Blackmagic IBC Update

Today I’d like to tell you about some exciting new products and new software updates we’ve been working on. We just announced a new ATEM Mini live production switcher, new Blackmagic Video Assist 12G HDR monitoring and recorders, redesigned Videohub control panels, Blackmagic RAW 1.5 and a major software update for Blackmagic URSA Broadcast cameras.

Here are some details on each announcement.

Introducing ATEM Mini

The new ATEM Mini is an affordable live production switcher specifically designed for YouTube live streaming and business presentations via Skype.

Simply connect ATEM Mini and you can live switch between 4 high quality HDMI video camera inputs so you can produce professional programming fast. You can even connect to a computer to present PowerPoint slides or add a gaming console. ATEM Mini also has a USB output that works like a webcam, so you can connect to any video software for live streaming. There's also HDMI video out for a projector.

ATEM Mini even has secret broadcast features built in so it can do high end work! There is a built in DVE that allows exciting picture in picture effects, perfect for live commentary! There are loads of video effects too! You can select from straight cuts or add exciting transitions such as a dissolve, dip to color or squeeze and push. The DVE, or digital video effects processor, also lets you add customizable picture in picture effects from the buttons on the control panel. There is even a still store for up to 20 titles and graphics.

ATEM Mini is the world’s most affordable, highest quality and easiest to use live production switcher! It’s perfect for online streaming everything from live interviews to eSport competitions, training and education programs, business presentations and more!

ATEM Mini will be available in November for only US$295.

New Blackmagic
Video Assist 12G HDR

We also introduced Blackmagic Video Assist 12G HDR which are new models of our popular combined monitoring and recording solutions. These new models feature brighter HDR screens, built in scopes, upgraded batteries, 12G-SDI, enhanced focus assist features, 3D LUTs and native Blackmagic RAW recording from supported cameras! 

With 12G-SDI and HDMI 2.0 on both 5" and 7" models, you get support for recording from virtually any device in all formats up to 2160p60. The LCD is now a new super bright 2500nit display that’s much bigger than the tiny displays found on most consumer cameras, plus Video Assist gives you professional focus assist features and better quality file formats for recording.

No matter what editing software you use, Video Assist lets you support them all, as you can record in ProRes, DNx and Blackmagic RAW from supported cameras.

Video Assist uses commonly available SD card media so you can record to flash memory cards that are easy to obtain. The files are small enough to allow long recordings on standard SD cards. The larger Video Assist 12G 7" model even includes 2 SD card slots so you can swap out any full cards during recording, so you never have to stop recording! There’s even a USB-C expansion port that lets you plug in and record onto large external USB flash disks. Then simply plug the USB drive into your computer and start editing!

The new design also features upgraded batteries with support for two standard Sony L-Series batteries. This makes Blackmagic Video Assist 12G HDR incredibly versatile and perfect for the next generation of digital cinema, live production mastering, and broadcast testing!

Both Blackmagic Video Assist 12G HDR models will be available in early October at US$795 for the 5 inch model and US$995 for the 7 inch model.

New Videohub
Hardware Control Panels

At IBC we also announced Videohub Smart Control Pro and Videohub Master Control Pro, which are two new designed hardware control panels that let you switch crosspoint on Videohub routers from anywhere in your facility. These new next generation Videohub router control panels feature a much nicer and elegant machined metal design plus new upgraded RGB buttons!

The Videohub Master Control Pro features a spin knob control and built in LCD that lets you scroll through all router sources and destinations, while the Videohub Smart Control Pro features 48 RGB illuminated buttons that work by instantly selecting sources when the button is pushed.

These new control panels make it very easy to control massive 288 x 288 Videohub routers. Both the Videohub Master Control Pro and the Videohub Smart Control Pro will be available for US$695 each in November.

New Blackmagic RAW 1.5

Blackmagic RAW 1.5 introduces a cross-platform version of Blackmagic RAW Speed Test which is now available for Mac, Windows and Linux. Blackmagic RAW Speed Test is a CPU and GPU benchmarking tool for testing the speed of decoding full resolution Blackmagic RAW frames on your system. Multiple CPU cores and GPUs are automatically detected and used during the test so that you get accurate and realistic results. Results are displayed in an easy to read table that shows how many frames per second the computer can decode for all supported resolutions.

In addition, Blackmagic RAW 1.5 also includes plug-ins that add support for editing native Blackmagic RAW files in Adobe Premiere and Avid Media Composer.

These new plug-ins enable editors to work with Blackmagic RAW directly so they no longer have to transcode files. That means camera original Blackmagic RAW files can be used throughout the entire workflow. These plug-ins bring the quality of RAW in small, modern, GPU and CPU accelerated files that are faster and easier to work with than any other video format. Best of all, when projects are moved from Premiere Pro or Media Composer into DaVinci Resolve for color correction and finishing, all of the camera RAW metadata and image quality is retained.

Blackmagic RAW 1.5 with support for Blackmagic RAW Speed Test on Windows and Linux and the increased edit software support is available now for download, free of charge.

Massive URSA Broadcast Update

We also announced a major new software update for Blackmagic URSA Broadcast cameras that adds Blackmagic RAW support as well as a whole new image processing pipeline for improved image quality. There is also better lens control, updated on screen user controls and much more in this update.

One of the most significant improvements in Blackmagic Camera 6.7 is a new de-mosaic algorithm that dramatically improves sensor response on URSA Broadcast cameras, resulting in better color fidelity and cleaner images.

For Blackmagic RAW support, our engineers have created a specific sensor profile for the image sensor used in URSA Broadcast so Blackmagic RAW understands how the camera sees images. Blackmagic RAW combines the high end image quality of RAW with the ease of use, speed and file sizes of traditional video formats. Noise management, sensor profiling and edge reconstruction algorithms are used to produce high quality, visually lossless images. Plus, the files are small and all processing is GPU and CPU accelerated, making them fast to use and easy to work with.

This new software update for URSA Broadcast will be available for download in November from the Blackmagic Design web site.

We hope you find these updates useful and we have worked hard to give you as many creative options and tools that we possibly can! We can’t wait to see what you’re able to create with these products!

Blackmagic Design