Malcolm Owen
Blackmagic Design wants to take the lead in creating video for the Apple Vision Pro, by making an end-to-end workflow for filming and editing Apple Immersive Video.
The Apple Vision Pro can play back footage created using Apple Immersive Video. A standard that combines 8K 3D video with a 180-degree field of view and Spatial Audio support.
To create footage that meets the requirements, Blackmagic Design has come up with what it calls the world's first commercial camera system and editing software compatible with Apple Immersive Video.
The process starts with a Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive camera, which as a custom stereoscopic lens preinstalled on the camera body. The sensor can capture a resolution of 8,160 by 7,200 per eye, complete with pixel-level synchronization and 16 stops of dynamic range.
This footage can be shot at 90fps, with the stereoscopic footage inserted into a single file, along with lens data.
The camera is made with a magnesium alloy chassis and a carbon fiber polycarbonate composite skin, for strength and to save weight. Along with a 5-inch fold-out HDR touchscreen and an external color status LCD, there's a second 5-inch HDR touchscreen also included to minimize the need for external monitors.
Connections include 12G-SGI out, 10G Ethernet, USB-C, XLR audio, and more. An 8-pin Lemo connector provides 24V and 12V power, though it also ships with a 250 power supply.
The camera can record to 8TB of high-performance network storage, which connects to the Blackmagic Media Module and is syncable with Blackmagic Cloud. It's enough to capture over 2 hours of Blackmagic RAW 8K stereoscopic video, which can also be accessed remotely by editors while the shoot continues.
The Blackmagic RAW file is then inserted into DaVinci Resolve, which will be updated to produce a workflow just for Apple Immersive Video. Footage can be edited from the camera file, and viewed on 2D monitors using a new immersive video viewer.
Both the Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive and the DaVinci Resolve updates will be available later in 2024 from Blackmagic Design resellers.
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7 Comments
Well, this is interesting. A fairly high end Pro solution. I’m honestly surprised this is out so soon. But it’s a good indication that Blackmagic expects the market to grow quickly.
Well this is intriguing. I’m curious if there is only one lens focal length permitted - perhaps like how Cinerama only used a tiny 28mm lens to mimic the human eye perception. I would hope that eventually there would be a way to get telephoto lenses. Regardless, this could be a compelling end-to-end process. I usually detest VR and stereoscopic films/video, but I’ve actually made a few in C4D with live action shoots and they were really fun. As long it doesn’t demand the viewer to don the glasses/headset for over 30 min.