Blackmagic Video Assist 5″ 3G

This model supports video formats up to 1080p60 and has a large 5″ LCD with focus peaking, zebra and false colour. Connections include 3G‑SDI and HDMI. This model includes a single SD Card recorder for ProRes recording. Other features include WFM, vector, histogram and RGB parade scopes plus 3D LUTs.

MODERN DESIGN WITH LATEST TECHNOLOGY AND AMAZING SCREENS

All Video Assist models are dominated by a large touch screen with all controls for recording, playback of clips, viewing scopes and setting focus assist features. Both 7″ models are large enough to include analogue inputs for audio and two SD card slots so you get continuous recording, with automatic recording to the second card. Both of the 12G models include 12G-SDI and Ultra HD HDMI connections and USB-C for recording direct to external flash media disks. All models include a rear tally light, a front panel speaker for clip playback and a headphone jack. Video Assist uses Sony L-Series batteries, and with 2 battery slots, you can change batteries without interrupting recording.

TRANSFORMS CAMERA
 USABILITY WITH VIDEO ASSIST

Traditional cameras are designed for shoulder mounted operation, so are a compromise. Hours spent leaning into a viewfinder for long tripod mounted shoots can be tough. Video Assist will transform your shooting style with an on-board rigged screen. It’s much more comfortable using a screen rigged to a position best suited for a shooting setup. Plus you get better situational awareness for the operator, assistant or director. With both 5″ and 7″ models, you choose the size of a rigged monitor that suits you best. Plus you’re also adding fantastic features such as focus zoom, focus peaking, zebras, histogram, false colour, scopes, frame markers, frame guides, touch screen and more.

CUSTOMIZE YOUR
 TOUCHSCREEN TOOLS AND FEATURES

With large and bright 5 and 7″ touchscreens, Video Assist makes it incredible easy to frame shots and accurately focus. The touchscreen displays critical information while you’re shooting including the timecode, transport control, audio meters and a histogram for exposure. You can also customize the LCD to add or remove overlays such as current filename, focus peaking, zebra, false colour, frame guides, 3D LUTs and more. 3D LUTs support allows monitoring shots with the desired colour and look, plus you can even “bake in” the LUT if you want to record it into the file. If you’re using Blackmagic RAW, the 3D LUT is only added into the metadata so it can be disabled in post production.

DUAL MEDIA RECORDERS FOR UNINTERRUPTED RECORDING

Video Assist uses commonly available SD card media, so you can record to flash memory cards that are easy to obtain. The files are small enough to allow long recordings on standard SD cards or the faster UHS-II cards. The larger Video Assist 12G 7″ model even includes 2 SD card slots so you can swap out any full cards even during recording, allowing infinite length recording. Standard SD cards or the faster UHS-II cards are perfect for broadcast because they are small, high speed and affordable.

RECORDING FOR DIGITAL CAMERAS

Blackmagic Video Assist is an ideal upgrade for cameras, as its bright display is bigger than the tiny displays found on consumer cameras, plus you’re also adding professional focus assist features and better quality file formats. Video Assist is also a great solution for professional cameras because you can use it to upgrade older broadcast cameras to modern file formats used on the latest editing software. You get support for all editing software as you can record in Apple ProRes and Avid DNx. You can even use Blackmagic RAW on supported cameras. With both HDMI and SDI inputs you can connect it to any consumer camera, broadcast camera or even DSLR cameras.

POST PRODUCTION FRIENDLY FILE FORMATS.

Video Assist records using standard open file formats so you don’t have to waste time transcoding media. Files are compatible with all post production software so you can work with the software of your choice, including DaVinci Resolve Studio. Recording works in industry standard 10-bit ProRes or DNx files in all formats and from all HDMI or SDI cameras, as well as 12-bit Blackmagic RAW on the 12G-SDI HDR models when connected to supported cameras. Blackmagic RAW is the fastest growing RAW format and developers can download and use the free Blackmagic RAW SDK to add support to their applications. Best of all media files work on all operating systems.

BUILT IN SCOPES ENSURE COMPLIANCE TO STANDARDS

Video Assist features scopes for accurate exposure on cameras and compliance to broadcast standards. That means it’s also a great portable waveform monitoring solution. The waveform display provides a traditional luminance (brightness) level view of the video inputs or the playback signal. The vectorscope allows you to see the intensity of colour at 100% SDI reference levels. You also get a RGB parade display which is ideal for colour correction. Histogram shows the distribution of white to black detail in your images and highlights or shadows clipping. The built in scopes can even be overlaid on live video, or as a small picture in picture view at the top right of the scope.

LOAD CUSTOM 3D LUTS TO RECREATE FILM LOOKS

Some cameras can output logarithmic colourspace to preserve the dynamic range, which is great for later post production, however when these files are viewed on a monitor they can look flat and washed out. 3D LUTs solve this problem because they allow you to apply a “look” to the monitor so you get an idea of how the finished images will look like when editing. LUTs can be applied temporarily for monitoring only, or they can be burned into files for use in editing when capturing Blackmagic RAW. Video Assist works with industry standard 17 and 33 point 3D LUT files, or you can work with the built in LUTs such as Extended Video, Film to Video and more.

DIRECT METADATA ENTRY FOR FASTER EDITING

The advanced digital slate and metadata features make it extremely fast to add metadata to any shot. Simply swipe left or right from the edge of the screen to bring up the digital slate. You can even select for take numbers to be automatically incremented when you start and stop recording, so you don’t have to enter them manually for each shot. You can also set reel numbers to increment each time you format a card. All metadata is saved with the files and available in post production with software such as DaVinci Resolve.

PROFESSIONAL MULTI CHANNEL SDI AND ANALOG AUDIO

Blackmagic Video Assist includes a built in professional audio recorder that’s much better quality than the audio found in most cameras, eliminating the need to carry around extra audio equipment. When working in SDI formats, you can record 2, 4, 8 or 16 channels of audio. For connecting microphones the 7″ models have 2 XLR analog audio inputs with phantom power and high definition audio sample rates of 192 kHz at 16 and 24 bit per sample. The audio meters can even be changed between VU or PPM ballistics. Blackmagic Video Assist 12G features the latest audio technology to ensure low noise floor and very low distortion so you can use it for digital cinema and broadcast work.

LOCALIZED FOR 11 POPULAR LANGUAGES

Multiple languages are fully supported so you don’t need to learn another language to use it. Support is included for English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, German, French, Russian, Italian, Portuguese and Turkish. At first start, Video Assist will display a menu for selecting a language, plus you can switch languages in the menus. When a language is selected, the on screen text overlays will change to the selected language, as well as overlays on the video outputs when enabled. All this means Video Assist is perfect for doing international location work with different crews because you can just go into the menu and change the language any time you need.

WORKS WITH THE WORLD’S MOST POPULAR VIDEO SOFTWARE

The files from Blackmagic Video Assist are common and are compatible with all operating systems or in most video software. Media can be formatted using ExFAT or HFS+ so you can easily access the media on computers and access the files like regular disks. DaVinci Resolve is perfect for using with Video Assist as it features editing, colour correction, audio post production and visual effects all in one software application. Plus you can download DaVinci Resolve free of charge for Mac, Windows and Linux. You can also use recorded files in other popular software such as Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro X. With Video Assist, your media is common so your files will remain readable in the future.