Installation and Operation Manual Blackmagic URSA Mini and URSA Mini Pro Includes Blackmagic URSA Viewfinder, URSA Studio Viewfinder, URSA Mini Shoulder Kit, URSA Mini Lens Mounts, Blackmagic Camera Fiber Converter, Studio Fiber Converter and URSA Mini SSD Recorder. August 2020 English, 日本語, Français, Deutsch, Español, 中文, 한국어, Русский, Italiano, Português and Türkçe.
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English Welcome Thank you for purchasing Blackmagic URSA Mini! Since we released our first digital film camera a few years ago we have been privileged to have received some of the best guidance and feedback we have ever had for a new product! We all grew up admiring the work of the world’s leading cinematographers and DOPs and it’s been an honor to spend hours in conversations with these legendary experts on the features we need to add to our cameras.
Contents Which camera are you using? 6 Touchscreen Controls 74 URSA Mini Pro 7 Settings 96 URSA Mini 8 Dashboard 96 Getting Started 8 Record Settings 97 Attaching a Lens 8 File Naming Convention 103 Powering your Camera 12 Monitor Settings 104 Storage Media 15 Audio Settings 112 CFast Cards 15 Audio Settings – URSA Mini 112 SD Cards 19 Audio Settings – URSA Mini Pro 115 USB-C flash disks 24 Setup Settings 117 Presets 131 SSDs 26 LUTS 133 Pre
Plugging in Return SDI Outputs 183 Editing with the Cut Page 223 Mounting Blackmagic Camera Fiber Converter 183 Adding Clips to the Timeline 226 Editing Clips on the Timeline 227 Attaching the URSA Studio Viewfinder 186 Adding Titles 227 Plugging in a Talkback Headset 186 Working with Blackmagic RAW Files 228 Operating the Camera Fiber Converter 187 Selecting a Return Feed 187 Color Correcting your Clips with the Color Page 231 Using the Call Button 188 Adding a Power
Which camera are you using? You’ll notice while reading this manual that occasionally a feature will be specific to a particular Blackmagic URSA Mini camera. All URSA Mini cameras produce incredible, wide dynamic range images and share the same basic chassis. There are some differences between different models, though. The available models are URSA Mini Pro 12K URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2 URSA Mini Pro 4.6K URSA Mini 4.6K URSA Mini 4K URSA Mini Pro 12K URSA Mini Pro 4.
URSA Mini Pro URSA Mini Pro 12K comes with a PL mount, and URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2 and URSA Mini Pro 4.6K come with an EF mount. You can change the lens mount on all URSA Mini Pro cameras to accept other lens types. For more information on the interchangeable lens mount, see the ‘interchangeable lens mount’ section. URSA Mini Pro is easy to recognize by the additional control buttons and LCD status screen on the left side of the chassis, as well as the ND filters near the lens mount. URSA Mini Pro 4.
URSA Mini Aside from the sensors used, URSA Mini 4K and 4.6K models are nearly identical. The control buttons and software menus are laid out the same way, and operating the cameras is essentially the same. You’ll simply find a few more resolution options on cameras using the 4.6K sensor, together with a greater range of ISO settings. An easy way to tell which sensor your camera has is to look for a ‘4K’ or ‘4.6K’ icon above the lens mount.
TIP URSA Mini Pro 12K comes equipped with a PL mount. Other URSA Mini Pro cameras come out of the box configured to accept EF lenses. To get shooting right away, simply attach a lens as detailed below. To attach an EF mount lens: Attaching and removing an EF mount lens on Blackmagic URSA Mini EF 1 Align the dot on your lens with the dot on the camera mount. Many lenses have a visual indicator, for example a blue, red or white dot.
1 Open your camera’s PL locking ring by rotating it counterclockwise until it stops. 2 Align one of the lens’ four flange notches with the locating pin on the camera mount. Be sure to align the lens for easy viewing of the lens marks. 3 Tighten the PL locking ring by rotating it clockwise. If attaching a PL lens with a servo unit to URSA Mini PL or URSA Mini Pro, you can also connect the 12 pin broadcast connector for servo control.
To attach a B4 mount lens: Attaching and removing a B4 lens on Blackmagic URSA Mini PL with B4 mount 1 Turn the B4 lens locking ring counterclockwise to reveal the alignment slot inside the top of the mount. Align the B4 lens to your URSA Mini’s B4 mount so the alignment pin on the lens mount matches the position of the alignment slot. 2 Hold the lens against the B4 mount so the mount plates are against each other. Make sure the alignment pin is secured inside the alignment slot.
1 Align the dot on your lens with the dot on the camera mount. Many lenses have a visual indicator, for example a blue, red or white dot. 2 Insert the lens into the mount and twist counterclockwise until it locks into place. 3 To remove the lens, hold down the locking button, rotate the lens clockwise until its dot or indicator reaches the 2 o’clock position, and gently remove. NOTE Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro F mount features a mechanical iris adjuster.
You can use industry standard third party external batteries such as V mount or Gold Mount batteries with your URSA Mini. Refer to the ‘mounting batteries’ section for more information about mounting the different types of battery plates to support different batteries. To turn on URSA Mini: 1 Press and release the ‘power’ button. On Blackmagic URSA Mini, the power button is located on the control panel behind the fold out LCD. Simply open the LCD to access the control panel.
To turn on URSA Mini Pro: 1 On Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro, a power switch is also located above the fold out LCD. Move the switch to the ‘on’ position to power your camera. 2 To turn the camera off, move the switch to the ‘off’ position. Move the power switch to ‘on’ to power your camera URSA Mini Pro also features a redundant power switch, which allows the camera to be turned on and off by briefly holding down the ‘rec’ and ‘forward skip’ buttons on the inside control panel.
Storage Media Your Blackmagic URSA Mini camera has a number of storage options. All URSA Mini cameras use CFast 2.0 cards to record video. URSA Mini Pro cameras can also record to fast UHS-II and UHS-I SD cards. URSA Mini Pro G2 has a USB-C 3.1 Gen 1 port and URSA Mini Pro 12K has a USB-C 3.1 Gen 2 port for recording to high speed flash disks. Using the optional URSA Mini SSD Recorder, you can record to high capacity solid state drives, or “SSDs”.
To insert a CFast card: 1 Open the fold out monitor to access the CFast slots. 2 Insert the CFast card into the CFast card slot until you feel it lock into place. The card should insert easily without the need for excessive force. Push the CFast card ejector button to eject the card. The storage information at the bottom of the LCD touchscreen will show the name and record time remaining of the detected CFast cards. Blackmagic URSA Mini has two CFast slots for continuous recording Choosing a CFast 2.
Brand Card Name Storage KomputerBay x3400 CFast 2.0 128GB ProGrade Digital 550MB/s CFast 2.0 256GB ProGrade Digital 550MB/s CFast 2.0 512GB SanDisk Extreme Pro CFast 2.0 SDCFSP-128G-x46D 128GB Wise CFast 2.0 3400x 256GB Wise CFast 2.0 3500x 512GB Wise CFast 2.0 3500x 1TB Which CFast cards should I use with the Blackmagic URSA Mini and URSA Mini Pro Cameras? The following CFast 2.0 cards are recommended for recording 4.6K Blackmagic RAW 3:1 up to 60 fps.
Brand Card Name Storage Transcend CFX650 CFast 2.0 TS256GCFX650 256GB Transcend CFX650 CFast 2.0 TS128GCFX650BM 128GB Transcend CFX650 CFast 2.0 TS256GCFX650BM 256GB Wise CFast 2.0 3400x 256GB Wise CFast 2.0 3500x 512GB The following CFast 2.0 cards are recommended for recording 2160p ProRes 422 HQ up to 60 fps.
Brand Card Name Storage Wise CFast 2.0 3400x 128GB Wise CFast 2.0 3400x 256GB Wise CFast 2.0 3500x 512GB For the most up to date information on supported CFast cards for Blackmagic URSA Mini please refer to the Blackmagic Design support center at www.blackmagicdesign.com/support. NOTE Only the ‘D-series’ of Sandisk CFast 2.0 cards have been certified for use with Blackmagic URSA Mini cameras.
When recording to SD cards on URSA Mini Pro 4.6K make sure the storage media selection switch is set to ‘SD’ Choosing a fast SD Card If you are recording Ultra HD on Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro, then we recommend using the fastest high speed UHS-II type SD cards available. It’s important to use high speed UHS-II SD cards for Ultra HD and HD recording, or UHS-1 cards for HD recording. These cards are rated for fast data speeds and support larger storage sizes. Generally the faster the cards, the better.
Which SD cards should I use with Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 12K? The following SD cards are recommended for recording 12K DCI Blackmagic RAW 12:1 up to 24 frames per second.
Brand Card Name Storage Sony SF-G64 300MB/s UHS-II SDXC 64GB Sony SF-G128 300MB/s UHS-II SDXC 128GB Toshiba Exceria Pro UHS-II 270MB/s SDXC 64GB Toshiba Exceria Pro UHS-II 270MB/s SDXC 128GB Toshiba Exceria Pro UHS-II N502 SDHC 32GB Toshiba Exceria Pro UHS-II N502 SDXC 64GB Toshiba Exceria Pro UHS-II N502 SDXC 128GB Toshiba Exceria Pro UHS-II N502 SDXC 256GB Transcend Ultimate UHS-II 180MB/s SDXC 64GB Wise 285MB/s UHS-II SDXC 64GB Wise 285MB/s UHS-II SDXC 128GB The follow
The following SD cards are recommended for 1080p ProRes 422 HQ up to 60 frames per second.
Locking and Unlocking SD Cards SD cards can be write protected, or ‘locked’, to prevent data from being overwritten. When inserting an SD card, make sure the card is not write protected. Write protection is disabled by moving the plastic switch on the left side of the card to the position closest to the connectors. After recording, you can then write protect the card by sliding the switch back down to the bottom position.
Once you have finished recording you can connect the same drive directly to your computer for editing and post production, without having to copy media across. To connect a USB-C flash disk: 1 Connect one end of a USB type-C cable to your USB-C flash disk. 2 On URSA Mini Pro 12K, plug the USB-C cable into the USB-C port on the back panel below the SDI ports. On URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2, open the fold out touchscreen on the left side of the camera and connect the cable to the USB-C port above the CFast slots.
Important Notes About USB-C flash disk Speed Some models of USB-C flash disk can’t save video data at the speed the manufacturer claims. This is due to the disk using hidden data compression to attain higher write speeds. This data compression can only save data at the manufacturer’s claimed speed when storing data such as blank data or simple files. Video data includes video noise and pixels which are more random so compression will not help, therefore revealing the true speed of the disk.
To remove an SSD: Open URSA Mini SSD Recorder’s cover and gently grasp the drive between your thumb and forefinger. There’s a small recess in the top of the bay to let you get a grip on the drive. Simply pull the drive out and close the cover. NOTE Blackmagic URSA Mini SSD Recorder occupies the second storage slot in URSA Mini’s operating system. This means that, while URSA Mini SSD Recorder is connected and a compatible SSD is inserted, your camera’s second CFast 2.0 and SD card slot will be unavailable.
Brand SSD Name Storage Samsung 860 PRO 4TB Sony G Series Professional SSD. SVGS48 480GB Sony G Series Professional SSD. SVGS96 960GB Transcend SSD370 512GB The following SSDs are recommended for 2160p ProRes 422 HQ up to 60 frames per second.
Important Notes About SSD Speed Some models of SSD can’t save video data at the speed the manufacturer claims. This is due to the disk using hidden data compression to attain higher write speeds. This data compression can only save data at the manufacturer’s claimed speed when storing data such as blank data or simple files. Video data includes video noise and pixels which are more random so compression will not help, therefore revealing the true speed of the disk.
Use your URSA Mini’s storage manager to format your camera’s storage media 3 Tap ‘edit reel number’ if you would like to manually change the reel number. 4 Choose OS X Extended or exFAT format and tap the format button. Tap ‘edit reel number’ to manually edit the reel number 5 You will be asked to confirm your selection. Tap the format button again to continue or ‘cancel’ to cancel the format.
6 You will be notified when the format is complete. 7 Tap ‘ok’ to return to the storage manager. 8 Tap ‘exit’ to leave the storage manager. When formatting CFast cards, SD cards or SSDs using the storage manager, your URSA Mini will use the Camera ID from the slate and reel number to name the card. Your URSA Mini automatically increments reel numbers each time you format.
Hold the format button for 3 seconds to begin formatting your media For information on switching between CFast and SD storage see the ‘SD Cards’ section earlier in this manual. NOTE If you have the optional URSA Mini SSD Recorder connected, ‘SSD recorder’ will appear over storage slot 2. When a USB-C flash disk is connected, ‘External Drive’ will appear. Preparing Media on Mac Use the Disk Utility application included with Mac to format your CFast card, SD card, or SSD in the HFS+ or exFAT formats.
4 Set the ‘format’ to ‘Mac OS extended ( journaled)’ or ‘exFAT’. 5 Type a ‘name’ for the new volume and then click ‘erase’. Your camera’s storage media will quickly be formatted and made ready for use. Preparing Media on Windows The ‘format’ dialog box can format your camera’s storage media in the exFAT format on a Windows PC. Remember to back up anything important from your media first as all data will be lost when it is formatted.
Recording Recording Clips On Blackmagic URSA Mini you can start recording by pressing the red ‘record’ button on the inside control panel, the outside of the fold out monitor, the touchscreen or the optional Blackmagic URSA Handgrip. On Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro, the external ‘record’ button is located in the forward control panel for convenient access when shooting from the shoulder. Press the ‘record’ button again to stop recording.
Dynamic Range Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 12K produces incredible, wide dynamic range images with 14 stops of latitude. URSA Mini Pro G2, URSA Mini Pro and URSA Mini 4.6K have 15 stops of dynamic range. This maximizes the information in your video signal to help you get the most out of color grading software, such as DaVinci Resolve. The wide dynamic range captured is also perfect for high dynamic range or HDR content delivery.
Blackmagic URSA Mini 4.6K, URSA Mini Pro and URSA Mini Pro G2 Dynamic Range ISO 200 250 320 400 500 640 800 1000 1250 1600 2000 2500 3200 Total Stops 14.7 14.7 14.7 14.7 14.7 14.7 14.7 14.7 14.7 14.7 14.7 14.7 14.7 10 5 3.9 10.8 4.2 4.6 10.5 10.1 stops 0 4.9 9.8 5.2 9.5 5.6 9.1 5.9 8.8 6.2 8.5 6.6 8.1 6.9 7.8 7.2 7.5 7.6 7.1 7.9 6.8 -5 -10 Stops Above Stops Below Blackmagic RAW Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro supports the new Blackmagic RAW file format.
Blackmagic RAW files are extremely fast and the codec is optimized for your computer’s CPU and GPU. This means it has fast smooth playback and eliminates the need for hardware decoder boards, which is important for laptop use. Software that reads Blackmagic RAW also gets the advantage of processing via Apple Metal, Nvidia CUDA and OpenCL. This means that Blackmagic RAW plays back at normal speed like a video file on most computers, without needing to cache it first or lower the resolution.
Constant Bitrate Settings The names for 3:1, 5:1, 8:1, 12:1 and 18:1 represent the compression ratio. For example, 12:1 compression produces a file size roughly 12 times smaller than uncompressed RAW. Blackmagic RAW constant bitrate is available on URSA Mini Pro 12K at 5:1, 8:1, 12:1 and 18:1. URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2 and URSA Mini Pro 4.6K support Blackmagic RAW constant bitrate at 3:1, 5:1, 8:1 and 12:1. Constant Quality Settings Q0, Q1, Q3 and Q5 refer to different levels of quantization.
Blackmagic RAW in DaVinci Resolve Settings can be adjusted for each Blackmagic RAW file, and then saved as a new sidecar file from the RAW tab in DaVinci Resolve for creative effect or optimized viewing. This also means you can copy your media for another DaVinci Resolve artist and they will have access to your modified gamma settings automatically on import.
Cinema, for example, uses a standard 24 frames per second and while there have been recent experiments with faster frame rates, 24 frames per second remains widely accepted for international audiences. Television frame rates have generally conformed to technical broadcast standards for each country. For example, if you were making television content you would typically record using 29.97 frames per second for North American distribution, and 25 frames per second for Europe.
Your shutter setting can also affect the visibility of flicker when shooting under lights, so your URSA Mini can automatically calculate and display flicker free shutter options for your current frame rate. Note that the characteristics of individual light sources may still cause flicker even when using flicker free values. For more information, refer to the ‘touchscreen controls’ section.
Maximum Frame Rates for URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2, URSA Mini Pro 4.6K and URSA Mini 4.6K URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2 Format 4.6K 4.6K 2.4:1 4K 16:9 4K DCI UHD 3K Anamorphic 2K 16:9 2K DCI HD Resolution 4608 x 2592 4608 x 1920 4096 x 2304 4096 x 2160 3840 x 2160 3072 x 2560 2048 x 1152 2048 x 1080 1920 x 1080 URSA Mini Pro 4.6K URSA Mini 4.
It’s important to note that Blackmagic RAW Q0, Q1, Q3 and Q5 use variable bit rate compression to achieve constant quality. Q0, Q1, Q3 and Q5 data rates depend on the complexity of the image subject matter and can vary considerably throughout a clip.
Your URSA Mini automatically sends a signal via the SDI outputs that will trigger recording when connected to equipment that supports the SDI trigger record feature, such as Blackmagic Video Assist. This means when you press record on your camera, your external SDI equipment will also start recording, and will stop recording when you press record again.
Record duration tables for URSA Mini Pro 12K Simple scenes containing less detail tend to require less data than more dense compositions. The values in these tables assume shots with a high complexity, which means you may get slightly longer record times depending on the nature of your shoot. 12K on URSA Mini Pro 12K CFast Card 1TB Frame Rate Blackmagic Blackmagic Blackmagic Blackmagic RAW 5:1 RAW 8:1 RAW 12:1 RAW 18:1 Duration Duration Duration Duration 23.
4K on URSA Mini Pro 12K CFast Card 1TB Frame Rate Blackmagic Blackmagic Blackmagic Blackmagic RAW 5:1 RAW 8:1 RAW 12:1 RAW 18:1 Duration Duration Duration Duration 23.98 264 mins 442 mins 631 mins 941 mins 24 264 mins 442 mins 631 mins 941 mins 25 254 mins 405 mins 606 mins 904 mins 29.
HD CFast Card 256GB Blackmagic Blackmagic Blackmagic Blackmagic RAW 3:1* RAW 5:1* RAW 8:1* RAW 12:1* ProRes 444 XQ ProRes 422 HQ ProRes 422 LT Duration Duration Duration Duration Duration Duration Duration 23.98 159 mins 264 mins 418 mins 619 mins 84 mins 189 mins 403 mins 24 159 mins 264 mins 418 mins 618 mins 84 mins 189 mins 403 mins 25 153 mins 253 mins 402 mins 595 mins 81 mins 182 mins 387 mins 29.
Maximum Data Rates at 24p with Blackmagic RAW Constant Bitrate Resolution Frame Blackmagic Rate RAW 5:1 Blackmagic RAW 8:1 Blackmagic RAW 12:1 Blackmagic RAW 18:1 17:9 12288 x 6480 24 578 MB/s 361 MB/s 241 MB/s 160 MB/s 16:9 11520 x 6480 24 542 MB/s 339 MB/s 226 MB/s 150 MB/s 2.
Shooting off speed lets you make creative decisions and achieve the look that you want. URSA Mini Pro 12K can shoot at 12K resolution up to 60 fps and as high as 220 fps in other resolutions. When you shoot high frame rates on URSA Mini Pro 12K, the camera uses extreme bitrates, so it is important to choose an appropriate type of Blackmagic RAW compression.
Resolution Frame Blackmagic Rate RAW Q0 Blackmagic RAW Q1 Blackmagic RAW Q3 Blackmagic RAW Q5 DCI 4096 x 2160 110 123-295 MB/s 74-185 MB/s 50-123 MB/s 38-93 MB/s 16:9 3840 x 2160 110 116-227 MB/s 70-173 MB/s 47-116 MB/s 35-87 MB/s 2.
URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2 Camera Press the forward and reverse buttons to skip to the start or end of clips. Press the ‘reverse skip’ button once to go to the start of the current clip or press twice to skip back to the start of the previous clip. Hold the ‘forward’ or ‘reverse skip’ button to play or reverse at 2x speed. Once shuttling forward or backwards, press the ‘fast forward’ or ‘reverse skip’ buttons twice for 4x, three times for x8 and four times for x16.
Introduction to URSA Mini Industry standard BNC connectors are located on the right and rear panel of your URSA Mini for SDI connections. There are also two separate LANC inputs, one for the optional Blackmagic URSA Handgrip and one at the rear of the camera for an external LANC controller. XLR inputs are on the top panel behind the mounting points for professional balanced analog audio on URSA Mini and URSA Mini Pro, and AES digital audio input on URSA Mini Pro.
5 Auto White Balance The auto white balance button is marked ‘Auto W/B’ and is used when you want to set the white balance based on what is currently in the center of the screen. For example, setting auto white balance on a gray card placed in front of the lens. See the section ‘URSA Mini Pro control buttons’ for more information. Left Side – URSA Mini URSA Mini’s left side panel lets you insert CFast cards, access the control panel and change settings.
11 12 14 13 URSA Mini Pro 4.6K model, foldout touchscreen closed 11 Power Switch Power switch for turning on the camera. There is also a backup power switch inside the fold out monitor that allows the camera to be powered on by pressing both the record and forward skip buttons at the same time. 12 ND Filters Your URSA Mini Pro has three internal neutral density filters to adjust the amount of light reaching the sensor. Four settings are available, ranging from clear to six stops of light reduction.
16 USB Port USB-C port for updating internal software. See the section ‘Blackmagic Camera Setup Utility’ for more information. On URSA Mini Pro G2, you can also use this USB-C port to record to URSA Mini Recorder or an external USB-C flash disk. 17 Internal Control Panel When your URSA Mini Pro’s foldout monitor is open, you have access to the internal control panel. Use the controls here to set your audio inputs as well as phantom power settings.
23 Broadcast Lens Control Connector Provides power and control to compatible PL and B4 mount lenses with 12 pin connections. This connection is available on URSA Mini PL and URSA Mini Pro models. This output combined with the +12V Power Output supplies 12 Volts at up to 2 Amps in total. Rear Panel 24 Battery Mount Plate Your Blackmagic URSA Mini has mounting points and a recessed molex connector to supply power to and from the camera as well as carrying some data information.
If you’re using URSA Mini in a live broadcast, you can plug in the switcher’s program output and monitor it during the shoot, or check playback from an external recorder. Press and hold the ‘pgm’ button to see the program feed. For more information, refer to the ‘control buttons’ section for URSA Mini or ‘ergonomic control panel’ section for URSA Mini Pro. To receive tally and talkback via the SDI input, make sure you have set your ATEM Camera ID in the camera’s setup menu.
31 USB Port USB-C 3.1 Gen 2 port with locking connector for recording video from URSA Mini Pro 12K to an external flash disk. Top Panel 32 33 External analog audio can be plugged into the balanced XLR connectors on the top panel 32 1/4 Inch Mounting Points Your camera’s top panel contains 4 strong mounting points for attaching the top handle and accessories.
URSA Mini Controls Your Blackmagic URSA Mini has a control panel on the left side, behind the fold out monitor and contains all the buttons and adjustment knobs you need to change settings and control audio levels. You can monitor your audio levels using the audio meters on the LCD touchscreen.
On URSA Mini EF models, this button works with compatible EF lenses. On URSA Mini PL models, this button works with compatible lenses connected to the broadcast lens controller. To set your aperture manually, press the forward and reverse skip transport buttons. Focus When using an EF mount with an EF lens that supports electronic focus adjustments, press the ‘focus’ button to activate auto focus. A white focus square will appear on the fold out monitor. Anything within the square will be correctly focused.
Record The ‘record’ button is marked REC on your Blackmagic URSA Mini’s control panel, fold out LCD and on the optional Blackmagic URSA Handgrip. Press any of the record buttons to start and stop recording. Refer to the ‘recording’ section for more information. Playback Control Buttons The playback buttons let you start and stop playback, plus skip to the next or previous clip.
URSA Mini Pro Control Buttons Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro has control panels on the chassis, outside and inside of the foldout touchscreen monitor to give you quick, easy access to all of its essential functions as well as powerful monitoring tools. These panels are designed to be close to hand whether shooting from a tripod, handheld or with the shoulder mount kit.
2 ND Filters Your URSA Mini Pro has three internal neutral density filters. Together with a clear filter, the available settings are ‘2,’ ‘4’ and ‘6’ stops. These filters allow you to reduce the amount of light reaching your URSA Mini’s sensor by a preset number of exposure ‘stops’. By reducing the exposure, you can continue shooting at wide apertures in bright conditions such as outdoors on sunny days. To adjust your neutral density setting, rotate the wheel upwards or downwards.
4 Menu Wheel When ‘status text’ is turned on for your URSA Mini Pro’s front SDI output, you can use the menu wheel to navigate many of the head up display features usually accessed via the LCD touchscreen. Simply press the menu wheel as you would a button to access your URSA Mini Pro’s head up display on an external monitor such as Blackmagic SmartView, Video Assist or URSA Viewfinder.
White Balance This switch is used to adjust the camera’s white balance. Pushing up will increase the color temperature by 50K, and pushing down will decrease it by 50K. Holding the switch up or down will move more quickly through available values. 7 Auto White Balance Pressing this button will reveal a white ‘auto white balance’ box in the center of the LCD for five seconds. This box will also appear on any SDI output that has ‘status text’ enabled in the menu settings.
Ergonomic Control Panel On the outside of your URSA Mini Pro’s touchscreen monitor, you’ll find an LCD status monitor and a variety of monitoring controls. This panel lets you see all of your camera’s status information at a glance, as well as monitoring and adjusting audio levels. Automatic focus can be set using compatible lenses and the transport controls let you playback clips. 10 11 12 13 14 16 15 URSA Mini Pro 4.
13 Status LCD This display shows you your URSA Mini Pro’s essential settings at a glance, without needing to open the internal touchscreen. This screen is designed to be visible even in bright daylight. The following information is available: Battery indicator Timecodes FPS, Shutter Angle, White Balance Dropped frame indicator Record Low record indicator time remaining ISO Iris Card indicator Audio meters Timecodes Your URSA Mini Pro displays three timecodes.
ISO Displays your camera’s currently set ISO. Iris Displays your current lens aperture. Depending on your lens type, this will be displayed as an ‘f’ or ’T’ stop. Card Information The ‘card 1’ and ‘card 2’ indicators will appear on your URSA Mini Pro’s status LCD when these slots are occupied. The ‘SD’ indicator appears if you are recording on SD cards, and disappears if you are recording on CFast cards.
14 Status LCD Controls URSA Mini Pro 4.6K status LCD controls Still Press this button to capture a still image as a single uncompressed DNG frame. Image files will be saved to the ‘stills’ folder in the root directory of the media you are currently recording to. These will follow the file naming convention for video clips but the filename will have an ‘S001’ representing the ‘still number’ as the last four digits of the filename.
15 Control and Playback Buttons URSA Mini Pro 4.6K control and playback buttons Iris The ‘iris’ button activates the automatic aperture setting on compatible lenses. When using video dynamic range settings, a single press of the iris button will set an average exposure based on the highlights or shadows in your shot. When using film dynamic range settings, pressing the iris button sets your exposure to the brightest highlight in your shot.
16 Audio Level Adjustment Knobs URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2 audio adjustment knobs Use the built in adjustment knobs to set the recording levels for audio channels 1 and 2. Turn each knob clockwise or counterclockwise to increase or decrease the recording level for each channel of audio. Monitor the corresponding on screen audio meters as you adjust each knob so you can see the best level to set it to.
NOTE It is standard practice to plug in your XLR cable before switching phantom power on. It is also important to switch phantom power to ‘off’ when you no longer have a phantom powered microphone connected. Connecting devices that don’t have phantom power protection built into their AES XLR outputs whilst still sending phantom power from the camera’s XLR audio inputs may damage your equipment. Always ensure that the 48V switch is turned ‘off’ when you disconnect your microphone.
Record Press any of the record buttons marked REC to start and stop recording. Refer to the ‘recording’ section for more information. Playback Control Buttons The playback buttons let you start and stop playback, plus skip to the next or previous clip. When using the EF mount, the forward and reverse skip buttons can also be used to open or close the iris when using compatible lenses. Refer to the ‘playback’ section for more information on how to use the playback buttons.
Touchscreen Controls Touchscreen Your Blackmagic URSA Mini’s fold out LCD touchscreen pivots for shooting high and low angles. Buttons on the outside of the LCD panel let you control your URSA Mini when mounted on your shoulder using the URSA Viewfinder and the LCD closed. Touchscreen Features The LCD touchscreen features a touch and gesture based interface that is specifically designed for fast and intuitive user operation.
Zebra displays diagonal lines over areas of your image that exceed a set exposure level. For example, setting zebra to 100% shows which areas are completely overexposed. This is useful for achieving optimum exposure in fixed lighting conditions. Tap the ‘zebra’ icon while accessing ‘LCD monitor options’ to access your URSA Mini’s zebra settings To toggle zebra for the LCD touchscreen, tap the switch icon in the bottom left of the screen while in the ‘zebra’ tab.
Touch to focus You can focus compatible lenses in any region of the image by pressing the LCD screen for a moment where you want to focus. The camera will focus your lens in the chosen location. Pressing the ‘focus’ button on the camera or the optional handgrip following this will trigger auto-focus in that specified region. Double pressing the ‘focus’ button will reset the focus point to the center of the screen.
The LCD touchscreen with 2.40:1 frame guides enabled 1:1 URSA Mini Pro can display a square format 1:1 frame guide when composing shots for social media material. 2:1 Available on the URSA Mini Pro, this displays a ratio slightly wider than 16:9 but not as wide as 2.35:1. 1.85:1 Displays another common flat widescreen cinema aspect ratio. This ratio is slightly wider than HDTV 1.78:1 but not as wide as 2.39:1. 16:9 Displays a 1.78:1 aspect ratio compatible with 16:9 HD television and computer screens.
Use the numeric keypad on the ‘custom frame guide’ screen to enter a new frame guide ratio TIP You can change the opacity of frame guide overlays. For more information see the ‘monitor settings’ section of this manual. NOTE For information on enabling frame guides on your camera’s front and main SDI outputs, see the ‘monitor settings’ section in this manual.
To toggle the appearance of grids on your URSA Mini touchscreen, tap the switch icon in the bottom left of the screen while in the ‘frame guides’ tab. When your URSA Mini is set up and connected to an ATEM switcher as the current program source, and ‘grids’ are set to ‘on’, the red ‘program’ tally outline will automatically illuminate on your LCD.
Horizon URSA Mini Pro 12K has a horizon meter. It indicates when your camera is rolled left or right and tilted up or down. This can help you keep the horizon is level during handheld shots and balance the camera tilt on a gimbal. The direction the light gray vertical line moves away from the dark gray crosshair in the middle indicates the direction your camera is rolled.
Safe Area Guides The ‘safe area guides’ setting toggles the safe area guides on or off the LCD touchscreen, as well as setting the size of safe area guides for all outputs on your URSA Mini. Safe areas can be used in broadcast production to ensure that the most important parts of a shot can be seen by viewers.
To toggle false color for the LCD touchscreen, tap the switch icon in the bottom left of the screen while in the ‘false color’ tab. The ‘false color’ exposure assistance tab ND Filter indicator Adjusting your URSA Mini Pro’s ND filter will display the ND filter indicator in the top left of the LCD touchscreen and any SDI outputs set to show status text. This indicator will remain on in your ‘status text’ when you have an ND filter engaged.
Project frame rate The project frame rate is URSA Mini’s recording format frame rate and provides a selection of common frame rates used in the film and television industry. This frame rate is normally set to match your playback speed used in your post production workflow. Your Blackmagic URSA Mini has 8 project frame rate settings including 23.98, 24, 25, 29.97, 30, 50, 59.94 and 60 frames per second.
You can create dynamic and interesting speed effects in your clips by varying the sensor frame rate. Setting the sensor frame rate higher than your project frame rate will create slow motion during playback. Alternatively, the lower your sensor frame rate, the faster your clips will appear. The principle is similar to overcranking and undercranking a film camera. Overcranking speeds up the sensor frame rate so you can stretch out moments in time during playback to enhance emotion.
Tapping the ‘shutter’ indicator brings up the suggested shutter values along the bottom of your URSA Mini’s touch screen. If you have auto exposure set to ‘off,’ this screen will show you your currently selected shutter value, as well as the available flicker free shutter values, based on the mains power frequency you have selected in your URSA Mini’s ‘setup’ menu. For more information, see the ‘setup settings’ section in this manual.
Shutter + Iris Maintains the correct exposure levels by adjusting the shutter, then the aperture. If the maximum or minimum available shutter value is reached and exposure still cannot be maintained, URSA Mini will begin adjusting the aperture to keep exposure constant. Iris + Shutter Maintains the correct exposure levels by adjusting the aperture, then the shutter value.
This gives you the following auto exposure options. Iris This setting automatically adjusts the aperture to maintain a constant exposure, while keeping shutter angle constant. This will keep motion blur constant, but may affect your depth of field. Iris + Shutter Maintains the correct exposure levels by adjusting the aperture, then the shutter value.
Additional status indicators may appear around the duration display: Appears to the left of the duration display when your URSA Mini is using a windowed sensor mode. Appears to the right of the duration display when showing timecode. Appears to the right of the duration display if an external timecode is connected and valid. Appears to the right of the duration display if the camera is running off an internal timecode after being ‘jam synced’ and disconnected.
White Balance The ‘WB’ and ‘TINT’ indicators display your camera’s current white balance and tint. Tapping these indicators lets you adjust your camera’s white balance and tint to suit varying lighting conditions. Your URSA Mini’s white balance and tint indicators. Tap these to access white balance and tint settings Every light source emits a color. For example, a candle flame emits a warm color, and an overcast sky emits a cool color.
While in the ‘white balance’ menu, your camera’s current tint setting is shown at the bottom right of the screen. To adjust the tint, simply tap or hold the arrows to the left and right of the tint indicator. The available range is -50 to +50 in one unit increments. Holding down on the arrows speeds up adjustment. NOTE Customizing the white balance or tint will change your preset to ‘CWB,’ or custom white balance.
AC Displayed when your URSA Mini is plugged into mains power. Percentage If you are using a percentage accurate battery and plate combination and have your battery display set to ‘percentage,’ the indicator will display your battery level as a percentage. At 20% charge remaining, the indicator will turn red.
Record button Next to the histogram at the bottom of your URSA Mini’s touchscreen, you’ll see a round gray button. This is the ‘record’ button. Tap this once to begin recording, and tap it again to stop. While recording, the button and the timecode at the top of your URSA Mini touchscreen will turn red.
Recording Time Remaining At the bottom of your URSA Mini touchscreen, you’ll see the storage indicators. When a CFast card, SD card or SSD is inserted, the storage indicator will show how much recording time is left on the card. The time is shown in minutes and will vary according to your selected frame rate and codec. The indicator will automatically recalculate if either of these settings are changed.
Audio Meter The peak audio meters display audio levels for channels 1 and 2 when using the internal microphone, or via external audio when connected. The display is calibrated to dBFS units and features peak hold indicators which stay visible for a short time so you can clearly see the maximum levels reached. To achieve optimum audio quality, ensure your audio levels do not reach 0 dBFS.
While zoomed in, an indicator in the top left of your LCD touchscreen will show which part of the image you are viewing. You can move around the image by dragging your finger along the screen as you would on a smartphone or tablet Full Screen Mode It can be useful when framing or focusing a shot to temporarily hide your touchscreen’s status text and meters. Simply swipe up or down on URSA Mini’s LCD touchscreen to hide these.
To shuttle, hold down either the forward or reverse transport buttons. This will play your footage back at twice regular speed in either forward or reverse, depending on which transport key you held. Once shuttling, you can change the shuttle rate by tapping the transport keys again. Each time you tap the transport key in the same direction you will double the shuttle rate. The maximum shuttle rate is x16 normal speed. Tapping the transport key again at x16 speed will return you to x2 speed.
NOTE On URSA Mini Pro 4.6K, the camera dashboard times out after one minute of inactivity, returning you to the heads up display. Record Settings The ‘record’ tab allows you to set your video format, codec, and resolution, as well as other settings which affect the footage saved by your URSA Mini, such as preferred card and detail sharpening. This menu has three pages, which you can cycle through by tapping the arrows at the edge of your camera’s touchscreen, or swiping left or right.
TIP The amount of video you can record on your camera’s storage media increases when choosing codecs that utilize higher compression. Refer to the ‘record duration table’ in the ‘recording’ section for more information. Resolution This setting works in combination with the ‘codec’ setting. Use it to select the resolution for your desired recording format. or example, if you want to record Ultra HD clips using ProRes HQ, select ‘ProRes’ and ‘HQ’ in F the ‘codec and quality’ menu.
Video The ‘video’ setting is similar to the REC 709 color standard for high definition video. This lets you work faster by recording directly to the compressed video formats in a color space suitable for direct delivery or minimal post processing. URSA Mini Pro has an additional setting available: Extended Video The ‘extended video’ setting offers a good balance between ‘video’ and ‘film’ dynamic range settings.
As the HD ‘window sensor’ and 2K ‘window sensor’ modes use only the very center of URSA Mini’s sensor, the field of view of any given lens will appear narrower due to the crop factor involved. When using a 20mm lens to shoot HD footage in windowed sensor mode, for instance, field of view of URSA Mini will be equivalent to a 48mm lens. This setting is available when shooting below your URSA Mini’s maximum resolution. For example, ‘window sensor’ is available when shooting 4.6K 2.
Preferred Card for Recording Use this setting to select which storage card or drive your URSA Mini will record to first when both slots are in use. The options are ‘card 1,’ ‘card 2,’ and ‘fullest card’. When using an SSD the options will be ‘card 1’, ‘SSD’ and ‘fullest card’. Picking either ‘card 1’ or ‘card 2,’ is a matter of personal preference, but using either consistently will let you know which card to swap out first as your storage fills up.
Timelapse This setting activates the time lapse feature to automatically record a still frame at the following intervals: Frames 2 - 10 Seconds 1 - 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 Minutes 1 - 10 For example, you can set the camera to record a still frame every 10 frames, 5 seconds, 30 seconds, 5 minutes etc. The time lapse feature offers many creative options. For example, setting a 2 frame time lapse interval will give your recorded video a high speed effect when played back.
TIP Refer to the ‘choosing a CFast 2.0 card’, ‘choosing a fast SD card’ and ‘choosing a fast SSD’ sections for more information on how to avoid dropping frames. Apply LUT in File If you are applying a LUT to any of the outputs from your Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 4.6K, the selected LUT will be embedded into the Blackmagic RAW file you are recording.
Monitor Settings The ‘monitor’ tab lets you adjust status text, overlays, and other monitoring options for your URSA Mini’s LCD touchscreen, front and main SDI outputs. Options are arranged by output between ‘LCD’, ‘front SDI’ and ‘main SDI’, as well as ‘all,’ which covers monitor settings that affect all outputs on your URSA Mini. Each of these menus has two pages of options, which you can cycle through by tapping the arrows at the edge of your camera’s touchscreen, or swiping left or right.
Display 3D LUT Your URSA Mini can apply 3D LUTs to any output to approximate the look of color graded footage. This is especially useful when shooting with ‘film’ dynamic range, as it can produce an intentionally ‘flat’ low contrast image. If your URSA Mini has a 3D LUT active, use this setting to independently apply that LUT to your LCD touchscreen, front or main SDI output. NOTE For more information on loading and using 3D LUTs, see the ‘LUTS’ section of this manual.
Text Surrounds Image This setting is available on URSA Mini 4K and URSA Mini 4.6K models only. Tap the ‘text surrounds image’ switch in the ‘LCD’ menu to scale the image on your LCD touchscreen down 75%. This puts the image in the center of the LCD touchscreen away from status indicators at the top and bottom edges, giving you an unobstructed view of your URSA Mini’s preview image while keeping status text on screen.
Screen Brightness Drag the ‘screen brightness’ slider in the ‘LCD’ menu left or right to adjust the brightness of your URSA Mini’s LCD touchscreen. Front SDI and Main SDI Monitor Settings 2 The second page of your URSA Mini’s ‘front SDI’ and ‘main SDI’ monitor tab contains settings unique to your front and main SDI outputs. 2160p and 1080p resolutions are available on your main SDI output as all times when shooting at resolutions above 3K anamorphic.
Setting the status text to ‘director’ in your URSA Mini’s ‘front SDI’ or ‘main SDI’ monitor settings changes the status text for that output to show the following information. FPS Displays the currently selected frames per second for that camera. If off speed frame rate is disabled, only the project frame rate will be shown. If an off speed frame rate is being used, the sensor frame rate will be shown, followed by the project frame rate. CAM Displays the camera index as set in your URSA Mini’s Slate.
3G SDI Level On URSA Mini Pro you can change the 3G-SDI output standard to maintain compatibility with equipment that can only receive level A or level B 3G-SDI video. This option will only appear when you are operating in 50, 59.94 or 60 frames per second and outputting 1080p. Tap the A or B icon to select each standard. On URSA Mini Pro 4.
Focus Assist Your URSA Mini camera has two focus assist modes, ‘peak’ and ‘colored lines.’ Peak When ‘peak’ style focus assist is selected, areas of the shot that are in focus are heavily sharpened on your LCD touchscreen or SDI outputs, but not in the recorded image itself. This causes focused parts of your shot to ‘pop’ out of the softer background on screen.
Adjusting your URSA Mini Pro’s ND filter setting will reveal the ND filter indicator NOTE You can adjust the terminology used by the ND filter indicator to reflect the conventions you’re used to. The options are ND number, stops and fractions. You can set your preferred format in your URSA Mini Pro’s ‘setup’ menu. LUT indicator The LUT icon will be visible on the LCD, front SDI or main SDI when ‘status text’ is switched on and you have a LUT applied to that output.
Anamorphic Desqueeze When shooting with anamorphic lenses, the image will appear horizontally ‘squeezed’ on your URSA Mini’s preview outputs and in recorded files. Enabling ‘anamorphic desqueeze’ will correct the preview image on your URSA Mini as well as recording the desqueeze amount used in the clip metadata for easy correction in post. The desqueeze amount available will vary depending on what you’ve set your URSA Mini resolution to, but the resulting image will always be in the cinematic widescreen 2.
Headphones Volume This slider adjusts the output levels for headphones attached to URSA Mini’s 3.5mm headphone jack. Move the audio slider left or right to adjust levels. Speaker Volume This slider adjusts the output levels for your URSA Mini’s built in speaker. Move the audio slider left or right to adjust levels. Camera Internal Mic This slider adjusts the recording levels for your URSA Mini’s built in microphone. Move the audio slider left or right to adjust levels.
Channel 1 and 2 input Set the external audio input levels by tapping ‘line’ or ‘mic’ for channels one or two. These correspond to line, or microphone levels with 48V phantom power. It’s important to select the appropriate level for your audio signal. You can set these independently for channels one and two. Channel 2 also has the option of using channel 1’s input if you want to record channel 1 external audio to channels 1 and 2.
Audio Settings – URSA Mini Pro The audio settings for your URSA Mini Pro are spread over two pages and divided between channels 1 and 2, while an upcoming software update will add two additional channels. You can map each audio channel to a different source, as well as adjusting various settings such as padding and low cut filters. These settings work together with the switches on your URSA Mini Pro’s internal control panel.
Recorded Channel 1/2 Level Use these sliders to adjust the recording levels of your chosen channel 1 and 2 sources. Audio meters are included with each slider to help you set the correct audio level. These levels will also update when you adjust the audio using the audio knobs on the ergonomic control panel. To achieve optimum audio quality, ensure your audio levels do not reach 0 dBFS.
Audio Meters Select an ‘audio meters’ standard for the peak level meters. Audio meter setting Standard PPM (-20 dBFS) SMPTE RP.0155 PPM (-18 dBFS) EBU R.68 Setup Settings The ‘setup’ tab contains your URSA Mini’s identification settings, software version, function button settings and other camera settings not directly linked to recording or monitoring. You can cycle through pages on the ‘setup’ tab by tapping the arrows at the edge of the LCD touchscreen, or swiping left or right.
To select your language: 1 Tap on the ‘language’ and select your language from the list. 2 Select ‘update’ to return to the setup menu. Shutter Measurement On URSA Mini 4.6K and URSA Mini Pro, use this setting to select whether to display shutter information as ‘shutter angle’ or ‘shutter speed’. It’s worth mentioning that when using shutter angle, the shutter conforms to the frame rate. For example, 180 degrees will produce the same motion blur, no matter which frame rate you use.
Battery Display Your URSA Mini can change the way the battery level indicator displays the remaining charge. The two settings are ‘percentage’ and ‘voltage.’ When using a battery and plates that support percentage accurate levels, setting ‘battery display’ to ‘percentage’ will show your battery power remaining as a percentage. TIP A list of batteries that support percentage accurate power information is provided in the ‘mounting batteries’ section of this manual.
It’s worth mentioning that the ‘program audio’ setting is only available on URSA Mini Pro. ATEM Camera ID If you’re using URSA Mini with an ATEM Switcher and want your camera to receive tally signals from the switcher, you’ll need to set the camera number on your camera. This ensures the switcher sends the tally signal to the correct camera. The camera number can be set to a value of 1-99 by tapping the left or right buttons. The default setting is 1.
Reference Timing These settings allow you to manually adjust the reference timing on a line or pixel basis. Simply tap the arrow icons on either side of the ‘lines’ and ‘pixels’ settings to make adjustments. Program Audio Source This setting is only available for URSA Mini Pro. When connected to a switcher, setting ‘program audio’ to ‘on’ prioritizes the program return audio as your input source to be mixed with talkback when monitoring using headphones or a headset.
On URSA Mini Pro 12K, URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2, URSA Mini Pro 4.6K and URSA Mini 4.6K, the HFR button can be mapped to another function Your URSA Mini’s F1 and F2 buttons are located on the outside of the LCD touchscreens On URSA Mini Pro 12K, URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2, URSA Mini Pro 4.6K and URSA Mini 4.6K, you can customize the functions of the ‘F1’, ‘F2’ and ‘HFR’ buttons or disable them.
To set these buttons, select a function button and then its behavior, a setting, and a parameter for that setting. 1 2 3 4 1 Button 2 Behavior 3 Setting 4 Parameter Function Button Behaves as Preset or Toggle Once you have selected the function button you want to map, you can select a behavior. On URSA Mini Pro 12K, URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2, URSA Mini Pro 4.6K and URSA Mini 4.6K models, you can also map the HFR button to another behaviour.
Using the ‘Toggle On/Off’ behavior also lets you select the output this setting applies to. Simply tap any combination of ‘LCD,’ ‘front SDI’ and ‘main SDI’ to select. If the output for an option is not available, such as ‘color bars’ which always applies to all outputs, the ‘LCD,’ ‘front SDI’, and ‘main SDI’ settings are disabled. On URSA Mini Pro models you can disable the function and HFR buttons by selecting ‘none’. You can also configure URSA Mini Pro 4.
Hardware ID The ‘Hardware ID’ indicator displays an 8 character identifier for your URSA Mini. This is unique to each camera. A longer, 32 character version of this ID is also included in the metadata for Blackmagic RAW and ProRes video. This can be useful for identifying which footage came from a particular camera if filenames are changed as the camera hardware ID remains constant. Software Displays the current software version installed on your URSA Mini.
Select the URSA Mini Pro you would like to pair with NOTE When you install the Blackmagic Camera Control App and run it for the first time, you will be asked if you want to ‘allow location access.’ If you select ‘while using the app,’ GPS readings from your iPad will be included in the metadata of the files you shoot, allowing you to geotag footage. This information can be viewed in Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve versions 14 or higher. If you do not want to using this information, select ‘never.
4 The information on the screen will confirm that your URSA Mini Pro is now paired with your iPad. 5 If there is a problem pairing the camera to your iPad you will see the following error message. NOTE If you are not using Bluetooth to control your URSA Mini Pro, it is a good idea to turn Bluetooth off for the purpose of security.
Disconnect Current Device Use this setting to disconnect your URSA Mini Pro from the iPad it is currently paired with. Clear Paired Devices Use this setting to clear the list of devices that your URSA Mini Pro has been paired with. Factory Reset To reset the camera to its default factory settings, tap the ‘reset’ button. You will be asked to confirm this action as it will erase any LUTS and presets currently stored on the camera. Tap ‘reset’ on the confirmation page to reset your camera settings.
correct setup for this to function correctly. Calibration will take a few seconds, and you will be notified when the process is completed. Your camera will remember the last date and time that black shading was completed. This will optimize image quality in the shadows. URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2 has an additional calibration feature as part of the black shading process, which allows you to recalibrate pixels for improved black levels. This will take approximately one minute to complete.
Tap the slate icon in the lower right corner to access and update the slate URSA Mini Pro uses Bluetooth LE to communicate with devices for wireless control. As this is the same type of protocol used in portable devices, it only uses a minimal amount of battery power. You can power off your URSA Mini Pro by tapping ‘power off’ in the top right corner.
Presets The ‘presets’ tab lets you save and recall a complete collection of settings for your URSA Mini. This is very useful when one camera is used for multiple projects. For example, you may use your URSA Mini for a variety of different shoots, from documentaries to music videos, with very different settings between types of projects. Your URSA Mini’s ‘presets’ function lets you save the setup for a particular project or type of shoot and come back to it quickly and easily when required.
Enter a name for your preset by tapping the ‘add’ icon in the preset tab and using the touch keyboard Once you have a preset saved, tap its name in the preset menu to select it. To load it tap the ‘load’ icon. You can update a preset by tapping the ‘update’ icon. This will bring up a prompt asking you if you want to update the preset with your URSA Mini’s current setting. Tap ‘update’ to confirm. Select a preset and tap the ‘load’ icon to load it.
NOTE If your URSA Mini’s preset slots are full, the import menu will not be available. You will need to delete an existing preset to make room. Exporting presets To export a preset to a CFast or SD card, select the preset you want to export by tapping it, and tap the ‘manage’ icon. You will be prompted with two options, ‘import preset’ or ‘export selected preset.
It is easy to create 3D LUTs using DaVinci Resolve or other color correction software, and LUTs are available online from a variety of sources. Your URSA Mini can store up to six 17 point or 33 point 3D LUTs, of up to 1.5 megabytes each. Once loaded, you can choose to display a given LUT on your camera’s LCD touchscreen, front SDI, main SDI or any combination of these outputs. Your URSA Mini supports 33 point 3D LUTs in .cube format created in DaVinci Resolve and 17 point 3D LUTs converted to Resolve .
LUTs buttons The button icons along the bottom of your URSA Mini’s ‘LUTS’ screen correspond to the following functions: Load Manage Delete Importing LUTs To import a 3D LUT, tap the ‘manage’ icon at the bottom of the LUT menu, and tap ‘import LUT’ to confirm. This will bring up the import screen. On URSA Mini Pro select either SD or CFast with the storage media selection switch, depending on where your LUTs are saved. You can also import LUTS stored on an SSD if you are using URSA Mini SSD recorder.
Exporting LUTs To export a LUT to a CFast or SD card, select the LUT you want to export and tap the icon. You will be prompted with two options, ‘import LUT’ and ‘export selected LUT.’ Use the storage media selection switch on URSA Mini Pro to select either SD or CFast, depending on the location you would like to export the LUT to. If you are using URSA Mini SSD Recorder, you can also export LUTs to an SSD. Tapping ‘export selected LUT’ will prompt you to choose which card you want to export to.
Entering Metadata Metadata is information saved inside your clip, such as take numbers, camera settings and other identifying details. This is extremely useful when sorting and processing footage in post production. For example, take and shot and scene numbers are essential organizational tools, while lens information can be used to automatically remove distortion or better match VFX assets to plates.
Lens Data These settings display information about the current lens fitted to your camera. Many electronic lenses automatically supply information such as the lens model, aperture and focal length. If you are using a lens that does not provide this information, or you want to enter additional data, you can tap the pencil icon in this setting to enter the information manually.
Distance Shows the focus distance settings of the lens for the recorded clip. Some lenses can provide this data automatically and it will be provided in millimeters. You can also enter this data manually. Filter Shows the current lens filters used. Tap this setting to enter data manually. You can make multiple entries separated by commas.
Your URSA Mini’s slate is divided into ‘clip’ and ‘project’ tabs Reel The ‘reel’ indicator shows the current reel. Your URSA Mini automatically increments reel numbers, so there is usually no need to enter this manually. When you are moving to a new project and want to start from reel ‘1’ again go into the project tab of the slate and tap ‘reset project data’. Scene The ‘scene’ indicator shows the current scene number, and can also show the current shot number and type.
When entering ‘scene’ metadata, your URSA Mini will prompt you with increment suggestions to the left of the touch keyboard, and shot types to the right Take The ‘take’ indicator shows the take number for the current shot. You can increment this up or down by tapping the left or right arrows on either side of the take number, or tapping the indicator to enter the take number editor. TIP When the shot number or scene letter are advanced, the take number will revert to ‘1.
Good take Tap the ‘good take’ indicator to flag good takes for easy recall in post production. This tag applies to either the last clip recorded, if your URSA Mini is in standby mode, or the clip currently being viewed in playback mode. Int / Ext Tap ‘int’ or ‘ext’ to add a ‘interior’ or ‘exterior’ tag to the next clip in standby mode, or the current clip in playback mode.
Using Servo Zoom Lenses Using servo zoom lenses with your URSA Mini camera is a powerful combination. Manual iris, zoom and focus rings on the lens barrel, plus a built in hand grip and zoom rocker makes shooting very efficient and gives you a range of dynamic techniques that are difficult, if not impossible, to achieve using other lens types. URSA Mini PL and URSA Mini Pro models currently support lens control for B4 and cine-servo PL zoom lenses via the 12 pin broadcast connector.
B4 Lenses with full servo control for focus, iris and zoom include: Fujinon B4 lens models with HA, ZA and UA prefixes in their name and the letters RD or ZD in the suffix. Canon B4 lens models with HJ, KJ..ex and CJ prefixes in their name and the letters IASE or IASD in the suffix. Lenses that also have motorized focus control can even utilize the ‘focus’ button on your URSA Mini to activate auto focus, and focus can be controlled remotely by an ATEM switcher via ATEM Software Control.
NOTE Analog B4 lenses with servos are also supported although the camera will only power the zoom servo and support electronic iris control. Many of them are standard definition and may not have the standard 12 pin broadcast connector. If you are going to use an analog B4 lens, it’s important to make sure it is compatible with your camera first as some have limited feature sets.
Camera Video Output HD Monitoring Output Blackmagic URSA Mini’s down converted 3G-SDI out connector always outputs 1080 HD video so you can easily connect to routers, monitors, SDI capture devices, broadcast switchers and other SDI devices. This output is labeled ‘front SDI’ in the touchscreen settings menu. 12G-SDI Output The 12G-SDI out connector on the rear panel supports HD and 4K video including high frame rate progressive formats such as 2160p50, 59.94 and 60 on a single SDI cable.
Connecting to Monitors SDI monitoring can be really handy when accessing the fold out monitor is impractical, such as when secured high on a jib arm, on a crane, or mounted on a vehicle. Monitoring information is displayed via your HD-SDI monitoring out connector by adjusting the settings for the ‘front SDI’ on the ‘monitor’ tab on the touchscreen. These settings enable frame guides and information such as recording details and camera settings.
URSA Mini Shoulder Mount Kit Attaching the shoulder mount The URSA Mini Shoulder Mount Kit lets you carry URSA Mini on the shoulder for ENG style shooting. This kit includes a top handle, shoulder mount baseplate, extension arm for the optional Blackmagic URSA Handgrip, long LANC cable, Viewfinder adapter plate, plus all the required screws. The quick release mount on the baseplate lets you lock your camera into an ENG style tripod plate or place it on your shoulder so you can follow the action.
1 Gently place your URSA Mini upside down on a flat, stable surface so you can easily access the base of your camera. 2 Fasten the shoulder mount baseplate to URSA Mini using the 2 x ¼” flat head screws and driver. 3 Tighten the screws until the baseplate is firmly attached and the screws won’t loosen. Avoid over-tightening as it may damage the screw threads. To attach the top handle without URSA Viewfinder You can use URSA Mini Shoulder Mount Kit with or without the optional URSA Viewfinder.
To attach the top handle with URSA Viewfinder 1 Top handle 2 URSA Viewfinder cap Place your URSA Mini on a flat, stable surface so you can access the top of your camera. 3 Remove the URSA Viewfinder cap from the base of the handle by gently lifting its arm away from the side of the handle and pulling the cap from the hole. 4 URSA Viewfinder adapter plate Fasten the URSA Viewfinder adapter plate to the handle using the 4 x M3 screws with a 2.5mm Hex key driver.
Attaching the extension arm When using the URSA Mini shoulder mount kit with the Blackmagic URSA Handgrip, you’ll need to reposition the handgrip for comfortable shoulder based shooting. Use the bundled extension arm and longer LANC cable to move the handgrip to a more ergonomic position. The USRA Mini extension arm is also available as a separate accessory from Blackmagic Design resellers.
Blackmagic URSA Viewfinder Blackmagic URSA Viewfinder is a powerful electronic viewfinder designed for your Blackmagic URSA Mini. The 1080HD color OLED display and precision glass optics provides a bright, vivid, and lifelike image so you can quickly find focus and see the finest detail in your images.
To connect your URSA Viewfinder to your URSA, simply connect the viewfinder’s attached cables to URSA’s front 12V power and 3G-SDI outputs. Your URSA Viewfinder will turn on automatically when your camera is powered.
The buttons also have a customizable function feature so you can assign shortcuts to quickly enable common features you may use frequently. For example you may wish to assign the false color feature to the zoom button. Refer to the ‘shortcuts’ section for more information. ZOOM (F1) - ‘menu’ The ‘zoom’ feature helps you find sharp focus by zooming into your picture. Press the ‘zoom’ button to zoom in and press again to return to 100% view.
Zebra Switches zebra levels on and off. Set your desired zebra levels using the camera settings. For more information, refer to the ‘settings’ section in this manual. False Color Switches the false color feature on and off. False color overlays different colors onto your image that represent exposure values for different elements in your image. For example, pink represents optimum exposure for light skin tones, while green is a good match to darker skin tones.
3 Scroll to ‘exit’ and press the ‘menu’ button to close the menu display view. The ‘shortcuts’ settings in URSA Viewfinder Setup The ‘setup’ menu provides the following features: Brightness Allows adjustments for the brightness of the display with range -10 to +10. Tally Brightness Allows adjustments of tally LED brightness. Focus Chart Your Blackmagic URSA Viewfinder has a built in focus chart so you can focus the eye piece to suit your eyes.
NOTE Enabling ‘Grid’ in your URSA Viewfinder setup menu will also allow your viewfinder to display tally signals sent from an ATEM switcher. Overlays must also be set to ‘on’ in the display menu. Status Text Toggles the appearance of status text, such as white balance, frame rate and ISO. When ‘status text’ is turned ‘on’ in your URSA Mini’s ‘front SDI’ monitor settings, you can use this setting toggle its appearance in your Blackmagic URSA Viewfinder.
Updating URSA Viewfinder’s Internal Software Update your viewfinder using the Blackmagic Camera Setup Utility software. The viewfinder will need to be powered when updating, so we recommend keeping the viewfinder connected to your URSA Mini during the update process. This also means your URSA Mini will need to supply consistent power, so be sure to plug into external power. Connect your computer to the small USB connection located at the front of your viewfinder, near the eyepiece.
Blackmagic URSA Studio Viewfinder Blackmagic URSA Studio Viewfinder Blackmagic URSA Studio Viewfinder is a powerful viewfinder that allows you to turn your Blackmagic URSA Mini into a professional live production camera. The studio viewfinder features a bright 7” screen and has a large easily viewable tally light, control knobs, large handles, sun hood and variable tension articulated mount.
Mounting and Connecting to Blackmagic URSA Mini When using the Blackmagic URSA Studio Viewfinder with Blackmagic URSA Mini, you have the option of mounting the unit to the camera in a number of ways. You can mount the Blackmagic URSA Studio Viewfinder directly to the top of Blackmagic URSA Mini via the supplied V-lock mount plate which can be easily removed from the top handle mount.
You can attach your Blackmagic Studio Viewfinder to the V-lock plate on the top of the Blackmagic Camera Fiber Converter V-Lock mount plate being attached to 3rd party camera The V-Lock mount plate can also be installed on any camera you want to use the URSA Studio Viewfinder with that has 1/4” mounting points, or by using a third party cheese plate.
To connect your Blackmagic URSA Studio Viewfinder to your URSA Mini, simply connect the viewfinder’s attached cables to URSA’s front 12V power and 3G-SDI outputs. The power switch on the viewfinder will then allow you to turn on the viewfinder instantly when your camera is powered. Note that there are cable clamps on the side of the URSA Mini handle mount to keep you cables neat and hold the cables in place.
These tension dials have a very large range of tension adjustment, allowing you to select a specific amount of resistance. This allows you to easily pan and tilt the viewfinder to the precise position you require. Tension dials on either side of the viewfinder 2 1 Tilt Lock Dial Locks the angle of tilt on the viewfinder mechanism. 2 Pan Tension Dial Controls pan tension. 3 Tilt Tension Dial Controls tilt tension.
Sun hood The sun hood helps you to see the screen in bright or sunny conditions. To attach the sun hood, slide it over the top of the Blackmagic URSA Studio Viewfinder and push it into place, securing it with the two captive screws on the base of the sun hood. The top section of the visor is adjustable, and can raise and lower to provide additional viewing angles.
Button Features The tactile dials down the right hand side let you change brightness, contrast, peaking quickly and easily. The dials are ergonomically designed so you can adjust the dials from the side with your thumb when using the sun hood, or with two fingers for finer more controlled adjustment. 1 5 2 6 3 7 4 8 1 Menu Dial The push button ‘menu’ dial allows you to enter the menu, and navigate through the viewfinder settings.
9 9 Tally Light The large tally light on the rear of the Blackmagic URSA Studio Viewfinder lets both the talent and operator know which camera is on the air, which camera is about to be on air, and if they are ISO recording. The tally illuminates red for on-air, green for preview and when used with URSA Mini will illuminate orange for ISO record.
Menu Settings The push button ‘menu’ dial allows you to enter the menu by pressing it, whilst rotating the dial navigates up and down through the menu options. Pressing the ‘menu’ dial whilst a menu heading is highlighted, will allow you to switch between the display, shortcuts, setup and cursor sub menus. Rotating the dial will scroll through the settings in each menu. Pressing the dial when a setting is highlighted allows you to adjust that setting by rotating the ‘menu’ dial.
The aspect ratio, frame guide opacity level, safe area percentage, and the type of grids shown will match what you have set in the camera. The ‘setup’ menu in the Studio Viewfinder then allows you to configure which type of guides you would like to see in the Studio Viewfinder when guides in the display menu are switched on. Guides then allows you to then switch these ‘on’ or ‘off’ with one command. Zoom Turns the ‘zoom’ feature on and off.
Once you have set up your shortcuts as required you can either scroll to ‘exit’ and press the ‘menu’ dial to close the menu display view, or hit the back button to exit out of the menu. The ‘shortcuts’ submenu Setup The ‘setup’ menu is where you choose your preferences for how the viewfinder is setup. Front Tally Brightness Allows adjustments of tally LED brightness between ‘off’, ’low’, ‘medium’ and ‘high’.
Focus Assist The ‘focus assist’ setting toggles the appearance of peaking on the viewfinder. You have the choice of ‘red’, ‘green’, ‘blue’, ‘black’ and ‘white’ as well as traditional peaking. Frame Guide Gives you the option to show ‘frame guides’ as part of your Studio Viewfinder’s ’Guides’. When connected to URSA Mini they will match your camera’s ‘frame guides’ aspect ratio. When connected to other systems they will default to the 14:9 aspect ratio.
Once you have set them up they can be switched on or off from the ‘cursors’ menu or assigned to your function keys for quick access. This is important for live production, as it allows the camera operator to take this into consideration and accurately compose and frame shots. You can create up to three black or white custom cursors that can have variable height, width and position, making it easy to match the size and location for all the graphics that will be added live or during later broadcast.
Mounting Batteries Connecting a third party battery plate lets you mount V-mount or gold mount batteries Mounting V-mount or Gold Mount Batteries You can easily mount industry standard V-mount or gold mount batteries to Blackmagic URSA Mini. To mount a battery, you’ll need to attach a Blackmagic URSA VLock Battery Plate or URSA Gold Battery Plate, or else attach a third party battery plate to your camera’s plate mount.
If you don’t have an off the shelf battery plate designed for Blackmagic URSA or URSA Mini and you want to modify your own battery plate, then you can use the supplied adapter cable and connector. Refer to the ‘using your own battery plate’ section for information about how any battery plate can be modified to use with URSA or URSA Mini.
Batt 2 1 Batt Batt 4 3 Batt GND 6 5 GND Monitor 1 8 7 Monitor0 GND 10 9 GND +12V Out 12 11 EnableN The rear view of the adapter’s connector housing.
Blackmagic Fiber Converters Blackmagic Camera Fiber Converter and Blackmagic Studio Fiber Converter are optional accessories that provide a SMPTE fiber connection between your camera and an ATEM switcher. SMPTE fiber lets you connect all video, power, talkback, tally and camera control signals between an ATEM switcher and your camera using one single industry standard SMPTE hybrid fiber optic cable.
Getting Started with Blackmagic Fiber Converters Getting started is fast and efficient. It won’t take long before you are producing video content and enjoying the benefits of SMPTE fiber. About SMPTE Fiber SMPTE fiber cables provide you with a simplified way to carry multiple signals as well as power, over long distances. This is useful in broadcast scenarios, as you don’t need to connect several cables for each camera that is connected to your switcher.
TIP Connect the rubber cap from each end of the SMPTE fiber cable into the rubber cap on each converter to prevent any dust or debris from entering the caps. One of the main benefits of using a SMPTE fiber connection is to connect to the control room or broadcast truck in a traditional live broadcast environment. Most modern sporting stadiums already have optic fiber cables installed between camera positions and the control room or broadcast truck, so this means you can plug directly into these systems.
Connecting SMPTE Fiber The next step in getting started is to connect the SMPTE fiber cable between the studio fiber unit and the camera unit. This provides power from the studio unit to the camera unit, and fiber for all video feeds. NOTE Extensive safety checks are initiated whenever a powered hybrid fiber optic cable is plugged into the converter and the power safety of the unit is continually monitored during use.
Once plugged in, it is a good idea to connect the rubber cap from the end of the SMPTE fiber cable into the rubber cap from the Blackmagic Studio Fiber Converter. This will prevent any dust or debris from entering the caps, and ensure that the caps remain clean. Connecting the Fiber Cable to the Camera Unit The female end of the SMPTE fiber cable locks into the male connector on the side of Blackmagic Camera Fiber Converter, ensuring that the cable is not accidentally disconnected during broadcast.
Pinch the rubber around the tip of the cable to reveal the red ring below, then pull the cable to disconnect NOTE The SMPTE hybrid fiber cable is the heart of the broadcast ecosystem, so it is crucial that great care is taken. For example, avoid kinks in the cable, always prevent the cable from being pressed under heavy items, and avoid bending at 90 degree angles. Avoid dropping the connectors and take care when connecting and disconnecting. Always cap the connectors as soon as they are exposed.
Power Safety Considerations The SMPTE hybrid fiber optic cable is capable of carrying high voltage over long distances so that you can power a camera and accessories that are located up to 2km away. To ensure safe operation, your Blackmagic Studio Fiber Converter has safety mechanisms built in to ensure accurate monitoring and automatic management of the voltage being carried.
Confirming Video You can now check that video is working and all return feeds are present. 1 Ensure the ATEM switcher’s program output is connected to the studio unit’s SDI return input 1. 2 If you want to check all return feeds, plug video sources into SDI return inputs 2 and 3. 3 Now plug an SDI monitor, such as a Blackmagic SmartView 4K, into the ‘SDI out’ on the side panel of the camera unit.
Plugging in Camera SDI Connecting video signals between your Blackmagic Camera Fiber Converter and URSA Mini or URSA Broadcast, is as simple as connecting two of the three included SDI cables from the side of your converter to the rear of your camera. How to connect your Camera Fiber Converter to your camera 1 Connect one of the included BNC cables from Blackmagic URSA Mini or URSA Broadcast’s rear 12G-SDI output to the SDI input on Blackmagic Camera Fiber Converter.
NOTE Before installing Blackmagic Camera Fiber Converter you should check that URSA Mini’s internal software is version 4.4 or above and URSA Broadcast is 4.6 or above. You can check your software version on page 4 of the camera’s ‘setup’ menu. For more information on updating your camera firmware see the section ‘Blackmagic Camera Setup Utility’ in this manual. When attaching Blackmagic Camera Fiber Converter, you will need the following tools: 1 x phillips head screwdriver 1 x 2.
5 6 Slide the Blackmagic Camera Fiber Converter onto the mounting bracket, and attach it using 2 x 2.5mm Hex screws on each side of the bracket. Use the included BNC cables to connect the SDI output on the back of your camera to the SDI input on Blackmagic Camera Fiber Converter, and the SDI output from the fiber converter to the SDI input on the rear of your camera.
Attaching the URSA Studio Viewfinder The attached V-lock plate on the top of the unit lets you connect a Blackmagic Studio Viewfinder. This positions the studio viewfinder directly at the eye level when the camera is mounted on a pedestal or tripod. The V-Lock mount on the top of the camera unit lets you mount the Blackmagic URSA Studio Viewfinder Plugging in a Talkback Headset Plug a broadcast headset into one of the two 5 pin XLR connectors on the front of the camera unit.
Operating the Camera Fiber Converter Selecting a Return Feed The two return buttons on the front panel can be used in the same way as the PGM button on the camera, to switch the feed on the LCD, Blackmagic URSA Studio Viewfinder and HD monitoring outputs between the camera view and program return view. The two return buttons marked ‘ret 1’ and ‘ret 2’ switch between two chosen return feeds.
Using the Call Button Next to the return buttons is a ‘call’ button, that when pressed, flashes the red tally indicator on your Blackmagic Studio Fiber Converter’s LCD screen. The ‘call’ button also makes a numbered ‘press to talk’ button on the panel of ATEM Talkback Converter 4K flash red. These visual indicators are to alert people in the control room that you need assistance.
Each intercom also has 2 selectable channels, a production channel and an engineering channel. This means that for broadcast setups with a large crew, you can split your crew communications between the two channels. The production channel lets you communicate with the director, producer and other crew members in the control room or broadcast truck, whilst the engineering channel lets you communicate with the lighting crew, technical operators and other camera operators.
Below is a description of each LED color, LED action, and the status represented: Constant Red If the power LED remains red for an extended period of time and does not turn green, check that both ends of your SMPTE hybrid fiber optic cable are securely connected. If the connection remains unstable, check the condition of your fiber cable.
The camera audio is embedded into channels 1 and 2 of the camera feed, and the 2 audio inputs on the back of the camera fiber converter are embedded as channels 3 and 4. All 4 audio channels are also deembedded at the other end on the studio fiber converter as analog audio outputs. The ‘audio’ page in the menu of your Blackmagic Studio Fiber Converter lets you adjust the input levels for audio sources connected to the XLR inputs on your Blackmagic Camera Fiber Converter.
DC out connector Pinout Diagram External view 4 1 3 2 ‘DC out’ connector Pins Signal I/O Specifications 1 Unregulated GND – GND for Unregulated Out 2 NC – No connection 3 NC – No connection 4 Unregulated Out Out 12V DC nominal at up to 500 mA. Additional Camera Controls When URSA Mini or URSA Broadcast is being used as a studio camera, we have added camera controls on the fiber converter including iris and focus control, so you can control compatible lenses from behind the camera.
Operating the Studio Fiber Converter Selecting the LCD Source When powered on, your Blackmagic Studio Fiber Converter’s large LCD will display the feed from your camera. As the central base unit, the Studio Fiber Converter takes the program feed from your switcher plus all return sources, and feeds them to the Blackmagic Camera Fiber Converter via the SMPTE fiber cable. The built in LCD lets you monitor the camera feed and each source connected to the return feed inputs.
Using the Menu Pressing the up and down arrow buttons will scroll through the four possible sources ‘camera’, ‘return 1’, ‘return 2’ and ‘return 3’. Press the ‘menu’ button to enter the menu system and adjust your settings. The arrow buttons can then be used to navigate through the various menu screens and the options within each screen, whilst the ‘set’ button will confirm your selection. The settings in the menu are divided between ‘audio’, ‘talkback’ and ‘setup’ pages.
or URSA Broadcast are on channels 1 and 2 by default. Line or Mic level XLR inputs that are plugged into the Camera Fiber Converter are mapped to channels 3 and 4 by default. You can adjust the output channel settings to change these mappings from their default settings. If either of the XLR inputs on the Camera Fiber Converter are set to AES, this expands your channel mapping options to include channel 5 and 6, which are sent on your embedded SDI output.
Setup The ‘setup’ menu lets you configure the PTZ source, select the language for the menus, and select the type of SDI level return. Select the source of PTZ commands using the PTZ source setting. You can select from ‘SDI’ or ‘9-pin’, which correspond with the ‘return in’ SDI inputs and the 9-pin PTZ connector on the rear of your Blackmagic Studio Fiber Converter.
The ‘language’ setting sets the language for the menus. Studio Fiber Converter supports 11 popular languages: English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, German, French, Russian, Italian, Portuguese and Turkish. The language page will also appear on initial start up and after you update the internal software. The ‘12G SDI return’ option sets whether to down convert 12G program return signals to 3G Level A or 3G Level B.
The Blackmagic Studio Fiber Rack Kit contains the following items: 2x Rack ears Attach rack ‘ears’ to the outside edge of Blackmagic Studio Fiber Converter for mounting in a rack 1x Half rack width blanking panel The blanking panel has a mounting ear on one side so you can cover the empty rack space if you are installing a single unit. The illustration shows the ear on the right side. Simply rotate the panel 180° to mount it to the other side.
Preparing two Blackmagic Studio Fiber Converters for side by side installation into a rack: If you are mounting two converters side by side, you can attach them to each other using support brackets which secures them together so you can mount them more easily. To secure the two units: 1 Turn the two converters over so that they are upside down and placed side by side. Remove two rubber feet from the edges of each converter where they meet.
3 Turn the attached units back over and attach the rack ears to the outer edges near the front of both converters, using the supplied rack ear screws. Your converters are now ready to be installed into a rack using the mounting holes on both sides and standard rack screws.
Camera Unit Connections Connections are located on Blackmagic Camera Fiber Converter’s rear and side panels. When the connections are not in use, the rubber caps should be replaced to ensure weather sealing in rain and other outside environments. This is especially true for the SMPTE fiber connection, as dust particles can very quickly collect on the polished edge of the glass fibers which can disrupt signal flow.
Talkback Connection The two female 5 pin XLR connectors let you plug in two headsets, which allows two people to communicate via talkback simultaneously. For example, the camera operator’s headset can be plugged into the first XLR connector, and a crane operator or fellow crew member, such as a sound operator, could plug into the second XLR headset connector. A pinout diagram for the headset XLR connector is included below.
Tracker Interface The 10 pin ‘tracker’ connector provides a multiplexed output for talkback and tally signals, plus data such as teleprompter information. This output is commonly used by support crew operating production equipment such as a camera crane. A pinout diagram is provided in this section if you want to build your own cable.
D-Tap Output The +12V output on the left side panel is often referred to as a ‘D-tap’ or ‘P-tap’ and lets you power accessories like a monitor or a large box lens. The output supports box lenses that require 12 Volts DC nominal at 2 amps. Reference Output and Operation The reference output can be used to connect a reference signal to your camera via a BNC cable.
Studio Unit Connections The rear panel of the Blackmagic Studio Fiber Converter provide SDI return feed and reference BNC connectors, intercom and tally DB-25 connector, PTZ 9 pin serial port, audio outputs, and Ethernet. All SDI inputs support 12G-SDI for video formats up to Ultra HD 2160p60. 12G-SDI Output The two 12G-SDI outputs are for connecting the camera signal from the studio unit to any of your switcher’s camera SDI inputs.
12G DIGITAL I/O OUT 1 RETURN IN 2 3 NOTE If you connect Ultra HD to the return inputs, the Ultra HD video will be down converted to 1080p at the same frame rate, so the output from the camera unit will be HD. Down converting the Ultra HD return signals to HD allows for greater bandwidth so you can send multiple return sources.
The external view of the 25 pin ‘intercom/tally’ connector Talkback Pinout Diagram Pins Signal Specifications 1 ENG(R) IN+ Engineering channel input 2 ENG(R) IN- 0dBu balanced 3 ENG GND GND for ENG 4 ENG(T) OUT + Engineering channel output 5 ENG(T) OUT - 0dBu balanced 6 PGM IN+ -20dBu 7 PGM IN- -20dBu 8 PGM GND -20dBu 9 GND GND for aux 10 N/C – 11 Red Tally IN On = 5-24Vdc, Off= 0Vdc 12 Red Tally GND – 13 GND Chassis GND 14 PROD(R) IN+ Production channel input 1
PTZ Interface Both the studio unit and camera unit has a 9 pin DE-9 connector so you can connect a PTZ controller at the studio end, and the remote head at the camera end. The PTZ commands are embedded in the SDI signal connected between the units via the SMPTE fiber cable. The settings menu on Blackmagic Studio Fiber Converter lets you select the source of PTZ commands that are sent to your Blackmagic Camera Fiber Converter.
Updating Internal Software From time to time Blackmagic Design releases updates that can enhance and enable features on your Blackmagic Fiber Converters. We recommend checking the Blackmagic Design website regularly to ensure your fiber converters are using the latest internal software. Update your Fiber Converters using the Blackmagic Camera Setup Utility software. The USB-C ports on the Blackmagic Fiber converters let you update their internal software.
Interchangeable Lens Mount Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 12K is shipped with a PL mount. Other URSA Mini Pro cameras are shipped with an EF mount attached. All URSA Mini Pro cameras have interchangeable lens mounts so you are not locked into using lenses to match the lens mount supplied with your camera. This means you can remove the original mount and attach an optional PL, B4, F or EF mount.
3 After you remove the PL lens mount, use the wide end of the baffle tool to loosen the PL baffle in the center and then unscrew it carefully using your fingers To remove the original EF Mount from URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2 or URSA Mini Pro 4.6K: 1 2 The original EF mount is easily removed from URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2 or URSA Mini Pro 4.
Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro PL Mount Attaching the PL mount to your URSA Mini Pro lets you use high end precision cinema lenses for feature film and television production. The PL mount kit includes: 1 x PL mount The PL mount is shipped with a protective dust cap. 1 x Shim set The shim set includes the following thicknesses: 0.50mm 0.18mm 0.10mm 0.30mm 0.15mm 0.05mm 0.20mm 0.12mm 0.025mm 1 x PL baffle The PL mount baffle helps to control and direct the light entering the sensor.
Attaching the PL Mount 1 2 Gently insert the PL baffle into the center of the lens mount and turn until it is finger tight. Use the wide end of the baffle tool to tighten the baffle slightly. You need just enough pressure to keep it in place. 3 Carefully place the Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro PL lens mount onto the camera body. Ensure the pins on the PL mount for Cooke /i Technology are located at the 12 o’clock position. 4 1 3 4 2 5 Using a 2mm Hex driver or torque wrench set to 0.
Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro F Mount With the F mount attached to your URSA Mini Pro, you can use F mount lenses. Nikon’s F mount system stretches back to 1959, and F mount lenses are still made today. This means that with the Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro F mount, you have access to a huge range of vintage and contemporary lenses. It’s worth noting that Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro F mount is a mechanical mount. This means it does not offer electronic focus or iris control.
Nikon AF-D lenses When using Nikon AF-D series lenses, it is necessary to lock your lens aperture to its smallest setting, such as f/22, to use the full range of Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro F mount’s iris adjustment ring. Setting and locking AF-D lenses to their smallest aperture is easiest before mounting to your camera. The F mount kit includes: 1 x F mount The F mount lets you attach common F stills lenses. 1 x Shim set The shim set includes the following thicknesses: 0.50mm 0.18mm 0.10mm 0.30mm 0.
Attaching the F Mount 2 1 Place Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro vertically on a solid, clean bench top to ensure the mount can be attached vertically. If changing from the PL to the F mount, ensure that you have removed the PL baffle before inserting the F mount. 3 Carefully place the Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro F mount onto the camera body ensuring the white dot is at the 2 o’clock position. 4 Using a 2mm Hex driver or torque wrench set to 0.
Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro EF Mount Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro EF Mount supports an extensive range of EF stills and cinema lenses. The EF mount kit includes: 1 x EF mount The EF mount lets you attach common EF stills lenses. 1 x Shim set The shim set includes the following thicknesses: 0.50mm 0.18mm 0.10mm 0.30mm 0.15mm 0.05mm 0.20mm 0.12mm 0.
Attaching the EF Mount 1 2 Place Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro vertically on a solid, clean bench top to ensure that the mount can be inserted vertically. If changing from the PL to the EF mount, ensure that you have removed the PL baffle before inserting the EF mount. 3 Carefully place the Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro EF lens mount onto the camera body ensuring the red dot is at the 12 o’clock position. 4 Using a 2mm Hex driver or torque wrench set to 0.
Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro B4 Mount With the B4 mount attached to your URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2 or URSA Mini Pro 4.6K, you can mount par-focal zoom lenses commonly used for electronic news gathering and wedding videos. These lenses maintain focus throughout large zoom ranges and typically have manual focus and iris control, plus a zoom rocker on the hand grip allowing you to smoothly ease in and out of the zoom.
Attaching the B4 Mount 1 2 Place Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro vertically on a solid, clean bench top to ensure that the mount can be inserted vertically. 3 Carefully place the Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro B4 lens mount onto the camera body ensuring the red dot is at the 12 o’clock position. 4 3 1 4 2 5 Using a 2mm Hex driver or torque wrench set to 0.45Nm, loosely turn the five mounting screws until initial contact is made with the shoulder of the lens mount.
Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro Shim Kit When attaching the PL, B4 or F mounts to URSA Mini Pro, a 0.10mm shim is added to the original 0.50mm and 0.10mm shims underneath the original EF mount. This shim and others are included in the Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro Shim Kit. Other thicknesses are included in the kit in case you need to re-shim your camera to suit PL lenses that may require slightly different clearances to maintain accurate focus marks.
Using DaVinci Resolve Shooting with your Blackmagic URSA Mini is only part of the process of creating film and television content, and just as important is the process of media backup and management as well as editing, color correction and encoding final master files.
To create a new project, click on ‘new project’ at the bottom of the window and give your project a name. Click ‘create’. Using the ‘cut’ page, you can start working on your edit immediately. The project manager shows all projects belonging to the current user For more information about the Project Manager, refer to the DaVinci Resolve manual which is available to download on the Blackmagic Design website support page.
For more information on the Cut page, see the ‘Using the Cut Page’ chapter in the DaVinci Resolve manual. Media Tabs At the top left corner of the user interface you will see five tabs. Click on these tabs to open the media toolsets you will use when creating your edit. For example, the first tab is the media pool and you can see it is already selected. The other tabs are for the sync bin, media transitions, titles and effects.
Source Clip The source clip viewer displays a single clip from the media pool and you can set in and out points along the entire length of the viewer timeline. This gives you greater control. Select a source clip to view by double clicking on a clip in the media pool, or dragging it into the viewer. Source Tape Source tape lets you view all the source clips in the media pool. This powerful feature is helpful if you want to quickly search through all your clips to find a specific event.
Adding Clips to the Timeline Now that you are familiar with the media tabs and viewer mode buttons, you can open the media pool and quickly start adding clips to your timeline. The timeline of the cut page, comprising the upper timeline and the zoomed in timeline below The timeline is where you will build your edit and is like a board with tracks you can attach clips to, move them around and trim their edits.
3 Now click the ‘append’ icon underneath the media pool. Your first clip will be placed at the head of the timeline. Repeat steps 1 to 3 to keep adding more clips and they will automatically append, ensuring there are no gaps in the timeline. Appending clips ensures there are no gaps between them on the timeline TIP You can speed up the process further by assigning a keyboard shortcut to the ‘append’ icon.
A good example is to add a standard title. To do this: 1 Click on the ‘text’ title and drag it onto the timeline. It doesn’t matter which timeline, but for greater accuracy we recommend using the detailed timeline. The title will automatically create a new video track for the title and will snap to the playhead. 2 Release the mouse and the title will appear on the new track. You can now move it or change its duration like you would another video clip.
The ‘color science’ menu lets you choose whether to interpret your footage with generation 4 color science or generation 5 color science. URSA Mini Pro 12K is the first camera to use Blackmagic Design generation 5 color science. Files made on different cameras with generation 4 color science can be reinterpreted with generation 5 color science to match your shots from URSA Mini Pro 12K.
Contrast Defaulting at 1.0, drag the slider to the left for the least amount of contrast at 0 or to the right to increase the contrast up to 2. Midpoint In Blackmagic Design Film, your middle gray value defaults to 0.38, or 38.4%. Drag the slider to the left to lower your midpoint or to the right to raise it to 100. When contrast is adjusted away from the default setting, you can modify your highlight and shadow rolloff.
TIP Gamma controls are disabled for footage shot with the ‘video’ dynamic range, but you have not lost your Blackmagic RAW data. Simply select Blackmagic Design Film or Blackmagic Design Extended Video from the dropdown gamma menu and make your adjustments. Saving your Blackmagic RAW changes 1 Adjust the gamma controls for your Blackmagic RAW clip. 2 Click the ‘update sidecar’ button. A ‘sidecar’ file will now be created in the same folder as your .braw file.
see your work come alive! This is usually the first step and is referred to as primary color correction, or adjusting the primaries. After primary color correction is done, you can then make secondary color correction adjustments which is where you can make extremely precise color adjustments of specific objects in your images.
The ‘lift, ‘gamma’, ‘gain’ and ‘offset’ color wheels give you total control over the color and tonal balance of your clips. To make a uniform adjustment to all colors for each tonal region, drag the dial underneath the color wheels back and forth For more accurate control of each color using a mouse, you can change the color wheels to ‘primaries bars’ which let you adjust each color and luminance channel for the lift, gamma and gain controls separately.
The curves palette is another tool you can use to make primary color corrections, or enhance specific areas of your clip when using a power window Secondary Color Correction If you want to adjust a specific part of your image then you need to use secondary corrections. The adjustments you have been doing up until now using the lift, gamma and gain adjustments affect the whole image at the same time and so they are called primary color corrections.
Experiment with the high, low and softness controls to see how to refine your selection. Now you can make corrections to your selected color using the color wheels or custom curves. Sometimes your selection can spill into areas of the shot you don’t want to affect. You can easily mask out the unwanted areas using a power window. Simply create a new window and shape it to select only the area of color you want.
Tracking a Window The camera, object or area in your shot may be moving, so to make sure your window stays on your selected object or area, you can use DaVinci Resolve’s powerful tracking feature. The tracker analyzes the pan, tilt, zoom and rotation of the camera or object in your clip so you can match your windows to that movement. If this isn’t done, your correction can move off the selected target and call attention to itself, which you probably don’t want.
OFX plugins are a quick and easy way to create an imaginative and interesting look Mixing Your Audio Mixing Audio in the Edit Page Once you have edited and color corrected your project, you can begin to mix your audio. DaVinci Resolve has a helpful set of features for editing, mixing and mastering audio for your project directly in the ‘edit’ page. For projects requiring more advanced audio tools, the Fairlight page provides you with a full audio post production environment.
Dragging a volume overlay to adjust the clip level For projects requiring more advanced audio tools, the Fairlight page provides you with a full audio post production environment. The Fairlight Page The ‘Fairlight’ page in DaVinci Resolve is where you adjust your project audio.
Tracks: Each track on the Fairlight page is divided into lanes, which show each individual channel of clip audio for editing and mixing. The edit page hides these individual audio channels, displaying only a single clip in the timeline to make it easier to edit multi channel sources without needing to manage a huge number of tracks.
Using the Equalizer to Enhance your Audio After adjusting the audio levels of your audio clips in your project, you may find that the audio needs further finessing. In some cases you may find that the dialogue, music and sound effects are competing for the same frequency on the audio spectrum, making your audio too busy and unclear. This is where using EQ can help, as it allows you to specify the parts of the audio spectrum that each track occupies.
To add EQ to an individual clip: 1 Select the clip in the timeline that you want to add the EQ filter to. 2 Click on the inspector and then click the ‘clip equalizer’ enable button. To add EQ to a track: 1 Double click in the EQ section for one of your tracks in the mixer to open the equalizer for that track. 2 Select the band filter type from the dropdown menu for the band you want to adjust.
Adding VFX and Compositing on the Fusion Page Now that you have completed your edit, you can open the Fusion page to add 2D or 3D visual effects and motion graphics right within DaVinci Resolve. Unlike layer based compositing software, Fusion uses nodes, giving you the freedom to build complex effects while routing image data in any direction. The nodes window clearly shows every tool used along the way. If you have experienced the node workflow in the color page, this will feel familiar to you.
Create a new version of your composition by right clicking on a thumbnail and selecting ‘create new composition’. Viewers: The viewers are always visible and let you see the different views of your composition, for example an overall 3D perspective via the merge 3D node, a camera output, or your final render output. These viewers also let you see how your changes are affecting a specific element.
Keyframes: Keyframes for each tool can be added, removed or modified using the keyframes editor. This also appears to the right of the nodes viewer. Metadata: The metadata window will show you metadata available for the active clip, including the codec, frame rate and timecode. Inspector: The inspector in the top right corner displays all settings and modifiers available for one or more selected nodes.
Foreground input Background input Effect mask input Output Multiple outputs on nodes means a single node can connect to many different nodes in your composition, so you don’t have to duplicate clips as you would in layer based software. Arrows on the line between connected nodes are a great visual indicator to show you which direction the image data is flowing. Adding Nodes to the Node Editor Adding effects is as simple as placing nodes on the line between the ‘mediain’ and ‘mediaout’ nodes.
Adjusting Nodes Using the Inspector Panel Adjust your node settings using the inspector panel. Simply click on the node you want to modify and the panel will update to display its settings and controls. With Fusion, you don’t have to be viewing the node you’re editing, as you can modify one node while viewing another in your composition. For example, you can modify the size and center position of a ‘text+’ node while the merge node is in the viewer, letting you view the text relative to the background.
Here, the ‘size’ keyframe animation has been smoothed into a bezier curve. You can click the bezier handles to shorten or lengthen the curve, or the keyframe square icons to move the keyframe location. Using the Motion Tracker and Adding Text To get a better idea of how to use Fusion, we have included the following examples to show how to use the tracker tool to track an element in a clip, plus add text and attach it to the element using the tracking data.
TIP Track reverse or forward from current frame is great for situations where your area of interest disappears during the render range, such as a car or bird moving out of frame. This lets you track only the relevant footage. Now you can take that tracking data and apply the motion path to a text tool. 4 Click on the ‘text+’ node icon from the toolbar of commonly used nodes and drag it to the node panel near the ‘tracker’ node.
For some shots you might want to remove track points after tracking, such as when the object you are tracking disappears off the screen. The keyframe editor makes this a very simple process. 7 Click on the keyframes tab above the inspector to open the keyframes editor. Any nodes with keyframes applied will have a small arrow next to the node label, and only the parameter with keyframes added will appear in the list below. Click on the magnify icon and drag a box around the area you want to edit.
We believe you will have lots of fun with Fusion and exploring Fusion’s visual effects with the power of DaVinci Resolve’s edit, color, and Fairlight pages. With all these tools at your finger tips, DaVinci Resolve is incredibly powerful and there is really no limit to what you can create! Mastering Your Edit Now you’ve edited, graded, added vfx and mixed your audio, you’ll want to share it with others.
The quick export dialog The Deliver Page This page lets you select the range of clips you want to export, plus the format, codec and resolution you want. You can export in many types of formats such as QuickTime, AVI, MXF and DPX using codecs such as 8-bit or 10-bit uncompressed RGB/YUV, ProRes, DNxHD, H.264 and more. To export a single clip of your edit: 1 Click on the ‘deliver’ tab to open the deliver page. 2 Go to the ‘render settings’ window on the top left of the page.
Understanding Studio Camera Control Blackmagic URSA Mini can be used as a studio camera and controlled from an ATEM switcher using the Camera Control feature in ATEM Software Control. This lets you add a camera with large sensor picture quality and amazing dynamic range to your broadcast studio and control it just as you would any studio camera. ATEM Camera Control Clicking on the camera button opens the camera control feature.
5 Navigate to the ‘monitor’ menu and ensure that you have selected ‘clean feed’ for ‘main SDI’ to ensure that you don’t see overlays or the focus box on the SDI output to the ATEM switcher. Connect your URSA Mini to any of the ATEM switcher’s SDI inputs Using Camera Control Launch ATEM Software Control and click on the camera button located at the bottom of the software window. You’ll see a row of labeled camera controllers containing tools to adjust and refine each camera’s image.
Color Wheel The color wheel is a powerful feature of the DaVinci Resolve color corrector and used to make color adjustments to each YRGB channel’s lift, gamma and gain settings. You can select which setting to adjust by clicking on the three selection buttons above the color wheel. Master Wheel Use the master wheel below the color wheel to make contrast adjustments to all YRGB channels at once, or luminance only for each lift, gamma or gain setting.
To darken or lift the pedestal, drag the control left or right. Holding the command key on a Mac, or the Control key on Windows, allows only pedestal adjustments. The iris/pedestal control illuminates red when its respective camera is on air Zoom Control When using compatible lenses with an electronic zoom feature, you can zoom your lens in and out using the zoom control. The controller works just like the zoom rocker on a lens, with telephoto on one end, and wide angle on the other.
Auto Focus Button The auto focus button is located at the bottom left corner of each camera controller. Press to automatically set the focus when you have an active lens that supports electronic focus adjustments. It’s important to know that while most lenses support electronic focus, some lenses can be set to manual or auto focus modes, and so you need to ensure your lens is set to auto focus mode. Sometimes this is set by sliding the focus ring on the lens forward or backward.
Your ATEM Switcher will display gain in dB. This corresponds to the ISO settings on your camera in the following way: Gain ISO 0 200 6 400 12 800 18 1600 Please note that while URSA Mini 4.6K can be set to 18dB of gain, URSA Mini 4K’s maximum gain is 12dB Shutter Speed Control Shutter speed control is used to change your URSA Mini’s shutter angle. As with gain control, this setting is named differently due to the terminology differences between film cameras and broadcast cameras.
If you have shutter angle selected on URSA Mini 4.6K or URSA Mini Pro, the table below applies. Shutter Speed Shutter Angle at 23.98 fps Shutter Angle at 24 fps Shutter Angle at 25 fps Shutter Angle at 29.97 fps Shutter Angle at 50 fps Shutter Angle at 59.94 fps 1/50 172.7 172.8 180 215.8 360 360* 1/60 143.9 144 150 179.8 300 359.6 1/75 115.1 115.2 120 143.9 240 287.7 1/90 95.9 96 100 120 200 239.8 1/100 86.3 86.4 90 107.9 180 215.8 1/120 71.9 72 75 89.
DaVinci Resolve Primary Color Corrector If you have a color correction background, then you can change the camera control from a switcher style CCU interface to a user interface that’s more like a primary color corrector on a post production color grading system. Your Blackmagic URSA Mini features a DaVinci Resolve primary color corrector built in. If you have used DaVinci Resolve, then creatively, grading in your URSA Mini will be identical so you can use your color grading experience for live production.
Double-click within the color ring: Resets the color adjustment without resetting the master wheel adjustment for that control. Click the reset control at the upper-right of a color ring: Resets both the color balance control and its corresponding master wheel. Lift, gamma and gain color wheels in the color corrector panel Master Wheels Use the master wheels below the color wheels to adjust each YRGB channels’ lift, gamma and gain controls.
Contrast Setting The Contrast setting gives you control over the distance between the darkest and lightest values of an image. The effect is similar to making opposing adjustments using the lift and gain master wheels. The default setting is 50%. Drag the sliders left or right to adjust Contrast, Saturation, Hue and Lum Mix settings Saturation Setting The Saturation setting increases or decreases the amount of color in the image. The default setting is 50%.
Blackmagic Camera Setup Utility Updating Camera Software – Mac After downloading the Blackmagic Camera Setup utility software and unzipping the downloaded file, open the resulting disk image to reveal the Blackmagic Camera Setup Installer. Launch the installer and follow the on screen instructions.
How to Update the Camera Software The Mini-B USB 2.0 port is used to update the camera software and can be found above the memory card slots on Blackmagic URSA Mini After installing the latest Blackmagic Camera Setup utility on your computer, connect a USB cable between the computer and your Blackmagic URSA Mini. On Blackmagic URSA Mini, the USB port is located on the left side panel above the memory card slots. Simply open the rubber cap to access the port.
Working with Third Party Software To edit your clips using your favorite editing software, you can copy your clips to an internal/ external drive or RAID and then import your clips into the software. Or import your clips directly from your storage media using a dock or adapter for your CFast or SD card or SSD. NOTE Blackmagic RAW is supported in DaVinci Resolve 15.3.1 and later and has also been adopted by a wide range of third party post-production editing programs.
Working with Files from SSDs To import your clips from a SSD: 1 Remove the SSD from URSA Mini SSD Recorder. 2 You can mount the SSD to your Mac or Windows computer using either an eSATA or Thunderbolt dock, for example Blackmagic MultiDock. You can also use an eSATA to USB adapter cable to plug the SSD straight into a USB port on your computer. USB 3.0 is preferable as USB 2.0 is not fast enough to edit video in real time.
1 Launch Final Cut Pro X, go to the ‘menu’ bar and select ‘file/new project’. A window will open containing project settings. 2 Name your project and select the ‘custom’ checkbox. 3 Set the ‘video properties’ settings to 1080p HD, 1920x1080 and 24p. 4 Set your ‘audio’ and ‘render properties’ settings to ‘stereo, 48kHz, and Apple ProRes 422 HQ’ 5 Click OK. To import your clips into your project, go to the ‘menu’ bar and select ‘file/import/media’. Choose your clips from your CFast card.
Using Adobe Premiere Pro CC To edit your Apple ProRes 422 HQ clips using Adobe Premiere Pro CC, you need to create a new project and set a suitable video format and frame rate. For this example, clips are set using ProRes 422 HQ 1080p25. Setting the project name and project options in Adobe Premiere Pro CC 1 Launch Adobe Premiere Pro CC. In the ‘welcome’ window select ‘new project’. A window will open containing project settings. 2 Name your project.
Developer Information Blackmagic Bluetooth Camera Control Blackmagic cameras with Bluetooth LE implement a variety of features and commands that allow users to control their cameras wirelessly. Developers have full access to these features for their custom applications. The following services and characteristics describe the full range of communication options that are available to the developer.
Timecode (encrypted) UUID: 6D8F2110-86F1-41BF-9AFB-451D87E976C8 Request notifications for this characteristic to receive timecode updates. Timecode (HH:MM:SS:mm) is represented by a 32-bit BCD number: (eg. 09:12:53:10 = 0x09125310) Camera Status (encrypted) UUID: 7FE8691D-95DC-4FC5-8ABD-CA74339B51B9 Request notifications for this characteristic to receive camera status updates.
Blackmagic SDI and Bluetooth Camera Control Protocol Version 1.4 If you are a software developer you can use the Blackmagic SDI and Bluetooth Camera Control Protocol to construct devices that integrate with our products.
Defined Commands Command 0 : change configuration Category (uint8) The category number specifies one of up to 256 configuration categories available on the device. Parameter (uint8) The parameter number specifies one of 256 potential configuration parameters available on the device. Parameters 0 through 127 are device specific parameters. Parameters 128 though 255 are reserved for parameters that apply to multiple types of devices.
Group Lens ID Parameter Type Index Minimum Maximum Interpretation 0.0 Focus fixed16 – 0.0 1.0 0.0 = near, 1.0 = far 0.1 Instantaneous autofocus void – – – trigger instantaneous autofocus 0.2 Aperture (f-stop) fixed16 – -1.0 16.0 Aperture Value (where fnumber = sqrt(2^AV)) 0.3 Aperture (normalised) fixed16 – 0.0 1.0 0.0 = smallest, 1.0 = largest 0.4 Aperture (ordinal) int16 – 0 n Steps through available aperture values from minimum (0) to maximum (n) 0.
Group ID 1.
Group ID Parameter Type Index Minimum Maximum Interpretation 3.0 Overlay enables uint16 bit field – – – bit flags: [0] = display status, [1] = display frame guides Some cameras don't allow separate control of frame guides and status overlays. 3.1 Frame guides style (Camera 3.x) int8 – 0 8 0 = HDTV, 1 = 4:3, 2 = 2.4:1, 3 = 2.39:1, 4 = 2.35:1, 5 = 1.85:1, 6 = thirds 3.2 Frame guides opacity (Camera 3.x) fixed16 – 0.1 1.0 0.0 = transparent, 1.
Group Reference ID Parameter Type Index Minimum Maximum Interpretation 6.0 Source int8 enum – 0 2 0 = internal, 1 = program, 2 = external 6.1 Offset int32 – – – +/- offset in pixels 7.0 Real Time Clock int32 [0] time _ _ BCD - HHMMSSFF (UCT) [1] date _ _ BCD - YYYYMMDD 7.1 System language string [0-1] _ _ ISO-639-1 two character language code 7.
Group ID Parameter Type Index Maximum Interpretation – 0 = CinemaDNG, 1 = DNxHD, 2 = ProRes, 3 = Blackmagic RAW – CinemaDNG: 0 = uncompressed, 1 = lossy 3:1, 2 = lossy 4:1 – ProRes: 0 = HQ, 1 = 422, 2 = LT, 3 = Proxy, 4 = 444, 5 = 444XQ – – Blackmagic RAW: 0 = Q0, 1 = Q5, 2 = 3:1, 3 = 5:1, 4 = 8:1, 5 = 12:1 [0] = mode – – 0 = Preview, 1 = Play, 2 = Record [1] = speed – – -ve = multiple speeds backwards, 0 = pause, +ve = multiple speeds forwards [0] = basic codec Minimum – – 10.
Example Protocol Packets Operation Packet Length Byte 0 1 2 3 5 6 7 9 10 11 0 0 0 12 13 14 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 command reserved category parameter type operation data length command 8 destination header 4 trigger instantaneous auto focus on camera 4 8 4 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 turn on OIS on all cameras 12 255 5 0 0 0 6 0 0 set exposure to 10 ms on camera 4 (10 ms = 10000 us = 0x00002710) 12 4 8 0 0 1 5 3 0 0x10 0x27 0x00 0x00 add 15% to zebra leve
Slave devices pass through the tally packet on their output and update the monitor tally status, so that monitor devices connected to that individual output may display tally status without knowledge of the device id they are monitoring. Assumptions Any data alignment / padding is explicit in the protocol. Bit fields are packed from LSB first. Blanking Encoding One tally control packet may be sent per video frame.
Slave Device (1) Slave Device (2) Master Device Slave Device (3) Monitor Device Byte 7 MSB 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 LSB 0 Version (0b0) Version (0b0) Version (0b0) Version (0b0) Reserved (0b0) Reserved (0b0) Monitor Preview Monitor Program 1 Reserved (0b0) Reserved (0b0) Slave 1 Preview Slave 1 Program Reserved (0b0) Reserved (0b0) Slave 0 Preview Slave 0 Program 2 Reserved (0b0) Reserved (0b0) Slave 3 Preview Slave 3 Program Reserved (0b0) Reserved (0b0) Slave 2 Preview Slave 2
Blackmagic URSA Mini B4 Mount The PL mount on Blackmagic URSA Mini PL can be removed and replaced with an optional B4 mount. This mount differs slightly to the B4 mount on URSA Mini Pro. For example, the screw holes are in a different position to allow for the EF button release housing on URSA Mini Pro. The shim thicknesses required are also different, so if you want to use B4 lenses with your URSA Mini PL it’s important you choose the correct mount.
3 Carefully lift the lens mount away from the camera body. Keep the screws safely located close to the lens mount. 5 Place the 2 x 0.50mm shims supplied with your Blackmagic URSA Mini B4 lens mount onto the original 0.50mm shim. This creates the clearance needed to optimize the flange focal distance. 7 4 Note the alignment of the existing 0.50mm shim with the alignment pin at the 11 o’clock position.
Shimming Lens Mounts What is a Shim? Shims are thin disks of varying thickness that let you make fine adjustments to the distance between your lens and URSA Mini’s sensor. This distance is commonly known as the flange focal distance, or back focus, and can change slightly due to variables such as lens age and the environmental conditions of your shoot. The following URSA Mini models are designed so you can easily adjust back focus using shims. URSA Mini PL 4K URSA Mini PL 4.6K URSA Mini Pro 4.
1 Place URSA Mini PL vertically on a solid, clean bench top and remove your lens or dust cap. The glass filter covering the sensor will be exposed for the duration of the shimming process, so it’s important to keep the filter as clean as possible. Be careful not to touch the filter while shimming the PL mount. 3 Carefully lift the lens mount away from the camera body. Keep the screws safely located close to the lens mount. 5 Add or remove shims in 0.
7 8 1 3 5 6 4 Using a 2mm Hex driver or torque wrench set to 0.45Nm, loosely turn the mounting screws until initial contact is made with the shoulder of the lens mount. To access all the screws, you will need to rotate the PL locking ring, as some holes are obscured when the ring is either open or closed. 2 Confirm the lens mount is level and correctly aligned, then tighten the screws in the order shown here to an even pressure without overtightening the screws.
URSA Mini SSD Recorder Blackmagic URSA Mini SSD Recorder is an optional module which attaches to the rear of URSA Mini. This recorder allows you to record footage, including 4.6K Blackmagic RAW files, to high capacity and inexpensive solid state drives, or ‘SSDs’. NOTE URSA Mini SSD Recorder is designed for use with URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2, URSA Mini Pro 4.6K, URSA Mini 4.6K and URSA Mini 4K. It is not compatible with URSA Mini Pro 12K.
Mounting and connecting URSA Mini SSD Recorder URSA Mini SSD Recorder mounts to the back of URSA Mini directly behind the camera body, using your camera’s rear SDI in and SDI out BNCs to pass data to and from URSA Mini SSD recorder. It’s worth noting that because the recorder uses these SDI inputs and outputs, you can’t simultaneously connect your camera to an ATEM switcher.
To mount and connect URSA Mini SSD Recorder: 1 Power off URSA Mini Pro by moving the ‘power’ switch to ‘off’. Power off URSA Mini by pressing and releasing the ‘power’ button. 3 If no battery was fitted to your camera, you may need to remove the cover over the molex socket on your camera's rear panel. Use a philips head screwdriver to remove the four M3 screws holding the cover in place. 5 Plug the molex connector on URSA Mini SSD Recorder into the molex socket on your camera’s rear panel.
7 8 Connect the SSD Recorder’s SDI In and SDI out cables to the SDI inputs and outputs on the back of your camera. The SSD Recorder’s cables are marked ‘in’ and ‘out’ to help match them to the appropriate connector on your camera. If you want to use a battery plate with URSA Mini SSD Recorder, use a 2mm hex key driver to remove the four M3 screws holding the molex socket cover panel in place.
Status LEDs URSA Mini SSD Recorder has two status lights on its left panel, ‘SDI’ and ‘SSD.’ The brightness of these indicators can be set to ‘low,’ ‘medium,’ ‘high’ or ‘off.’ in your camera’s ‘setup’ menu. SDI The top LED, marked ‘SDI’ indicates URSA Mini SSD Recorder’s connection to your camera. The LED provides the following indicators Off If the SDI indicator is off, URSA Mini SSD Recorder is not receiving power.
Updating URSA Mini SSD Recorder’s internal software Update your URSA Mini SSD Recorder using the Blackmagic Camera Setup Utility software. The SSD Recorder will need to be powered when updating, so we recommend keeping the SSD Recorder connected to URSA Mini during the update process. This also means your camera will need to supply consistent power, so be sure to plug into external power. URSA Mini SSD Recorder has a USB-C connector on the underside of the module for updating its internal software.
Help The fastest way to obtain help is to go to the Blackmagic Design online support pages and check the latest support material available for your camera. Blackmagic Design Online Support Pages The latest manual, software and support notes can be found at the Blackmagic Design support center at www.blackmagicdesign.com/support.
Regulatory Notices Disposal of Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment Within the European Union. The symbol on the product indicates that this equipment must not be disposed of with other waste materials. In order to dispose of your waste equipment, it must be handed over to a designated collection point for recycling.
Certified for Japan, certificate number: 209-J00204. This equipment contains specified radio equipment that has been certified to the technical regulation conformity certification under the radio law. This module has certification in South Korea, KC certification number: MSIP‑CRM-BGT-BGM113 Hereby, Blackmagic Design declares that the product is using wideband transmission systems in 2.4 GHz ISM band is in compliance with directive 2014/53/EU.
Warranty Limited Warranty Blackmagic Design warrants that this product will be free from defects in materials and workmanship for a period of 12 months from the date of purchase. If a product proves to be defective during this warranty period, Blackmagic Design, at its option, either will repair the defective product without charge for parts and labor, or will provide a replacement in exchange for the defective product.
