Overview
Blackmagic Video Assist 5” 3G is a portable monitor, a professional recorder, a portable scope and a fantastic camera viewfinder solution! You can also add better quality record codecs and a larger monitor to any SDI or HDMI camera! The new design has innovations such as 4 built in scopes, enhanced focus assist features, a tally indicator and built in 3D LUTs. The Video Assist 5” 3G support formats up to 1080p60 and the new design also has L-Series batteries for longer life. Blackmagic Video Assist 5” 3G really is 4 products in one!
Perfect for Digital Cinema, Broadcast Test and Live Production!
Blackmagic Video Assist is so versatile it can be used for hundreds of tasks! Add it onto your camera rig to get a large screen viewfinder with modern record codecs, focus assist features and 3D LUTS! Video Assist is also an ultra portable scope that lets you test equipment in broadcast and live production to ensure your video levels are correct and all your gear is working correctly. If you’re doing live production then Video Assist is just like a large screen HyperDeck so it can be used as a mastering recorder, or as a clip player for inserting ads or promos into live programs. You can even use it as an ISO recorder with each camera having a dedicated monitor and recorder!
Modern Design with Latest Technology and Amazing Screens!
All Video Assist models are dominated by a large touchscreen with all controls for recording, playback of clips, viewing scopes and setting focus assist features. Both 7″ models are large enough to include analog inputs for audio and two SD card slots so you get continuous recording, with automatic recording to the second card. Both of the 12G models include 12G-SDI and Ultra HD HDMI connections and USB-C for recording direct to external flash media disks. All models include a rear tally light, a front panel speaker for clip playback and a headphone jack! Video Assist uses Sony L-Series batteries, and with 2 battery slots, you can change batteries without interrupting recording!
Transform Camera Usability with Video Assist!
Traditional cameras are designed for shoulder mounted operation, so are a compromise. Hours spent leaning into a viewfinder for long tripod mounted shoots can be tough! Video Assist will transform your shooting style with an on-board rigged screen. It’s much more comfortable using a screen rigged to a position best suited for a shooting setup. Plus you get better situational awareness for the operator, assistant or director. With both 5″ and 7″ models, you choose the size of a rigged monitor that suits you best. Plus you’re also adding fantastic features such as focus zoom, focus peaking, zebras, histogram, false color, scopes, frame markers, frame guides, touchscreen and more!
Customize your Touchscreen Tools and Features
With large and bright 5″ and 7″ touchscreens, Video Assist makes it incredibly easy to frame shots and accurately focus. The touchscreen displays critical information while you’re shooting including the timecode, transport control, audio meters and a histogram for exposure. You can also customize the LCD to add or remove overlays such as current filename, focus peaking, zebra, false color, frame guides, 3D LUTs and more. 3D LUTs support allows monitoring shots with the desired color and look, plus you can even “bake in” the LUT if you want to record it into the file. If you’re using Blackmagic RAW, the 3D LUT is only added into the metadata so it can be disabled in post production.
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 7″ models include 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.
Upgrade to Better Recording for Digital Cameras
Blackmagic Video Assist is an ideal upgrade for cameras, as its bright display is bigger than the tiny displays found on consumer cameras, plus you’re also adding professional focus assist features and better quality file formats. Video Assist is also a great solution for professional cameras because you can use it to upgrade older broadcast cameras to modern file formats used on the latest editing software. You get support for all editing software as you can record in Apple ProRes and Avid DNx. You can even use Blackmagic RAW on supported cameras. With both HDMI and SDI inputs you can connect it to any consumer camera, broadcast camera or even DSLR cameras.
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 touchscreen 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!
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 ProRes or DNx files in all formats and from all HDMI or SDI cameras, as well as 12-bit Blackmagic RAW on the 12G-SDI HDR models 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!
Record Direct to External USB‑C Media Disks
The Blackmagic Video Assist 12G models even include a USB-C expansion port so you can 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 such as high frame rate Ultra HD. Imagine adding a Blackmagic MultiDock 10G for easy SSD compatibility so you can record across multiple disks as each disk fills. You even get on screen menus for managing external disks using the touch screen!
Outputs to USB Webcam for Live Streaming!
Now you can live stream using both Blackmagic Video Assist 3G and 12G HDR models with new webcam support added to the USB connection! That means you can plug into a computer and get live video into any video software. The software is tricked into thinking video assist is a common webcam! Plus you get full HD resolution 1080p quality! Choose any software you like, such as Open Broadcaster for live broadcast streaming, or you can Skype call your client with live video of your shoot! Blackmagic Video Assist works with all major software and platforms such as Open Broadcaster, XSplit Broadcaster, YouTube Live, Facebook Live, Skype, Zoom, Twitch, Periscope, Livestream, Wirecast and more!
Built In Scopes Ensure Compliance to Standards
Video Assist features scopes for accurate exposure on cameras and compliance to broadcast standards. That means it’s also a great portable waveform monitoring solution! The waveform display provides a traditional luminance (brightness) level view of the video inputs or the playback signal. The vectorscope allows you to see the intensity of color at 100% SDI reference levels. You also get a RGB parade display which is ideal for color correction. 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!
What’s In The Box
- Blackmagic Video Assist 5” 3G
- Universal power supply with international adapters