Blackmagic Studio Camera User Manual Menu Settings

While the head up display lets you quickly change some important settings, all of your camera’s settings are accessed using the main menu settings.

To open the settings menu and make a change, simply tap on the menu button in the top right hand corner. This opens the settings menu on the LCD and you can now tap and swipe items to make changes.

Tap the menu settings icon and use the touchscreen to change settings

Settings are divided by functions into ‘record,’ ‘monitor,’ ‘audio,’ ‘setup,’ ‘presets,’ and ‘LUTs’ tabs. Each tab has multiple pages, which you can cycle through by tapping the arrows at the edge of your camera’s touchscreen, or swiping left or right.

Tap the ‘record’, ‘monitor’, ‘audio’, ‘setup’, ‘presets’ and ‘LUTs’ headings to move through your studio camera’s menu tabs

Record Settings

The ‘record’ tab lets you set your video format, codec, and resolution, as well as other settings that are important for your recorded video, such as dynamic range and detail sharpening. You can also set the codec and quality for when recording to a USB-C flash disk.

Record Settings Page 1

The first page of the ‘record’ settings tab contains the following settings.

Codec and Quality

The ‘codec and quality’ menu lets you set the quality for Blackmagic RAW when recording externally. You can choose from a selection of constant bitrate settings, or constant quality. For example 3:1, 5:1, 8:1, 12:1, or Q0, Q1, Q3 and Q5 respectively. These provide options so you can set the amount of compression used. More information on Blackmagic RAW is provided later in this section.

Blackmagic RAW quality options

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TIP You can increase the recording durations on external storage media connected to your Blackmagic Studio Camera if you choose codecs that use higher compression. Refer to the ‘record duration’ tables in the ‘recording’ section for more information.

Resolution

This setting displays the resolution being recorded if you are recording to an external flash disk via USB-C. On Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K Plus and 4K Pro models you can record in Ultra HD. On Blackmagic Studio Camera 6K Pro you can choose to record in Ultra HD, 5.3K or 6K resolutions.

The resolution options on Blackmagic Studio Camera 6K Pro

Blackmagic RAW

Blackmagic Studio Cameras support the Blackmagic RAW file format. This format offers superior image quality, wide dynamic range and a broad selection of compression ratios. Blackmagic RAW features all the user benefits of RAW recording, but the files are very fast because most of the processing is performed in the camera where it can be hardware accelerated by the camera itself.

Blackmagic RAW also includes powerful metadata support so the software reading the files knows your camera settings. If you like shooting in video gamma because you need to turn around edits quickly and you don’t have time for color correction, then this metadata feature means you can select video gamma, shoot in video gamma, and the file will display with video gamma applied when you open it in software. However underneath, the file is actually film gamma and the metadata in the file is what’s telling the software to apply the video gamma.

So what all this means is if you want to color grade your images at some point, then you have all that film dynamic range preserved in the file. You don’t have your images hard clipped in the whites or the blacks, so you retain detail and you can color grade to make all your images look cinematic. However, if you don’t have time for color grading, that’s fine because your images will have the video gamma applied and look like normal video camera images. You are not locked in on the shoot and you can change your mind later during post production.

Blackmagic RAW files are fast with the codec optimized for your computer’s CPU and GPU. This means it has fast smooth playback and eliminates need for hardware decoder boards, which is important for laptop use. Software that reads Blackmagic RAW also gets the advantage of processing via Apple Metal, Nvidia CUDA and OpenCL. Blackmagic RAW plays back at normal speed like a video file on most computers, without needing to cache it first or lower the resolution.

It’s also worth mentioning that lens information is recorded in the metadata on a frame by frame basis. For example, when using compatible lenses, any zoom or focus changes performed over the length of a clip will be saved, frame by frame, to the metadata in the Blackmagic RAW file.

Recording to Blackmagic RAW

Blackmagic RAW works in 2 different ways. You have a choice to use either the constant bitrate codec, or the constant quality codec.

Constant bitrate codec works in a similar way to most codecs. It tries to keep the data rate at a consistent level and won’t let the data rate go too high. This means even if you are shooting a complex image that might need a bit more data to store the image, a constant bitrate codec will compress the image harder to make sure the images fit within the space allocated.

This can be fine for video codecs, however when shooting Blackmagic RAW you really want to ensure the quality is predictable. What would happen if the images you were shooting needed more data, but the codec just compresses harder to make a specified data rate? It’s possible you could lose quality, but not be sure it’s happening until you return from a shoot.

To solve this problem, Blackmagic RAW also has an alternative codec choice called constant quality. This codec is technically called a variable bitrate codec, but what it’s really doing is allowing the size of the file to grow if your images need extra data. There is no upper limit on the file size if you need to encode an image but maintain quality.

So Blackmagic RAW set to the constant quality setting will let the file grow as big as it needs to be to encode your images. It also means the files could be larger or smaller depending on what you are shooting.

It is also worth noting that the quality settings for Blackmagic RAW are not obscure names, but are more meaningful as they are derived from what’s happening technically. So for example when you have selected the constant bitrate codec, you will see quality settings of 3:1, 5:1, 8:1 and 12:1. These are the ratios of the uncompressed RAW file size vs the file sizes you should expect when shooting in Blackmagic RAW. 3:1 is better quality as the file is larger, while 12:1 is the smallest file size with the lowest quality. Many users of Blackmagic RAW find that 12:1 has been perfectly ok and they have not seen any quality limitations. However it’s best to experiment and try various settings for yourself.

When using Blackmagic RAW in constant quality you will see the settings are Q0, Q1, Q3 and Q5 on your studio camera. These are the compression parameters passed to the codec and they are setting how much compression is applied in a more technical way. This setting is different because the codec operates differently between constant bitrate vs constant quality. In this constant quality setting, you really cannot tell what the file size ratio will become as it varies a lot based on what you are shooting. So in this case the setting is different and the file will become the size needed to store your media.

Constant Bitrate Settings

The names for 3:1, 5:1, 8:1 and 12:1 represent the compression ratio. For example, 12:1 compression produces a file size roughly 12 times smaller than uncompressed RAW.

Constant Quality Settings

Q0 and Q5 refer to different levels of quantization. Q5 has a greater level of quantization but offers a greatly improved data rate. As mentioned above, the constant quality setting can result in files that grow and shrink quite a lot, depending on what you are shooting. This also means it’s possible to shoot something and see the file size increase to beyond what your media drive can keep up with. It could result in dropped frames. However the benefit is that you can instantly see if this happens on a shoot and then investigate your settings vs quality.

Blackmagic RAW Player

The Blackmagic RAW player included in your Blackmagic camera’s software installer is a streamlined application for reviewing clips. Simply double click on a Blackmagic RAW file to open it, and you can quickly play and scroll through the file with its full resolution and bit depth.

When decoding frames, CPU acceleration in SDK library supports all main architectures, and also supports GPU acceleration via Apple Metal, Nvidia CUDA and OpenCL. It also works with the Blackmagic eGPU for extra performance. Blackmagic RAW player is available for Mac, Windows and Linux.

Sidecar Files

Blackmagic RAW sidecar files let you override metadata in a file without overwriting embedded metadata in the original file. This metadata includes the Blackmagic RAW settings as well as information on iris, focus, focal length, while balance, tint, color space, project name, take number and more. Metadata is encoded frame by frame over the duration of the clip, which is important for lens data if the lens is adjusted during a shot. You can add or edit metadata in sidecar files with DaVinci Resolve or even a text editor because it’s a human readable format.

Sidecar files can be used to automatically add new Blackmagic RAW settings to a playback simply by moving the sidecar file into the same folder as the corresponding Blackmagic RAW file. If you move the sidecar file out of the folder and reopen the Blackmagic RAW file, the changed settings are not applied and you see the file as it was originally shot. Any software that uses the Blackmagic RAW SDK can access these settings. Changes made are saved in the sidecar file and can then be seen by Blackmagic RAW Player or any other software capable of reading Blackmagic RAW files.

When shooting video gamma, the file stays in film gamma, and the metadata tells the Blackmagic RAW processing to display using video gamma. Video gamma is great when you don’t want to grade the image and want to deliver content quickly, however if you want to pull up the black parts of the image, or pull down the white areas, all the detail is retained. You never clip the video and all the detail is still there if you want to access it at any time.

Blackmagic RAW in DaVinci Resolve

Settings can be adjusted for each Blackmagic RAW file, and then saved as a new sidecar file from the ‘Camera RAW’ tab in DaVinci Resolve for creative effect or optimized viewing. This also means you can copy your media for another DaVinci Resolve artist and they will have access to your modified gamma settings automatically on import. In addition to the other metadata your camera files contain, DaVinci Resolve can read your selected dynamic range, so your clips will automatically display in DaVinci Resolve with ‘film’, ‘extended video’ or ‘video’ dynamic range.

You can then customize these settings by adjusting the saturation, contrast and midpoint, as well as the highlight and shadow rolloff. Any adjustments can then be saved as a sidecar file, so the changes can be seen by anyone else working with the files in post. You can always return to the original camera metadata at any time.

You can also export a single Blackmagic RAW frame from the ‘Camera RAW’ tab in DaVinci Resolve, which contains all adjustments, metadata, full resolution and color information so it is easy to share a single frame grab or reference file with others.

Blackmagic RAW Software Development Kit

The Blackmagic RAW Software Development Kit is an API developed by Blackmagic Design. You can use the Blackmagic RAW SDK to write your own applications to use the Blackmagic RAW format. This SDK library can be used by any developer to add support for reading, editing, and saving Blackmagic RAW files. The Blackmagic RAW SDK includes all the generation 4 and generation 5 color science so you can achieve organic cinematic images across any app that supports it. The Blackmagic RAW SDK supports Mac, Windows and Linux, and is available as a free download from the developer page of the Blackmagic website at www.blackmagicdesign.com/developer

The following diagram illustrates the components of the Blackmagic RAW API:

Record Duration

The tables in this section show approximate record duration in minutes based on format, project frame rate and flash disk size.

The maximum recording time for a flash disk can vary depending on the data capacity of your USB-C flash disk and the frame rate you choose. It should also be noted that the recording duration for a flash disk can vary slightly between different manufacturers and whether the storage media is formatted as exFAT or Mac OS Extended.

Simple scenes containing less detail tend to require less data than more dense compositions. The values in these tables assume shots with a high complexity, which means you may get slightly longer record times depending on the nature of your shoot.

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TIP You can estimate record duration times based on different USB-C drive capacities, frame rates and codec settings using the data rate calculator at: https://blackmagicdesign.com/products/blackmagicstudiocamera/blackmagicraw#data-rate-calculator

ULTRA HD

Record Settings Page 2

The second page of the ‘record’ settings tab contains the following options.

Move through the pages of record settings to find the setting you want to change

Dynamic Range

Adjust the ‘dynamic range’ setting by tapping the dynamic range icons. Blackmagic Studio Cameras have three dynamic range settings:

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NOTE When recording Blackmagic RAW using ‘film’ dynamic range, the image will appear dull and desaturated on your touchscreen. This is because the image file contains a lot of data that hasn’t yet been graded to suit a standard display. However you can monitor the video on the LCD, HDMI and SDI output using a display LUT, or look up table, designed to simulate a standard contrast. For more information, refer to the ‘3D LUTs’ section in this manual.

Project Frame Rate

Project frame rate provides a selection of frame rates commonly used in the film and television industry. For example, 23.98 frames per second. This frame rate is normally set to match your playback speed and audio sync used in your post production workflow and delivery requirements.

Eight project frame rates are available, including 23.98, 24, 25, 29.97, 30, 50, 59.94 and 60 frames per second.

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NOTE When you coordinate a multi camera recording through ATEM Mini, Blackmagic Studio Cameras will change their frame rate to match the frame rate setting of the ATEM Mini. If you are working with an SDI based ATEM switcher, you will need to set your project frame rate on your camera to match the switcher.

Off Speed Recording

By default, the project and sensor frame rates are matched for a natural playback speed. Tapping the ‘off speed recording’ switch icon lets you set your sensor frame rate independently.

Off Speed Frame Rate

With ‘off speed recording’ enabled, tap the arrows next to the ‘off speed frame rate’ indicator to set your camera’s sensor frame rate.

The sensor frame rate sets how many actual frames from the sensor are recorded every second and will affect how fast or slow your video will play back at your set project frame rate.

Preferred Media for Recording

When two USB-C flash disks are connected to your studio camera, you can use this setting to determine which disk is recorded to first. The options are ‘drive 1’, ‘drive 2’ and ‘fullest’. Picking either ‘drive 1’ or ‘drive 2’ is a matter of personal preference and when the selected drive fills up, your camera will then continue recording on the alternate drive. ‘Fullest’ can help group files chronologically when shooting a single camera project.

You can override this setting at any time by entering the storage manager and tapping the drive name to set it as active. It’s important to note, however, that ejecting and reconnecting drives reverts to the current ‘preferred drive for recording’ setting.

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TIP The ‘fullest’ setting is based on the percentage that your recording media are filled, rather than their sizes or the amount of data used.

Record Settings Page 3

The third page of the ‘record’ settings tab contains the following settings.

Timelapse

This setting activates the timelapse feature to automatically record a still frame at the following intervals:

For example, you can set the camera to record a still frame every 10 frames, five seconds, 30 seconds, five minutes etc.

The timelapse feature offers many creative options. For example, setting a two frame timelapse interval gives your recorded video a high speed effect when played back.

Start recording by pressing the record button. When you press the button again to stop recording, the timelapse sequence is saved as one single clip, matching the codec and frame rate set in your camera. This means you can drop the timelapse sequence into your post production timeline just like any other clip you have recorded.

Timelapse mode is indicated by an icon over the ‘record’ button

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TIP When you record clips in timelapse mode, the timecode counter updates when a frame of video is recorded.

Detail Sharpening

On Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K Plus and Pro, use this setting to sharpen the image. When sharpening is enabled, decrease or increase the level of sharpening by selecting ‘low’, ‘medium’ or ‘high’.

When enabled, sharpening will be applied to the HDMI and SDI outputs, but will not be recorded via USB-C. This is because you will have more options and greater control over your image using the sharpening tools in DaVinci Resolve.

If Drive Drops Frame

Use this setting to configure the behavior of your Blackmagic Studio Camera when dropped frames are detected. When set to ‘alert,’ recording continues with dropped frames. When set to ‘stop recording,’ your camera stops recording if dropped frames are detected. This can prevent you wasting time shooting unusable footage if you don’t notice the dropped frame indicator.

Apply LUT in File

When the ‘apply LUT in file’ switch is set to ‘on’ your Blackmagic Studio Camera will embed a LUT into the Blackmagic RAW file you are recording. The LUT is saved into the header of the file and can easily be applied to the clip in post production without needing to handle a separate file. The clip will open in Blackmagic RAW Player and DaVinci Resolve with the LUT applied. The LUT can easily be toggled ‘on’ or ‘off’ but will always travel with the Blackmagic RAW file as it is written into the clip itself.

DaVinci Resolve also has an ‘apply LUT’ checkbox in the RAW settings palette for enabling or disabling the 3D LUT in the Blackmagic RAW file. The ‘Apply LUT’ setting in DaVinci Resolve is the same setting as in the camera. This means that when shooting you can direct the colorist to use the LUT by setting it in the camera, but they can switch it off easily in DaVinci Resolve by deselecting the ‘apply LUT’ checkbox.

File Naming Convention

Clips are always recorded to your USB-C flash disk using Blackmagic RAW.

The table below shows an example of the file naming convention:

When you are recording camera ISO files from an ATEM Mini ISO or ATEM SDI ISO model switcher, the clips’ file name will be determined by the ‘record stream’ palette in ATEM Software Control. This means that the files can be identified and linked when the ATEM project is opened in DaVinci Resolve.

For more information, please refer to the ‘ATEM Mini’ or ‘ATEM SDI’ manual which can be downloaded from the Blackmagic Design support center at

Monitor Settings

The ‘monitor’ tab lets you adjust status text, overlays, and other monitoring options for your studio camera’s LCD touchscreen, HDMI output and SDI output. Options are arranged by output between ‘LCD’, ‘front SDI’ and ‘main SDI’. Each of these menus have five pages of options, which you can cycle through by tapping the arrows at the edge of your camera’s touch screen, or swiping left or right.

Monitor Settings 1

The first page of the monitor tab contains identical settings for each output. For example, you can set ‘zebra’ on for the LCD touchscreen, but off for the HDMI and SDI output.

Clean Feed

Tap the ‘clean feed’ switch in the ‘LCD’, ‘HDMI’ or ‘SDI’ menus to disable all status text and overlays for that output. The record tally will still be displayed on the LCD when clean feed is applied.

It is a good idea to apply clean feed to outputs you are feeding to your switcher or any external recorders when using a multicam setup.

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NOTE A LUT will still be applied to outputs with ‘clean feed’ enabled. If you don’t want to apply a LUT to an output, toggle the ‘display 3D LUT’ switch to ‘off’ in the ‘monitor’ menu for that output.

Display 3D LUT

Blackmagic Studio Cameras can apply 3D LUTs to any output to approximate the look of color graded footage. This is especially useful when using ‘film’ dynamic range with its intentionally ‘flat’ low contrast image.

If your camera has a 3D LUT active, use this setting to independently apply that LUT to your LCD touchscreen, HDMI or SDI output. For more information on applying and using 3D LUTs, refer to the ‘3D LUTs’ section.

Zebra

Tap the ‘zebra’ switch in the ‘LCD’, ‘HDMI’ or ‘SDI’ menus to enable zebra guides for those outputs. For more information on setting zebra levels, see the ‘touchscreen controls’ section in this manual.

Focus Assist

Tap the ‘focus assist’ switch in the ‘LCD’, ‘HDMI’ or ‘SDI’ menus to enable focus assist for those outputs. For more information on focus assist and setting focus assist levels, see the ‘touchscreen controls’ section in this manual.

Frame Guide

Tap the ‘frame guide’ switch in the ‘LCD’, ‘HDMI’ or ‘SDI’ menus to enable frame guides for those outputs. For more information on frame guides and choosing different guides, see the ‘touchscreen controls’ section in this manual.

Grid

Tap the ‘grid’ switch in the ‘LCD’, ‘HDMI’ or ‘SDI’ menus to enable a rule of thirds grid for those outputs. For more information on the rule of thirds grid, see the ‘touchscreen controls’ section.

Safe Area Guide

Tap the ‘safe area’ switch in the ‘LCD’, ‘HDMI’ or ‘SDI’ menus to enable safe area overlay for those outputs. For more information on the safe area guide, see the ‘touchscreen controls’ section in this manual.

False Color

Tap the ‘false color’ switch in the ‘LCD’, ‘HDMI’ or ‘SDI’ menus to enable false color exposure assistance for those outputs. For more information, see the ‘menu settings’ section in this manual.

Monitor Settings 2

The second page of the monitor tab contains the following settings.

LCD, HDMI and SDI

Status Text

This setting can be useful to hide the status text and meters on your LCD touchscreen, leaving only the information necessary to compose or direct a shot. Tap the ‘status text’ switch icon to toggle the appearance of status text and meters for your camera’s LCD touchscreen. Overlays such as frame guides, grids, focus assist and zebra remain visible, if enabled. Swiping up or down on the LCD touchscreen has the same effect.

LCD

Display

Instead of a histogram and audio meters, your camera can display codec and resolution information at the left and right bottom edges of the LCD touchscreen. This can be useful if you prefer to use false color for dialing in exposure, or are recording audio separately and want to display additional information in the space normally used by the histogram and audio meter. Simply tap ‘meters’ or ‘codec and resolution’ in the ‘LCD’ menu to select your preferred view.

HDMI and SDI

Display Status Text for Cinematographer or Director

The LCD touchscreen displays information such as ISO, white balance, and aperture that is useful to a camera operator or cinematographer setting up individual shots on that camera. Your camera’s HDMI or SDI output, however, can also show information useful to a director or script supervisor who is keeping track of multiple shots or cameras.

Setting the status text to ‘director’ in the HDMI or SDI monitor settings changes the status text for that output to show the following information.

FPS

Displays the currently selected frames per second for that camera. If off speed frame rate is disabled, only the project frame rate is shown. If an off speed frame rate is being used, the sensor frame rate is shown, followed by the project frame rate.

CAM

Displays the camera index as set in your camera’s slate. For more information, see the ‘slate’ section.

OPERATOR

Identifies the camera operator as set in your camera’s slate. For more information, see the ‘slate’ section.

DURATION DISPLAY

Displays the duration of the current clip while recording, or the last recorded clip in the following format: hours:minutes:seconds.

REEL, SCENE, TAKE

Displays the current reel, scene and take. For more information on reels, scenes, takes and their labeling conventions, refer to the ‘slate’ section.

DYNAMIC RANGE

The bottom left hand corner of the monitor displays the currently applied LUT, if applied to that output. If no LUT is applied, ‘film’ or ‘video’ dynamic range is displayed.

TIMECODE

The bottom right of the monitor displays your camera’s timecode, in the following format: hours:minutes:seconds:frames.

Monitor Settings 3

The third page of the ‘LCD’, ‘HDMI’ and ‘SDI’ monitor tab contains identical settings for each output. These settings act globally across all three monitoring outputs. For example, if focus assist is enabled on your Blackmagic Studio Camera’s LCD, HDMI and SDI outputs changing the ‘focus assist type’ from ‘peaking’ to ‘colored lines’ will effect all three outputs.

Zebra Levels

Set the exposure level that zebra appears at by tapping the arrow icons on either side of this setting. Zebra level is adjustable in five percent steps between 75 and 100 percent exposure.

For more information, see the ‘zebra’ guide in the ‘touchscreen features’ section of this manual.

Focus Assist

Your camera has two focus assist modes, including ‘peak’ and ‘colored lines.’

Peaking

When ‘peaking’ style focus assist is selected, areas of the shot that are in focus are heavily sharpened on your LCD touchscreen, HDMI or SDI output, but not in the recorded image itself. This causes focused parts of your shot to ‘pop’ out of the softer background on screen. As no additional overlays are used, this can be a very intuitive way to tell when focus is dialed in, especially when the subject you’re focusing on is physically well separated from other elements in shot.

Colored Lines

When ‘colored lines’ style focus assist is selected, a colored line is superimposed around the parts of the image that are in focus. This can be a little more intrusive than ‘peaking’ style focus assistance as the lines are drawn over your image, but especially in busy shots with a lot of visible elements, it can be a precise focus tool.

Focus Color

Use this setting to change the color of focus line overlays when using ‘colored lines’ style focus assistance. Changing the focus line color can make it easier to tell focus assistance lines apart from your image. The available options are ‘white,’ ‘red,’ ‘green,’ ‘blue’ and ‘black.’

Focus Assist Level

To set the level of focus assistance for your LCD, HDMI and SDI output, move the slider from left to right.

Setting the focus assist intensity level does not affect whether focus assistance is enabled on your Blackmagic Studio Camera’s LCD, HDMI and SDI output. You need to turn focus assistance on individually for each output in the LCD, HDMI output and SDI output monitor menus.

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TIP The optimum level of focus assistance varies shot by shot. When focusing on actors, for example, a higher level of focus assistance can help resolve edge detail in faces. A shot of foliage or brickwork, on the other hand, may show distracting amounts focus information at higher settings.

Monitor Settings 4

The fourth page of the ‘LCD’, ‘HDMI’ and ‘SDI’ monitor tab contains identical settings for each output. These settings act globally across all three of your camera’s monitor outputs.

Frame Guides

Tap the left or right arrows in the ‘frame guides’ menu setting to cycle through frame guide options for all outputs on your camera. The options are detailed in the ‘touchscreen features’ section of this manual, and are also accessible from the LCD monitoring menu in your LCD touchscreen head up display. It’s worth noting that you can individually select whether frame guides appear on the LCD touchscreen, HDMI or SDI outputs in their respective ‘monitor’ menus.

Safe Area Guide

To adjust the size of the safe area overlay on your studio camera’s LCD touchscreen, HDMI and SDI outputs, tap the arrows to the left and right of the percentage displayed in this setting. This percentage indicates the size of the safe area in relation to the image frame. Most broadcasters require a 90% safe area.

Guide Opacity

Tap the left or right arrows in the ‘guide opacity’ menu setting to choose the opacity of the areas blocked out by frame guides on your LCD touchscreen, HDMI and SDI output. The options are 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%.

Guides Color

Tap the left or right arrows in the ‘guides color’ menu setting to choose a color for the guides.

Grids

To set which combination of grids and crosshair you want to display on your camera’s LCD touchscreen, HDMI and SDI output, tap the ‘thirds’, ‘horizon’, ‘crosshair’ or ‘dot’ options in this setting.

For more information, see the ‘grids’ guide in the ‘touchscreen features’ section.

Monitor Settings 5

The fifth page of your studio camera’s ‘LCD’, ‘HDMI’ and ‘SDI’ monitor tab contains some settings that vary depending on the selected output.

LCD only

LCD Brightness

Drag the ‘screen brightness’ slider in the ‘LCD’ menu left or right to adjust the brightness of your camera’s LCD touchscreen.

HDMI and SDI

HDMI Output

Your studio camera’s HDMI output supports 2160p and 1080p independently of your recording resolution. The video standard will match your camera’s project frame rate.

The HDMI output can determine the video format and frame rate supported by other HDMI equipment and sets the output accordingly. For example, if you connect to displays, ATEM switchers and HyperDeck disk recorders that support HD only, your camera will automatically set the HDMI output to 1080p.

If your equipment can accept 2160p, you can set the HDMI output to 2160p or 1080p.

SDI Output

The 12G-SDI output supports 2160p, 1080p and 1080i independently of your recording resolution. When set to 2160p or 1080p the video standard will match your camera’s project frame rate.

Interlaced HD is available on your SDI output when your project frame rate is set to 50p, 59.94p or 60p and this will be sent as 1080i50, 59.94 or 60 accordingly.

3G-SDI Output

You can change the 3G-SDI output standard to maintain compatibility with equipment that can only receive level A or level B 3G-SDI video. This option will only appear when you are operating in 50, 59.94 or 60 frames per second and outputting 1080p. Tap the ‘Level A’ or ‘Level B’ icon to select each standard.

Audio Settings

The ‘audio’ tab lets you adjust the audio input and monitoring settings on your Blackmagic Studio Camera.

Audio settings for the camera are spread over two pages and divided between channels 1 and 2. You can map each audio channel to a different source, as well as adjusting various settings such as level control.

Audio Settings Page 1

The first page of the ‘audio’ tab contains the following settings.

Channel Source

Use the ‘channel 1 source’ and ‘channel 2 source’ buttons to select your audio source for each audio channel. Below is a description of each channel source setting.

Camera Left or Right

Records from your camera’s internal microphones.

Camera Mono

Creates a single audio channel from your Blackmagic Studio Camera’s built in microphone’s left and right channels.

XLR Mic

Records mic level audio from equipment connected to your camera’s XLR input. If phantom power is enabled and you have the XLR input set to ‘mic’ you’ll also see a ‘+48V’ indicator here. It is also important to ensure that the 48V switch gets turned ‘off’ when you disconnect your phantom powered microphone.

XLR Line

Sets your camera to record line level audio from equipment connected to the XLR input.

3.5mm Left – Line

Uses only the left channel of the 3.5mm input as line level audio.

3.5mm Right – Line

Uses only the right channel of the 3.5mm input as line level audio.

3.5mm Mono – Line

Creates a mono mix of the left and right channel from the 3.5mm input as line level audio.

3.5mm Left – Mic

Uses only the left channel of the 3.5mm input as mic level audio.

3.5mm Right – Mic

Uses only the right channel of the 3.5mm input as mic level audio.

3.5mm Mono – Mic

Creates a mono mix of the left and right channel from the 3.5mm input as mic level audio.

None

Disables your audio channel.

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NOTE When selecting the 3.5mm input as an audio source, the channel 1 and channel 2 sources both need to be line level or mic level. This means that if you select ‘3.5mm left - line’ as your channel 1 source, the available options for the 3.5mm input on channel 2 will all be line level: ‘3.5mm left - line’, ‘3.5mm right - line’ and ‘3.5mm mono - line’. The mic level options will be grayed out.

Channel 1/2 Level

Use these sliders to adjust the recording levels of your chosen channel 1 and 2 sources. Audio meters are included with each slider to help you set the correct audio level. To achieve optimum audio quality, ensure your audio levels do not reach 0 dBFS. This is the maximum level that your camera can record, meaning that any audio that exceeds this level will be clipped, resulting in distortion.

XLR Phantom Power

The XLR inputs can provide 48V phantom power so you can use microphones that aren’t self powered. When your camera is set to ‘XLR’ audio input, simply tap the ‘phantom power’ switch icon to enable phantom power. Phantom power switches are provided for each XLR input.

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NOTE It is standard practice to plug in your XLR cable before switching phantom power on. It is also important to switch phantom power to ‘off’ when you no longer have a phantom powered microphone connected. Connecting equipment that doesn’t require phantom power when still in phantom power mode can damage your equipment, as the camera outputs a charge when in this mode. Phantom power can also take quite a while to discharge after switching it off. Please be aware that you should wait for ten seconds when switching off phantom power before plugging in any other microphones or XLR audio equipment.

Pad XLR -13dB

The -13dB pad option gives you added control to further reduce the input gain levels on XLR audio inputs when shooting in a loud environment even after your input levels are already turned down.

Audio Settings Page 2

The second page of the ‘audio’ tab contains the following settings.

Audio Meters

You can select from VU or PPM meter types. While the VU meter has now become standardized, PPM and loudness meters provide scaling systems and measurements for perceived loudness.

Headphones Volume

This slider adjusts the output levels for headphones and headsets connected to the 3.5mm or 5 pin XLR headset jacks. Move the audio slider left or right to adjust levels.

Setup Settings

The ‘setup’ tab contains your Blackmagic Studio Camera’s identification settings, software version, function button settings and other camera settings not directly linked to recording or monitoring. You can cycle through the menu pages by tapping the arrows at the edge of the LCD touchscreen, or swiping left or right.

Setup Settings Page 1

The first page of your camera’s ‘setup’ tab contains the following settings.

Date and Time

Set your camera’s date and time by tapping the ‘date and time’ setting. The date format is year, month, day and the time format is 24 hour. Date and time are also used for time of day timecode if an external timecode source is not connected.

Language

Blackmagic Studio Cameras support 13 popular languages: English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, German, French, Russian, Italian, Portuguese, Turkish, Polish and Ukrainian.

The ‘select language’ page will appear on initial start up and after you update the camera’s internal software.

To select your language:

1. Tap on the ’language’ in the list

2. Select ‘update’ to return to the setup menu.

Shutter Measurement

Select whether to display shutter information as ‘shutter angle’ or ‘shutter speed’. When using shutter angle, the shutter conforms to the frame rate. When using shutter speed, the shutter is given an absolute, real time value and isn’t connected to your frame rate.

For example, when using a shutter speed of 1/48th of a second, motion blur will remain consistent regardless of the frame rate as the measurement is always the same in real time. Alternatively, a shutter angle of 180 degrees is directly applied to each frame, and therefore influenced by the amount of frames recorded each second. This means motion blur will vary based on the frame rate you are using.

It’s worth mentioning the minimum shutter speed value corresponds to the frame rate. This means 1/24th of a second is the minimum available shutter speed when shooting at 24p and 1/50th is the minimum shutter speed available for 50p.

Flicker Free Shutter based On

Use this setting to change the mains power frequency your camera uses to calculate flicker free shutter settings.

When shooting under lights, your shutter can affect the visibility of flicker. Your Blackmagic Studio Camera automatically calculates a flicker free shutter value for current frame rate and suggests up to three shutter values. Shutter values are affected by the frequency of local mains power supply used to drive those lights. In most PAL countries, the frequency is 50Hz, while NTSC countries typically use 60Hz power. Tap ‘50Hz’ or ‘60Hz’ to set the frequency for your region.

Lens Stabilization

Use the ‘lens stabilization’ option to enable or disable image stabilization on lenses without a physical switch.

Drop Frame Timecode

Use the ‘drop frame timecode’ option to use drop frame timecode when using NTSC project frame rates of 29.97 and 59.94. Drop frame timecode skips a small number of frames from the timecode at set intervals. This keeps your project timecode accurate despite each second not containing a whole number of frames at NTSC frame rates.

Display ND Filter As

On Blackmagic Studio Camera 6K Pro, you can adjust how the ND filter indicator displays your ND filter setting. Each option corresponds to a different camera convention. Cinematographers typically use ND.number notation, while those familiar with DSLRs or broadcast cameras may prefer this information in f-stop format, or as a fraction of available light. These options are available here as ‘number,’ ‘stop,’ and ‘fraction,’ respectively.

Setup Settings Page 2 on Blackmagic Studio Camera ‘Pro’ models

The second page of the ‘setup’ tab contains the following settings on Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K Pro models and 6K Pro.

ATEM Camera ID

If you’re using more than one Blackmagic Studio Camera ‘Pro’ model with an ATEM Switcher and want your cameras to receive tally signals from the switcher, you’ll need to set their ATEM camera ID numbers. This ensures the switcher sends the tally signal to the correct cameras. The camera ID number can be set to a value of 1-99 by tapping the left or right buttons. The default setting is 1.

Color Bars

Outputting color bars rather than a preview image can be useful when connecting your Studio Camera 4K Pro or 6K Pro model to a switcher or external monitor. The appearance of your studio camera’s color bars on your switcher or monitor confirms the connection, and you can perform basic monitor calibration based on the colors of the bars. To turn on color bars for all outputs on Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K Pro or 6K Pro models, including the LCD touchscreen, simply tap the ‘color bars’ switch icon.

Reference Source

This setting is used to select the reference source. Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K Pro and 6K Pro models can lock to an internal or external reference source, or to the reference signal in the program input from an ATEM switcher. If you are using your Studio Camera with an ATEM Switcher set your reference source to ‘program’. If the switcher and all connected cameras are set to an external reference source then setting this to ‘external’ and using your ‘Pro’ Studio Camera with a Blackmagic Studio Converter will allow you to receive an analog reference input.

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NOTE When you are setting your reference source for Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K Pro and 6K Pro models, you may experience a small dropout on your camera’s outputs when switching between your reference sources. This is because the camera is adjusting its referencing timing to match that of the external source. For this reason it is important not to change this setting during a production and only while setting up.

Reference Timing

These settings allow you to manually adjust the reference timing on a line or pixel basis. Simply tap the arrow icons on either side of the ‘lines’ and ‘pixels’ settings to make adjustments.

Setup Settings Page 3 on Blackmagic Studio Camera ‘Pro’ models

The third page of the ‘setup’ tab contains the following settings for Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K Pro and 6K Pro models.

Program Audio Source

When connected to an ATEM switcher, setting ‘program audio source’ to ‘switcher’ prioritizes the program return audio as your input source to be mixed with talkback when monitoring using headphones or a headset. This is useful when you are not feeding the switcher audio from your camera but you still want to listen to the program feed from the switcher via the ‘SDI in’ port. Setting ‘program audio source’ to ‘AFV’, or audio follows video, prioritizes audio that is being displayed on your LCD. That means if the camera’s LCD is displaying what the camera is seeing, you will hear that audio source, but if you have engaged the program return feed, your audio source will be coming from the program audio feed.

Program Mix

This setting changes the balance of camera sound to talkback sound. The headphones will output audio following what is displayed on the LCD. For instance, if you are in camera view, camera audio is heard. If you are in program view, program audio is heard. The default setting is 50%.

Headset Mic

Move this volume slider left or right to increase or decrease audio microphone input levels. The default setting is 50%.

Sidetone Level

Adjust this slider to set the volume of your own voice mic in your headset.

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TIP Blackmagic Studio Camera ‘Pro’ models have a powerful talkback mic preamp so care should be taken when adjusting your mic gain or sidetone levels with 3.5mm mini jack consumer earbuds or headsets. Often these are not very well electrically shielded which can cause crosstalk. If you do encounter this then setting your sidetone very low will cancel out the feedback being caused by your headset.

Setup Settings Pages 4 and 2

The fourth page of the ‘setup’ tab on Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K Pro and 6K Pro models contains the following settings. These settings are on the second page for Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K Plus.

Set Function Button

Next to your studio camera’s LCD touchscreen, you’ll notice three function buttons, ‘F1’, ‘F2’ and ‘F3’. These are mappable to frequently used features and are quickly accessible when operating your camera live and want to avoid using the touchscreen.

Function Button Behaves as Preset or Toggle

Once you have selected the function button you want to map, you can select a behavior.

The available options are:

Preset

When set to this behavior, pressing a function button will recall a combination of a setting and a parameter.

To set a preset, select the setting you want to use from the ‘setting’ menu, and adjust that setting by tapping the arrow icons on either side of the ‘parameter’ menu.

For example, to set the F1 button to recall a preset white balance, use the ‘set function button’ arrows to select ‘F1’, select the ‘preset’ behavior, tap the ‘WB’ setting, and tap the arrows on either side of the ‘parameter’ menu until you get to WB ‘5600K’ and Tint ’10’

Toggle

When set to this behavior, pressing a function button will toggle a particular setting on or off. The ‘setting’ menu is grayed out in this mode. Instead, tap the left or right arrows in the parameter menu to scroll through the available options, such as:

On Blackmagic Studio Camera 6K Pro the additional options are:

Using the ‘toggle’ behavior also lets you select the output this setting applies to. Simply tap any combination of ‘LCD,’ ‘HDMI’ and ‘SDI’ to select. If the output for an option is not available, such as ‘focus zoom’, the ‘HDMI’, and ‘SDI’ settings are disabled.

Setup Settings Pages 5 and 3

The fifth page of the ‘setup’ tab on Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K Pro and 6K Pro models and the third page on Studio Camera 4K Plus contains settings to configure the optional Blackmagic Zoom Demand. These settings are only active when you have Blackmagic Zoom Demand attached to your camera.

For information on attaching and using Blackmagic Zoom Demand, refer to the ‘Blackmagic Zoom and Focus Demand’ section.

Zoom Rocker Direction

You can change the direction of the focus wheel on focus demand by selection either ‘normal’ or ‘reverse’.

Normal

The default zoom rocker direction. Push the zoom rocker to the right to zoom in and to the left to zoom out.

Reverse

When the zoom rocker direction is set to ‘reverse’ push the zoom rocker to the left to zoom in and to the right to zoom out.

Blackmagic Zoom Demand has four zoom function buttons and a speed dial that you can map to different functions.

To assign a different function to the speed dial or one of the zoom buttons choose ‘dial’ or a button number from the ‘set function button’ menu. Next, choose a function by tapping the arrow icons on either side of the ‘button parameter’ menu.

Depending on your studio camera model, dial and function button parameter options include:

Setup Settings Pages 6 and 4

The sixth page of the ‘setup’ tab on Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K Pro and 6K Pro models and the fourth page on Studio Camera 4K Plus contains settings to configure the optional Blackmagic Zoom Demand. These settings are only active when you have Blackmagic Focus Demand attached to your camera.

For more information on attaching and using Blackmagic Focus Demand, refer to the ‘Blackmagic Zoom and Focus Demand’ section later in this manual.

Focus Demand Direction

You can change the direction of the focus wheel on focus demand by selection either ‘normal’ or ‘reverse’.

Normal

Turn the focus wheel clockwise to focus on subjects closer to the lens and counterclockwise for subjects further away.

Reverse

Turn the focus wheel counterclockwise to focus on subjects closer to the lens and clockwise for subjects further away.

Setup Settings Pages 7 and 5

The seventh page of the ‘setup’ tab on Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K Pro and 6K Pro models contain the following settings. This is the fifth page for Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K Plus.

Tally Light LED

In some shooting environments, for example a dimly lit location or an intimate theater performance, you may want to disable the tally light on your camera. To disable the tally light, simply set ‘tally light LED’ to ‘off’. When disabling the tally LED, this will also disable the back light LEDs in all buttons and status lights.

LED Brightness

To set the brightness of the tally light LED, tap ‘low,’ ‘medium,’ or ‘high’. This will also change the brightness of all back light LEDs on buttons and status lights.

Auto Dim Display

Your Blackmagic Studio Camera has an option to automatically turn down the brightness of the LCD touchscreen during periods of inactivity. Select an option for ‘dim display after’ to set how long to wait before dimming the display. The next time you interact with your camera or lens, the screen will return to its normal brightness level.

Hardware ID

The ‘hardware ID’ indicator displays an 8 character identifier for your Blackmagic Studio Camera. This is unique to each camera. A longer, 32 character version of this ID is also included in the metadata for Blackmagic RAW. This can be useful for identifying which footage came from a particular camera.

Software

Displays the version number of currently installed software. See the ‘Blackmagic Camera Setup Utility’ section for more information on updating software.

Setup Settings Page 8 on Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K Pro G2 and 6K Pro Models

The eighth page of Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K Pro G2 and 6K Pro’s ‘setup’ tab contains settings that allow you to set your camera’s streaming options.

For more information on setting up streaming, refer to the ‘streaming video’ section later in this manual.

Stream

Use the stream switch to toggle your stream on or off.

Data Rate

Displays the data rate of the stream during streaming.

Platform

Select your desired streaming platform. Options include YouTube, Twitter and Twitch.

Server

Use the arrow buttons to choose a server, these options will change depending on your streaming platform.

Key

Tap the pencil icon to enter a stream key for your streaming platform.

Quality

Use the arrow buttons to select a streaming quality.

Setup Settings Page 9 on Blackmagic Studio Camera 6K Pro

The ninth page of your Studio Camera 6K Pro’s ‘setup’ tab contains settings that relate to your camera’s streaming options.

Stream Information

Toggle the ‘stream information’ switch to ‘on’ to display information on your camera’s status display. This will be viewable on the LCD when status text is turned on. The information includes the connection being used for streaming, for example Ethernet or a smartphone, a duration counter that shows the duration of your stream and a data rate using megabits per second.

Display 3D LUT

Toggle this setting to ‘on’ if you want to apply a 3D LUT to your stream.

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TIP Switching the ‘display 3D LUT’ setting to ‘on’ will only apply a LUT to the direct stream output.

If you are simultaneously recording to Blackmagic RAW while streaming, you can use the LUT options in the record menu to add a LUT to your files, or the monitor settings to add a LUT on the LCD, HDMI or SDI outputs. Refer to the ‘record settings’ section for more information.

Low Latency

Setting low latency to ‘on’ will ensure that there is minimum delay between what is happening live and what is being viewed by the audience. Setting it to ‘off’ gives you more buffering so is a more stable stream if you have an Internet connection that may be subject to drop outs or poor connection.

Import Stream Settings

Tap the ‘import stream settings’ button to import an XML setup file that has been created so your camera can find an ATEM Streaming Bridge on the Internet. For more information on importing an XML setup file, refer to the ‘streaming video’ section later in this manual.

Delete Stream Settings

Press this button to delete your camera’s imported streaming settings. You will be asked to confirm your selection.

Connection Priority

When Ethernet and a mobile phone are both connected to your Blackmagic Studio Camera 6K Pro, this setting lets you choose which connection will be used for streaming.

Setup Settings Pages 10 and 6

The tenth page of the ‘setup’ tab on Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K Pro and 6K Pro models contains the following settings. This is the sixth page for Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K Plus.

You can connect to a network using a DHCP or a static IP address

Setup Settings Pages 11 and 7

The eleventh page of the ‘setup’ tab on Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K Pro G2 and 6K Pro contains the following settings. This is the seventh page on Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K Plus.

Factory Reset

To reset the camera to its default factory settings, tap the ‘reset camera’ button. On the confirmation page, tap ‘reset’ to confirm this action. Your camera erases any stored LUTs and presets, and resets all settings. It is a good practice to export your presets to a USB flash drive as a backup before performing a factory reset. After a factory reset, you can restore your presets quickly by importing them from the flash drive. It is important to note that a factory reset also resets the horizon meter, so you should recalibrate the motion sensor after a factory reset to help ensure its accuracy.

When selecting ‘reset’ you will be prompted to confirm your action

Motion Sensor Calibration

To calibrate the horizon meter, place your camera on a surface you know is level and tap the ‘calibrate motion sensor’ button. It is essential that you keep the camera stable during calibration. The process takes approximately five seconds to complete.

Pixel Recalibration

The CMOS sensor used in your Blackmagic Studio Camera is made up of millions of pixels that respond to light. As a result, they become more visible and become what is known commonly as hot pixels. All camera sensors, regardless of manufacturer, will develop this variation in pixel brightness over time.

To solve this, your studio camera has a built in recalibration feature that you can run if you see any pixels that are brighter than others.

To perform the pixel racalibration process:

1. Attach the lens cap.

2. Tap the ‘calibrate image sensor’ button

3. Tap ‘calibrate’ to confirm your choice.

The process takes approximately one minute to complete. When complete, tap ‘OK’.

LCD White Balance Calibration

To perform LCD white balance calibration, adjust the ‘LCD temperature’ and ‘LCD tint’ controls so that the two reference patches look neutral. After you change the settings, you can use the ‘reset’ button to return the controls to the factory calibration. The ‘restore’ button brings back your new settings, which helps you compare the appearance before and after calibration. When the LCD shows an accurate white balance, save your settings.

Presets

The ‘presets’ tab lets you save and recall a complete collection of settings for your Blackmagic Studio Camera. This is very useful when one camera is used for multiple projects. For example, you may use your camera for a variety of different shoots with very different settings between types of projects. Your camera’s ‘presets’ function lets you save the setup for a particular project or type of shoot and come back to it quickly and easily when required.

You can also import and export presets. Simply set up one Blackmagic Studio Camera to suit your project, then export that preset for all the other Blackmagic Studio Cameras on your production.

The presets tab allows you to quickly switch between settings that you have saved

Preset buttons

The button icons along the bottom of your studio camera’s ‘preset’ menu correspond with the following functions.

Saving and loading presets

To create a new preset, tap the ‘add’ icon. This opens a touch keyboard on your LCD where you can name your preset. Enter a name and tap ‘update’ to save all of your current settings to that preset.

If your camera already has a preset loaded with the same name, you can choose to overwrite the existing preset or keep both.

Enter a name for your preset by tapping the ‘add’ icon in the preset tab and using the touch keyboard

Once you have a preset saved, tap its name in the preset menu to select it. To load a preset, tap the ‘load’ icon.

Selected presets will appear solid blue, while currently loaded presets have a blue line on the left of their icon.

You can update a preset by tapping the ‘update’ icon. This will bring up a prompt asking you if you want to update the preset with your studio camera’s current settings. Tap ‘update’ to confirm.

Importing Presets

To import a preset from a USB-C flash disk, tap the ‘manage’ icon at the bottom of the ‘presets’ menu. Tap ‘import preset’ from the ‘manage preset’ options and select the USB-C disk that contains the preset you want to import. Tap the ‘import’ button at the bottom of the touchscreen.

Your camera searches the root directory and ‘presets’ folder on your selected media, and lists all the available presets. Any presets you have saved elsewhere are not visible.

Tap a preset to select it, then tap ‘import’ to confirm your selection and copy it to the next available slot on the camera.

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NOTE If all your studio camera’s preset slots are full, the import menu will not be available. You will need to delete an existing preset to make room.

If the preset you want to import has the same name as a preset already saved to your camera, you can choose to replace the existing preset or keep both. At the top right of this screen, you’ll see the number of remaining empty preset slots available on your camera. You are able to import as many presets as you have free slots on your camera.

Exporting presets

To export a preset to a USB-C flash disk, tap the preset you want to export, then tap the ‘manage’ button. Tap ‘export selected preset’, then tap the media where you want to export the preset. If a preset with the same name is already present, choose whether to overwrite the preset or keep both. The camera exports the preset to a ‘presets’ folder.

Deleting presets

To delete a preset, select it and tap the ‘delete’ icon. When you are prompted to confirm your choice, tap ‘delete’.

3D LUTs

The ‘LUTS’ menu lets you import and export 3D LUTs to your Blackmagic Studio Camera.

Select a 3D LUT using your camera’s LUTs tab

Introducing 3D LUTs

3D LUTs can be applied to images on your camera’s LCD touchscreen, HDMI output, SDI output, Blackmagic RAW files and streamed output on Studio Camera 6K Pro. LUTs work by telling your camera what color and luminance output to show for a particular color and luminance input. For example, a LUT may tell your camera to display a vibrant, saturated blue when it receives a relatively dull blue input. This can be useful when shooting Blackmagic RAW footage, or using ‘film’ dynamic range, both of which have an intentionally undersaturated, ‘flat’ appearance. By applying a LUT, you can get an idea of what your footage will look like after it has been graded.

It is easy to create 3D LUTs using DaVinci Resolve or other color correction software, and LUTs are available online from a variety of sources. Up to thirty 17 point or 33 point 3D LUTs up to 1.5 megabytes each can be stored on the camera. Once loaded, you can choose to display a given LUT on your camera’s LCD touchscreen, HDMI and SDI output.

Your Blackmagic Studio Camera supports 33 point 3D LUTs in .cube format created in DaVinci Resolve and 17 point 3D LUTs converted to Resolve .cube format via LUT conversion programs. Your camera processes 3D LUTs using high quality tetrahedral interpolation.

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TIP For more information on displaying LUTs on your camera’ s LCD, HDMI and SDI outputs, see the ‘monitor settings’ section.

To read more about applying LUTs to Blackmagic RAW files, refer to the ‘record settings’ section.

Built-in LUTs

A number of built in LUTs are provided that allow you to preview different looks when shooting in ‘film’ dynamic range or Blackmagic RAW.

Each camera provides LUTs that are specific to Gen 5 color science or the camera sensor:

Gen 5 Film to Extended Video

Displays a wider dynamic range than the ‘film to video’ LUT, and applies a mild contrast change with a smooth roll off in the highlights.

Gen 5 Film to Rec 2020 Hybrid Log Gamma

Displays a gamma curve that is suitable for HDR screens and compatible with standard dynamic range screens.

Gen 5 Film to Rec 2020 PQ Gamma

Displays a gamma curve that is based on what we can perceive with our eyes, for efficient encoding of HDR images.

Gen 5 Film to Video

Similar to the REC 709 color standard for high definition video, and has a high level of contrast and saturation. You may find this setting useful when using Blackmagic Studio Camera alongside other broadcast cameras using the REC 709 color space.

LUTs buttons

Button icons along the bottom of the ‘LUTS’ screen correspond to the following functions:

Importing LUTs

To import a 3D LUT, tap the ‘manage’ icon at the bottom of the ‘LUTs’ menu. Tap ‘import preset’ from the ‘manage LUT’ options and select the drive that contains the LUT you want to import. Tap the ‘import’ button at the bottom of the touchscreen.

Your camera searches the root directory and ‘3DLUTs’ folder on your selected media, and lists available LUTs. Any LUTs you have saved elsewhere are not visible.

Tap a LUT to select it, then tap ‘import’ to confirm your selection and copy it to the next available slot on the camera.

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NOTE If all your studio camera’s 3D LUT slots are full, you will need to delete some existing LUTs to make space for new ones.

If the LUT you want to import has the same name as a LUT already saved to your camera, you can choose to overwrite the existing LUT or keep both. At the top right of this screen, you’ll see the number of remaining empty LUT slots available on your camera. You are able to import as many LUTs as you have free slots on your camera.

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NOTE If you have trouble importing a LUT, it may be the wrong size. You can use a LUT editor like Lattice to check its size, or open it in any text editor on your computer. Next to the tag ‘LUT_3D_SIZE’ is a number indicating the LUT’s size. If this value is not 17 or 33, you can use Lattice to resize your 3D LUT to 17 points.

Applying a LUT

Once you have a LUT saved onto your camera, tap it in the LUT menu to select it, and tap the ‘load’ icon. This enables the LUT for all outputs on your camera. To display the loaded LUT on your camera outputs, switch on ‘display 3D LUT’ in the monitor menu. See the ‘monitor settings’ section for more information.

Exporting LUTs

To export a LUT to a USB-C flash disk, tap the LUT you want to export, then tap the ‘manage’ button. Tap ‘export selected LUT’, then tap the media where you want to export the LUT. If a LUT with the same name is already present, choose whether to overwrite the LUT or keep both. The camera exports the LUT to a ‘3DLUTs’ folder.

Deleting LUTs

To delete LUTs you are no longer using or make room for more, select the LUTs you want to delete and tap the delete icon. When you are prompted to confirm you choice, tap ‘delete’.

Embedded 3D LUTs

When a 3D LUT is used while shooting Blackmagic RAW on Blackmagic Studio Camera, the selected LUT will be embedded into the Blackmagic RAW file that you are recording. The 3D LUT is actually saved with your recorded files in the header of the .braw file, and can easily be applied to footage in post production without needing to handle a separate file.

So when Blackmagic RAW files are delivered to an editor or colorist, they will be able to easily access the LUT that was used while filming, which greatly reduces the possibility that the wrong 3D LUT could be applied to a clip. They can then choose whether to apply the 3D LUT when editing or color grading the footage, and can disable the 3D LUT at any time.

When the ‘apply LUT in file’ switch is set to ‘on’ in the record menu, the recorded clip will open in Blackmagic RAW Player and DaVinci Resolve with the chosen 3D LUT already applied to it.

The 3D LUT can then be easily toggled ‘on’ or ‘off’ but will always travel with the Blackmagic RAW file as it is written into the clip itself. DaVinci Resolve also has an ‘Apply LUT’ switch in the RAW settings palette for enabling or disabling the 3D LUT in the Blackmagic RAW file.

The ‘Apply LUT’ setting in DaVinci Resolve is the same setting as in the camera. This means that when shooting you can direct the colorist to use the LUT by setting it in the camera, but they can switch it off easily in DaVinci Resolve by setting ‘Apply LUT’ to ‘off’.