NAB 2017: Blackmagic Design Updates Add H264 Encoding, Multi-Language Support, Postproduction Tools

Blackmagic Design (Booth SL216) has released a variety of product updates. Blackmagic Duplicator 4K now has real-time H.264 encoding. An update to Blackmagic Video Assist 2.4 adds support for multi-lingual support for 10 separate languages. DaVinci Resolve 14 is the biggest release of the product ever and an update designed to be less an incremental software update than a complete revolution in postproduction.

Blackmagic Duplicator 4K
Real-time H.264 encoding has been added 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 UHD to the latest devices.

Blackmagic Duplicator 4K

Blackmagic Duplicator 1.1 update is now available as a free download from the Blackmagic Design website and is being demonstrated at the booth.

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 and before 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 sports events, conferences, sales seminars and more.

Blackmagic Duplicator 4K is an SD card duplicator with built-in real-time H.264 and H.265 encoding. H.264 works with the devices customers have today, and H.265 is the new standard for delivering UHD.

Multi-rate 12G-SDI connections let customers record in all SD, HD, and UHD 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 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 UHD video up to 2160p60 and are compatible with Windows 10 computers. With the addition of a USB adapter, SD cards can be plugged directly into most consumer UHD televisions for immediate playback of the video.

The built-in H.265 encoder is so efficient that a one-hour UHD program can easily fit onto a very inexpensive 8-GB SD card. SD cards are also easy to label and completely reusable so customers can reformat unsold cards and record over them. Unlike with 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 UHD content to consumers today.

Video Assist 2.4
Availability immediately, Blackmagic Video Assist 2.4 adds support for multi-lingual support for 10 separate languages. This means customers can now use Video Assist in their native language. This update is available now as a free update for all Blackmagic Video Assist and Blackmagic Video Assist 4K customers.

Also being demonstrated at NAB 2017 are powerful new professional scopes operating on the Blackmagic Video Assist 4K model: waveform, RGB parade, vectorscope, and histogram can be viewed full screen for accurately evaluating video signals passing through Blackmagic Video Assist 4K. These scopes are shown as a development preview and will also be available in June as a software update free of charge for all Blackmagic Video Assist 4K customers.

Customers can see a beta demonstration of the new language support and a preview the new professional scopes at the booth.

The new scopes suit the Blackmagic Video Assist 4K model to live production monitoring, as a portable test scope for broadcasters, and even for balancing color when color grading using the RGB parade scope.

While the new localized video assist adds interface support for Chinese, Japanese, Korean, German, Italian, French, Spanish, Russian, Portuguese, Turkish and English. This broad language support makes it easier for more customers to use Video Assist anywhere in the world.

“Video Assist has become an indispensable part of everyone’s production kit,” says Blackmagic Design CEO Grant Petty. “It’s the perfect portable field monitor and recorder. The addition of full-blown professional scopes makes it even more exciting and useful for customers. Plus, the new multi-lingual interface will make it easier for non-English–speaking customers to use it.”

A free Blackmagic Video Assist 2.4 update is available now from the company website for all current Blackmagic Video Assist and Blackmagic Video Assist 4K customers. Blackmagic Video Assist 2.5, which will support scopes on the Blackmagic Video Assist 4K model, will be available in June.

DaVinci Resolve 14
Blackmagic Design believes the new DaVinci Resolve will break through the stagnant toolsets used in postproduction and offer a new path forward for the smallest as well as the largest facilities in the world.

New features include up to 10 times performance improvement; a whole new audio-postproduction suite with Fairlight audio built into DaVinci Resolve; and multi-user collaboration tools that let multiple people edit, color, and mix audio from multiple systems, all in the same project at the same time.

Customers get professional editing, color correction, and the new Fairlight audio tools. All it takes is a single click to switch between editing, color and audio. Then the new multi-user collaboration tools let everyone work on the same project at the same time, so customers no longer have to import, export, translate, or conform projects.

DaVinci Resolve 14 dramatically changes postproduction from a linear to a parallel workflow, so everyone can work at the same time, giving editors, colorists, and audio engineers more time to be creative.

DaVinci Resolve 14 is being demonstrated at the Blackmagic Design booth and is available for immediate download from the company’s website.