Blackmagic Design is live with URSA Cine Immersive pre-orders. If it meets its late Q1 2025 ship date the $29,995 the camera will be the first on the market optimized for the Apple Immersive Video (AIV) format compatible with the Apple Vision Pro mixed-reality headset. Currently, there isn’t much content that takes advantage of the Vision Pro’s immersive features. The Cine Immersive captures 3D footage in resolution of 8160 x 7200 per eye at 90 fps. The package includes a fixed-distance lens and 8TB of onboard network storage. Also in Q1, DaVinci Resolve Studio will be updated to support AIV editing. Continue reading URSA Cine Immersive for Apple Vision Pro Set for Q1 at $30K

Blackmagic Design is releasing its Blackmagic Camera for Android 1.3 update, which adds support for recording timecode and adds anamorphic lens de-squeeze functionality and lens correction settings as well as support for off-speed and time lapse recording. Available at Google Play free of charge, it supports Google’s latest OS, Android 14, which means it should offer some interesting creative possibilities with Gemini, the new Pixel 9 series’ native AI. Some features are backward compatible. Customers with Pixel 6, 7, 8 and 9 phones can record at frames rates of 120fps and 240fps at 720p, and 120fps at 1080p. Continue reading Blackmagic Camera for Android Adds Array of New Features

Blackmagic Design announced that its new URSA Cine 17K 65 camera is available for orders from resellers worldwide, starting at $29,995. The cinema camera, which includes a massive 65mm RGBW 17,520 x 8,040 sensor with larger photo-sites for 16 stops of dynamic range, was previewed in April at NAB. Its features include interchangeable PL, LPL and Hasselblad lens mounts and industry standard Lemo and Fischer connections. The base model comes with 8TB of internal storage and also has high-speed networking built-in for media uploads and syncing to Blackmagic Cloud. Continue reading Blackmagic URSA Cine 17K Camera Priced Starting at $30K

Blackmagic Design has introduced two new attention-getting cameras at NAB 2024 in Las Vegas. The flagship URSA Cine 12K LF (large format) has a new full-frame sensor with 16-stop dynamic range, comes with 8TB of built-in storage, and starts at $14,995. It ships with a Canon EF mount, but also accommodates ARRI PL. Blackmagic will also make the URSA available with a 17K sensor, but has yet to share pricing (though it is expected to cost from $20,000 to $25,000). The $2,995 PYXIS 6K cinema box-style camera offers a choice of three lens attachments: EF, PL or L-mount. Continue reading NAB: Blackmagic Unveils Two New Full-Frame Cine Cameras

Blackmagic Design has unveiled the new DaVinci Resolve 19, with multi-source editing, neural engine AI tools, Resolve FX and Fairlight AI audio panning among the highlight features. With more than 100 feature upgrades in all, Resolve 19 boasts IntelliTrack AI, Ultra NR noise reduction, ColorSlice six vector grading palettes and Film Look Creator FX. The company also announced the DaVinci Resolve Micro Color Panel, a more affordable color panel for DaVinci Resolve software that Blackmagic says was designed in collaboration with the world’s leading colorists. These tools are featured at the Blackmagic booth at NAB 2024. Continue reading DaVinci Resolve 19 Has AI Motion Tracking and Color Grading

Blackmagic Design’s new Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K is the company’s first with a full-frame sensor. Its 6,048 x 4,032 pixels of native resolution is almost three times the resolution of Super 35, says Blackmagic, which is positioning the $2,595 device as a “large format cinema camera image quality in a portable, lightweight body.” The Cinema 6K abandons the Canon EF mount for L-Mount coupling and greater lens options, and 13 stops of dynamic range with dual native ISO up to 25,600 delivers low noise images in conditions from bright sunlight to “almost no light at all,” according to the company. Continue reading Blackmagic Intros Cinema Camera 6K with Full Frame Sensor

ETC@USC is hosting its 9th vETC virtual conference at this year’s IBC in Amsterdam, September 15-18. The event — which highlights significant presentations of emerging technologies and their impact on the M&E industry — will explore how generative AI, machine learning, and other compelling new tools help simplify building 3D worlds and tackle today’s computer vision challenges. The sessions will be recorded and posted on ETC’s YouTube channel. For those attending IBC who may be interested in attending the sessions (located in Hall 7 at Booth C28), visit the program guide, which includes a full schedule and speaker bios. Continue reading vETC Coming to IBC 2023: The Path of Sustainable Innovation

ETC@USC will host its 8th vETC virtual conference at SIGGRAPH 2023 in Los Angeles, August 8-10. The event – which highlights significant presentations of emerging technologies and their impact on the M&E industry – will explore how generative AI, machine learning, and other compelling new tools help simplify building 3D worlds and tackle today’s computer vision challenges. Three days of sessions will be recorded and posted on ETC’s YouTube channel. For those attending SIGGRAPH who may be interested in attending the sessions (located at Z by HP Booth 215), visit the program guide, which includes a full schedule and speaker bios. Continue reading ETC Will Host Sessions at SIGGRAPH Conference Next Week

As part of the upcoming Infinity Festival 2022 — “where Hollywood meets Silicon Valley” — production and tech experts will gather for a special one-day workshop covering numerous elements of on-set virtual production. The event, slated for 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM on November 5 at Goya Studios in Los Angeles, will showcase an LED volume for hands-on demos related to the virtual art department, on-set operations, and shooting and directing. The workshop is presented by Nvidia and Z by HP in association with ETC@USC. It is produced by Erik Weaver of ETC and co-hosted by Rick Champagne of Nvidia. Visit Infinity Festival for tickets and more info (use code Weaver25 for a 25 percent discount). Continue reading Industry Experts to Convene for Virtual Production Workshop

Content creators who relied on remote workflows through the height of COVID-19 now realize those protocols are here to stay. Centralized cloud-based data repositories are a convenient hub from which to manage the processing of sound and image throughout production. The HPA NET lunch event, “Color Grading in the Cloud: A Case Study” analyzed that critical step from the perspective of the short film “Fathead,” produced by the Entertainment Technology Center@USC. “Fathead” was shot on a volume stage and uploaded from the camera to the cloud, where the entire workflow took place. Continue reading ‘Fathead’ Case Study: HPA Analyzes Color Grading in Cloud

At NAB 2022 in Las Vegas, 8K sets hinted at a home viewing revolution. With 16 times the resolution of HD and four times the 4K screens currently in about 44 percent of U.S. households, the 8K experience represents a leap in immersive viewing. Sony, LG and TCL have been selling 8K sets, but globally only 1 million were purchased. But there are ways 8K is being put to use today to benefit a variety of end-use cases. Virtual production and virtual reality are two instances where content displayed in 4K or HD still benefits from the higher-resolution capture, while 8K also offers added flexibility in post production. Continue reading 8K Slow to Take Hold in Homes but Transforming Production

The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) Awards Committee revealed winners of its 2020 HPA Awards for Engineering Excellence, to be given out in a virtual ceremony on November 19. This year will mark the 15th anniversary of the HPA Awards, founded to “recognize creative artistry and innovation in the professional media content industry.” This year’s awards will honor EIZO’s Prominence CG3146 31.1-inch HDR reference monitor; Eluvio Content Fabric for managing and distributing large form content; the Moxion Immediates platform; and Carl Zeiss SBE: eXtended Data (XD) lens metadata technology. Continue reading HPA Announces 2020 Engineering Excellence Awards Winners

Netflix launched its Post Technology Alliance logo program last week, with plans to certify post-production products and systems from manufacturers and vendors that meet the streaming service’s technical and content delivery specs. “The Post Technology Alliance will build a more seamless experience from production through post-production,” said Chris Fetner, Netflix director of post partnerships and integrations, noting that certified vendors are “committed to better interoperability and faster innovation cycles.” Adobe, Avid, Blackmagic Design, Canon, Panasonic, RED Digital Cinema and Sony are among those with products already certified. Continue reading Netflix’s New Logo Program Will Certify Post Production Tools

Blackmagic Design’s release of DaVinci Resolve 15 adds Fusion, a visual effects tool often used in Hollywood films, to its professional-level color correction and audio editor. The full studio release of Resolve 15 is $300, but another, stripped down version that still includes the most important features is free. This compares to Adobe Creative Cloud, which costs more than $50 per month. DaVinci Resolve 15 is platform agnostic, running on macOS, Windows 10 and Linux, and offers four modules in one app. Continue reading Blackmagic Design Debuts DaVinci Resolve 15 with VFX Tools

Thousands of film and TV titles from every decade require restoration, but the money isn’t there to fund much of it, and current restoration jobs are more likely to take place in China or Poland than Los Angeles. That was revealed at an event co-produced by SMPTE and the Visual Effects Society (VES) at the Academy’s Linwood Dunn Theater. Restoration executives and practitioners from the major studios gathered to discuss the technological, artistic and business challenges of bringing classic film and TV titles back to life. Continue reading Film/TV Restoration Costs Lead to Outsourcing, Say Experts