Modern Design with 12G‑SDI and Bright HDR Screens
There are two models of Blackmagic Video Assist 12G, with each model including an innovative touch screen user interface with deck controls as well as a large screen to view your recording. The Blackmagic Video Assist 7" 12G model also includes 2 media slots, while both the 5" and 7" models include 12G‑SDI for high frame rate Ultra HD, analog inputs for audio, USB‑C external disk recording, plus a front panel speaker and side mounted headphone jack. You also get 2 rear battery slots for mounting Sony L‑Series batteries, so you have enough power for the brighter HDR screens and higher speed Ultra HD electronics. Plus with 2 battery slots, you can change batteries without interrupting recording. A 12v universal power supply is included for studio or on location use.
Large HDR Monitor with Easy Touch Controls
The innovative touchscreen LCD user interface provides incredible control. On screen, there are dedicated buttons for play, stop and record, plus a mini timeline for scrolling through your recordings. You can even image swipe to jog. The LCD includes a heads up display of timecode, video standard, media status as well as audio meters. Scopes can be enabled via the touch screen as well as focus and exposure assist. There's also an extensive range of settings all controlled from the large LCD. Plus you can load and save 3D LUTs.
Dual Media Recorders for Uninterrupted Recording
Video Assist uses commonly available SD card media, so you can record to flash memory cards that are easy to obtain. The files are small enough to allow long recordings on standard SD cards or the faster UHS-II cards. The larger Video Assist 12G 7" model even includes 2 SD card slots so you can swap out any full cards even during recording, allowing infinite length recording. Standard SD cards or the faster UHS-II cards are perfect for broadcast because they are small, high speed and affordable.
Record Direct to External USB‑C Media Disks
If recording to other media types is required, then the USB‑C Expansion port lets you plug in an external flash disk for recording. USB‑C flash disks have massive capacity as they don't suffer from any size constraint. Plus, it's possible to record to the same disk you are using or editing, so you don't need to waste time copying files before starting post production. Flash disks are so fast they can record high data rate formats that are too big for some lower cost media cards, such as high frame rate Ultra HD. Imagine adding a Blackmagic MultiDock 10G for easy SSD compatibility with other recorders such as Blackmagic HyperDeck models. You even get on screen menus for managing external disks using the touch screen.
Advanced 12G‑SDI and HDMI 2.0 Inputs and Outputs
Video Assist features a wide range of video and audio connections such as multi‑rate 12G‑SDI for SD, HD, and Ultra HD SDI devices. HDMI is included for HDMI cameras and monitoring to consumer televisions and video projectors. The 7 inch model features Mini XLR inputs which are provided for audio input from microphones and external audio mixers. The USB‑C connection lets you plug in flash disks or disk arrays for recording, allowing extremely long record durations and because you're recording to a media disk, you can edit direct from this disk after the shoot, eliminating extra file copying work. Video Assist even includes a 12V DC power connection with locking power connector.
HDR Support with Bright Wide Gamut LCD
You'll be ready for the latest HDR workflows with support for the latest HDR standards and an extremely bright screen with a wide colour gamut. Plus the high brightness screen makes outdoor shooting in bright sunlight possible. The built in scopes even change to HDR scopes when working in HDR formats. Files are tagged with the correct HDR information then SDI and HDMI inputs will also automatically detect HDR video standards. Static metadata PQ and HLG formats are handled according to the ST2084 standard. The bright LCD has a wider colour gamut so it can handle both Rec. 2020 and Rec. 709 colour spaces. The built in Video Assist LCD colour gamut can even handle 100% of the DCI‑P3 format.
Built In Scopes Ensure Compliance to Standards
Video Assist features full internal waveform monitoring so you can ensure compliance to broadcast standards and it also works great as a portable waveform monitoring solution. The waveform display provides a traditional luminance (brightness) levels view of your input or playback signal. The vectorscope display allows you to see the intensity of colour at 100% SDI reference levels. You also get an RGB parade display which is ideal for colour correction and checking for illegal levels. Histogram shows the distribution of white to black detail in your images and highlights or shadows clipping. The built in scopes can even be overlaid on live video, or as a small picture in picture view at the top right of the scope.
Latest Multi Rate 12G‑SDI for SD, HD and Ultra HD
You get full support for the most popular video standards. The SDI and HDMI connections are multi‑rate, so handle SD, HD, and Ultra HD. SD formats include NTSC and PAL. 720p HD standards include 720p50 and 59.94p. 1080i HD interlaced formats include 1080i50 and 59.94. 1080p HD formats include 1080p23.98, 24, 25, 29.97, 30, 50, 59.94 and 60p. You can even do 1080 PsF formats. Ultra HD is supported up to 2160p59.94. You can even record 2K and 4K DCI rates up to 25p for digital film work.
Load Custom 3D LUTs to Recreate Film Looks
Some cameras can output logarithmic colour space to preserve the dynamic range, which is great for later post production, however when these files are viewed on a monitor they can look flat and washed out. 3D LUTs solve this problem because they allow you to apply a "look" to the monitor so you get an idea of how the finished images will look like when editing. LUTs can be applied temporarily for monitoring only, or they can be burned into files for use in editing when capturing Blackmagic RAW. Video Assist works with industry standard 17 and 33 point 3D LUT files, or you can work with the built in LUTs such as Extended Video, Film to Video, Film to Rec.2020 and more.
Post Production Friendly File Formats
Video Assist records using standard open file formats so you don’t have to waste time transcoding media. Files are compatible with all post production software so you can work with the software of your choice, including DaVinci Resolve Studio. Recording works in industry standard 10‑bit Apple ProRes files in all formats and from all HDMI or SDI camera, or 12‑bit Blackmagic RAW when connected to supported cameras. Blackmagic RAW is the fastest growing RAW format and developers can download and use the free Blackmagic RAW SDK to add support to their applications. Best of all, media files work on all operating systems.
The Quality of RAW and the Speed of Video
Blackmagic RAW is a revolutionary new format designed to capture and preserve the quality of the sensor data from cameras. Video Assist supports Blackmagic RAW recording from popular cameras such as Panasonic EVA1 and Canon C300 MK II. This eliminates the problems with popular camera formats such as H.264, which are highly compressed resulting in noise and processing artifacts. Blackmagic RAW eliminates this problem and gives you stunning images with incredible detail and colour throughout the production pipeline from camera to edit, colour and mastering. It also saves camera settings as metadata so you can set ISO, white balance and exposure, then override them later while editing, all without any loss of quality. Only Blackmagic RAW gives you the highest quality, smallest files and fastest performance.
Professional Multi Channel SDI and Analog Audio
Blackmagic Video Assist 12G includes professional audio for modern cameras or other outboard audio equipment. When working in SDI formats, you can record 2, 4, 8 or 16 channels of audio in real time. For connecting microphones the Video Assist 7" model has two XLR analog audio inputs with phantom power that support the high definition audio sample rate of 192 kHz at uncompressed 16 and 24 bit per sample. You can monitor using on screen audio meters with user selectable VU or PPM ballistics. Blackmagic Video Assist 12G features the latest in technology, including audio, with the analog audio connections designed to low noise and low distortion digital cinema and broadcast specifications.
