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Blackmagic Design
31 posts
Black Friday Turns Blackmagic: 30% Off Cinema Gear
We rarely cover Black Friday promotions. Most are marketing fluff. But when Blackmagic Design quietly drops quietly reduces camera prices across Europe by up to 30 percent, that counts as news.
ProRes RAW vs. BRAW
BMPCC 4K just learned a new trick: ProRes RAW via firmware. We stacked it against BRAW Q0. One’s cleaner, one’s bigger. Which would you shoot?
ProRes RAW News – Fresh from the Freezer
Resolve 20.2.1 + Sequoia = real ProRes RAW. Sonoma users: no dice. iPhone 17 footage shows the difference...
Resolve Animation: Everything moves!
Resolve Animation? Well, everything is based on keyframes. Fusion adds power (and pain), 3D feels clunky. Still: motion graphics inside an editor? Works.
Goodbye Adobe Premiere
I whispered, "Goodbye, Adobe!" as I pressed the unsubscribe button. To me it sounded very much like “Hasta la vista” but less dramatic. We had a good run, but it was time to move on.
Making it Soft – Diffusion in Post II
We looked at Halation and Diffusion before - but how about the new Tools from FilmConvert and Resolve 20?
The (further) development of Fusion.
Fusion, the compositing tool in and out of Resolve, has got a big update - and we asked BMD's Simon Hall, what it all means and what the future holds..
Fusion 20: a deep look at the core
With its latest release, Blackmagic Fusion is positioning itself more aggressively than ever as a powerful and cost-effective complete package for node-based compositing and motion graphics. We check whether Fusion 20 lives up to the high expectations.
Part 3 of the "Calibration for Less" series - we get into the settings with DisplayCal, Connect Software, Hardware and Wetware, and are chasing the elusive perfect colours!
Colour Monitoring for Cheapskates! Part 2
Now that your I/O-Hardware should be up and running, let’s get into equipment for profiling the screen (aka…
Color Monitoring for Cheapskates?Part 1
Colour Monitoring is cheap, easy, and fast. As usual, you can pick two of those adjectives — and in this series, we are going for cheap and will make it easy for you!
CineMon 1.0: Correcting the Signal
Let's talk about using low-cost HDMI video capture devices for accurate signal representation, particularly with log formats like S-log3. And also the development and application of a correction LUT using Resolve to enhance the accuracy of color and luminance.
Hardware for CineMon (et. al.)
After looking at the software side of CineMon, it's time to take a look at the hardware - whats good and what's not?
DaVinci Resolve Version 19 – Speech recognition
The public beta version has been available for some time and once again offers numerous new functions. Blackmagic Design (BM for short) is still releasing improved versions every few weeks, but many of the new features are already relatively stable and allow initial tests.
BMD Micro Color Panel
In addition to some new cameras, the Australians have also released a revised version of their smallest grading panel. Unlike the new camera models, it was already available for us to test.
Animating images with Resolve
"Breathing life" into static images with effects from DaVinci Resolve - so-called Cinemagrams - are easy to do - and in our new series "Resolve Tricks for Beginners" we'll start with them!
Beauty-Grading in Resolve
Using software to approximate images of people to current conventions of beauty is work that has shifted more and more from compositing to the domain of grading. As the possibilities increased, so did the demands. Following on from the last article, which dealt with best practices in colour grading in general, we would like to take a very specific look at tips in the area of beauty and retouching. Here, too, we take the perspective of filmmakers who, for budgetary reasons, are "forced" to grade all or at least part of their films themselves and have already gained some experience in Resolve.
Many of you come into contact with colour grading time and again, whether intentionally or unintentionally. For example, when thinking about colours in the context of a VFX workflow or, like me, because it has become part of my job as a filmmaker in the image film sector. It would be perfectly conceivable to have this work step done by a professional colourist, but the budget is often not sufficient for this...
What about Roundtrips? Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve
Professionals experienced in teamwork will probably already be familiar with the following. But what about everyone else who, after initial successes, approaches projects that involve real money and real customers? Mistakes in the workflow and the need to fix them can push your real hourly wage well below the minimum promised by your government, not to mention the loss of your first important client.
Tech demo or working tool? DaVinci Resolve on the iPad Pro
You would expect Apple itself to demonstrate the enormous performance of its tablet devices in practice. So far, only gamers have been able to utilise such an iPad, and they are rarely out and about with it. Otherwise, the many cores usually twiddle their thumbs. But instead of a port of Final Cut Pro X, Apple itself uses DaVinci Resolve in its own advertising, which has already been ported, albeit with a limited range of functions.
Can you seriously work with it?
Collaboration with Blackmagic Cloud
With the introduction of Blackmagic Cloud, Blackmagic Design offers a simple workflow for online collaboration
with DaVinci Resolve. Despite the ongoing beta phase, we dared to use Blackmagic Cloud productively a few weeks ago - with very positive results overall.
Saving audiovisual cultural heritage with Topaz Video AI 3.0
In DP 04:20, we have already tested the artificial intelligence for upscaling video. Topaz Video AI (TVAI for short), as it is now called in version 3.0, has, according to the manufacturer, been developed from scratch
developed from scratch to incorporate additional capabilities and enable the stacking of AI models with filters and parallel operation.
Resolve 10 on tour
Review: In DP 01 : 2014, Resolve 10 went into open beta. We spoke to London-based videographer James Tonkin, who was on tour with Resolve 10 and Robbie Willliams. The perfect topic for the festival season!
Cut faster – The Blackmagic Speed Editor
In DP 02:20, we already presented the Editor Keyboard from Blackmagic Design (BMD for short). It used to be close to 1,000 euros, but when it didn't become a big seller, it was lowered to around 600. Meanwhile, the manufacturer has removed the regular keys in the centre, moved the side panels closer together and added a few extra keys. The result is called Speed Editor (SE for short) and is still being offered at the competitive price of 380 euros including a licence for DaVinci Resolve Studio. Some folks are even marketing the device for 199 euros without the licence, but it remains unclear whether this is permissible on the part of BMD.
Kyno as an editing assistant for Resolve
Review: In DP 04 : 2020, our author Uli Plank took a look at the management app Kyno - and its support for Blackmagic Design.
4K production – what do you really need?
Review: In DP 02 : 2014, our author Michael Radeck went into the practical test with True 4K.
Many loved the inconspicuous Blackmagic Pocket HD despite all its weaknesses - from short battery life to fragile sockets and a very flat screen.
Blackmagic Design: DaVinci Resolve and Fusion turn 16
For young people, 16 is considered a rather problematic age, but the roots of Resolve and Fusion go way back into the last century and you can expect a certain maturity. Does this also apply to a public beta?
More pixels in your pocket – Blackmagic Pocket 4K in test
Many loved the inconspicuous Blackmagic Pocket HD despite all its weaknesses. The film images were simply too beautiful for a camera of this price range and size. As soon as 4K became an issue, many people wanted a new successor to the classic 16 mm camera with better resolution. Does the new camera have that much magic?
Grading on the Orient Express
When you look for an All-Star-Cast, you can’t top Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Kenneth Branagh, Daisy Ridley and all the others who travelled this year’s “Murder on the Orient Express”. But what you might not have known is that for the Dailies Grading, DaVinci Resolve came into play. We wanted to know how the rich, saturated look was accomplished.
One for all? The Ursa Mini 4.6K Pro from Blackmagic
At NAB 2O17, the new version of the Ursa Mini 4.6K Pro (UM Pro for short) received a lot of attention, with Videomaker even honouring it as the "Best camera of NAB". But what does the "Pro" in the name mean? For whom is the new camera more professional than its predecessor with the same sensor? Can it satisfy in documentary and nature film or even in reportage?