Blackmagic Ultimatte12 User Manual Getting Started

Getting started with your Ultimatte is as simple as plugging in power, plugging in your camera foreground, connecting your background source and then plugging the automatically generated composite into a switcher. This getting started section will show you the basics of setting up a fast auto composite for your live production. The model used in this section is an Ultimatte 12 HD Mini which has HDMI connectors, but all SDI Ultimatte models share similar features and the setup is exactly the same for their SDI connectors.

Plugging in Power

To power your Ultimatte, plug a standard IEC cable into your Ultimatte’s power input on the rear panel.

Setting the Language

Once powered, the LCD display will prompt you to select your language. Using the settings dial, scroll to the language you wish to use and press the flashing ‘set’ button to confirm your selection.

1 Use the settings dial to select your language

2 Press the ‘set’ button to confirm your setting

Connecting your Camera Foreground

With power connected, you can now plug your camera into the camera foreground input.

Connecting the Background

Now plug your background source into the ‘background’ input. For example, this could be a video feed from a gaming console, or a virtual set from a HyperDeck video feed, or even a still graphic you can load into the media pool using Ultimatte Software Control. For more information, refer to the ‘using the media pool’ section.

Generating an Auto Composite

As you plug in your sources, Ultimatte will automatically build your composite and you can see it happening on the front panel’s LCD. Once all sources are connected, the automatically generated composite is ready for output.

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NOTE The foreground input will determine the video format for all inputs. For example, if you have 1080 HD connected to the foreground input, make sure all the other sources are set to 1080 HD.

Connecting to a Switcher

The program video output lets you connect the final composite to an ATEM switcher, for example an ATEM Mini or ATEM SDI. If your foreground input source has embedded audio and timecode, they will be included in the program output.

Connect your Ultimatte’s program output to an ATEM switcher

Monitoring

Plugging a monitor into the monitor output lets you view the background source, camera foreground and internally generated mattes. This is helpful when refining your composite. For more information refer to the ‘monitor out’ section.

The monitor input and output is also used for cascade monitoring. This feature lets you daisy chain multiple Ultimatte units via SDI so you can monitor the sources and outputs on all units via one single Ultimatte, rather than connecting monitors to each unit individually. For more information, refer to the ‘monitor cascade feature’ section.

Setting the Auto Composite

The automatically generated composite is ready to be used as soon as your foreground and background sources are connected. You can reset the starting composite at any time by using the ‘auto key’ function in the front panel’s LCD menu. We recommend resetting the auto key each time the lighting changes or you shift the camera’s position.

Use the auto key function to reset your composite

Your Ultimatte will set an automatic composite with green selected as the backing color by default. If your lighting is optimized and your green screen environment has been carefully set up, the automatic composite generated by Ultimatte can be all you need to do.

If you are setting up a highly detailed and complex virtual set, or your green screen requires some help from Ultimatte, you can use Ultimatte Software Control on your computer or a Smart Remote 4 hardware panel to make precise adjustments to the various matte controls and hand craft your final composite. This includes features such as screen correction which can help improve your composite if your green screen has uneven lighting or blemishes that are visible in your auto key.

We believe you will enjoy exploring your Ultimatte and developing your own workflow to produce amazing virtual environments. You can even build larger setups using multiple cameras and an Ultimatte unit on each camera so you can have different camera angles on your virtual set. When constructing graphics and backgrounds that are tailored to each angle, the possibilities are truly endless!

Please keep reading this manual for information on how to use your Ultimatte’s front panel to change settings, plus how to control the unit using Ultimatte Software Control.

Monitor Cascade

The monitor cascade feature lets you view the monitor output from up to eight Ultimatte units via one single unit.

To connect up to eight Ultimatte units together and use the monitor cascade feature, each unit needs to be connected to common analog reference or to foreground sources that are locked together. The Ultimatte units can then be daisy chained via their monitor inputs and outputs, with the last unit plugged into a monitor. Then when you select any of the eight units in Ultimatte Software Control, the monitor output for that particular unit can be viewed from the monitor output on the last unit.

To enable the monitor cascade feature in Ultimatte Software Control, click on the ‘info’ icon in the files and information section, and check the ‘monitor cascade’ checkbox in the ‘configuration’ tab.

Switching the monitor cascade feature on or off will affect the SDI monitor output but does not affect your Ultimatte’s front panel LCD. The LCD on the front panel always displays the program output for that unit.

Below is an example showing how two Ultimatte units are daisy chained for cascade monitoring.

For more information on cascade monitoring, refer to the ‘settings/monitor cascade’ section.