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Blackmagic targets immersive productions with URSA Cine

Blackmagic Design has opened pre-orders for its new URSA Cine Immersive Camera, priced at $30,000. Built for professional VR filmmakers, the camera promises immersive stereoscopic 3D video capture to meet cinematic virtual reality production demands.

The URSA Cine Immersive Camera features two 8K sensors aligned for stereoscopic VR footage. Each sensor records simultaneously, producing high-resolution imagery tailored for virtual reality headsets like the Apple Vision Pro. This alignment enables depth-accurate 3D video, critical for realistic immersive experiences.

Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive features a fixed, custom lens system pre-installed on the body, which is designed specifically to capture Apple Immersive Video for Apple Vision Pro. The sensor delivers 8160 x 7200 resolution per eye with pixel level synchronization and 16 stops of dynamic range, so cinematographers can shoot 90fps 3D immersive cinema content to a single file. The custom lens system is designed for URSA Cine’s large format image sensor with extremely accurate positional data that’s read and stored at time of manufacturing. This immersive lens projection data — which is calibrated and stored on device — then travels through post production in the Blackmagic RAW file itself.

The company also announced that “a new version of DaVinci Resolve Studio set to release in Q1 next year includes powerful new features” to help filmmakers edit, color grade, and produce Apple Immersive Video shot on the URSA Cine Immersive camera for Apple Vision Pro. Key features include a new immersive video viewer, which will let editors pan, tilt, and roll clips for viewing on 2D monitors or on Apple Vision Pro for an even more immersive editing experience. Additionally, transitions rendered by Apple Vision Pro will also be able to be bypassed using FCP XML metadata, giving editors clean master files. To complete the workflow, export presets will enable quick output into a package which can be viewed directly on Apple Vision Pro.

The Vision Pro-ready URSA Cine camera continues Blackmagic’s move into high-end VR and immersive production, offering the tools for professional creators to deliver stereoscopic virtual reality footage in 3D at cinematic resolutions. At $30,000, it’s squarely targeted at studios, technical directors, and large-scale production environments.

Pre-orders are now live on the Blackmagic Design website and authorized retailers. Availability and shipping details are pending.

The post Blackmagic’s $30,000 URSA Cine Immersive Camera Enters Pre-Order Stage first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

The Ursa Cine Immersive System is based on a new platform design and is equipped with a fixed stereoscopic 3D lens system and two 8K image sensors. It offers a resolution of 8160×7200 pixels per eye and 16 stops of dynamic range. The camera can record 90fps 3D video in a single file. The precise positioning data from the lens system is carried through the entire post-production process in Blackmagic RAW format. However, the actual performance and applicability of these specifications must first be confirmed in practice.

DaVinci Resolve updates

In addition to the camera, an updated version of DaVinci Resolve will be released. This supports the editing of Apple Immersive Video. A new Immersive Video Viewer allows editors to pan and tilt clips on 2D monitors or on the Apple Vision Pro. However, it remains to be seen how user-friendly and effective these new functions will be in professional practice.

Availability

The Ursa Cine Immersive camera and the updated version of DaVinci Resolve will be available later this year.

Key features of the Ursa Cine Immersive Camera:

• Dual stereoscopic 3D lens system.
• 8K 3D video recording, i.e. 8160×7200 resolution per eye.
• 16 f-stop dynamic range.
• Lightweight housing with standard connections.
• Generation 5 Colour Science.
• 90fps recording to a Blackmagic RAW file.
• 8TB Blackmagic Media Module.
• High speed WLAN, 10G Ethernet or mobile data.
• Optional Ursa Cine EVF.
• DaVinci Resolve Studio included.

Key features of DaVinci Resolve with Vision Pro

• Support for Apple Vision Pro monitoring.
• Editing of Blackmagic RAW immersive video.
• Immersive Video Viewer.
• Automatic detection of Apple Immersive Video.
• Ability to bypass transitions rendered by Apple Vision Pro.
• Export native files for Apple Vision Pro.

Outlook

The introduction of the Ursa Cine Immersive Camera System and the updated version of DaVinci Resolve promises new possibilities for filmmakers and VFX artists. However, it remains to be seen how well this new and as yet untested technology will work in practice and whether it will live up to expectations.

The post Blackmagic Design: Apple Immersive Video first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

For this special occasion, the FMX team is preparing a birthday present for the audience – packed with talks, presentations, workshops and forum partners presenting the latest projects from the fields of animation, effects, games and immersive media. Volker Engel (CEO Uncharted Territory), Regina Pessoa (animation filmmaker) and Steven Appleby (artist and author) can be announced for FMX 2020. The FMX ticket shop at www.fmx.de will also open on 10 January 2020.

FMX 2020 theme Imagine Tomorrow

For its 25th anniversary, FMX has adopted the theme Imagine Tomorrow. Based on this, it will present innovative workflows and tools and invite speakers to share their visions for the future of the media and entertainment industry – from abstract concepts to clearly defined strategies – with the audience.

How can ideas develop into intellectual properties? How can the Uncanny Valley be overcome so that digital characters can no longer be distinguished from real people? The merging of artistic and artificial intelligence will also become a relevant topic for the future. Technical challenges such as the linking of physical and virtual production as well as business-relevant topics such as the development of new distribution channels will also be discussed.

In all its presentations, FMX will take a look at the entertainment experiences of the future – both in front of and behind the scenes. There are no longer any limits to presentation possibilities in the media sector. How can media professionals utilise this freedom for a better future?

VFX pioneers and animated filmmakers

Volker Engel (President Uncharted Territory, VFX Supervisor, Film Producer) has been involved since the first edition of FMX in 1994. After studying animation at the Film Academy, he was supervisor for the groundbreaking visual effects in the blockbuster Independence Day, for which he received an Academy Award. More recently, he worked as co-producer and visual effects supervisor on the sequel Independence Day: Resurgence. For FMX 2020, he will curate the track The Evolution of SFX:

“In the mid-90s, I attended the very first FMX and had a showreel that started with the bold sentence “If you think you can’t do Visual Effects in Germany… think again!”. A quarter of a century later, I am pleased and proud to say that this sentence has long been completely outdated. In Germany, some of the world’s best artists create visual effects to the highest standards in the industry – and at FMX they present their achievements together with their colleagues from all over the world. And true to the motto of the 25th FMX, “Imagine Tomorrow”, they will not only imagine this future, but contributeto a better futurewith their skills and inventiveness .”

Animated filmmaker Regina Pessoa (Ciclope Filmes) will give an insight into her latest film Uncle Thomas: Accounting for the Days, one of the most popular animated short films of 2019. She has received numerous awards for her films, including Kali the Little Vampire and Tragic Story with Happy End, the most awarded Portuguese film of all time. In all her films, Regina Pessoa uses various engraving techniques, from plaster to computer animation, or as she herself likes to say: “from stone to pixel”. When asked about her view of the future, Regina Pessoa replies: “Analogue art is considered obsolete today, but in combination with the technology of tomorrow, it can become invaluable in the future.”

FMX Forum – First confirmations

FMX is delighted to have SideFX as a main partner. The company will offer a workshop and present itself with a company suite. The SAE Institute will offer two workshops. Maxon has booked a company suite. InstaLOD and NuBoyana FX will have stands at the FMX Marketplace. BigHugFX, Boulder Media, Realtime UK, Pixomondo, Scanline VFX and Trixter will be taking part in the Recruiting Hub. The FH Upper Austria Faculty Hagenberg and the ifs international film school Cologne can be announced for the School Campus.

Tickets

Tickets can be purchased in the FMX ticket shop at www.fmx.de from 10 January 2020.

Further information: To the official website of FMX 2020

The post FMX 2020 Imagines Tomorrow first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.