Blackmagic has Turned Android Devices Into Filmmaking Machines

Blackmagic Design has done it again by launching an Android version of its extremely successful camera app. It’s not just about the advanced camera features the Blackmagic Camera for Android gives you. Still, it connects to the whole ecosystem like Blackmagic Cloud and DaVinci Resolve, opening up much more filmmaking possibilities to a new cloud – the Android users. But there’s a catch. It’s compatible with Galaxy and Pixel phones only.

As stated by Blackmagic Design CEO Grant Petty: “The Blackmagic Camera app for iPhone has been incredibly popular since it was launched last year. So we are excited to be able to give customers with Samsung Galaxy or Google Pixel phones the same controls for shooting digital film as our professional cameras. Plus, the Blackmagic Cloud workflow lets customers record to Blackmagic Cloud Storage and automatically sync with DaVinci Resolve. It’s really exciting to be able to give even more customers the ability to get their footage to the newsroom or post-production studios in literally seconds.”

The main features of the launched version are:

Works with Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel phones.
Shoot in 16:9 or vertical aspect ratios.
Stealth mode for shooting 16:9 while holding the phone vertically.
Capture in H.264 and H.265 with auto proxy generation.
Frame rate, shutter speed, exposure, white balance, tint, and color space camera controls.
Focus assist, zebra, frame guides, histogram.
Time of day or run time, timecode recording.
VU or PPM audio meters.
Thumbnail view of all recorded clips in the media tab.
Preview clips with scrubber, duration, timecode, and file name display.
Fully integrated with Blackmagic Cloud and DaVinci Resolve.
Record to phone, select recorded clips to share via Blackmagic Cloud, or sync automatically.

The heads-up display, or HUD, has the most important camera controls such as lens selection, frame rate, shutter angle, timecode, ISO, white balance, tint, histogram, and audio levels. Customers can adjust settings such as exposure by touching the ISO indicator, or customers can change the audio levels simply by touching the audio meters. Everything is interactive, so if customers tap any item they can instantly change its settings without having to search through complex menus. Customers can clear the heads-up display to reveal the full-screen image by swiping up or down with their fingers. Furthermore, the settings tab unlocks the full power of the phone’s camera, with quick access to advanced settings such as monitoring, audio, camera setup, recording, and more. The record tab allows control over video resolution and recording format including space efficient H.264 and H.265. Professional audio options include VU or PPM audio meters. Blackmagic Camera also includes professional monitoring tools such as zebra settings for checking exposure, focus assist, frame guides, and more.

Blackmagic Camera features a built-in chat workspace so Blackmagic Cloud project members can talk about shots and quickly share creative ideas, all without leaving the app. Simply log in to Blackmagic Cloud select the project customers are working on and start typing a message. Customers can quickly message editors, assistants, colorists, or VFX artists to talk about shot selection or to receive an update on the project. Everyone on that project can see their message and reply instantly. All this means customers can keep in touch with other project members without leaving the app and missing a critical shot. The Blackmagic Camera media tab has all the controls needed to browse or scrub clips for quick review, search sort, and view the upload status of their media. Customers can also link to their DCIM folder and select clips to upload to the Blackmagic Cloud. Simply access their media from Blackmagic Camera’s all clips folder by choosing the Media button to see the thumbnails for each clip customers have stored. Customers can save their media to the My Files folder on the phone, send it to Blackmagic Cloud Storage via Blackmagic Cloud, or manually choose which clips to upload to a project library. Customers can even sync media from Blackmagic Camera directly into a DaVinci Resolve project so users are ready to edit and color grade.

Media management on Blackmagic Camera is easy, with three options depending on location and mobile data coverage. Customers can record on their phones and transfer clips to a computer. This allows customers to free up valuable storage space on their phones and share their files later with other users globally. Customers can log into Blackmagic Cloud and select a DaVinci Resolve project before recording. After each recording, the media will automatically upload and sync to all members of that project. Blackmagic Camera also has a manual option where customers can record their footage to their phone and then select which clips they want to upload via Blackmagic Cloud when they have a network connection. Creating their Blackmagic ID allows customers to have access to Blackmagic Cloud. It’s easy and there’s no charge. Simply tap on Blackmagic Cloud in the media tab to go to the Blackmagic Cloud website to register. Once customers have created their Blackmagic ID they can log in and set up their project library. This is where projects to upload to Cloud Storage are created. With a project library set up, select for Blackmagic Camera to sync directly to Cloud Storage from the app. Invite others using their Blackmagic ID to share the project and instantly collaborate with editors and colorists globally, working on the same project.

When shooting with Blackmagic Camera, the video customers capture can be instantly uploaded as a proxy file, followed by the camera originals, and saved to Blackmagic Cloud Storage. These will then automatically sync to all members of the project anywhere in the world. This means customers can start editing quickly using their proxies, speeding up their workflow. Media can be constantly added to the project by multiple cameras in different locations which is automatically synced to other project members via Blackmagic Cloud. Everyone can use the proxy media and the colorist or finisher can download the original high-resolution camera originals and render them. It’s a fast, seamless, and automatic way to collaborate.

The Blackmagic Camera for Android is available now as a free download from Google Play.

It’s not just about the features, but the whole package and ecosystem is the dramatic announcement here. Blackmagic has just opened up a whole market of Android users who have advanced devices and want to use their phones to shoot movies. Thus they need collaborative platforms, the ability to generate proxies, and cloud integration. Blackmagic gives it for free, and in return gets more DaVinci Resolve users. That’s a pretty solid deal for the company and the end user (=filmmaker). And that’s the strategy of the Petty 🙂

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