Blackmagicdesign Video Assist Installation And Operation Manual Download Page 10

Settings

Overlays

Tap the overlays icon to open the zebra, focus peaking, guides and grid settings. 
These settings let you display overlays on the LCD to help with exposure, focus, composition 
and framing when connected to a camera. 

Overlay features are not visible via the SDI or HDMI output. 

Zebra

The zebra feature helps you achieve optimum exposure by displaying diagonal lines over areas 
of the video that exceed your set zebra level. For example, if you set the zebra level to 100%, 
you’ll know that any area of the image displaying the zebra pattern will be clipped. If you set the 
zebra to 90%, you can feel confident that you have some extra exposure headroom to protect 
the highlights in your shot. 

To turn the zebra feature on and change the zebra level, tap the left and right arrows or drag 
the slider in the ‘zebra’ setting.

Focus Peaking and Focus Assist

Focus peaking and focus assist settings give you powerful tools to help focus your images fast. 
Focus peaking displays edge lines on the sharpest areas of the image. Sensitivity settings let 
you change how strong the lines are. 

To turn edge lines on and change the sensitivity settings, tap the left and right arrows or drag 
the slider left or right. Sensitivity levels include ‘low’, ‘medium’ or ‘high’. In images with lots of 
detail and high contrast, the lines can be distracting, so in these conditions you can select ’low’ 
or ‘medium’. Alternatively, for low contrast shots with less detail, select ‘high’ so the lines are 
stronger and easier to see.

Changing the color of the edge lines can also make them easier to see in conditions where 
their color may match the image. To change the color, simply tap the left and right arrows in the 
‘focus line color’ setting.

Edge lines are extremely effective. They can be so pronounced that you can even monitor the 
depth of your focal plane, plus watch it move closer or further into your shot as you adjust your 
camera’s focus ring. 

For more information on selecting focus assist tools, refer to the ‘monitor settings’ section in 
this manual.

Guides

The frame guides feature provides aspect ratio overlays for various cinema, television and 
online standards. Tap the ‘guides’ menu button, then tap the left or right arrows, or drag the 
slider icon left or right to choose a guide or to turn the guides off.

TIP

 

You can also set the zebra to highlight areas of your image that represent specific 

video levels on a waveform, for example setting the zebra for 50% means you can 
visually identify which regions of your image will appear at approximately 50% on a 
waveform scope.

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Summary of Contents for Video Assist

Page 1: ...Installation and Operation Manual November 2017 Blackmagic Video Assist English Fran ais Deutsch Espa ol Italiano and Portugu s...

Page 2: ...l monitor Ultra HD Blackmagic Video Assist 4K records Ultra HD on two SD cards for continuous recording and is also a powerful audio recorder so you can mix analog audio into the SDI or HDMI recording...

Page 3: ...ing Disk Speed 33 Blackmagic Video Assist Setup 33 Video Settings 34 About Settings 34 Changing the Language 34 Updating the Internal Software 35 Using DaVinci Resolve 36 Importing your Clips 37 Editi...

Page 4: ...sist gently press the battery against the inside top edge of the battery slot then slide the battery down against the back panel until you feel it click and lock into place Press the battery release b...

Page 5: ...you can also listen to your audio during playback via the built in speaker below the LCD Plugging in Audio When plugging in your video audio is also connected as it s embedded in the SDI or HDMI video...

Page 6: ...omputer When using your media on Mac OS then you can use HFS which is the Mac disk format If you are using Windows then you should use exFAT format which is the Windows disk format and Mac OS computer...

Page 7: ...s manual To start recording simply swipe the touchscreen up or down to reveal the on screen meters then tap the record icon Tap again to stop recording Remote Control via the LANC Connector On Blackma...

Page 8: ...This is important because if there are any overlays visible in your image via the HDMI output they will be recorded in your video which you probably don t want To check the DSLR camera overlays are n...

Page 9: ...creen The touchscreen is used to monitor your video and audio plus change settings You can change most settings by tapping on the icons in the status strip at the top of the LCD Audio settings such as...

Page 10: ...r drag the slider left or right Sensitivity levels include low medium or high In images with lots of detail and high contrast the lines can be distracting so in these conditions you can select low or...

Page 11: ...overlay with two vertical and horizontal lines placed in each third of the image Tap on or off to view or hide the thirds overlay Thirds are an extremely powerful tool to help compose your shots For e...

Page 12: ...p24 1080p25 1080p29 97 1080p30 1080p50 1080p59 94 1080p60 2160p23 98 2160p24 2160p25 2160p29 97 2160p30 HDMI Input and Output 525i59 94 NTSC 625i50 PAL 720p50 720p59 94 720p60 1080i50 1080i59 94 1080i...

Page 13: ...es seconds frames Trigger Record Tap the trigger record indicator to select between timecode run or SDI HDMI trigger recording This lets you start and stop recording triggered by information received...

Page 14: ...ed If you have another source connected your video assist will swap over to the other if the signal from the original source is lost for a brief period of time This can be useful for redundancy if you...

Page 15: ...urn solid red and the recording will stop Your video assist will then save the last recorded file If you have a formatted card in slot 2 of Blackmagic Video Assist 4K the unit will automatically switc...

Page 16: ...eters then tap the audio meters to open the volume and analog audio level settings Simply drag the volume slider to increase or decrease the volume Headphone Volume To adjust the headphone volume simp...

Page 17: ...r SD card format your card adjust monitor and display settings plus change the date and time On Blackmagic Video Assist 4K you can also adjust audio settings To hide the settings and return to your vi...

Page 18: ...factor You can select the de squeeze amount of 1 33x 1 66x 2x to correspond with the level of squeeze on different anamorphic lenses Select off to disable the setting Screen Rotation If you want to di...

Page 19: ...computer with Blackmagic Video Assist Setup installed 2 Launch the setup software and open the settings for your video assist by clicking on the circular settings icon 3 In the video tab you will see...

Page 20: ...not your recorded video Audio Settings Blackmagic Video Assist 4K is also a powerful audio recorder Each XLR input has independent settings such as 1 XLR Line XLR Mic or Video When connecting professi...

Page 21: ...language that you have loaded Refer to Blackmagic Video Assist Setup for more information HDMI Range The Video Assist HD model has an HDMI range selector which allows you to specify the type of signal...

Page 22: ...are preserved Audio Meters The right side of the on screen meters displays audio meters showing audio levels for channels 1 and 2 of the input source The display is calibrated to dBFS units and featur...

Page 23: ...ange of individual video components including luma chroma saturation hue and the red green and blue channels that together comprise the color and contrast of your video signal The video scopes menu ba...

Page 24: ...ng adjustments to both settings lets you find the perfect combination so you can monitor the video and scopes at the same time Lowering the opacity slider allows you to see the video image and the sco...

Page 25: ...image For example if filming an outdoor scene where the left side of your sky is overexposed you will see the left side of the waveform graph above 100 The waveform display showing luminance values RG...

Page 26: ...ng how many parts of the vectorscope graph branch out at different angles you can see how many hues there are in the image with the specific angle of each part of the graph showing you which hues they...

Page 27: ...es in the video The left edge of the histogram displays shadows or blacks and the far right displays highlights or whites If monitoring the image from a camera when you close or open the lens aperture...

Page 28: ...esign website at www blackmagicdesign com support The following table contains SD cards we have tested and are able to record video up to a given maximum format on Blackmagic Video Assist 4K Compatibl...

Page 29: ...the storage settings Swipe the touchscreen left or right to open the storage settings menu To format your SD card 1 Swipe the touchscreen left or right or tap the card status display to open the stora...

Page 30: ...or exFAT 5 Type a name for the new volume and then click erase Your SD card will quickly be formatted and made ready for use Use disk utility on Mac OS to erase your SD card in the Mac OS extended jo...

Page 31: ...the same way as you would an external hard drive USB drive or any other media storage device attached to your computer 2 Double click on the SD card to open it and you should see a list of QuickTime o...

Page 32: ...ed Test will even show you how many streams of video your storage is capable of handling Blackmagic Disk Speed Test software is available to download from the Blackmagic Design support center at www b...

Page 33: ...s Use this tab to view information about your video assist such as the currently installed internal software and the name of the unit To change the name click inside the name edit box and type in a ne...

Page 34: ...rnal software is up to date and there is nothing further you need to do To update the internal software using Windows 1 Download and unzip Blackmagic Video Assist Setup 2 You should see a Blackmagic V...

Page 35: ...Software Version Currently Installed To check which version of Blackmagic Video Assist software is installed on your computer open the About Blackmagic Video Assist Setup window On Mac OS open Blackma...

Page 36: ...all repair or service the product b to repair damage resulting from improper use or connection to incompatible equipment c to repair any damage or malfunction caused by the use of non Blackmagic Desig...

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