Blackmagic Forum

Hi, I need some help figuring out what I would need for a basic setup with Black Magic equipment. I will only be handling small projects to start out as I have just opened business, but I want to offer high quality product and know I need good equipment.

Right now I am looking at purchasing:

Blackmagic Design Cinema Camera with EF Mount
Blackmagic Design HyperDeck Shuttle 2 SSD Video Recorder
SanDisk Extreme II Internal SSD (120GB)
Switronix Powerbase-70 Battery Pack & Charger for Blackmagic Camera Kit

1. What else would I need in order to actually start filming with the Black Magic that would not be included with this?
2. Will the HyperDeck also serve as a dock for capturing footage to my Mac?

Thanks

Please check out the very first post (FAQ) on the Cinemetography section of the forum. All of your questions are answered there.
viewforum.php?f=2

Liam Kennedy wrote:Please check out the very first post (FAQ) on the Cinemetography section of the forum. All of your questions are answered there.
viewforum.php?f=2

Thanks, that helped some. From what I could find my setup would work.

One other question though that I couldn't find the answer to or that I missed while reading.
Can I capture the RAW footage straight from the camera or do I have to have a SSD dock to do that.

Thanks.

I think perhaps you are not understanding how the camera works. The camera takes an SSD drive internally and records direct to that drive.

You don't need the shuttle to record.

Internally the camera can record in 2.5K RAW, 1080p ProRes and 1080p DNxHD.

If you used the shuttle to record you would only be able to record in 1080p ProRes/DNxHD/Uncompressed. It can't record RAW.

So all you need to start shooting is the camera, a compatible SSD and a lens. You would probably also want some sore of support (tripod, shoulder rig, etc).

To transfer the data from the SSD you will need a dock or SATA to USB cable.

Ok, I think it makes sense now. I already am in the film and photography industry though newer to film. In photography you choose wether you want to shoot in RAW or in JPG or TIFF, etc. I was thinking this was the same way. I'm understanding now that the RAW footage on the Black Magic is automatic and can be accessed through the Devinci software? Is that correct? And the RAW footage will be in ProRes/DNxHD/Uncompressed format?

Sorry I'm such a novice. I am used to being handed a camera and not having to worry about this stuff so all the video codecs are new to me as strange as that sounds.

Thanks for the help!

jaredhc wrote:Ok, I think it makes sense now. I already am in the film and photography industry though newer to film. In photography you choose wether you want to shoot in RAW or in JPG or TIFF, etc. I was thinking this was the same way.

umm... it is the same way. RAW is just one of the formats the camera can shoot in. Like RAW from a stills camera these need to be processed before they can be viewer by your audience.

The camera shoots in the follow formats:
12bit 2.5k RAW in CinemaDNG (2432 x 1366)
10bit 1080p in Apple ProRes 422 HQ (1920x1080)
10bit 1080p in Avid DNxHD (1920x1080)

jaredhc wrote:I'm understanding now that the RAW footage on the Black Magic is automatic and can be accessed through the Devinci software? Is that correct? And the RAW footage will be in ProRes/DNxHD/Uncompressed format?

Sorry I'm such a novice. I am used to being handed a camera and not having to worry about this stuff so all the video codecs are new to me as strange as that sounds.

It's not "automatic". You select to shoot in the format that is best for your deliver needs.

RAW is the best quality and has the most latitude in post but it comes at a price. RAW is 5MB/frame or 120MB/sec at 24p. Compare that to the ProRes option which 24.7MB/s at 24p.

RAW also takes more time to process in post. This is done with DaVinci Resolve (or other workflows) and is similar to processing RAW stills in that you can set the white balance, adjust the exposure, etc. You then export the footage in a format that suits your needs.

ProRes/DNxHD is like shooting still in TIFF mode. The colour balance and gamma curve is baked in but it is a 10bit file that has been losslessly compressed. It to can be colour corrected and graded in Resolve. It is vastly superior to shooting in a compressed format like most video DSLRs shoot in but does not have as much latitude as the RAW files.

OK, Gotcha,

That is how I thought it worked but the more I read the more complicated I made it in my head I guess.
Makes perfect sense now.

Thanks!