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Jan 08, 2024

New Blackmagic Design Hardware & Software Announced at NAB

Blackmagic Design offers cutting-edge video production tools that help

Blackmagic Design offers cutting-edge video production tools that help professionals create high-quality content. Its award-winning technology solutions have revolutionized the industry for two decades — including DaVinci Resolve and its live production products. With the rapid advancement of technology, Blackmagic understands the need to offer hardware and software-based solutions that cut down on production time and future-proof workflows.

The company announced a flurry of updates at the start of this year's NAB Show. Bringing more AI-powered tools into DaVinci Resolve and improving hardware for broadcasters are the main areas of focus. These updates are coming up fast, so let's dive in.

Blackmagic Design has launched DaVinci Resolve 18.5, which boasts over 150 new features and tools. These features include four new AI tools, Universal Scene Description file support, and updated menus on the Cut page. AI tools include speech-to-text editing, automatic subtitles, audio classification and relight. Customers can now initiate remote monitoring with just a Blackmagic ID and session code instead of an IP address.

Additionally, users can now export their timeline to Blackmagic Cloud using Presentations, where multiple people can review timelines and share live chat. Customers can configure color management at the timeline level. Meanwhile, the new Relight OFX lets customers add virtual light sources to a scene to adjust environmental lighting, fill shadows, or change the mood.

The Cut page has a new ripple button, which enables or disables rippled edits. The auto-subtitle feature transcribes speech to text automatically into a subtitle track. Customers can also upload videos directly to TikTok on the Deliver page.

DaVinci Resolve 18.5 public beta is now available for download.

Blackmagic has released a software update for the Pocket Cinema Camera line that enables shooting in vertical aspect ratio for creating cinematic content like TikToks, YouTube Shorts, and Instagram Reels.

Users can rotate the camera to shoot in 9:16 and 4:5 aspect ratios, with on-screen information rotating accordingly. Frame guides can also be switched on to ensure critical details stay in shot. DaVinci Resolve automatically tags imported files as vertical so you don't have to change the settings natively inside the Master Settings.

The firmware update is available now on Blackmagic's website.

Netflix has added Blackmagic Design's URSA Mini Pro 12K camera to its approved camera list. Among other things, it meets streamer requirements for dynamic range, resolution, codecs, and workflow compatibility. (Note: Approved cameras must capture 90% of a program's total runtime.)

The new URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2 is already approved. A 12-megapixel Super 35 image sensor and an Optical Low Pass Filter are included in the URSA Mini Pro 12K camera, which also has a 14-stop dynamic range, 60 frames per second at 80 megapixels per frame, and 60 frames per second at 120 megapixels per frame.

The URSA Mini Pro 12K OLPF is now available for purchase.

Blackmagic Design has also announced a new studio switcher. The ATEM Television Studio 4K8 is a highly portable, professional live production switcher that offers eight standards converted 12G-SDI inputs, 10 x 12G-SDI aux outputs, four chroma keyers, two downstream keyers, SuperSource, two media players, and various transitions. Customers can use it in small venues that don't have access to equipment racks or broadcast vans.

The front panel includes buttons for selecting sources, triggering transitions, and setting up video effects, along with a built-in T-bar for manual transition control. With eight SDI video inputs, customers can connect multiple cameras, and all video sources will re-sync to the switcher. ATEM also features built-in video effects, chroma keyers, SuperSource, and an audio mixer control area.

The ATEM Television Studio 4K8 will be available worldwide in June for $4,595.

Blackmagic Design has introduced its latest Ultra HD model of its ATEM Constellation family — the ATEM 4 M/E Constellation 4K. The unit features 40 x 12G-SDI standards converted inputs with support for standards up to Ultra HD 2160p60.

The updated model also has 24 x 12G-SDI aux outputs, 16 upstream ATEM advanced chroma keyers, four downstream keyers, four Ultra HD media players, two SuperSource processors and more. This makes it suitable for concerts, music festivals, live sports, and house of worship programming. The ATEM Constellation switchers feature a compact rack mount design with a built-in control panel, making it well suited to portable live productions.

The ATEM 4 M/E Constellation 4K will be available worldwide in June for $8,995.

The Blackmagic 2110 IP Converter 3x3G is a rack-mount converter designed to integrate 3G-SDI equipment into 2110 IP broadcast systems. It can support up to three separate 3G-SDI video channels simultaneously and includes independent inputs and outputs for connecting up to six different SDI devices.

With a sleek front panel color LCD, users can monitor, adjust settings, and use diagnostics. The converter conforms to the SMPTE ST2110 standard for IP video and includes re-sync SDI inputs to a common PTP clock automatically. Users can also download the Blackmagic Converter Utility free of charge to remotely manage their equipment.

The Blackmagic 2110 IP Converter 3x3G will be available worldwide in June for $595.

A new series of PCIe cards has been introduced by Blackmagic Design called DeckLink IP. It enables high-quality, 10-bit uncompressed video to be captured and played back directly into IP-based broadcast systems. The cards support multiple video channels, and the frame buffers act like video-based firewalls to isolate the Ethernet port from anything except video and audio. DeckLink IP cards integrate servers, broadcast graphics, and GPU-based AI image processing into IP broadcast infrastructure.

The DeckLink IP family includes three models: DeckLink IP HD, DeckLink IP HD Optical, and DeckLink IP/SDI HD. All conform to the SMPTE ST2110 standard for IP video, with support for uncompressed video, traffic shaping, timing, audio, and ancillary data. Multicast is also available.

The connection is multi-rate and supports all SD and HD formats. DeckLink IP supports all popular video software, including Apple ProRes and DNxHD. PCIe is fast enough to handle multiple HD video channels with low latency and accurate time synchronization.

The cards can switch instantly to the latest video standards, so there is no complex changeover. Only 10-bit uncompressed video is used, which guarantees that images are pixel-for-pixel clones of the original source. This provides the highest possible quality for color correction, green screen keying, and VFX compositions. DeckLink IP provides a secure method of data transfer as all video is captured and played back using frame buffers which act as a video-based firewall.

All DeckLink IP cards will be available worldwide in June.

The overall response from NAB has been incredibly positive towards the Resolve 18.5 update and all of its hardware releases. Since the show doesn't officially end until April 19th, it's entirely possible there may be additional announcements still to come. Make sure you stay in the loop with the latest developments by keeping an eye on the 42 West Blog and the AdoramaTV YouTube channel.