firmware 4.0

Thank you, CaptainHook!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I've noticed that my Sigma 18-35 will have IRIS control ONLY when I power off the camera myself. If I allow the software to reboot after changing codec or settings the IRIS loses control, however if I power off the camera and then power it back up again I get IRIS control back.

Please everybody check your sensor area for dead/hotpixels you didnd have before update!
I have one since the update..
Any suggestions??

If you roll back to 3.3 is it still there?

Hey CaptainHook,
Please, can you tell me how it works to roll back to firmware 3.3 to check my deadpixel problem??
Never did that before and i cant find this topic in the forum or google..
Thank you Captain! Hugs

Juri, you can download previous firmware versions here:

https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/suppor ... al-cameras

You simply need to install the older software, then update the camera.

We've been playing with the 4.0 Beta on a hired camera today - VERY impressed!

Marco Solorio tweeted yesterday that he has been using the private beta 4.0 for some time on paid production shoots and never had a concern with reliability. That helped me decide to give it a go after reading everything in the URSA camera manual related to 4.0.

I still have the Fujinon B4 lens mounted on my Ursa Mini 4.6K and had been shooting in the raw 2K window, 2048x1080, the first thing I quickly tried was the new raw 2K 16:9 window, 2048x1152, and delighted to see there was no vignetting I could see zooming from 7.8mm through 156mm. That BMC B4 optical mount is doing a great job. That new window gives be a precious 1/15th greater height and width than the HD window the BMB4 mount was designed for which will come in handy with almost 14% more pixels for post stabilization. And when shooting in raw 4:1, each 256GB card holds 116 minutes; in raw 3:1, each card holds 94 minutes.

I'm happy to say that default magenta/green balance on my 4,6K is now almost perfect!

Same on my 4K; much less yellow/green than with 3.3

I'm able now to record in ProRes 4608x1920 (2.4:1) at 50p, I couldn't ask more! Now it seems a whole new camera!

Just one desire: peaking color has been changed to red. We would all appreciate if we could choose between red, green and maybe white or blue.
Thanks!

A choice would be great but with all of the outdoor scenic shoots I'v been doing this Summer, I can't tell you how many times I've wished for something other than green peaking. Now if I can only get my 4.6k back from BMD for the dead XLR inputs they are fixing

Please everybody check your sensor area for dead/hotpixels you didnd have before update!
I have one since the update..

I too have dead pixel in the top left corner that wasn't there before B4.0
I have not as yet tried rolling back

I'm posting this here just for the group's benefit. I hope it's not too long or out of place.
I'm experiencing a problem using 4.0 with battery power. Below is the email I sent to BMD detailing the issue. I'm sure this is something that will be resolved and can hopefully help anyone having a similar problem.



Hello, 
First I want to thank you for your incredible products, services and updates.  
I try to promote Blackmagic Design wherever I can, and I truly enjoy using everything you create.

Below I have described a problem I am having while trying to use the 4.0 Beta while under battery power.

On 8/16/16 I downloaded and installed the 4.0 Beta OS on my Ursa Mini 4.6k using a 64bit Windows 10 desktop computer.
The camera was powered by the included AC adapter.  There was no issue with installation.
The new OS displayed perfectly and functioned as expected.
I turned the camera off and on several times and everything worked well.
I then turned the camera off.  Waited a few minutes, and unplugged the power cord.
I then attached the fully charged Extreme Green 14.8 volt battery purchased from Adorama that I have always  used without issue and powered the camera on.
The boot up took longer than expected, and then the screen came on only displaying a clean image of what the lens was seeing but without any UI.
I tried swiping up and down on the LCD to try to get the UI to appear but nothing happened.
I then noticed that none of the buttons were functional either.  Not on the inside or outside of the LCD.
The only button that seemed to respond was the power button which only powered down if I held it for 10 seconds.
I tried powering on again using the battery and the same problems occured.  
I powered the camera down, disconnected the battery and reattached the AC power and powered the camera on.
But the issue remained.  No UI and no control of any function.

I contacted support via phone and it was suggested reverting back to 3.3 so I did.
All functionality returned both when I used AC power or the battery.
At this point I tested the battery and my ohmeter shows that it does output a constant 14.8volts and can do so at a maximum of a 10 amp draw.
So I don't believe the battery is faulty. 

I then repeated the entire process, installing 4.0 using AC power and then switched to battery power again just to confirm the issue and yes, it is a repeatable problem.
I would appreciate any help you can offer, and understand I may have to wait for the official 4.0 release,
but wanted to make you aware of this issue in case there are others out there experiencing the same problem.
If there is anymore information I can provide, please let me know.

Thanks again for your help and service.

Tracy Smith
Sixty Foot Films

I can't find the menu for setting the focus assist and I can't really see it in use on the LCD

anyone could help me here ?

BTW viewfinder stays on for a very long time
it used to have it's own focus assist before and again this feature changed name or its gone

I can't find the menu for setting the focus assist and I can't really see it in use on the LCD

anyone could help me here ?

BTW viewfinder stays on for a very long time
it used to have it's own focus assist before and again this feature changed name or its gone

Ok I understand now that you need to select it in the Monitor menu where you want it
still don't see the setup menu for it

I think it's in the Monitor tab, but then you select "All". On the next row down, you can select Coloured Lines and on the bottom row select the colour.

By the way, I tried White as suggested, but feel Red is easier to distinguish since White sometimes might get confused with the almost specular highlights on edges of things. The Peak (sharpness enhancement) option is good to have when any choice of Coloured Lines can interfere with critical focus.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I'm happy to say that default magenta/green balance on my 4,6K is now almost perfect!

Same on my 4K; much less yellow/green than with 3.3

I'm able now to record in ProRes 4608x1920 (2.4:1) at 50p, I couldn't ask more! Now it seems a whole new camera!

Just one desire: peaking color has been changed to red. We would all appreciate if we could choose between red, green and maybe white or blue.
Thanks!

A choice would be great but with all of the outdoor scenic shoots I'v been doing this Summer, I can't tell you how many times I've wished for something other than green peaking. Now if I can only get my 4.6k back from BMD for the dead XLR inputs they are fixing

You can choose the color in the menus, red, blue, green, line and highlight edge choices with white added.
See Capt Hook in choosing colors in previous post here.
Cheers

You can choose the color in the menus, red, blue, green, line and highlight edge choices with white added.
See Capt Hook in choosing colors in previous post here.
Cheers

That's great! Cant wait to get my camera back.

I overnighted the Sigma dock. Updated the firmware on the 18-35 lens and now all seems right with the world. I can now control the Iris as every other lens.

Good, this proves the lens FW was the issue with the Sigma zoom. Glad you got it sorted.
Cheers

[Terry Frechette]

Hello all:

Just wanted to send a reminder. Anyone finding any issues or bugs with the 4.0 beta, you should email 4.0beta@blackmagicdesign.com with the following information:
• Steps to reproduce
• Result(s)
• Expected Result(s)
• Any relevant setup information (camera settings, lens, etc)

This is definitely the best way to send this info to the engineers, vs posting those here.

Thanks.

Terry Frechette

Tim, my needs aren't as sophisticated and demanding as those of Avatar, but I think I can develop something that works for me based on your suggestions.

I do agree with Jaime though, that I'm much happier with having more user control so that every file will have a unique name and BMD broke this elegant simplicity on purpose to save a few characters in a name.

The workaround may have some benefits though in terms of organizing my clips. Actually I already had started to use Project as qualifier in the Capture folder name such as /Capture/Dawn Wedding/ but now I'm going to add /centuryyear/. Still thinking about the /codec/ and /camera-mount/ as well although for my needs (only have one cinema camera and a camcorder), my earlier use of 'P' standing for 'URSAMini46PL' and 'B' standing for 'URSAMini46B4' will be part of the clip name. Perhaps this simpler organization will suffice for me going forward:

/Capture
/CenturyYear
/Project
/CameraMount
/Codec
/clips

for example:
/Capture
/2016
/Dawn Wedding
/UM46B4
/B001_07101928_C070/
...DNG files...

Naturally each person should develop their own system for file organization. And, each company should develop their own for each employee to work off of. I usually have a meeting at the start of a project with a new team to go over what the file structure hierarchy will be to ensure everyone is on the same page.

I find this app useful for creating templates and generating project folder structures:

https://www.digitalrebellion.com/posthaste/

Thank you for sharing Captain Hook! This may save some time in the future.

I do agree with Jaime though, that I'm much happier with having more user control so that every file will have a unique name and BMD broke this elegant simplicity on purpose to save a few characters in a name.

I've sent an email to BMD's 4.0beta@blackmagicdesign.com address to make a feature request for user control of file names. I hope other folks who also have a need for filename control will also contact them to make the feature request.

But.....................
Where is the firmware for bmcc 2.5K 4K bmpc cameras??
1280 prores - 50fps for 2.5K this is critical.

I love the new 4.0 update, so amazing. Great work guys!! As Pavlov mentioned, I'd also like to see some of the new features on the previous camera line.

Not asking for a complete redesign, just some of the features. Especially Tint and more WB control on my end.

Thank you BMD!!

Does anyone know if the 4.0 firmware has higher demands on battery current than 3.3 on the Ursa Mini 4.6k? My V-Mount battery powers the camera fine when using 3.3 but when I install 4.0 and switch to battery power, the UI does not show up and all buttons become unresponsive.
Thanks everyone!

Tracy Smith

Jamie, thanks for the prompt. I sent my formal request in now.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Would Quad HD (WQHD) 2560x1440 be possible as a prores option?

Please everybody check your sensor area for dead/hotpixels you didnd have before update!
I have one since the update..

I too have dead pixel in the top left corner that wasn't there before B4.0
I have not as yet tried rolling back

Its upsetting what Juri Beythien and Peter Wood tell here. Terry Frechette, pless tell us if Blackmagic company accept ursa mini RMA if after update to 4.0 firmware we have deads pixels?

I doubt a firmware update would cause a real "dead pixel", sounds like something else is going on here.
Cameras have a way of remaping sensor data to compensate for a dead pixel, so maybe it is an issue with how 4.0 is accomplishing this. The camera may have a,ready had a dead pixel, that FW 3.x was successful masking out, and 4.0 isn't.
Cheers

Has anyone had any luck getting the camera to power Image Stabilization in lenses that have it? IS worked with 3.3, but after updating to 4.0 the camera won't power the IS on my Canon 24-105 or 70-200.

You need to report this bug directly to BM per their format request.

Hi Thanks for the update, I don't know enough about cameras to comment yet but hey it looks good.

The 4.0 update for the URSA Mini looks spectacular. I only wish there was a similar update for the Production Camera 4K. Some of us who bought cameras from Blackmagic before the URSAs were announced feel a little left behind. Is there any chance there will be an update like this for the PC4K? I know not all of the features are possible, but would love to see the menu structure this clean and accessible on my camera.

On a separate note, I am looking into the Blackmagic Video Assist to add some of these features to my current production workflow like LUT support. Any chance the Video Assist might come with Anamorphic Desqueeze in the near future? This is one of the biggest selling features of the 4.0 update on the URSA Mini along with variable white balance control, and savable profiles.

Update is excellent!!

Before I go and email this to BM I just want to check. I read through the manual and notice that the last page on the setup menu has a playback choice of all clips or single clip. I understand what that means but I'm wondering why the camera doesn't automatically play the last clip recorded when I press play. I seem to have to cycle through everything on the card to get to and review my last shot. Am I missing something?

Why don't you just push the "previous" button to go all the way to the last shot ?

Why don't you just push the "previous" button to go all the way to the last shot ?

Yes I can do that thanks, but I was kind of thinking - press record - press stop- press play to review most recent recording.

Please everybody check your sensor area for dead/hotpixels you didnd have before update!
I have one since the update..

I too have dead pixel in the top left corner that wasn't there before B4.0
I have not as yet tried rolling back

Its upsetting what Juri Beythien and Peter Wood tell here. Terry Frechette, pless tell us if Blackmagic company accept ursa mini RMA if after update to 4.0 firmware we have deads pixels?

As far as I know dead pixels are caused when cosmic rays strike the sensor. This is more likely to happen in aircraft where there is less protection by the atmosphere at high altitudes. Sounds like tinfoil hatter talk but it's true! I don't know if BMD cameras manage dead pixels by software remapping as Denny suggests but I am pretty sure they cannot be caused by a firmware update, unless you don't wear your tinfoil hat.

Anyone else having trouble seeing tally on a external monitor from the front sdi output? I have a simple liliput 5" monitor and I'm seeing everything except the red outline. I've tried under scanning and shifting around, but just can't see it anywhere. My ursa Eng viewfinder sees it just fine.

My only critique of the tally function is that a thicker outline bar option would be nice.

I don't know if BMD cameras manage dead pixels by software remapping as Denny suggests but I am pretty sure they cannot be caused by a firmware update, unless you don't wear your tinfoil hat.

Then maybe CaptainHook or Terry Frechette will answer us right here if Blackmagic assume with RMA any hardware damage to ursa mini caused by installing the 4.0 beta firmware .

[CaptainHook]

I'm wondering why the camera doesn't automatically play the last clip recorded when I press play.

It will play the last clip that it can find for the current codec/resolution settings. If you record something and straight after hit play without adjusting settings, it should play that clip. Unless you have a clip on the card that was named in the computer or something where it would be ordered in an OS to be last.

I too have dead pixel in the top left corner that wasn't there before B4.0
I have not as yet tried rolling back

It's a bug in the 4.0 firmware. It won't be there rolling back to 3.3 and we are working to fix it on 4.0. Thanks for the reports, remember to send them to the email address too!

FW 4.0 looks amazing, thank you SO much for all the work and effort you have put into it!

I have a feature request, if it's not too soon (or late).

it'd be GREAT if we could have a user definable overlay, either in the camera, or in the viewfinder. Id love to be able to upload a frame with alpha and overlay it on what Im seeing while I shoot. It's be really amazing if I could control the opacity too, but even if not it'd be a great feature.

This would allow users to use whatever masks, overlays etc they wanted to. Or to match VFX shots etc.

Personally, Id like to have a letterbox and rule of thirds overlay that crops in about 15 or 20% from all sides for reframing headroom in post when shooting 4.6k. I doubt that you guys would ever make such a specific thing available, so itd be amazing to be able to make my own overlays as I need them.

I wouldnt even mind if the overlays had to be 1920 x 1080 no matter what format I was shooting, as long as it overlays on the full screen/viewer.

Kudos for the user LUTs. Really great stuff. Thank you!

Just installed it. Works great. Intuitive and fast.

Thanks Team Blackmagic... keep the magic coming!

It's magic!

Until now, iris control of my Sigma 18-35 didn't work.

As I got my RMA two days ago and the iris is open when I put it on the camera, I thought I could do some FPN testing in the nightly streets of Vienna...

After maybe an hour after I started, iris started working!
Changed battery, shut up and down the camera and connected/disconnected the lens several times after this experience. Now it works, I can control the iris.

It's magic... Black magic!

Hi!!

love the new firmware

dont work for me:

-camera presets:
fps didnt work, frame size and codec looks ok, but when i change the preset the fps didnt change


how camera presets works for you??

Kyle, not sure if this will suffice, but if you are shooting in 4.6K but would like to see the frame for 4K, you can use the Safe Area guide with a suitable setting to show what your timeline or deliverables would look like assuming you don't want to downscale from the 4.6K image. Using the Safe Area defined as 90% would be a little larger than your 4K frame, but would be workable as you would have a mental note to try and frame within the Safe Area boundary. That's what I do recording with the 2K 16:9 window to show me what my unscaled image in my HD timeline will look like.

An added benefit to this technique when using the BM Viewfinder with the latest firmware 4.0beta update applied to the BMVF:

The Safe Area outline is normally a light grey colour, but when you toggle Focus Assist on the BMVF, the Safe Area colour matches the Focus Assist Coloured Lines colour you have selected. So you always know if you have 'peaking' On or Off while using the BMVF. I really like these little user interface touches that make using the Mini easier and more intuitive.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Hi!!

love the new firmware

dont work for me:

-camera presets:
fps didnt work, frame size and codec looks ok, but when i change the preset the fps didnt change


how camera presets works for you??

Same here - presets not working.

we had a real problem with the Phantom Power
it was not working and turning it ON and OFF a few times plus rebooting the camera finally the mike kicked in

URSA MINI 4.6K EF camera

we had a real problem with the Phantom Power
it was not working and turning it ON and OFF a few times plus rebooting the camera finally the mike kicked in

URSA MINI 4.6K EF camera

My Rode NTG1 arrives tomorrow/early next week. I'll let you know if it happens to me as well

No difficulty here with phantom power. Worked first time I tried the Sennheiser MKH416.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Shot yesterday with Sennheiser ME66 using Phantom Power with no issues.

Ned Soltz

Thank you Rick!

Id love to see a thirds overlay too that divides letterboxed material correctly. I appreciate the tip Rick!

Just installed it, all went great. It feels like a new camera indeed! So much better and faster. Though I just noticed the hot pixel on the top left screen. Other then that I haven't discovered any bugs so far.

Edit: I'm actually seeing more and more popping up on the screen. Would a downgrade and upgrade help remapping those pixels?

Just wanted to put up another friendly reminder that anyone finding any issues or bugs with the 4.0 beta should send an email to 4.0beta@blackmagicdesign.com with the following information:
• Steps to reproduce
• Result(s)
• Expected Result(s)
• Any relevant setup information (camera settings, lens, etc)

Just installed it, all went great. It feels like a new camera indeed! So much better and faster. Though I just noticed the hot pixel on the top left screen. Other then that I haven't discovered any bugs so far.
Edit: I'm actually seeing more and more popping up on the screen. Would a downgrade and upgrade help remapping those pixels?

Willem, see Capt. Hooks prev. post, the dead pixel,is a known "bug" in FW 4.0. BTW, does thism"dead
Pixel" record? Just curious. Thanks

Just installed it, all went great. It feels like a new camera indeed! So much better and faster. Though I just noticed the hot pixel on the top left screen. Other then that I haven't discovered any bugs so far.
Edit: I'm actually seeing more and more popping up on the screen. Would a downgrade and upgrade help remapping those pixels?

Willem, see Capt. Hooks prev. post, the dead pixel,is a known "bug" in FW 4.0. BTW, does thism"dead
Pixel" record? Just curious. Thanks

I have a lot more dead pixels, just reported it. It's just the lcd, not in the recorded files.