Newb advice wanted

Hey guys, I really need your help. I'm a filmstudent. I've always worked with cheap DSLRs so I'm really new to these cinema cameras. I'm talking about the Ursa Mini 4.6k.
For my upcoming project I want to rent a Blackmagic Camera. I've talked to a company which rents these things. They recommended the Ursa Mini 4.6k. I asked them if it wouldn't be better to rent a BMCC 2.5k since I don't have one of those editing computers. They told me that it's okay, because I don't have to record in 4.6k I can lower the quality. Is that true and does the lower quality still have the cinematic look? Thank you guys so much! (My Computer: Intel Core i7-2600 CPU, 3.40 GHz, 16GB RAM)

You are better off renting the 4.6k

The computer is going to struggle regardless of the camera. You will have to use proxies or timeline proxies.

Agree that the computer will likely have trouble running Resolve with any footage (although you didn't mention anything about your GPU, which is by far the most important part of the equation).

This article, while four years old now, has some good tips on improving performance in Resolve if your computer isn't up to spec: https://blog.frame.io/2020/02/24/davinc ... rformance/

If your computer has no discrete GPU, you will probably need to rent a stronger computer too.

Virgil, if you shoot on the URSA Mini 4.6K at a window resolution of 2K, expect to have your image cropped due to the crop factor. Another suggestion for you is to shoot in ProRes 422 which may be lighter on your computer, assuming you have a supported gpu as mentioned by others.

Virgil, cameras, lenses, computers and all the other stuff to go with shooting any film costs $$$.

That said, I would suggest a couple things:

1)Consider getting a pocket 4K camera - will produce as filmic an image as the URSA 4.6K and is fairly inexpensive, mounts M4/3 lenses and includes the studio version of DaVinci Resolve. (got to weigh buying smart vs renting) (Note the the pocket 4K has a crop factor for shooting 16x9 of about 2.02 meaning a 25mm lens will have an equivalent full frame (35) field of view of 50mm)

2)rent a complete package - at minimum you will need media card(s), lens, battery, and travel case... but there may be more such as tripod. For lenses the URSA 4.6K shooting 4K-16x9 has a crop factor of about 1.6 (meaning that a 28mm lens will have a full frame (35) field of view equivalent of about 45mm)

3)recommend to shoot in Braw, but ProRes is also available on either camera mentioned.

4)create proxy files as per Blackmagic proxy generator and use those for editing. Remember to use originals or high quality for color grading or delivery.

5)check the BMD specs for resolve for minimum computer requirements :
https://documents.blackmagicdesign.com/ ... _Guide.pdf
or more up to date:
https://www.pugetsystems.com/solutions/ ... endations/

6)since you mention you are film student - consider collaborating with others who have some of the things needed. (ie: one has computer, another the camera/lens, another lights...) This way you all save some $$$ and learn the important skill of collaboration.

7)oh, and get DaVinci Resolve (there is a free version with most everything in it)... best program for editing, color grading, compositing and sound.
https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/suppor ... and-fusion