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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Blackmagic Video Assist is now shipping!

D

David Peterson

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Best news I've read all day! The BMD Video Assist is shipping now. Very keen to see a head to head comparison vs the Atomos Samurai Blade which is also US$495 (am using a Ninja 2 right now on a music video shoot with a Sony F3. It is nice, aside from the low resolution screen and no SDI)




https://twitter.com/Blackmagic_News/status/649034256287727616
 
Hmmm, the Atoms is bulletproof, we've been using them for years with no problems. The specs look good though, if they could get their SDI connectors to not be the weak link it might be good. We have a box of BM SDI to DVI converters where the SDI became loose or broken on every unit.
 
Is there a RED SDI Flag as with the Pix 240 ?
Looks like a nice solution for lightweight setups...
 
Been using my original samurai for several years. It's always in the kit and almost always comes out to play somewhere on set, even when the Odysseys are playing. In fact, it does the Red SDI flag but the Odysseys don't, though I and others have been begging Convergent Design for this for over a year!
 
Well, I ended up getting the Atomos Samurai Blade instead. As much as I'd like to have the FHD 60p and HDMI, in the end I'd rather have the better tools on the Atomos. Going to arrive next week! My logic went like this:

Three main options:

1) BMD Video Assist
Pro: cheap cheap! Has HDMI & SDI, and FHD screen
Con: is micro SDI, and is lacking in shipping firmware

2) Atomos Samurai Blade
Pro: cheap cheap!! Has mature firmware with peaking / waveforms / vectorscopes
Con: no HDMI (so you'll need an HDMI/SDI converter, only sixty bucks or so from B&H) and no FHD 60fps (limited to 720p when doing slow motion)

3) Video Devices PIX-E5
Pro: the best, everything that you could want! (444 / 60fps FHD / waveforms / vectorscopes / HDMI / SDI / 4K for futureproofing / etc). Has great add on audio options, with the top notch reputation of Sound Devices behind them.
Con: price.... is really cheap for what it does, but is more pricey than the other two options :-/ Also its recording media might be seen as a con by some (maybe... I think it is nifty what they're doing, and is arguably a good choice for media. As it is small and cheap)

Haven't listed the whole SD vs SSD thing as either Pro or Con for either of the Video Assist or Samurai Blade, as your viewpoint on SD/SSD as Pro/Con can be quite subjective.

I absolutely wouldn't add Video Devices PIX 240i, Odyssey, or Atomos Shogun to this list, they're much more pricey (and I do not at all like the bulk of the Shogun when I've used it).


Thus personally I went for the Atomos Samurai Blade, which I'll use with my PMW-F3. It arrives next week! (it just arrived today at my reshipper in the USA)

Stupidly I forgot to order the HDMI/SDI converter as well, but oh well.... not a big issue. As I don't really *need* one urgently, I'll just order it in a month or five when I do my next B&H order.

I'll likely get one of these two:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...xt_hdsdix_hdmi_to_3g_hd_sd_sdi_converter.html
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1100266-REG/lanparte_sdi_hdmi_c_sdi_to_hdmi_converter.html
 
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Thanks, Have you tested the SDI Flag ? what was the camera ?
I've seen that it does not work on some BMD cameras....
 
Thibaut de Chemellier said:
Thanks, Have you tested the SDI Flag ? what was the camera ?
I've seen that it does not work on some BMD cameras....
Click to expand...

PIX240 SDI record flag works on Arri Alexa which I worked on two commercials with. It also has Red SDI record flag, and that worked fine with Red Epic-X, but not with Red One. Not tried it with other cameras.
 
I HATE their SDI DIN connections. I have the hyper deck shuttle and I have broken those DIN ports clean off from barely any pressure. I had to take it to a machinist to make something to keep them wedged in the a lot so they did not break off.

If they have not made any integrity improvements on these DIN connection's durability, I will pass...
 
It's $495 list and has a true 1920x1080 pixel screen - Gotta spend $2950 to get a red monitor with that resolution. And oh BTW it has a built in pro res recorder! (DNXHD on the way). Uses those same mini SDI that were on the REDONE so they can fit the HDMI in/out as well. And a head phone jack. And uses cheap Canon (or Canon knockoff) batteries.

Geez you guys are hard to please:
 
Seems great. Just wish it had an analog audio input 1/8" so the myriad of 5D users out there could record audio (at least for a sync or ambient track). the 5D doesn't pass audio over hdmi - and it doesn't have an sdi out. Strangely though, Black magic advertising images show it attached to a 5D and receieving an hdmi audio signal, (am I missing something?)
 
Sounds about right, their marketing images are so funny and weird
 
Weird is right. I got an answer from B & H:

"Since Canon inexplicably decided not to output audio via HDMI with the 5D Mark III and Blackmagic apparently feels HDMI or SDI embedded audio is all that is needed, I would have to say that the Blackmagic Design Video Assist is not the choice for the 5D Mark III."

Of all the cameras with which to market this item, why would you choose the one that is the least ideal to use? Better yet, why would you not include the audio input so you could sell it to all the 5D owners out there, cuz well... there are a lot of them.
 
The blackmagic Video Assist recognises the start-stop over the SDI connection, which is nice. Also the right timecode is added in the Prores capture.
filename is NOT the RED RAW filename.
Firmwire is still out of the box and very basic. No focus assist or level control.
that will be necessary if we want to capture the clean output, but still view focus and timecode/recording further in the chain.

still very good full HD image and nice touch interface.
Also detects automatically as a smartphone where is up. Cable can easily go left or right, the monitor switches' always to up.
 
Atomos Samurai and sony F3

Atomos Samurai and sony F3

Hi David how are you making out with the Atomos Samurai and your F3. I think i'm going the same route as your setup. Any pros and cons you're finding now that you're out on the field with it
 
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