Blackmagic Video Assist Price Reduction Announced

Blackmagic Design has announced price reductions for its “Blackmagic Video Assist 3G” and “12G” models. Now it’s easier than ever to add professional monitoring and Blackmagic RAW recording capabilities to any SDI/HDMI camera. Customers can save $200 USD on all models.

Blackmagic Video Assist 5″ 3G was $525 and is now $325.
Blackmagic Video Assist 7″ 3G was $765 and is now $565.
Blackmagic Video Assist 5″ 12G HDR was $795 and is now $595.
Blackmagic Video Assist 7″ 12G HDR was $995 and is now $795.

Blackmagic Design announces price reduction for Blackmagic Video Assist. Added monitoring and Blackmagic RAW recording functions at a lower price than ever before [NAB2024] Explanation photo

Blackmagic Video Assist is a solution that can be used as a portable monitor, professional recorder, portable scope, and even a great camera viewfinder. Add a high-quality recording codec and large monitor to any SDI/HDMI camera. The all-new design includes features such as four built-in scopes, improved focus assist functionality, a tally indicator, and a built-in 3D LUT. The 3G model supports formats up to 1080p60, and the 12G HDR model supports formats up to 2160p60. The 12G HDR model is equipped with a high-brightness touch screen, making it ideal for recording HDR digital film and shooting outdoors in sunlight. Additionally, the 12G HDR series supports Blackmagic RAW recording from cameras that support Blackmagic RAW.

In-board hardware

Video Assist is equipped with a large LCD touch screen that allows users to record and play clips, check the scope, set focus assist, and more. The larger 7-inch model features an analog audio input and two SD card slots, and automatically continues recording to the second card for continuous recording. The 12G model features 12G-SDI and Ultra HD HDMI interfaces, as well as USB-C connectivity for direct recording to external flash media disks. All models feature rear tally lights, front panel speakers for clip playback, and a headphone jack. Video Assist uses Sony’s L-series batteries and has two battery slots so users can change batteries without interrupting recording.

Video Assist also makes a great monitor, since LCD displays make it easy to accurately focus and frame. The LCD display shows important information while shooting, including timecode, transport controls, audio meters, and histograms. Users can also customize the LCD to add/remove overlays such as current filename, focus peaking, zebra, false color, frame guides, 3D LUTs, etc.

Users can apply 3D LUTs to monitor the color and look desired, and even burn LUTs into recorded files if needed. When using Blackmagic RAW, 3D LUTs are only added to the metadata and can be disabled in post-production.

Exposure monitoring

Video Assist includes a scope so users can accurately monitor the camera’s exposure and ensure it complies with broadcast standards. In other words, it can also be used as a portable waveform monitoring solution. The waveform display displays the brightness level of the video input or playback signal in a conventional manner. Vectorscope allows users to check color intensity at 100% SDI reference level. It also supports RGB parade display, which is useful for color correction. The histogram shows the distribution of detail from white to black in an image, and can show clipping in highlights and shadows. The built-in scope can be overlaid on live video or displayed as picture-in-picture in the top right corner of the scope.

Blackmagic RAW is a revolutionary format that captures sensor data from the camera in perfect quality. Video Assist supports Blackmagic RAW recording from all Blackmagic cameras, including Blackmagic URSA Cine and Blackmagic PYXIS. Additionally, cameras from Leica, Panasonic, FUJIFILM, Nikon, Canon, Sigma, and more also support Blackmagic RAW recording. Widely used, highly compressed camera formats such as H.264 can suffer from noise and processing artifacts. Blackmagic RAW solves this problem, delivering superior images with incredible detail and color throughout the entire production workflow, from camera to editing, color correction, and mastering. Additionally, camera settings are saved as metadata, so users can set ISO, white balance, and exposure and override them in post-shoot editing.

Grant Petty, CEO of Blackmagic Design, commented:

Blackmagic Video Assist is a very popular product. We have worked hard to improve our manufacturing process to reduce manufacturing costs. Users love the ability to add Blackmagic RAW to their workflows simply by using Video Assist. With so many cameras capable of using Blackmagic RAW, we thought that by lowering the price of the Video Assist series, more people would be able to take advantage of professional monitoring and recording capabilities.