now for AU$9,295 (Inc GST) from Blackmagic Design resellers worldwide.

The new URSA Mini Pro combines the best digital film technology with the most advanced broadcast features and ergonomics available, making it perfect for use in high end feature films, television shows, commercials, and indie films as well as broadcast news, studio and even live multi camera production.

URSA Mini Pro is designed to be the toughest and most fully featured camera available. It includes everything customers need in a compact handheld magnesium alloy body that’s durable and light enough to use anywhere. There’s an external high visibility LCD status display for viewing critical shooting information, a foldout touch screen for reviewing shots without needing an extra on-set monitor, professional connections such as 12G-SDI, XLR audio, built in high quality stereo microphones and more. Plus, every single control on the camera is redundant, including the power, so if anything should go wrong in the field, the camera can still be used.

When it comes to image quality, URSA Mini Pro features a custom 4.6K image sensor that captures up to 4608 x 2592 pixels with a massive 15 stops of dynamic range and a super wide color gamut. Third generation Blackmagic Design color science is used to process the raw sensor data, enabling amazingly rich skin tones, natural color response and an enormous amount of dynamic range. URSA Mini Pro is ideal for everything from standard rec. 709 broadcast HD to the latest rec. 2020 high dynamic range digital film production.

URSA Mini Pro features neutral density (ND) filters with IR compensation for quickly reducing the amount of light that enters the camera. The 2, 4 and 6 stop filters are specifically designed to match the colorimetry of the camera and provide additional latitude, even under harsh lighting conditions. That means customers can use different combinations of aperture and shutter angle to achieve shallower depth of field, or specific levels of motion blur, in a wider range of situations. The IR filters evenly compensate for both far red and infrared wave lengths to eliminate IR contamination. The ND filters are true optical filters with a precision mechanism that quickly moves them into place when the ND filter dial is turned.

The broadcast camera ergonomics of URSA Mini Pro put powerful tactile control buttons, switches, knobs and dials on the outside of the camera, giving customers direct access to the most important camera settings. The controls are laid out in a logical order that makes them easy to remember so cinematographers can operate the camera without having to look at the buttons, hunt through menus, or take their eye off of the action. URSA Mini Pro also features a high visibility status screen that displays important information such as timecode, shutter and lens settings, battery, recording status, and audio levels. The status display features a backlight and is designed to be clearly visible in both dimly lit studios and outside in direct sunlight.

URSA Mini Pro has a revolutionary new interchangeable lens mount that makes it compatible with virtually all professional lenses so customers can choose exactly the right lens for the job. Included standard is an EF mount for working with high quality photographic lenses. If the camera is being used on a high end film or commercial shoot that calls for large cinematic lenses, simply remove the EF mount and replace it with the PL mount. There’s even a B4 broadcast lens mount for working with broadcast HD lenses. URSA Mini Pro also includes a standard 12 pin Hirose lens control connector. URSA Mini Pro comes with an EF mount and customers can purchase the optional PL and B4 lens mounts separately.

Featuring both dual C-Fast 2.0 recorders and dual SD/UHS-II card recorders, customers can choose the media that works best for their projects. C-Fast cards are ideal for full resolution RAW recording, while UHS-II SD cards are inexpensive and commonly available, making them perfect for recording ProRes Ultra HD files or RAW HD files. Simply choose the media type, insert the cards and start shooting. With dual slots for each media type, the camera never has to stop recording because when the first card is full, it automatically continues onto the next card. Full cards can be swapped for empty ones, all without stopping the camera. URSA Mini Pro can record lossless 12-bit CinemaDNG RAW files for the highest possible quality, or 10-bit ProRes files for easy post production workflows with minimum storage requirements.

URSA Mini Pro includes the full DaVinci Resolve Studio software, giving customers a complete post production solution. This powerful software combines professional nonlinear video editing with the world’s most advanced color corrector for importing, editing, color correcting, finishing and delivering projects shot on URSA Mini Pro. DaVinci Resolve Studio works natively with the RAW and ProRes files from the camera, so customers can take them directly into post production without having to convert or change them. Every single bit of quality is preserved because it is a true lossless workflow. Using DaVinci Resolve Studio is the fastest and highest quality way to work with files from URSA Mini Pro.

“Professional DoP’s and cinematographers love the incredible image quality of URSA Mini and we have been working with them and listening to their feedback,” said Grant Petty, CEO, Blackmagic Design. “URSA Mini Pro is so exciting because it combines high end digital film quality with broadcast camera and live production features, all into a single camera. URSA Mini Pro is powerful enough to be used on high end feature films and television shows, versatile enough to be used for broadcast news and live multi camera event production, and affordable enough for indie filmmakers and even students! It’s like getting 3 cameras in one!”

Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro Key Features
Digital film camera with15 stops of dynamic range.
Super 35mm 4.6K sensor with third generation Blackmagic Design color science processing of raw sensor data.
Interchangeable lens mount with EF mount included as standard. Optional PL and B4 lens mount available separately.
High quality 2, 4 and 6 stop neutral density (ND) filters with IR compensation designed to specifically match the colorimetry and color science of URSA Mini Pro.
Fully redundant controls including ergonomically designed tactile controls which allow direct access to the most important camera settings such as external power switch, ND filter wheel, ISO, shutter, white balance, record button, audio gain controls, lens and transport control, high frame rate button and more.
Built in dual C-Fast 2.0 recorders and dual SD/UHS-II card recorders allow unlimited duration recording in high quality.
Lightweight and durable magnesium alloy body.
LCD status display for quickly checking timecode, shutter and lens settings, battery, recording status, and audio levels.
Support for CinemaDNG 4.6K RAW files and ProRes 4444 XQ, ProRes 4444, ProRes 422 HQ, ProRes 422, ProRes 422 LT, ProRes 422 Proxy recording at Ultra HD and HD resolutions.
Supports up to 60 fps 4.6K resolution capture in RAW.
Features all standard connections, including dual XLR mic/line audio inputs with phantom power, 12G-SDI output for monitoring with camera status graphic overlay and separate XLR 4 pin power output for viewfinder power, headphone jack, LANC remote control and standard 4 pin 12V DC power connection.
Built in high quality stereo microphones for recording sound.
4 inch foldout touchscreen for on-set monitoring and menu settings.
Includes full copy of DaVinci Resolve software color grading and editing software.

Availability and Price
URSA Mini Pro is available now from Blackmagic Design resellers worldwide for AU$9,295 (Inc GST). Also available from resellers are the optional URSA Mini Pro PL lens mount for AU$385 (Inc GST), as well as the optional URSA Mini Pro B4 HD lens mount for AU$559 (Inc GST). URSA Mini Pro comes standard with an EF lens mount, and additional replacement mounts can also be purchased for AU$225 (Inc GST).

Blackmagic URSA Mini Accessories
Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro PL and B4 lens mounts each sold separately.
Additional Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro EF lens mounts also sold separately.
Blackmagic URSA Mini Shoulder Kit features built in rosettes, rail mounts, viewfinder mount, integrated tripod quick lock release and top handle.
Blackmagic URSA Viewfinder is a high resolution viewfinder that includes a full HD OLED display and true glass optics for perfect focus.
Blackmagic URSA Studio Viewfinder featuring 7” screen, variable tension mounting points, grab handles, external controls and more.
URSA VLock Battery Plate provides a VLock compatible plate for attaching third party batteries.

Press Photography
Product photos of URSA Mini Pro, and all other Blackmagic Design products, are available at www.blackmagicdesign.com/au/press/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/au/.

About New Magic Australia Pty Ltd (Australian and New Zealand Blackmagic Design master distributor)
New Magic Australia Pty Ltd is a recognised leader in the distribution and marketing of multimedia hardware and software, representing a carefully selected range of innovative, leading manufacturers and catering for both the professional and consumer markets. New Magic Australia established in 1993 is the Australian distributor of Blackmagic Design, Convergent Design, Hauppauge Computer Works Inc, Cubix, and Matrox Video products. www.newmagic.com.au.

 

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Blackmagic Design Announces Innovative New Control Panels for DaVinci Resolve

New hardware color correction control panels are designed for new changing workflows

Fremont, California - March 2, 2017 - Blackmagic Design today announced two new portable hardware control panels for DaVinci Resolve, its professional editing and color correction software. With professional editing becoming extremely popular in DaVinci Resolve, these new control panels are designed to allow color correction workflows to be mixed in with editing workflows, while introducing new levels of quality in affordable hardware control panels.

The new DaVinci Resolve Micro Panel and the DaVinci Resolve Mini Panel are true professional grade hardware control panels that feature three exceptional quality high resolutions trackballs, precision machined control knobs, illuminated buttons and much more. Hardware control panels are critically important for professional color correction because the colorist needs to “hold the image in their hands” as they manipulate multiple parameters at once to create new and highly stylized looks, or even make very subtle natural changes.

The incredibly small USB powered DaVinci Resolve Micro Panel is available now for AU$1,535 (Inc GST), while the larger but compact and portable DaVinci Resolve Mini Panel with built in LCD screens and dozens in instantly accessible menus is available now for AU$4,649 (Inc GST).

When it came to developing these new control panels, the two overriding problems the design team had to solve were workflow and quality.

First , there are three workflows that require support. The first workflow is for professional colorists in dedicated color correction suites, the second is for editing systems that change between editing and color, and the third is for editors that need to edit and color at the same time. The first workflow for dedicated color correction suites is already handled by the large DaVinci Resolve Advanced Panel, so the two editing based workflows are the problems the development team needed to solve.

The second issue the design team needed to solve was quality. No customer wants a “cheap” low quality panel because they’re going to spend hours working on it every day. While there are cheap panels on the market, what customers need is an extremely high quality panel that’s smaller in size that they can use on these workflows. Also, smaller panels are easy to move between locations and allow freelance colorists to take their own panel as they move between systems and jobs at different companies. This means that quality and durability are one of the most important aspects for these new DaVinci Resolve control panels.

The smaller DaVinci Resolve Micro Panel is not much larger than a computer keyboard and is powered from the USB connection. It’s perfect for placement next to a computer keyboard so the editor or colorist can easily move between the keyboard and control panel as they edit, allowing simultaneous grading and color correction. The larger DaVinci Resolve Mini Panel includes the same powerful features but also adds LCD screens with dozens of menus allowing fast access to most of the advanced color grading features of DaVinci Resolve. This makes the panel more suitable for workstations that switch between editing and color correction, but it is still portable enough to be easily moved between workstations around a facility. The mini panel has enough features that a colorist will be able to do professional work on any DaVinci workstation that it’s plugged into.

Both the DaVinci Resolve Micro Panel and the DaVinci Resolve Mini Panel provide fluid, hands-on control that allows colorists to be more creative because they can adjust multiple parameters at the same time, allowing them to quickly create looks that are simply impossible with a standard mouse and keyboard.

In addition, many clients and DOPs have complained about not being able to achieve “film looks” from digital film cameras. By increasing the access to features in the primary color correction it greatly enhances the subtle creativity that achieving film looks requires. So with the design of these new panels, enhancing the control over the primary color corrector tools was critical.

Both panels include a row of 12 knobs that provide access to the most powerful primary correction features, making it easy to experiment and try new combinations. The primary knobs can be used to control Y Lift, Y Gamma, Y Gain, Contrast, Pivot, Mid-tone Detail, Color Boost, Shadow, Highlight, Saturation, Hue Rotation and Luminance Mix. With direct access to dedicated knobs on the control panel for these primary color correction controls, we hope to inspire a new creative revolution in the look of images for film and television.

In addition, the new panels have a range of transport and grading control buttons on the right side of the panel that put the most important and commonly used commands at the colorist’s fingertips, so they can work faster without having to hunt through menus or palettes to change a setting.

All of the DaVinci Resolve hardware control panels feature a consistent layout that makes it easy for professional colorists to move between the new panels and our traditional DaVinci Resolve Advanced Panel. Many of the controls are in the same position and the trackballs are large and designed with a similar professional feel so any existing DaVinci Resolve colorist should feel completely at home on the new panels.

The new control panels feature an elegant and durable machined aluminum body with professional, high resolution balanced trackballs. The trackballs provide RGB balance adjustments for lift, gamma and gain, each with a master level control set via a movable outer trackball ring. The other control knobs are custom designed and precision machined to provide super fine control over adjustments. They can also be pressed to quickly reset a parameter. Illuminated buttons make it easy to see which controls are active, even in a darkened room. The DaVinci Resolve Mini Panel model adds two high resolution screens that display information and parameter settings for the currently selected tool and additional control buttons for DaVinci Resolve features.

Product Summary
The DaVinci Resolve Micro Panel is a super small hardware control panel that’s perfect for editing workstations and on-location use. It includes 3 high resolution weighted trackballs, 12 control knobs for advanced primary color correction, 18 dedicated navigation and transport keys, and more.

The DaVinci Resolve Mini Panel is a compact hardware control panel that’s ideal for adding color grading to any workstation, and for freelancers that need to take their panel with them when traveling between facilities. The DaVinci Resolve Mini Panel features 3 high resolution weighted trackballs, 12 control knobs dedicated to the powerful primary color correction tools, 18 dedicated navigation and transport keys, and an upper deck with two 5” screens, 8 soft knobs and 8 soft buttons, dedicated keys for switching tools, working with nodes, grabbing stills, navigating the timeline and more.

The DaVinci Resolve Micro and Mini panels both feature USB-C for working with today’s most advanced computers. For computers with conventional USB 3.0 connections, a USB 3 to USB-C cable is included. The DaVinci Resolve Micro Panel is fully powered over USB so it can be run directly from a laptop in the field, making it ideal for on-set grading. The DaVinci Resolve Mini Panel features an AC and broadcast industry compatible 4 pin XLR 12V DC power connections. The mini panel also includes built in ethernet so users can connect it to their DaVinci Resolve workstation using either USB or their network. The ethernet also supports PoE so it can be powered via the network connection from a PoE compatible router. “There is a massive, growing number of DaVinci Resolve users working on all different kinds of productions” said Grant Petty, CEO, Blackmagic Design. “These new DaVinci Resolve control panels give editors and colorists a completely new way to add emotion and impact to their images. We designed these exciting new hardware control panels to inspire colorists at every level with stylish design, extremely high quality and features that boost creativity. We believe these new panels will let customers do things creatively that are simply impossible with a mouse and keyboard!”

Availability and Price
The DaVinci Resolve Micro Panel is available for AU$1,535 (Inc GST) and the DaVinci Resolve Mini Panel is available for AU$4,649 (Inc GST). Both panels are available now from Blackmagic Design resellers worldwide.

Press Photography
Product photos of the DaVinci Resolve Micro and DaVinci Resolve Mini Panel, and all other Blackmagic Design products, are available at www.blackmagicdesign.com/au/press/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/au/.

About New Magic Australia Pty Ltd (Australian and New Zealand Blackmagic Design master distributor)
New Magic Australia Pty Ltd is a recognised leader in the distribution and marketing of multimedia hardware and software, representing a carefully selected range of innovative, leading manufacturers and catering for both the professional and consumer markets. New Magic Australia established in 1993 is the Australian distributor of Blackmagic Design, Convergent Design, Hauppauge Computer Works Inc, Cubix, and Matrox Video products. www.newmagic.com.au.

 

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Blackmagic Design Announces DaVinci Resolve 12.5 for Linux Now Available

DaVinci Resolve and DaVinci Resolve Studio are now available for Red Hat and CentOS Linux.

Fremont, California - March 2, 2017 - Blackmagic Design today announced that DaVinci Resolve, its professional editing and color correction software, is now available on Red Hat and CentOS Linux. This allows customers with Red Hat or CentoOS 6.8 or 7.2 systems to download and use the free version of DaVinci Resolve or the full DaVinci Resolve Studio. Adding Linux support gives customers more choice in hardware, allowing them to build extremely high performance, low cost workstations for editing and color correction.

Previously, DaVinci Resolve Studio was only available on a special build of Linux for customers using the high end DaVinci Resolve Advanced control panel for professional colorists.

Like the existing Mac and Windows version, the new Linux version of DaVinci Resolve is available as a free download from the Blackmagic Design website. The full DaVinci Resolve Studio is available for $995 from Blackmagic Design resellers worldwide. Existing DaVinci Resolve Studio customers can easily move their dongle between Mac, Windows and Linux systems as they upgrade their hardware.

The community of DaVinci Resolve users has been fantastic at helping it quickly grow into one of the most popular editing and color correction systems in the world. As DaVinci Resolve continues to become more and more popular, customers have asked Blackmagic Design for a version that gives them the flexibility to build their own workstations. This new version gives them the same powerful features as the Mac and Windows version, but lets customers build and run the software on their own high performance systems with multiple GPUs.

Customers can now build their own workstations using low cost motherboards with 8 PCIe slots, extremely fast processors, massive amounts of RAM and up to 8 GPUs, which is simply not possible on any other operating system. On Linux, DaVinci Resolve supports 2 GPUs and DaVinci Resolve Studio supports up to 8 GPUs. That means customers can start out with a small inexpensive system and then add more video cards, up to a total of 8 GPUs when they get more demanding jobs. This gives customers the freedom to build their own super computers for incredible real time performance when creating complex color grades with dozens of nodes and high resolution RAW media. By bringing DaVinci Resolve and DaVinci Resolve Studio to Linux, customers can now take advantage of the most robust, extensible, and reliable platform available.

DaVinci Resolve combines professional multi track editing with the worlds most advanced color corrector so now customers can edit, color correct, finish and deliver all in a single software tool and in real time. DaVinci Resolve Studio adds extremely powerful temporal and spatial noise reduction, photorealistic motion blur effects, stereoscopic 3D tools, additional ResolveFX plug-ins, multi GPU performance and more. DaVinci Resolve Studio also supports collaborative workflow features that allow multiple customers using the same shared storage area network to simultaneously work on the same project at the same time.

“DaVinci Resolve has been an incredible success on both Mac and Windows” said Grant Petty, CEO, Blackmagic Design. “Linux customers in production facilities around the world have been asking us for DaVinci Resolve and DaVinci Resolve Studio so we’re excited to be able to offer it to them now. With DaVinci Resolve available on all major platforms, customers can integrate it into their workflows regardless of the type of computers they use!”

Availability and Price
DaVinci Resolve 12.5.5 for Mac, Windows and Linux is available for download free of charge from the support page of the Blackmagic Design website. DaVinci Resolve Studio 12.5.5 for Mac, Windows and Linux is available to existing customers, free of charge, from the Blackmagic Design website. DaVinci Resolve Studio for Mac, Windows and Linux is available from resellers worldwide for AU$1535 (Inc GST).

Press Photography
Product photos of DaVinci Resolve 12.5, and all other Blackmagic Design products, are available at www.blackmagicdesign.com/au/press/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/au/.

About New Magic Australia Pty Ltd (Australian and New Zealand Blackmagic Design master distributor)
New Magic Australia Pty Ltd is a recognised leader in the distribution and marketing of multimedia hardware and software, representing a carefully selected range of innovative, leading manufacturers and catering for both the professional and consumer markets. New Magic Australia established in 1993 is the Australian distributor of Blackmagic Design, Convergent Design, Hauppauge Computer Works Inc, Cubix, and Matrox Video products. www.newmagic.com.au.