Blackmagic Announces the URSA Cine Immersive 8K 3D Camera
Blackmagic Announces the URSA Cine Immersive 8K 3D Camera

Blackmagic Announces the URSA Cine Immersive 8K 3D Camera

2024-06-11
6 mins read

Now you can shoot your movie to the Apple Vision Pro. Blackmagic Design Announces the “World’s First Commercial Camera System and Editing Software for Apple Immersive Video on Apple Vision Pro”. Meet the URSA Cine Immersive, the world’s first commercial camera system designed to capture Apple Immersive Video. This camera is armed with 8K sensors with 16 stops of dynamic range. There are a lot of ‘World’s First” titles in this article. All details are below. 

Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive camera
Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive camera. Credit: Blackmagic Design

Producing cinematic Apple Immersive Video for Apple Vision Pro

A few hours ago, Blackmagic Design announced an end-to-end workflow for producing cinematic Apple Immersive Video for Apple Vision Pro. Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive is the world’s first commercial camera system designed to capture Apple Immersive Video. Apple Immersive Video is a brand-new storytelling format that leverages 8K, 3D video with a 180-degree field of view, and Spatial Audio to transport viewers to the center of the action. Blackmagic Design also announced updates to DaVinci Resolve, the industry-leading post-production software, that will give professional filmmakers the ability to edit Apple Immersive Video for the first time. Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive and a new version of DaVinci Resolve that supports Apple Immersive Video for Apple Vision Pro will be released later this year.

We are thrilled to announce the first-ever commercial camera system and post-production software that supports Apple Immersive Video, giving professional filmmakers the tools to create remarkable stories with this powerful new format pioneered by Apple. Built on the new URSA Cine platform, URSA Cine Immersive features a fixed, custom, stereoscopic 3D lens system with dual 8K image sensors that can capture 16 stops of dynamic range. With this innovative system, filmmakers can record remarkable moments like action-packed scenes, unique perspectives, stunning landscapes, intimate performances, and more, all with incredible fidelity, offering viewers an unparalleled sense of realism and immersion.

Grant Petty, Blackmagic Design CEO

The World’s First Commercial Camera System for Apple Immersive Video

Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive features a fixed, custom lens system pre-installed on the body, which is designed specifically for Apple Immersive Video. The sensor delivers 8160 x 7200 resolution per eye with pixel level synchronization and an incredible 16 stops of dynamic range, so cinematographers can shoot 90fps stereoscopic 3D immersive cinema content to a single file. The custom lens system is designed specifically for URSA Cine’s large format image sensor with extremely accurate positional data that are read and stored at the time of manufacturing. This immersive lens data — which is mapped, calibrated, and stored per eye — then travels through post-production in the Blackmagic RAW file itself.

Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive camera
Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive camera. Credit: Blackmagic Design

The World’s First Editing Software for Apple Immersive Video

An updated version of DaVinci Resolve will introduce powerful new features to create a comprehensive workflow for immersive video on Apple Vision Pro. Blackmagic customers will be able to edit Apple Immersive Video shot on the URSA Cine Immersive camera. A new immersive video viewer will let editors pan, tilt, and roll clips for viewing on 2D monitors or on Apple Vision Pro for an even more immersive editing experience. Transitions rendered by Apple Vision Pro will also be able to be bypassed using FCP XML metadata, giving editors clean master files. Export presets will enable quick output into a package that can be viewed directly on Apple Vision Pro. DaVinci Resolve Immersive Features are: 

  • Support for monitoring on Apple Vision Pro from the DaVinci Resolve timeline.
  • Ability to edit Blackmagic RAW Immersive video shot on Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive.
  • Immersive video viewer for pan, tilt, and roll.
  • Automatic recognition of Apple Immersive Video (left and right eye) for dual file stereo immersive content.
  • Option to bypass transitions rendered by Apple Vision Pro.
  • Export and deliver native files for viewing on Apple Vision Pro.
Apple Vision Pro and DaVinci Resolve app
Apple Vision Pro and DaVinci Resolve app

URSA Cine Immersive and High-End Productions

According to Blackmagic, the evenly weighted camera body is built with a robust magnesium alloy chassis and lightweight carbon fiber polycarbonate composite skin to help filmmakers move quickly on set. Customers also get 12G‑SDI out, 10G Ethernet, USB-C, XLR audio, and more. The fold-out monitor has a large 5″ HDR touchscreen on one side and an external color status LCD on the other. The right side of the camera features a dedicated assist station with a second 5″ HDR touchscreen that allows the crew to work around the camera without needing external monitors. An 8-pin Lemo power connector at the back of the camera works with 24V and 12V power supplies, making it easy to use the camera with existing power supplies, batteries, and accessories. Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive comes with a massive 250W power supply and B mount battery plate, so customers can use a wide range of high-voltage batteries from manufacturers such as IDX, Blueshape, Core SWX, BEBOB, and more. Customers will also receive a top handle, antennas for high-speed Wi-Fi, baseplate, 24V power supply, and high voltage B mount battery plate for quick set up. Furthermore, the Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive comes with 8TB of high-performance network storage built in, which records directly to the included Blackmagic Media Module and can be synced to Blackmagic Cloud and DaVinci Resolve media bins in real-time. This means customers can capture over 2 hours of Blackmagic RAW in 8K stereoscopic 3D immersive, and editors can work on shots from remote locations worldwide as the shoot is happening.

Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive camera
Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive camera

RAW Immersive file format

The new Blackmagic RAW Immersive file format is designed to make it simple and easy to work with immersive video within the whole post-production workflow and includes support for Blackmagic global media sync. Blackmagic RAW files store camera metadata, lens data, white balance, digital slate information, and custom LUTs to ensure consistency of image on set and through post-production. Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive is the first commercial, digital film camera with ultra-fast high capability Cloud Store technology built in. The high-speed storage lets customers record at the highest resolutions and frame rates for hours and access their files directly over high-speed 10G Ethernet. The camera also supports creating a small H.264 proxy file, in addition to the camera’s original media when recording. This means the small proxy file can be uploaded to Blackmagic Cloud in seconds, so media is available back at the studio in real-time. Blackmagic Media Dock accelerates post-production workflow by making it faster and simpler to start editing and performing color correction. Customers can mount up to three Blackmagic Media Modules for high-speed access to media from multiple URSA Cine Immersive cameras all at the same time. The four high-speed 10G Ethernet ports allow up to four separate edit workstations to connect directly and is extremely fast, even when a lot of users are connected at the same time.

Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive camera
Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive camera

Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive Features

  • Dual custom lens system for shooting Apple Immersive Video for Apple Vision Pro.
  • 8K stereoscopic 3D immersive image capture.
  • 8160 x 7200 resolution per eye with pixel-level synchronization.
  • Massive 16 stops of dynamic range.
  • Lightweight, robust camera body with industry-standard connections.
  • Generation 5 Color Science with new film curve.
  • Dual 90 fps capture to a single Blackmagic RAW file.
  • Includes high-performance Blackmagic Media Module 8TB for recording.
  • High-speed Wi-Fi, 10G Ethernet, or mobile data for network connections.
  • Optional Blackmagic URSA Cine EVF.
  • Includes DaVinci Resolve Studio for post-production.
Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive 8K 3D Camera.
Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive 8K 3D Camera.

Today at WWDC, Apple referred to a new camera we’ve been developing called Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive. This camera is still in development, but we wanted to share some more details here. We are developing a full end-to-end workflow with DaVinci Resolve to produce cinematic Apple Immersive Video on Vision Pro. Together, we think Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive and DaVinci Resolve will give filmmakers the workflow to be able to shoot, edit and deliver Apple Immersive Video. It’s quite exciting and the future of entertainment. Based on the new Blackmagic URSA Cine platform, the new Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive model features a fixed, custom lens system with a sensor that features 8160 x 7200 resolution per eye with pixel level synchronization. It has an extremely wide 16 stops of dynamic range and shoots at 90 fps stereoscopic into a Blackmagic RAW Immersive file. The new Blackmagic RAW Immersive file format is an enhanced version of Blackmagic RAW that’s been designed to make immersive video simple to use through the post-production workflow. The Blackmagic URSA Cine also features a custom lens system designed specifically for Blackmagic URSA Cine’s large format image sensors with extremely accurate positional data which is calibrated at the time of manufacturing. Plus the immersive lens data is mapped, calibrated, and stored per eye in the Blackmagic RAW file so it travels through the post-production process in the Blackmagic RAW Immersive file itself. That eliminates the need for multiple files to capture an immersive scene. The new updates to DaVinci Resolve make it the world’s first immersive video editor. There are a lot of updates and changes to support immersive workflows including a new immersive video viewer which will let editors pan, tilt, and roll clips for viewing on 2D monitors. But what’s most exciting is we can even allow clips to be adjusted and monitored on Apple Vision Pro itself for a complete immersive editing experience. We are working hard on the new Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive and the new version of DaVinci Resolve, which will be released later this year.

Blackmagic Design
Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive 8K 3D Camera. Dual 8K sensor
Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive 8K 3D Camera. Dual 8K sensor

Availability and Price

Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive and the update to DaVinci Resolve will be available later this year from selected Blackmagic Design resellers worldwide. No info about pricing yet.

Deals & Specials for filmmakers

Here are some updated and selected deals and specials for filmmakers offered by top-dealers (B&H and Adorama).

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Yossy is a filmmaker who specializes mainly in action sports cinematography. Yossy also lectures about the art of independent filmmaking in leading educational institutes, academic programs, and festivals, and his independent films have garnered international awards and recognition.
Yossy is the founder of Y.M.Cinema Magazine.

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Get the best of filmmaking!

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