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Blackmagic Design Announces New ATEM Television Studio Pro HD

NAB 2017, Las Vegas, Nevada Blackmagic Design announced ATEM Television Studio Pro HD, a broadcast quality all in one live production switcher with integrated hardware control panel designed for both broadcast and professional AV users. ATEM Television Studio Pro HD features 8 inputs, multiview, auxiliary and program outputs, analog audio inputs, built in talkback, two flash based media players, professional creative transitions, a DVE for effects and more.

ATEM Television Studio Pro HD is available in May for US$2,295 and will be demonstrated on the Blackmagic Design NAB 2017 booth at #SL216.

ATEM Television Studio Pro HD combines a professional broadcast hardware control panel with a powerful 8 input switcher. It includes 4 SDI and 4 HDMI inputs, all with re-sync, so customers can connect a total of up to 8 different sources such as professional SDI broadcast cameras, consumer HDMI cameras, computers and even video game consoles.

ATEM Television Studio Pro HD is compatible with all SD and HD formats up to 1080p60 and also features two channels of analog audio in, RS-422, Ethernet and a built in IEC power supply, along with program and auxiliary outputs. Customers also get both SDI and HDMI multiview outputs so they can monitor all sources, preview and program outputs, along with labels, audio meters and more, all on a single big screen television or broadcast monitor.

ATEM Television Studio Pro HD is perfect for everything from professional broadcast studio shows and broadcast sports, to customers working on video blogs, gaming videos, internet talk shows, weddings, concerts, seminars and more. With resynchronization on every input, switching is completely glitch free which means that customers can even use it as a front end controller for AV systems and cleanly switch between sources with the press of a button.

Featuring a portable design, ATEM Television Studio Pro HD is packed with high end broadcast features that make it possible to create an entire live switched program, complete with effects and transitions. The hardware panel features large illuminated buttons for switching between sources, along with corresponding audio buttons, one touch transition buttons, downstream keyers, fade to black, media player, cut buttons and more. There’s also a built in LCD screen for previewing source and program video, a spin knob and additional buttons for menus and to adjust settings. Customers simply press the button for the source that they want to see next in the program, then hit the cut or auto button to switch sources, add effects, or even key in graphics.

When used with Blackmagic Studio and URSA Mini cameras, customers get a complete remote control solution that includes talkback, tally, color correction, camera control and more, without having to add any additional cables or proprietary control boxes. These cameras feature a built in color corrector that can be remote controlled, making it possible to balance camera color and create unique looks, all from the control panel. In addition, customers can adjust focus and iris on compatible lenses, change camera settings, and even remote control PTZ heads.

For maximum speed and flexibility in live productions, ATEM Television Studio Pro HD includes a free software control panel for Mac and Windows that allows multiple users to be connected at the same time. That means customers can have one person switching the program while another mixes the audio and another uploads or changes graphics, while another person remotely color balances and controls the cameras.

The software control panel features an intuitive interface with different pages for switching, managing media, mixing audio, and remote controlling and color correcting cameras. The Switcher page is modeled after a physical hardware control panel making it fast and easy for customers to switch between sources, adjust transitions, add upstream and downstream keyers, and more. The Media page lets customers drag and drop up to 20 RGBA graphics into the media pool and automatically upload them to the switcher’s flash memory so they can be recalled and used in realtime during a live program. The software control also features a 10 channel audio mixer that can be used to adjust and balance levels from all inputs, including the analog audio inputs. The audio mixer displays meters, has sliders for adjusting levels, and controls for turning channels on or off, using the audio follows video feature and more.

ATEM Television Studio Pro HD gives customers true broadcast quality transitions, effects and graphics. Transitions such as mixes, wipes and dips are done by simply pressing a button on the control panel. There are 37 included transitions, giving customers massive creative options because they can customize things such as border, border color and width, position, direction and more. In addition, there’s a built in 2D DVE for adding digital video effects that can position, resize and scale live video, all in realtime. That means customers can create professional picture-in-picture effects, use DVE powered transitions like squeeze and slide between sources, or create graphic wipe transitions with their own graphics.

ATEM Television Studio Pro HD has a built in media pool that can store 20 graphics that can be used with the two built in media players. The media pool uses flash memory, so images are saved even after the power is turned off. That means customers can create completely custom graphics to use in their own programs. In addition, there is an upstream keyer with full chroma keying for green screen shots so customers can add weather maps, graphics, or even virtual sets. The upstream keyer works with chroma, patterns, shapes and linear keys.

ATEM Television Studio Pro HD also features 2 downstream keyers for adding graphics, logos and bugs to video. Customers can use a HyperDeck Studio Mini with ATEM Television Studio Pro HD as a source for ProRes 4:4:4:4 motion graphics files with alpha channels. That means customers can get fill and key graphics composited over live video, or they can use motion graphics with alpha as transitions between sources, all in real time.

ATEM Television Studio Pro HD also includes a built in talkback converter for SDI cameras. The talkback information is sent back to the camera via the SDI program return feed on the rarely used SDI audio channels 15 and 16. When working live with a reporter in the field, there can be a slight delay that causes them to hear themselves as an echo in their headset. ATEM Television Studio Pro HD includes a new mix minus feature that sends back all the program audio except their own voice, so they don’t hear a distracting echo of themselves while reporting.

“The original ATEM Television Studio HD has been extremely popular with our customers who want a small broadcast quality switcher for live production,” said Grant Petty, Blackmagic Design CEO. “The exciting thing about our new ATEM Television Studio Pro HD is that it has all the same professional features, along with the speed of a full size 1 M/E hardware control panel for more complex, fast paced live events! When it comes to creating an entire HD program right from the switcher in real time, there simply is no faster, simpler or more affordable way to do it!”

ATEM Television Studio Pro HD Features

• Integrated broadcast switcher and professional hardware control panel.
• 4 x 3G-SDI and 4 x HDMI inputs for a total of 8 inputs, all with auto resync.
• Supports all video formats from SD to 720p, 1080i and 1080p HD up to 60fps.
• 1 x built in multi view for 8 sources, as well as preview and program.
• Built in media pool graphics storage for 20 RGBA stills.
• Built in DVE with borders and drop shadow.
• Transitions include cut, mix, dip, SMPTE wipes and more.
• 1 upstream keyer including chroma keyer plus 2 downstream keyers.
• 1 auxiliary output with aux switching buttons and LCD screen for viewing.
• Built in audio mixer live mixes embedded audio from all video inputs and independent audio inputs.
• Balanced XLR stereo analog audio inputs.
• Internal sources include black, color bars, two color generators and 2 media player outputs.
• Ethernet connection for computer connection. Mac and Windows control panel software included.
• Compatible with all ATEM Broadcast Control Panels.
• Black Burst and HD-Tri-Sync genlock input for integration into large systems.

Blackmagic Design Announces Remote Bluetooth Camera Control for URSA Mini Pro

Blackmagic Design announced a new open protocol for URSA Mini Pro cameras that will allow customers to create their own remote control solutions via Bluetooth. The protocol is being demonstrated at NAB, with the API and sample code anticipated to be released to customers free of charge in June 2017.

The remote bluetooth camera control test application and API will be demonstrated on the Blackmagic Design NAB 2017 booth at #SL216.

All URSA Mini Pro cameras feature built in bluetooth, but it hasn’t been enabled until now. The built in Bluetooth will allow customers to send and receive commands from up to 30 feet away. To make the new Bluetooth support even more flexible, Blackmagic Design has developed a new open protocol and is publishing a developer API, along with sample code, for customers that wish to build their own camera control solutions.

A demonstration iPad app and sample code will be provided to customers that want to use this feature. The iPad app allows customers to create digital slate applications that feed metadata, such as scene, shot, take information and even full script lines to multiple cameras on set while shooting. Common remote control of camera settings like frame rate, format and shutter angle are all possible from the demo app.

With a fully open API and developer support for URSA Mini Pro Bluetooth, customers can go well beyond the demonstration app. They can build an iPad application to remotely adjust camera settings and motorized lenses while the camera is mounted on a crane. Technically skilled customers could even build an application that uses the camera’s built in DaVinci Resolve color corrector so that images can be graded live during a shoot.

New workflows are also possible. A great example of this is that customers can mount Blackmagic URSA Studio Viewfinders on multiple URSA Mini Pro cameras to create a live multi camera shooting scenario, however instead of connecting to a switcher, the iPad can trigger all cameras to record to their internal media with matching metadata. This means the media can be later edited using DaVinci Resolve 14 multicam editing to work as fast as live production, however with the accuracy of post production. That’s faster, lower cost and higher quality editing than was easily possible in the past.

“URSA Mini Pro has been received extremely well by our customers,” said Grant Petty, Blackmagic Design CEO. “Customers love the broadcast features and controls, the built in ND filters and interchangeable lens mount. Now, the possibilities are truly endless because customers are going to have the tools they need to build completely custom remote control solutions of their own design using the new Bluetooth support!”

Availability and Price

Camera 4.4 update, which will support the URSA Mini Pro bluetooth API and sample code will be available in June 2017 as a free download from the Blackmagic Design website for all existing URSA Mini Pro customers.

Blackmagic Design Announces New UltraStudio HD Mini with Thunderbolt 3

Blackmagic Design announced UltraStudio HD Mini, the world’s first portable Thunderbolt 3 capture and playback solution with 3G-SDI, HDMI and analog connections for broadcast quality 10-bit recording up to 1080p60 and 2K DCI.

UltraStudio HD Mini has been specifically designed to enable customers to perform archiving, edit monitoring and live broadcast graphics tasks, while using the latest Thunderbolt 3 based computers for maximum performance.

UltraStudio HD Mini is available now for US$495 and will be demonstrated on the Blackmagic Design NAB 2017 booth at #SL216.

UltraStudio HD Mini is a portable Thunderbolt 3 capture and playback solution that’s small enough to take anywhere and powerful enough to work on high end projects. It can capture and playback all formats up to 1080p60 in full 10-bit YUV, or up to 1080p30 and 2K DCI in 12-bit RGB. UltraStudio HD Mini features HDMI output for monitoring on a big screen television, dual 3G-SDI outputs for fill and key playback, plus analog audio and video inputs for digitizing and archiving materials from older analog decks.

This combination of connections greatly assist in workflows commonly used today. For example when doing archiving, customers need to connect to older broadcast decks such as Digital Betacam, Betacam SP and even 1” C format open reel decks. With analog component, composite and SDI inputs, plus a deck control serial port, UltraStudio HD Mini has all the features needed to connect and capture directly from those decks.

When working with modern editing and color correction software, such as DaVinci Resolve, customers can use the Thunderbolt 3 to HDMI or SDI outputs for high quality broadcast monitoring with perfect AV sync. When doing live broadcast graphics, customers can use the dual SDI outputs to output in real time both fill and key signals to downstream gear such as live production switchers. This lets computers output live graphics for keying over live action.

UltraStudio HD Mini features advanced Thunderbolt 3 technology that is capable of transferring data at up to 40 Gb/s. These data rates make it possible to capture and play back fully uncompressed video, leaving the computer’s CPU free for more processing tasks. UltraStudio HD Mini is also powered via Thunderbolt 3, so it powers from a laptop computer’s battery and customers don’t have to carry an external power supply with them when they’re on the road.

Designed for portability, UltraStudio HD Mini fits in ⅓ of a standard rack space so it can be racked alongside other equipment or used stand alone on the desktop. It’s also compatible with the optional Teranex Mini Smart Panel, which adds enhanced front panel controls and LCD monitoring so customers can preview video, see audio meters, timecode and more. Ultra Studio HD Mini is even small enough to fit in a backpack with a laptop and portable drive, making it the ultimate on-the-go capture and playback solution.

Customers can purchase the optional Teranex Mini Smart Panel which adds LCD monitoring and additional controls to the front of UltraStudio HD Mini. The easy to install design features push button controls and a bright color display for previewing video with audio meters, timecode and format information. It can also be used to adjust settings and change the source video input.

An exciting advantage of customers using the Teranex Mini Smart Panel is the LCD on the panel shows video and audio levels, plus status information. This status information shows input selection and video format used, as well as the frame buffer level indication. The frame buffer indication is a quality of capture and playback indicator and it will show the number of full buffers on playback or the number of empty buffers on capture. This means broadcasters can evaluate the performance of storage media while capturing or playing and have an indication of disk speed trouble well before it happens.

UltraStudio HD Mini supports more editing, design and video software than any other capture product. Customers get full editing compatibility with DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut Pro X, Media Composer, Premiere Pro and more. It can be used to create stunning visual effects with Fusion and After Effects, and for color correction with DaVinci Resolve.

“UltraStudio HD Mini with Thunderbolt 3 makes it possible to capture and playback 10-bit, broadcast quality video anywhere,” said Grant Petty, CEO, Blackmagic Design. “It’s exciting because of how portable and versatile it is. Unlike traditional cards that require a full size PC, UltraStudio HD Mini can be used directly attached to cameras in the field, on set, in the studio and suites for virtually anything!”

UltraStudio HD Mini Key Features

• Thunderbolt 3 interface capable of up to 40 Gb/s transfer speeds.
• Thunderbolt 3 for bus powered operation.
• 3G-SDI input and two 3G-SDI outputs for dual link SDI playback and fill and key.
• Supports 3G-SDI Level A and Level B.
• HDMI 1.4a output.
• Y, Cb, Cr and NTSC/PAL input.
• Two 1/4” jack connectors for balanced analog audio input.
• Tri-Sync and Black Burst reference input.
• RS-422 deck control connection.
• Supports 16 channels of embedded audio on SDI and 2 channels on HDMI.
• Supports all SD and HD formats up to 1080p60 and 2K DCI 25p for 10bit YUV.
• Supports all SD and HD formats up to 1080p30 for 12bit RGB.
• Supports optional Teranex Mini Smart Panel for status.
• Supports optional Teranex Mini Rack Shelf for rack mounting.

Blackmagic Design Announces Blackmagic Duplicator 4K now with H.264

Blackmagic Design announced the addition of realtime H.264 encoding to the Blackmagic Duplicator 4K. Now customers can choose to record H.264 for maximum compatibility with existing HD televisions and computers, or they can choose H.265 for delivering Ultra HD to the latest devices. Blackmagic Duplicator 1.1 update is now available as a free download from the Blackmagic Design website.

Blackmagic Duplicator 1.1 Update will be demonstrated on the Blackmagic Design NAB 2017 booth at #SL216.

The Blackmagic Duplicator 4K lets content creators dramatically increase revenue because it gives them a way to sell content right after a live event, while attendees are still excited about the performance before, and after they walk out the door. Now customers can sell concert videos to fans as they leave the venue, to parents after their children’s latest performance or recital, after sporting events, conferences, sales seminars and more.

Blackmagic Duplicator 4K makes it easy to deliver multiple copies of content to customers the moment an event is finished. Blackmagic Duplicator 4K is an SD card duplicator with built in realtime H.264 and H.265 encoding. H.264 works with the devices customers have today, while H.265 is the new standard for delivering Ultra HD. The Blackmagic Duplicator 4K is the best way to deliver Ultra HD content that customers can actually view on their 4K televisions today.

The multi rate 12G-SDI connections let customers record in all SD, HD and Ultra HD formats, up to 2160p60. H.264 and H.265 encoding produces high quality video in small files that can fit on commonly available, inexpensive SD cards. Customers can even connect multiple duplicators together to make hundreds of recordings all at once!

Featuring 25 SD card recorders miniaturized into a single rack unit, the Blackmagic Duplicator 4K uses standard, common SD cards that are readily available, super thin, inexpensive and very fast. Cards can be used for SD, HD and Ultra HD video up to 2160p60 and are compatible with Windows 10 computers. With the addition of a USB adapter, SD cards can even be plugged directly into most consumer Ultra HD televisions for immediate playback of the video.

The built in H.265 encoder is so efficient that a one hour Ultra HD program can easily fit onto a very inexpensive 8GB SD card. SD cards are also easy to label and completely re-usable so customers can reformat unsold cards and record over them again at their next event. Unlike proprietary disc based formats like Blu-Ray, customers don’t have to buy a slow and expensive player. Blackmagic Duplicator 4K is the easiest, most compatible and cost effective way to distribute Ultra HD content to consumers today.

The front panel controls are designed to make duplicating content as easy as possible and feature 6 large illuminated buttons for record, stop, lock, append, menu and remote. The lock button prevents accidental interruption of recording during an event, and the append record button seamlessly combines recordings from different parts of an event into a single file.

This revolutionary new append recording feature is perfect for events that have natural breaks, like weddings with a ceremony and reception in different locations. Append recording makes it easier for consumers to watch the final program because they only have to play back a single movie file.

The Blackmagic Duplicator 4K features advanced, multi rate 12G-SDI connections that can record all SD, HD and Ultra HD formats up to 2160p60. For larger events, multiple duplicators can be stacked using the SDI loop thru and RS-422 deck control. This lets customers encode and duplicate to an unlimited number of SD cards in realtime. When recording is started or stopped on the first duplicator, the others automatically follow. There is also an optical fiber SFP socket for adding an optional SMPTE compatible optical fiber SDI module when working in larger venues with long distance between equipment. Adding optical fiber SDI directly into the duplicators could be very useful when duplicators are set up close to the merchandising stands away from the production area so that cards can be handed to customers for quick sale.

“Blackmagic Duplicator 4K makes it possible to distribute content at live events the moment they finish,” said Grant Petty, CEO, Blackmagic Design. “The addition of H.264 is exciting because it makes Blackmagic Duplicator 4K compatible with even more playback devices than ever. This gives customers a larger audience for distributing and selling their content!”

Blackmagic Duplicator 4K Key Features

• 25 SD card recorders for simultaneously recording onto multiple cards at once.
• Realtime H.264 or H.265 encoding technology which is the standard for Ultra HD.
• 12G-SDI input and loop thru output, along with RS-422 control.
• Uses open standard file formats that are compatible with computers and Ultra HD televisions.
• Records all SD, HD and Ultra HD formats up to 2160p60.
• Record unlimited cards by daisy chaining multiple duplicators together.
• Easy to use front panel controls with lock, record, append, stop and remote buttons.
• Built in universal 110V - 240V AC power supply.