Just rename the 'Ursa' bit of the preset folder. On a Mac that's '/Library/Ursa/Lagrange' On Windows: just put%APPDATA% into file explorer and the preset folder will be called ursa. The plugin will rebuild the default presets and you can then move old ones back if you want them. If that fails please feel free to drop me an email. From now check your spelling with Ursa Spell Checker 2.3. Get an activation code. Contact information.
Today Blackmagic Design introduced a new URSA Mini Pro 12K camera. The camera looks very similar to the URSA Mini Pro but with an all-new 12,288 x 6480 12K Super 35 sensor and a stated 14 stops of dynamic range. The new URSA Mini Pro 12K is designed for high-end production and ships with a PL Mount however an EF mount will also be available. Why 12K? Grant Petty states that the 12K URSA Mini Pro is designed for 8K delivery and gives the user room in post for reframing and image stabilization.
The new sensor is 80 megapixels per frame with new color science and includes Blackmagic RAW. You can shoot at 60 frames per second in 12K with 80 megapixels per frame. Oversampling from 12K gives you 8K and 4K images.
Generation 5 color science
The URSA Mini Pro 12K features Generation 5 color science and a new updated Film Curve designed to make full use of the massive amount of color data from the new URSA Mini Pro 12K sensor. This delivers better color response for more pleasing skin tones, and better rendering of highly saturated colors such as neon signs and car tail lights in high contrast scenes. Generation 5 Color Science informs complex Blackmagic RAW image processing, with color and dynamic range data from the sensor preserved via metadata for use in post-production. Compatible with all previously shot Blackmagic RAW files.
You can shoot at 60 fps in 12K, 110 fps in 8K, and up to 220 fps in 4K Super 16. URSA Mini Pro 12K features an interchangeable PL mount, as well as built-in ND filters, dual CFast and UHS‑II SD card recorders, a SuperSpeed USB‑C expansion port. DaVinci Resolve Studio is included.
Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 12K Features
- Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 12K Features
- 12,288 x 6480 12K Super 35 sensor.
- Use for feature films, VFX, and high-end TVC’s.
- 14 stops of dynamic range and native 800 ISO.
- New Blackmagic RAW for real-time 12K editing.
- Blackmagic RAW optimized for Metal, CUDA, and OpenCL.
- Generation 5 Color Science with a new film curve.
- Shoot up to 60 fps in 12K, 110 fps at 8K, and 220 fps at 4K.
- Dual card CFast recording at up to 900MB/s.
- PL mount included, EF and F mounts available.
- SuperSpeed USB-C for recording to external disks.
- Includes DaVinci Resolve Studio for post-production.
- Compatible with new Blackmagic URSA Mini Recorder.
New 12K S35 Sensor
The new 12K sensor has equal amounts of red, green and blue pixels and is optimized for images at multiple resolutions. You can shoot 12K at 60 fps or use in-sensor scaling to allow 8K or 4K RAW at up to 110 fps without cropping or changing your field of view. The new 12K sensor was designed around using 12-bit BRAW.
If you want a lot more information on the sensor Matt talks about it in his URSA Mini Pro 12K Thoughts article.
BRAW records at a constant bitrate with encoding options of 5:1, 8:1, 12:1, and the new 18:1 are designed to give you the best possible images with predictable and consistent file size.
No ProRes Options?
It seems that the URSA Mini Pro 12K doesn’t support internal codecs other than BRAW. This could be problematic if you don’t want to use Blackmagic’s Raw offerings.
Supported Codecs
- Blackmagic RAW Constant Bitrate 5:1,
- Blackmagic RAW Constant Bitrate 8:1,
- Blackmagic RAW Constant Bitrate 12:1,
- Blackmagic RAW Constant Bitrate 18:1,
- Blackmagic RAW Constant Quality Q0,
- Blackmagic RAW Constant Quality Q1,
- Blackmagic RAW Constant Quality Q3,
- Blackmagic RAW Constant Quality Q5.
The only other option would be an external recorder for non BRAW, but the camera only sends UHD, so you can’t get 12K or 8K externally. Only UHD. As for 12K capture, I think this does make sense since BMD is pushing the S35 sensor pretty hard, and recording a 12K signal has to be efficient.
Want to play?
If you want to play around with some 12K footage you can download a few clips from Blackmagic Design.
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
You will have the latest version of DaVinci Resolve to open these files.
New Blackmagic URSA Mini SSD Recorder
With big files, you would probably like to record externally and BMD knows this. The new URSA Mini Recorder lets you record 12-bit Blackmagic RAW files onto fast 2.5-inch SSDs, including the latest U.2 NVMe Enterprise SSDs. SSDs such as the latest 7mm U.2 NVMe disks are super fast, delivering data transfer speeds of up to 900 MB/s. This fast performance gives you longer recording times for full-resolution 4K, 8K and 12K 12-bit Blackmagic RAW files in the highest quality Q0 encoding.
The Blackmagic URSA Mini Recorder attaches directly to the back of the URSA Mini Pro between the camera and the battery. It’s controlled via the USB-C, so you don’t have to worry about manually starting or stopping the SSD recorder.
Another recording option is the Dual Card recording for 12K. The resolution is spanned onto two cards and then put together in Davinci Resolve. If an issue happens with one of the cards BMD states the software will scale the image down to 4K so you don’t lose the footage. Sounds pretty cool!
Editing 12K in Davinci Resolve
In the demo, Grant shows several 12K streams in a multi-clip editing situation with all the streams playing back in realtime. While this is possible with a high powered machine Blackmagic Design states you don’t have to have the best of the best computers to edit 12K. This is very subjective as computer configurations vary a lot from user to user.
It looks like a very interesting camera for those that need a lot of resolution for 8K delivery. I do like how BMD goes into a different direction and offers something no one else is. It surely separated them from the pack.
Availability
The URSA Mini Pro 12K will ship first to high-end DP’s then in 2 weeks time will be available for retail at $9995.00. BMD states it will be available this July.
What do you think about the URSA Mini Pro 12K? Do you think 8K delivery is going to be big enough to support 12K cameras?
If you want more information about the new URSA Mini Pro 12K camera Matt has written up an opinion piece that you can read.
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Cover image via
Blackmagic Design recently put the URSA Mini 4.6K into the hands of a few film and video pros. As you’ll see, the resulting footage is impressive.
Top image via Daniel Peters
Though the URSA Mini 4.6K was originally set to be released last October, Blackmagic Design delayed the camera’s launch to ensure it was functioning at full capacity after a few issues came to light. With those issues now resolved, Blackmagic is finally shipping the URSA Mini 4.6K. CEO Grant Petty recently released an update video that ran through some of the issues the company had faced while trying to get the camera out.
The main issue facing the URSA Mini 4.6K design team had to do with global shutter. When this feature was active, the camera would lose stops of dynamic range. In the end, after long discussions with several filmmakers and cinematographers, Blackmagic decided to sacrifice global shutter in favor of fifteen stops of dynamic range. Here’s a snippet from their recent press release:
Their feedback is that the cameras should not be delayed for this feature as the main benefits of the cameras are the wide dynamic range, and that this dynamic range is only available when running without global shutter.
In addition to addressing this issue in the above video update, Grant Petty and Blackmagic also released an impressive short film (directed by John Brawley) shot completely on the URSA Mini 4.6K. Blackmagic Design is offering this short film (and behind-the-scenes video) as a download, plus some RAW footage from the short film that you work with in DaVinci Resolve. This will give you a solid idea of what an URSA Mini 4.6K workflow would be like.
We’re pretty impressed with what we’ve seen of the URSA Mini 4.6K so far. To give you a better idea of the camera’s capabilities, we’ve rounded up our favorite test footage from professionals around the world.
Bobby Hewitt
Director, cinematographer, and editor Bobby Hewitt has worked on several big projects over the years. His URSA Mini 4.6K beta test footage was captured at a Mötley Crüe concert. You’ll see in the video below that the graded footage looks incredible and the camera seems to handle low-light situations extremely well.
Lenses: Canon 16-35mm f2.8, Canon 70-200mm f2.8
Pascal Dele
Pascal Dele tested the URSA Mini 4.6K in several different situations and scenarios. While all of the imagery is high quality, the footage captured with the DJI Ronin really stands out as a showcase for the camera’s slow-motion capabilities.
Lenses: Canon 24mm f1.4, Sigma 18-35mm f1.8, Sigma 50mm f1.4
Mark Wyatt
Mark Wyatt runs Vancouver-based Wyatt Visuals. He’s a longtime Blackmagic user who took the URSA Mini 4.6K out for a spin in Canada’s Cathedral Grove Provincial Park.
Lenses: Sigma 18-35mm, Canon 100mm 2.8, Tokina 11-16mm
Noam Kroll
Our very own Noam Kroll tested out the URSA Mini 4.6K in various indoor/outdoor natural light situations, the entire time really pushing the dynamic range of the camera. At fifteen stops, it really produces some pretty amazing results.
Lenses: Canon 24-105mm
A Pirate’s Tale
Directed by Lukas Colombo, A Pirate’s Tale (from Moai Films) was shot exclusively on the URSA Mini 4.6K. It’s one of the very first film shorts to be captured using Blackmagic’s new camera. Something we found interesting about the short: the camera’s rolling shutter effect during the fight sequence. The result is that there’s a very minimal rolling shutter issue, definitely not something that should keep one from purchasing the camera.
Behind the Scenes Documentary
Fedex Ursa Download
Check out the video below for a a behind-the-scenes look at A Pirate’s Tale. Director Lukas Colombo talks about his experience making the film, as well as his experience using the URSA Mini 4.6K.
Video via Noam Kroll
Fedex Ursa Download
So, what do you think of the test footage that’s been trickling out? Are you sold? Share your thoughts in the comments below.