September 2023

Installation and Operation Manual

Blackmagic
Cinema Camera 6K

Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K

 English

Welcome
Thank you for purchasing your new Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K!

In 2012 we launched our original Blackmagic Cinema Camera for portable digital film making.
Since then we have listened to your wonderful feedback and have now built our new cinema
camera. Welcome to Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K!

Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K features a full height 6K sensor that is 3 times larger than
a Super 35 sensor with a 3:2 aspect ratio and large photosites. That means the pictures
look even more amazing, you get a larger image using full frame lenses and you get to use
anamorphic lenses without cropping. Plus your camera’s highly adaptable L-Mount lets you use
EF lenses, PL cine lenses and a lot more. It’s a true digital cinema camera for high end film!

Your new Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K has completely redesigned electronics but uses the
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera Pro platform so you can use the same battery extender
and viewfinder with all the same accessories.

Your camera records 2 simultaneous streams of video including full resolution Blackmagic
RAW plus small HD H.264 proxies so you can do cloud and remote work in DaVinci Resolve
and start editing immediately. The files are recorded on very small, super fast CFexpress cards
that are designed for film and video.

This instruction manual shows you how to get started with Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K.

Check the support page on our website at www.blackmagicdesign.com for the latest version
of this manual and for updates to your Blackmagic Cinema Camera’s internal software. When
downloading the software, be sure to register with your information so we can keep you
updated when new software is released.

We are continually working on new features and improvements, so we are keen to hear from you!

Grant Petty
CEO Blackmagic Design
Contents
Getting Started 5 Entering Metadata 84
Attaching a Lens 5 Slate 84
Powering your Camera 6 Gyro Stabilization 89
Powering Your Camera with the Camera Video Output 91
Included Power Cable 6 Using DaVinci Resolve 91
Storage Media 7 Project Manager 92
CFexpress Cards 7 Editing with the Cut Page 92
USB-C flash disks 9 Adding Clips to the Timeline 96
Preparing Media for Recording 10
Trimming Clips on the Timeline 98
Preparing Media using your Camera 11
Audio Trim View  98
Preparing Media using a Mac 13
Adding Titles 99
Preparing Media using Windows 13
Working with Blackmagic RAW Files 100
Recording 14
Color Correcting your Clips with
Recording Clips 14 the Color Page 103
Blackmagic RAW 15 Adding a Power Window 107
Recording to Blackmagic RAW 15 Using Plugins 109
Maximum Sensor Frame Rates 18 Mixing Your Audio 109
Record Duration 18 Adding VFX and Compositing on
Shooting using a Vertical Aspect Ratio 20 the Fusion Page 114
Playback 22 Mastering Your Edit 122
Camera Features 22 Quick Export 122
Camera Front 22 The Deliver Page 123
Right Side 23 Working with Third Party Software 124
Left Side 24 Working with Files from CFexpress
Top Panel 25 Cards 124
Camera Underside 27 Working with Files from
Camera Rear 27 USB-C flash disks 124

Touchscreen Controls 29 Using Final Cut Pro 125

Touchscreen Features 29 Using Avid Media Composer 126

Settings 52 Using Adobe Premiere Pro 127

Dashboard 52 Blackmagic Camera Setup 128

Record Settings 52 Using Blackmagic Camera Setup 129

File Naming Convention 58 Transferring Files over a Network  135

Monitor Settings 58 Using a Battery Grip 138
Audio Settings 65 Developer Information 140
Setup Settings 68 Camera Control REST API 140
Presets 79 Transport Control API 141
3D LUTs 81 Timeline Control API 144

Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K 3

Event Control API 145 Blackmagic SDI Camera Control Protocol 171
System Control API 146 Example Protocol Packets 180
Media Control API 151 Blackmagic Embedded Tally
Preset Control API 153 Control Protocol 181

Audio Control API 155 Help 183

Lens Control API 160 Regulatory Notices 184

Video Control API 162 Safety Information 185
Color Correction Control API 166 Warranty 186

Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K 4

Getting Started
Getting started with your Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K is as simple as mounting a lens and
powering your camera.

Attaching a Lens
Your Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K uses L-mount lenses. To attach a lens to your camera,
begin by removing the protective dust cap. To remove the protective dust cap, hold down the
locking button and rotate the cap counterclockwise until it is released.
To attach a lens:
1 Align the dot on your lens with the dot on the camera mount. Many lenses have a visual
indicator, for example a blue, red or white dot.

2 Press the lens mount against the camera mount, and twist the lens clockwise until it clicks
into place.

3 To remove the lens, hold down the locking button, rotate the lens counterclockwise until its
dot indicator reaches the 7 o’clock position. Gently remove the lens from its mount.

NOTE When no lens is attached to the camera, the glass filter covering the
sensor is exposed to dust and other debris so you’ll want to keep the dust cap on
whenever possible.

Getting Started 5
Powering your Camera
With a lens attached, you can now supply power to your camera. Blackmagic Cinema Camera
6K can be powered by inserting the supplied NP-F570 battery or by connecting the AC
power adapter.
To insert the battery:
1 On the underside of the camera, press the door release to open the battery door.
2 With the contacts facing the terminal, insert the battery until you feel it click into place
under the locking tab.
3 Close the door to the battery terminal and gently push until it clicks into place. To release
the battery, push the locking tab towards the front of the camera and the battery will eject.
To turn your camera on, move the power switch on the top of your camera to the ‘on’ position.
To turn your camera off, move the power switch to the ‘off’ position.

To turn your camera on, switch the power button to the ‘on’ position

TIP Two NP-F570 batteries can be used via the optional Blackmagic Pocket Camera
Battery Pro Grip accessory. For information about adding a battery grip to your Cinema
Camera 6K, refer to the ‘using a battery grip’ section in this manual.

Powering Your Camera with the Included Power Cable

The included 100-240 volt AC plug pack can be used to power your Blackmagic Cinema
Camera 6K and to charge the internal battery when your camera is powered off. Two additional
batteries in an optional Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera Battery Pro Grip will also charge
when attached.
The DC power cable locks to the camera so it cannot be accidentally disconnected.
To plug in external power:
1 Connect the AC to 12V DC adapter plug to your mains power socket.
2 Open the rubber protector on the left side of your camera and rotate the locking DC power
connector so that it lines up with the recess on the top of the 12V DC power input. Gently
push the connector into the input until it clicks.
3 To unplug the connector, pull the sheath away from the connector and remove the
connector from the input.

Getting Started 6
If you have both external and battery power connected, only external power is used. If you
remove external power while a charged battery is connected, your camera switches to battery
power without interruption.
Charging a hot battery immediately after use will reduce charging speed until the battery
cools below 45 ˚C or 113 ˚F. We recommend letting the battery cool down for 15 minutes
before charging.

Charging the Battery via USB

The battery inserted in your camera can be charged via USB when the camera is switched
off. This is convenient as you can use a portable power bank to charge the camera when not
in use. Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K supports support charging via standard 5V 10W USB
wall chargers. Chargers that support USB power delivery, or USB PD, can also be used. USB
PD chargers typically have a USB-C connection and up to 20V output, so can provide a faster
charge. Charging the internal battery via the 12V DC power input is supported when the camera
is switched on or off.
You are now ready to insert the storage media and start recording!

Storage Media
Your Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K uses CFexpress Type B cards to record video. You
can also connect high capacity USB-C flash disks via the USB-C expansion port for
increased recording times. Record duration times based on different storage media
capacities, frame rates and codec settings can be estimated using the data rate calculator at:
https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/blackmagiccinemacamera/blackmagicraw#data-
rate-calculator

CFexpress Cards
CFexpress cards are capable of supporting very high data rates, so are perfect for recording 6K
and 4K video at high frame rates.

NOTE CFexpress Type B cards are generally high speed cards, though some cards
have slower write speeds compared to read speeds, and maximum data rates can
differ between models. For reliable recording with your chosen frame rates, use only
the cards recommended by Blackmagic Design.

Storage Media 7
To insert a CFexpress card:

1 2

To access the CFexpress card slot, hold the camera The spring loaded door opens so you can access
with the LCD facing you. Slide the door on the right the CFexpress card slot.
side towards you and then let it swing open.

3 4

Insert the CFexpress card into the slot until you The storage information at the bottom of the LCD
feel it lock into place. The card should insert easily touchscreen will show the name and record time
without the need for excessive force. To remove a remaining of the detected CFexpress card.
CFexpress card, gently push the card in and then
release to eject it.

Storage Media 8
 NOTE Before you can record clips, you will need to format the CFexpress card. You
can find information on how to format media in the next few sections of the manual.

Choosing a CFexpress Card

When working with high data rate video it’s important to carefully check the CFexpress card
that you would like to use. This is because CFexpress cards have different read and write
speeds. For the most up to date information on supported CFexpress Type B cards on
Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K, please refer to the Blackmagic Design support center at
www.blackmagicdesign.com/support.

USB-C flash disks

Your camera’s high speed USB-C expansion port lets you record video directly to USB-C flash
disks. These fast, high capacity drives allow you to record video for long periods, which can be
important when filming events with long durations.
Once you have finished recording you can connect the same drive directly to your computer for
editing and post production, without having to copy media across.
To connect to a USB-C flash disk:
1 Connect one end of a USB-C cable to your USB-C flash disk.
2 Open the rubber protector on the left side of the camera and connect the other end of the
cable to the USB-C port.

NOTE When a USB-C flash disk is connected to your camera, it occupies the second
storage slot in your camera’s operating system.

Choosing a fast USB-C flash disk

USB-C flash disks are designed to offer fast, affordable storage for a wide range of devices and
are readily available from a variety of consumer electronics outlets. It’s important to note that
film making is only one part of the USB-C flash disk market, so choosing the best drive is vital to
making sure you have enough speed to record 6K and 4K footage.

Storage Media 9
Many USB-C flash disks are designed for home computing and aren’t fast enough to record
6K and 4K video.
For the most up to date list of recommended USB-C flash disks please go to
www.blackmagicdesign.com/support.

Important Notes About USB-C flash disk Speed

Some models of USB-C flash disk can’t save video data at the speed the manufacturer
claims. This is due to the disk using hidden data compression to attain higher write
speeds. This data compression can only save data at the manufacturer’s claimed speed
when storing data such as blank data or simple files. Video data includes video noise
and pixels which are more random so compression will not help, therefore revealing the
true speed of the disk.
Some USB-C flash disks can have as much as 50% less write speed than the
manufacturer’s claimed speed. So even though the disk specifications claim a USB-C
flash disk has speeds fast enough to handle video, in reality the disk isn’t fast enough
for real time video capture.
Use Blackmagic Disk Speed Test to accurately measure whether your USB-C flash
disk will be able to handle high data rate video capture and playback. Blackmagic Disk
Speed Test uses data to simulate the storage of video so you get results similar to what
you’ll see when capturing video to a disk. During Blackmagic testing, we have found
newer, larger models of USB-C flash disk and larger capacity USB-C flash disks are
generally faster.
Blackmagic Disk Speed Test is available from the Mac app store. Windows and
Mac versions are also included in Blackmagic Desktop Video, which you can download
from the ‘capture and playback’ section of the Blackmagic Design support center at
www.blackmagicdesign.com/support.

Preparing Media for Recording

You can format your CFexpress cards and USB-C flash disks using the ‘format’ feature on
your camera’s storage and formatting menu, or via a Mac or Windows computer. For best
performance, we recommend formatting storage media using your camera.
HFS+ is also known as OS X Extended and is the recommended format as it supports
‘journaling’. Data on journaled media is more likely to be recovered in the rare event that your
storage media becomes corrupted. HFS+ is natively supported by Mac. exFAT is supported
natively by Mac and Windows without needing any additional software, but does not
support journaling.

Storage Media 10
Preparing Media using your Camera
1 Tap either storage indicator at the bottom of the LCD touchscreen to enter the storage
manager. Tap the ‘format’ button at the bottom of the screen.

The ‘format’ button allows you to select the media storage you want to prepare
for recording

2 On the ‘select media’ page, tap on the storage media that you want to format and confirm
your selection.

NOTE If your camera is connected to a drive hub, such as a Blackmagic MultiDock,

the drive list will display all the SSD drives available to your camera. To select the drive
you want to record to, tap the drive you want, then tap the ‘use drive’ button.

3 Tap ‘edit reel number’ if you would like to manually change the reel number. Use the
keypad to enter a new reel number and press ‘update’ to confirm your selection.
4 Choose OS X Extended or exFAT format and tap the format button.

Tap ‘edit reel number’ to manually edit the reel number

5 A confirmation screen will allow you to confirm the media to be formatted, the selected
format and the reel number. Confirm your selection by tapping the format button.
Tap ‘cancel’ to cancel the format.

Storage Media 11
 Check that you have selected the correct media before formatting

6 Hold down the format button for three seconds to format your media.

7 The camera notifies you when the format is complete and your media is ready to use,
or if formatting has failed.
8 Tap ‘ok’ to return to the storage manager.
9 Tap ‘exit’ to leave the storage manager.

When formatting CFexpress cards or USB-C flash disks using your camera, the camera ID
that is generated from the slate and reel number are used to name the media. Your camera
automatically adjusts the reel numbers incrementally each time you format. If you need to
manually enter a specific reel number, tap the ‘edit reel number’ and enter the number you want
to format the card as.

The storage manager on your camera indicates whether you are managing
CFexpress or USB-C flash disk media

Tap on ‘reset project data’ in the ‘project’ tab of the slate if you’re starting a new project and
want the numbering to reset back to 1. For more information about your camera’s slate, refer to
the ‘entering metadata’ section later in this manual.

Storage Media 12
Preparing Media using a Mac
The Disk Utility application included with your Mac can format a drive in the HFS+ or exFAT
formats. Make sure you back up anything important from your disk as you will lose everything on
it when it is formatted.
1 Connect your disk to your computer with an external dock, USB hub, or cable adapter
and dismiss any message offering to use your drive for Time Machine backups.
2 On your computer, go to applications/utilities and launch Disk Utility.
3 Click on the disk icon of your
drive and then click the erase tab.
4 Set the format to Mac OS Extended
(Journaled) or exFAT.
5 Type a name for the new volume
and then click erase. Your media will
quickly be formatted and made ready
for recording.

Preparing Media using Windows

The ‘format’ dialog box can format your camera’s storage
media in the exFAT format on a Windows PC. Remember to
backup anything important from your media first as all data
will be lost when it is formatted.
1  onnect your camera’s storage media to your computer
C
using an external reader, USB-C cable or adapter.
2  pen the ‘start’ menu or ‘start’ screen and choose
O
‘computer’. Right click on your camera’s storage media.
3 From the contextual menu, choose ‘format’.
4  et the file system to ‘exFAT’ and the allocation unit size
S
to 128 kilobytes.

NOTE If clips are not recording correctly, check that your CFexpress card or USB-C
flash disk is on our list of recommended media for the codec and frame size you
are using. For lower data rates try lowering your frame rate or resolution. Check the
Blackmagic Design website for the latest information at www.blackmagicdesign.com
Partitioned media can be used with your Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K, though your
camera will only recognize the first partition of your media for recording and playback.
It’s worth noting that if you use the storage and formatting menu to format your media,
the entire drive including all partitions will be erased, not just the first partition that has
been used for recording and playback. For this reason we strongly recommend using
media with one partition only.

Storage Media 13
Recording
Recording Clips
Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K features two record buttons. The primary record button is
located on the top of the handgrip for triggering with your index finger when holding the
handgrip of the camera with your right hand.
The second record button is located on the front of your camera to allow you to begin recording
while holding the camera with one hand in situations where you want to record yourself. The
button is located in an easy to reach position, ideal if you are recording yourself for video blogs.
Press one of the ‘record’ buttons on your camera to begin recording immediately. Press ‘record’
again to stop recording.

The ‘record’ button located on the The ‘record’ button located on

top panel of your camera the front of your camera

TIP Before you start recording, select the media you want to use by pressing and
holding the name of the CFexpress card or USB-C flash disk at the bottom of the
touchscreen. The storage indicator for the media you have selected turns blue to
indicate the camera is set to record to this media.

Choosing the Resolution and Sensor Area

Your Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K records Blackmagic RAW using either a constant quality
or constant bitrate setting. Sensor frame rate options will vary depending on the quality and
resolution you choose. For more information, refer to the ’maximum sensor frame rates’ section
later in this manual.

Recording Proxy Files

While recording Blackmagic RAW, proxy media files are also recorded to a ‘proxy’ folder on the
same CFexpress card or USB-C flash disk.
Proxy media files are compressed versions of your camera’s Blackmagic RAW files and are
recorded using the H.264 codec at 1920x1080 resolution. They are ideal for remote collaboration
workflows and make it easy to exchange media online. Proxy files recorded on Blackmagic
Cinema Camera 6K are automatically recognized by DaVinci Resolve and linked to the Blackmagic
RAW original media files, so you have the option to edit with proxy media straight away. For more

Recording 14
information on how to use proxies in a DaVinci timeline, refer to ‘using proxy media’ in the ‘using
DaVinci Resolve’ section.

TIP Proxy media files are always recorded matching your camera’s project frame rate.

Blackmagic RAW
Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K supports the Blackmagic RAW file format. This format offers
superior image quality, wide dynamic range and a broad selection of compression ratios.
Blackmagic RAW features all the user benefits of RAW recording, but the files are very
fast because most of the processing is performed in the camera where it can be hardware
accelerated by the camera itself.
Blackmagic RAW also includes powerful metadata support so the software reading the files
knows your camera settings. If you like shooting in video gamma because you need to turn
around edits quickly and you don’t have time for color correction, then this metadata feature
means you can select video gamma, shoot in video gamma, and the file will display with video
gamma applied when you open it in software. However underneath, the file is actually film
gamma and the metadata in the file is what’s telling the software to apply the video gamma.
So what all this means is if you want to color grade your images at some point, then you have
all that film dynamic range preserved in the file. You don’t have your images hard clipped in the
whites or the blacks, so you retain detail and you can color grade to make all your images look
cinematic. However, if you don’t have time for color grading, that’s fine because your images
will have the video gamma applied and look like normal video camera images. You are not
locked in on the shoot and you can change your mind later during post production.
Blackmagic RAW files are extremely fast and the codec is optimized for your computer’s
CPU and GPU. This means it has fast smooth playback and eliminates the need for hardware
decoder boards, which is important for laptop use. Software that reads Blackmagic RAW also
gets the advantage of processing via Apple Metal, Nvidia CUDA and OpenCL.
This means that Blackmagic RAW plays back at normal speed like a video file on most
computers, without needing to cache it first or lower the resolution.
It’s also worth mentioning that lens information is recorded in the metadata on a frame by frame
basis. For example, when using compatible lenses, any zoom or focus changes performed over
the length of a clip will be saved, frame by frame, to the metadata in the Blackmagic RAW file.

Recording to Blackmagic RAW

Blackmagic RAW works in 2 different ways. You have a choice to use either the constant bitrate
codec, or the constant quality codec.
The constant bitrate codec works in a similar way to most codecs. It tries to keep the data rate
at a consistent level and won’t let the data rate go too high. This means even if you are shooting
a complex image that might need a bit more data to store the image, a constant bitrate codec
will just compress the image harder to make sure the images fit within the space allocated.
This can be fine for video codecs, however when shooting Blackmagic RAW you really want to
ensure the quality is predictable. What would happen if the images you were shooting needed
more data, but the codec just compresses harder to make a specified data rate? It’s possible
you could lose quality, but not be sure it’s happening until you return from a shoot.
To solve this problem, Blackmagic RAW also has an alternative codec choice called constant
quality. This codec is technically called a variable bitrate codec, but what it’s really doing is

Recording 15
allowing the size of the file to grow if your images need extra data. There is no upper limit on
the file size if you need to encode an image but maintain quality.
So Blackmagic RAW set to the constant quality setting will just let the file grow as big as
it needs to be to encode your images. It also means the files could be larger or smaller
depending on what you are shooting. I guess if you leave your lens cap on the lens, you won’t
waste space on your media!
It is also worth noting that the quality settings for Blackmagic RAW are not obscure names,
but are more meaningful as they are derived from what’s happening technically. So for example
when you have selected the constant bitrate codec, you will see quality settings of 3:1, 5:1,
8:1 and 12:1. These are the ratios of the uncompressed RAW file size vs the file sizes you should
expect when shooting in Blackmagic RAW. 3:1 is better quality as the file is larger, while 12:1
is the smallest file size with the lowest quality. Many users of Blackmagic RAW find that 12:1
has been perfectly ok and they have not seen any quality limitations. However it’s best to
experiment and try various settings for yourself.
When using Blackmagic RAW in constant quality, the options are Q0, Q1, Q3 and Q5. These are
the compression parameters passed to the codec and they are setting how much compression
is applied in a more technical way. This setting is different because the codec operates
differently between constant bitrate vs constant quality. In this constant quality setting, you
really cannot tell what the file size ratio will become as it varies a lot based on what you
are shooting. So in this case the setting is different and the file will become the size needed
to store your media.

Constant Bitrate Settings

The names for 3:1, 5:1, 8:1 and 12:1 represent the compression ratio. For example,
12:1 compression produces a file size roughly 12 times smaller than uncompressed RAW.

Constant Quality Settings

Q0 and Q5 refer to different levels of quantization. Q5 has a greater level of quantization but
offers a greatly improved data rate. As mentioned above, the constant quality setting can result
in files that grow and shrink quite a lot, depending on what you are shooting. This also means
it’s possible to shoot something and see the file size increase to beyond what your media
card can keep up with. It could result in dropped frames. However the benefit is that you can
instantly see if this happens on a shoot and then investigate your settings vs quality.

Blackmagic RAW Player

The Blackmagic RAW player included in your Blackmagic camera’s software installer is a
streamlined application for reviewing clips. Simply double click on a Blackmagic RAW file to
open it, and you can quickly play and scroll through the file with its full resolution and bit depth.
When decoding frames, the CPU acceleration in the SDK library supports all main architectures,
and also supports GPU acceleration via Apple Metal, Nvidia CUDA and OpenCL. It also works
with the Blackmagic eGPU for extra performance. Blackmagic RAW player is available for Mac,
Windows and Linux.

Sidecar Files
Blackmagic RAW sidecar files let you override metadata in a file without overwriting embedded
metadata in the original file. This metadata includes the Blackmagic RAW settings as well as
information on iris, focus, focal length, while balance, tint, color space, project name, take
number and more. Metadata is encoded frame by frame over the duration of the clip, which is
important for lens data if the lens is adjusted during a shot. You can add or edit metadata in
sidecar files with DaVinci Resolve or even a text editor because it’s a human readable format.

Recording 16
Sidecar files can be used to automatically add new Blackmagic RAW settings to a playback
simply by moving the sidecar file into the same folder as the corresponding Blackmagic
RAW file. If you move the sidecar file out of the folder and reopen the Blackmagic RAW file,
the changed settings are not applied and you see the file as it was originally shot. Any software
that uses the Blackmagic RAW SDK can access these settings. Changes made are saved in the
sidecar file and can then be seen by Blackmagic RAW Player or any other software capable of
reading Blackmagic RAW files.
When shooting video gamma, the file stays in film gamma, and the metadata tells the
Blackmagic RAW processing to display using video gamma. Video gamma is great when you
don’t want to grade the image and want to deliver content quickly, however if you want to pull
up the black parts of the image, or pull down the white areas, all the detail is retained. You
never clip the video and all the detail is still there if you want to access it at any time.

Blackmagic RAW in DaVinci Resolve

Settings can be adjusted for each Blackmagic RAW file, and then saved as a new sidecar file
from the ‘Camera RAW’ tab in DaVinci Resolve for creative effect or optimized viewing. This also
means you can copy your media for another DaVinci Resolve artist and they will have access to
your modified gamma settings automatically on import. In addition to the other metadata your
camera files contain, DaVinci Resolve can read your selected dynamic range, so your clips will
automatically display in DaVinci Resolve with ‘film’, ‘extended video’ or ‘video’ dynamic range.
You can then customize these settings by adjusting the saturation, contrast and midpoint,
as well as the highlight and shadow rolloff. Any adjustments can then be saved as a sidecar
file, so the changes can be seen by anyone else working with the files in post. You can always
return to the original camera metadata at any time.
You can also export a single Blackmagic RAW frame from the ‘Camera RAW’ tab in
DaVinci Resolve, which contains all adjustments, metadata, full resolution and color information
so it is easy to share a single frame grab or reference file with others.
For more information on how to use Blackmagic RAW in DaVinci Resolve, see the
‘Using DaVinci Resolve’ chapter in this manual.

Blackmagic RAW Software Development Kit

The Blackmagic RAW Software Development Kit is an API developed by Blackmagic Design.
You can use the Blackmagic RAW SDK to write your own applications to use the Blackmagic
RAW format. This SDK library can be used by any developer to add support for reading, editing,
and saving Blackmagic RAW files. The Blackmagic RAW SDK includes all the generation 5 color
science so you can achieve organic cinematic images across any app that supports it. The
Blackmagic RAW SDK supports Mac, Windows and Linux, and is available as a free download
from the developer page of the Blackmagic website at www.blackmagicdesign.com/developer

Recording 17
The following diagram illustrates the components of the Blackmagic RAW API:

Blackmagic RAW API

Decoder
.Braw .Sidecar
SSE AVX AVX2 Reader Reader

METAL CUDA OPENCL

Maximum Sensor Frame Rates

Resolution Codec Sensor Scan Max Frame Rate

6K Open Gate 3:2 6048 x 4032 Blackmagic RAW Full 36

6:5 Anamorphic 4838 x 4032 Blackmagic RAW Window 26

6K DCI 17:9 6048 x 3200 Blackmagic RAW Window 48

6K 2.4:1 6048 x 2520 Blackmagic RAW Window 60

4K DCI 17:9 4096 x 2160 Blackmagic RAW Window 60

Super 35mm 4:3 4096 x 3072 Blackmagic RAW Window 50

Super 16mm 16:9 2112 x 1184 Blackmagic RAW Window 100

1080 HD 1920 x 1080 Blackmagic RAW Window 120

Record Duration
The maximum recording time for your storage media can vary depending on the data capacity
of your CFexpress card or USB-C flash disk and the frame rate you choose. It should also
be noted that the recording duration can vary slightly between different manufacturers and
whether the storage media is formatted as exFAT or Mac OS Extended.
Simple scenes containing less detail tend to require less data than more dense compositions.
The values in these tables assume shots with a high complexity, which means you may get
slightly longer record times depending on the nature of your shoot.

TIP You can estimate record duration times based on different storage media
capacities, frame rates and codec settings using the data rate calculator at:
https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/blackmagiccinemacamera/
blackmagicraw#data-rate-calculator

Recording 18
Constant quality settings for Q0 and Q5 will display varying record time remaining durations.
The estimated duration for Q0 is similar to constant bitrate 3:1, and Q5 will display a similar
duration to 12:1, however, as the estimated duration updates every 10 seconds while recording,
the best way to gauge how much recording time you have is to record for 20 seconds and
monitor the duration in the media area of the touchscreen display.

Choosing Frame Rates

Your camera is able to shoot video using many different frame rates and you may be
wondering which is the best one to use.
Generally, when selecting a sensor frame rate, there are some common items to
consider. For many years, there have been presentation standards for film and
television. These have set frame rates that differ between countries, but all share the
same purpose; to display an efficient number of frames every second that portrays
pleasing and convincing motion.
Cinema, for example, uses a standard 24 frames per second and while there have
been recent experiments with faster frame rates, 24 frames per second remains widely
accepted for international audiences.
Television frame rates have generally conformed to technical broadcast standards for
each country. For example, if you were making television content you would typically
record using 29.97 frames per second for North American distribution, and 25 frames
per second for Europe.
However, as technology has improved, today we have more choices and broadcast
standards are changing. It is now common for sporting events to be recorded and
broadcasted at higher frame rates. For example, some sporting events are recorded
and broadcasted at up to 59.94 frames per second in North America, and 50 frames per
second in Europe. This provides smoother motion on fast action and appears more lifelike.
Alternatively, streaming and online broadcasters normally use frame rates similar to
television, however there is more freedom to experiment due to user selectable viewing
formats, and being limited only to what the audience’s screens are capable of displaying.
Generally, when choosing a frame rate for a project, let your delivery format guide your
choice. This means your clips will play back at the same speed the event happened in
real life. To achieve this, you will need to turn off the ‘off speed’ option on your camera.
If you are looking to create an interesting effect, for example slow motion, then you
can set the sensor frame rate to a higher setting. The higher the sensor frame rate
compared to the project frame rate, the slower the playback speed.
For more information on using off speed sensor frame rates to achieve creative effects,
refer to the ‘touchscreen controls’ section.

Trigger Record
Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K automatically sends a signal via the HDMI output that will
trigger recording when connected to equipment that supports the trigger record feature, such
as Blackmagic Video Assist.
This means that when you press record on your camera, your external recorder also starts
recording and stops when you stop recording on the camera. Your camera also outputs
timecode via HDMI, which means the clips recorded on your external recorder has the same
timecode as the clips recorded in your camera.

Recording 19
If your external recorder supports trigger recording, you will need to enable it via the recorder’s
settings menu.

Recording Motion Sensor Data

Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K automatically records gyro data from the internal motion sensor.
DaVinci Resolve can then use this data to stabilize clips. For more information refer to the ‘gyro
stabilization’ section in this manual.

Shooting using a Vertical Aspect Ratio

Your Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K supports vertical aspect ratios so you can craft cinematic
content for platforms like YouTube and TikTok with the color and dynamic range of digital film.
Simply rotate the camera to record in a vertical aspect ratio such as 9:16 and 4:5. The on screen
HUD rotates so critical information, such as frame rate, shutter angle and frame guides, are easy
to view. Pressing record locks all overlays for the duration of the shot so you can change angles
and the on screen information will remain in place.

Your camera tags vertical video in the clips’ metadata so it appears

correctly on your edit timeline

Locking Vertical and Horizontal

Locking the display to vertical or horizontal stops the on screen information from rotating
automatically. For example, when vertical is locked, your camera will maintain the vertical on
screen HUD even at extreme angles. Refer to the ‘vertical recording’ section under ‘record
settings’ for more information.

Shooting using a Vertical Aspect Ratio 20

 Using Frame Guides
Frame guides are overlay markers that can be enabled on
the camera’s LCD. These are helpful to make sure important
details stay in shot and items you don’t want are kept out.
They are also effective for when anticipating overlays that
you might want to use in your presentation. For example,
graphics, titles, icons and visual effects.

Grids
Grids are another helpful overlay for composing shots and
balancing the frame for a vertical format.
For more information about frame guides, grids, plus
other helpful overlays and on screen features, refer to the
‘touchscreen features’ section.

Editing Vertical Clips on a Timeline

When recording vertical video, clips are tagged as vertical in their metadata. DaVinci Resolve
will recognize the tag and display your video correctly in an edit timeline. This is also true for
other editing applications that support the Blackmagic RAW SDK, for example Adobe Premiere
and Avid Media Composer.

Using Vertical Aspect Ratios in a Horizontal Project

If your project is using a horizontal format, for example 1920x1080 HD, clips tagged
as vertical will be scaled to fit. This is important when using vertical clips in a news or
television broadcast. You can fill the sides automatically using solid colors or even using
DaVinci’s ‘blanking fill’ effect. For more information refer to the ‘Resolve FX overview’
section in the DaVinci Resolve manual available at the Blackmagic Design support center at
www.blackmagicdesign.com/support

Shooting using a Vertical Aspect Ratio 21

Playback
Once you have recorded your video, you can use the transport control buttons to play back
your video on the LCD. Press the play button to switch to playback mode. Press the button
again for instant playback of the last recorded clip on the LCD and on any display connected
to the HDMI output. Hold down the forward or reverse buttons on the LCD to fast forward or
reverse through the clip. Playback will finish when the end of the current clip is reached.
Press the forward and reverse buttons to skip to the start or end of clips. Press the reverse
button once to go to the start of the current clip or press twice to skip back to the start of
the previous clip. Press the record button to exit playback and return the touchscreen to the
camera view.

To view your most recently recorded clip on the built in touchscreen, press the ‘play’ button
on the transport controls

Camera Features
Camera Front
1 5

2 4

Camera Features 22
1 Record Buttons
Press either of the record buttons to start and stop recording. A record button is located on the
front of the camera to let you start and stop recording more easily if you are recording yourself.
2 Settings Wheel
The settings wheel lets you adjust the aperture of compatible lenses mounted to your
camera. With the touchscreen facing you, rotate the wheel left to open the iris, and right
to close. The settings wheel is also used to adjust white balance, shutter angle and
ISO settings. You can also use the settings wheel in conjunction with the ‘focus zoom’
button to adjust the magnification level of the optional electronic viewfinder. Press the
corresponding buttons on the top of the camera, then make your selection by rotating the
settings wheel. After making your selection, press the settings wheel to quickly dismiss
the selection menu.
3 Stereo Microphones
There are four built in, high quality stereo microphones. Refer to the ‘audio settings’ section
for information on microphone audio settings.
4 Lens Mount
Your Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K features an active lens mount for L-mount lenses. This
means you can use lenses with built-in stabilization, as well as use auto focus and auto
exposure with compatible lenses. To use the image stabilizer or ‘IS’ feature found in many
active lenses, set the stabilizer switch to ‘on’ to enable image stabilization on your camera.
If your lens also features a stabilizer mode switch, set it to the appropriate mode for still
shots or for movement. If your lens does not have a physical stabilizer switch, you can turn
‘image stabilization’ on or off in your camera’s setup menu.
5 Tally / Record Indicator
The small LED on the front of your camera indicates the recording status. You can enable
or disable the tally light indicator and adjust its brightness in the setup menu. Refer to the
‘setup settings’ section for more information.

Right Side

6 CFexpress Card Slot

Insert CFexpress Type B cards into the slot for record and playback. Refer to the
‘CFexpress cards’ section for more information.

Camera Features 23
Left Side

11

10

12

Left side ports on Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K

7 3.5mm Microphone Input

Connect a microphone to your camera’s 3.5mm stereo connector. Mic and line level
audio are supported. The microphone level audio is lower than the line level, so if you
are connecting a microphone to the camera and have line level selected, you will find the
levels are too low. The microphone input also accepts SMPTE compliant LTC timecode from
an external source on the left channel. Valid timecode will be detected automatically, and
embedded in your video file as timecode metadata. We recommend sending LTC timecode
via a line level output, especially if you are not recording timecode as an audio track.
8 Headphones Input
Monitor audio while recording or playing back clips by plugging your headphones into
the 3.5mm stereo headphones jack. When headphones are plugged in, the speaker
output is muted.
9 HDMI
The full size HDMI connector supports 10-bit 4:2:2 1080p HD video with support for HDR
and two channels of embedded audio. Use the touchscreen menu to set a clean feed
or include overlays on the output. You can use the HDMI port to connect to an external
monitor or recorder. It is a good practice to setup external equipment and plug in all cables
before you switch on your camera and accessories. Always use high quality cables for
HDMI connections.
10 Power Input
You can use the DC jack to power your camera. To connect the power adapter, rotate the
plug so it aligns with the recess at the top of the jack, then push in the plug until it locks. To
disconnect the power plug, retract the locking sheath, then pull out the plug.

Camera Features 24
11 USB
The USB-C port lets you record directly to an attached USB-C flash disk. When your camera
is switched off, you can recharge its battery via the USB-C port from an external source
such as a battery pack. To update your camera’s internal software, connect the camera to
a computer via the USB-C port and run the camera update application.
12 Mini XLR Microphone Input
Your Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K features two mini XLR audio inputs for external
balanced audio. A standard XLR microphone can be connected to your camera using an
XLR to mini XLR adapter cable.
These audio inputs provide phantom power for connecting professional microphones that
aren’t internally powered. For more information on enabling phantom power refer to the
‘audio’ section in this manual.
SMPTE compliant timecode from an external source is also supported. In the ‘audio’ menu,
set the channel source to XLR line or XLR mic depending on the level of your timecode
generator. The timecode will be embedded in your video file as timecode metadata. You
can set one XLR channel to accept a timecode signal at the same time as using the other
XLR channel for a different type of audio source.

Top Panel
13

14
15
16
17

18

19 20 21 22

Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K top panel

13 1/4-20 Mounting Point

You can use the 1/4-20 mounting point on the top of your camera to attach an external
microphone or other small accessories.

NOTE The 1/4” mount on the top of your Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K should
only be used for lightweight accessories such as small microphones. Do not support
the weight of the camera via the top 1/4” mount by using accessories like a screw
in camera handle in conjunction with a heavy lens. This will damage the 1/4” mount
which will not be covered under warranty. Do not subject the mount to excessive
lever force, such as mounting a heavy accessory on an extension arm. To mount
heavier accessories, we strongly recommend using a camera cage designed for the
Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K that attaches to both the top and bottom 1/4” mount
simultaneously.

Camera Features 25
14 Record
Press the record button to begin recording immediately. Press again to stop recording.
15 Still
Use the ‘still’ button to capture a single Blackmagic RAW frame when your camera is in
standby, record or playback mode. A camera icon appears briefly in the top right corner of
the touchscreen display to let you know you have successfully captured a still.
Image files are saved to the ‘stills’ folder in the root directory of the media you are currently
recording to. Stills follow the file naming convention for video clips except the filename
includes the still number in the last four characters of the filename.
16 ISO
Press the ISO button and then rotate the settings wheel to adjust your camera’s ISO setting.
ISO can be set at 1/3 stop increments between 100 and 25,600.
17 Shutter
To change the shutter angle or shutter speed, press the shutter button, then rotate
the settings wheel. The touchscreen display will also suggest up to three flicker free
shutter options.
18 White Balance
Press the white balance button and then rotate the settings wheel to adjust your camera’s
white balance. You can also quickly enter the ‘auto white balance’ screen by holding the
‘wb’ button for 3 seconds. Your camera will overlay a white square in the center of your
image, and use this area to perform an auto white balance. For more information refer to
the ‘touchscreen controls’ section.
19 Viewfinder Connector Port
Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K has a connector port for Blackmagic Pocket Cinema
Camera Pro EVF. If the optional electronic viewfinder is not installed, you can attach the
supplied protective cover.
20 Power Switch
Power switch for turning on the camera. Slide the switch to the right to power on your
camera, and to the left to power off.
21 Status LED
When the camera is turned off and plugged into external power via the 12V DC power
jack or USB-C port, the indicator illuminates red to indicate the battery is being charged.
The status LED turns off when the battery is fully charged.
22 Function Buttons
These buttons can be programmed to a variety of commonly used functions using your
camera’s ‘setup’ menu. By default, button one is set to ‘false color’, button 2 is set to
‘display LUT’ and button 3 is set to ‘frame guides’.

Camera Features 26
Camera Underside

23 25
24

Underside of Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K

23 1/4-20 Mounting Points

Attach your Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K to a tripod, rigging or accessories using the
bottom 1/4-20 mounting points.
24 Battery Door
Push the battery door release towards the lens mount to open the battery door. To close,
simply push the door in until it clicks shut.
25 Battery Grip Power Connector
The electrical contacts on the underside of the camera lets you connect with the optional
battery grip. This extends the running time of the camera by powering from the internal
battery and both batteries in the battery grip.

Camera Rear

33

34

27

26 28

29
30
31
32

Rear of Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K

26 Touchscreen Display
You can tap and swipe on your camera’s LCD touchscreen to adjust settings, auto
focus, start and stop shooting, monitor clips during recording and play back clips.
The touchscreen also lets you manage media and make notes on the slate.

Camera Features 27
 Your Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K has a tilt screen so you can angle the LCD
touchscreen up or down for a wide range of viewing angles and a power save setting to
dim the LCD when it’s inactive. You can also set the LCD touchscreen to operate at an
extreme brightness that is suitable for shooting in very bright sunlight. This will consume
more power and the screen may run warm at 100% brightness. At an ambient temperature
of of 35ºC (95ºF) or above, it may automatically reduce the screen brightness to regulate the
temperature and prevent overheating. This safety feature works independently of dimming
due to inactivity. For more information see the ‘monitor settings’ section.

The tilt screen offers a wide range of viewing angles

27 Iris Button
Pressing the ‘iris’ button automatically sets an average exposure based on the highlights
and shadows in your shot. You can adjust your lens aperture manually by rotating the
settings wheel to the left and right, or by tapping ‘iris’ on the touchscreen display and
adjusting the iris slider.
28 Focus Button
When using a compatible auto focus lens with your camera, press the ‘focus’ button once to
auto focus. By default the lens will auto focus in the center of the image, however you can
select an alternate auto focus point by tapping on the LCD screen in the area that you want
to focus. Double press the focus button to reset the focus point to the center of the screen.

NOTE It’s important to know that while most lenses support electronic focus, some
lenses can be set to manual or auto focus modes. In this case you need to confirm
your lens is set to auto focus mode.

29 HFR Button
Press the HFR or ‘high frame rate’ button to toggle off speed frame rates. To use this
function, simply set the ‘off speed’ frame rate you’d like to use in the ‘frame rate’ menu.
Once this is set, pressing the HFR button will toggle between your chosen off speed frame
rate and project frame rate. It’s worth mentioning that this setting can only be adjusted
when the recording is stopped.
For more information on project and off speed frame rates, see the ‘touchscreen
controls’ section.
30 Focus Zoom Button
Press the ‘focus zoom’ button to zoom in for adjusting focus at the 1:1 pixel scale. While
zoomed in, you can use a pinch to zoom multitouch gesture on the touchscreen to adjust
the zoom level. For more information, see the ‘pinch to zoom’ section. While zoomed in, you
can touch and drag on the screen to view different areas of the image. When you activate

Camera Features 28
 focus zoom and look through the optional electronic viewfinder, you can turn the settings
wheel to adjust zoom level and press the settings wheel to select the region of interest.
To zoom out, press the ‘focus zoom’ button again.
31 Menu Button
Press the ‘menu’ button to open the dashboard.
32 Play Button
Press the play button to switch to playback mode. Press the button again for instant playback
of the last recorded clip on the LCD, and on any display connected to the HDMI output.
33 Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera Pro EVF
Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K has an optional electronic viewfinder. The viewfinder
tilts vertically 70 degrees and comes with four eyecup types for left or right eye. A sensor
in the viewfinder detects when it is in use, and will switch off the LCD touchscreen to
conserve battery power and prevent accidental taps on touchscreen controls. You can
set the viewfinder to overlay camera status information or display a clean feed. For more
information, see the ‘monitor settings’ section.
To install the viewfinder, use a small flathead screwdriver to loosen the screw in the
connector port cover on top of the camera. Remove the cover and confirm the connector
port is clean and dry. Slide the viewfinder into the connector port. Fasten the viewfinder
into position by tightening the thumb screw.
34 Diopter for Electronic Viewfinder
Turn the diopter knob to adjust the focus of the optional electronic viewfinder to suit your
eyes. It’s important to note the diopter adjusts the focus of the image presented in the
viewfinder, and does not change the focus of the image attained by the camera sensor. For
more information, see the ‘focus chart’ section.

Touchscreen Controls
Touchscreen Features
Your camera’s touchscreen features a touch and gesture based interface that is specifically
designed for fast and intuitive operation. By touching and swiping on different areas of the LCD
touchscreen, you can quickly access the camera’s functions while shooting.

The LCD touchscreen gives you easy access to your camera’s most
used settings

Touchscreen Controls 29
LCD Monitor Options
Tap the ‘monitor’ icon at the top left of the touchscreen to access the LCD monitor settings.
These settings let you toggle and adjust the appearance of your camera’s monitoring features,
including zebra, focus assist, frame guides, grids, safe area guides and false color. When
accessing LCD monitor options, the controls for these features appear in a tabbed menu along
the bottom edge of the LCD touchscreen.

Tap the icon at the top left of your camera’s LCD touchscreen to access LCD
monitor options

Zebra
The ‘zebra’ setting toggles the appearance of zebra on the LCD touchscreen, as well as setting
the zebra level for the HDMI output.
Zebra displays diagonal lines over areas of your image that exceed a set exposure level.
For example, setting zebra to 100% shows which areas are completely overexposed. This is
useful for achieving optimum exposure in fixed lighting conditions.

Tap the ‘zebra’ icon while accessing ‘LCD monitor options’ to access the zebra settings

To toggle zebra for the LCD touchscreen, tap the switch icon in the bottom left of the screen
while in the ‘zebra’ tab.
Set the level that zebra appears at by dragging the slider left and right, or tapping the arrow buttons
next to the zebra level indicator. There are eight zebra presets available including middle gray and
middle gray plus one stop, then in five percent increments from 75 to 100 percent exposure.
For information on enabling zebra on your camera’s HDMI output, see the ‘monitor settings’
section in this manual.

TIP If you’re shooting in variable light such as outdoors on a partly overcast day,
setting your zebra level lower than 100 can warn you of potential overexposure.

Focus Assist
The ‘focus assist’ setting toggles the appearance of focus assist on the LCD touchscreen,
as well as setting the level of focus assistance for the HDMI output on your camera.

Tap the ‘focus assist’ icon while accessing ‘LCD monitor options’ to access your
camera’s focus assist settings

To toggle focus assistance for the LCD touchscreen, tap the switch icon in the bottom left of the
screen while in the ‘focus assist’ tab.

Touchscreen Controls 30
To set the level of focus assistance for all outputs on your Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K, drag
the slider left and right along the bottom of your touchscreen, or tap the arrow buttons next to
the focus assist level.
The optimum level of focus assistance varies shot by shot. When focusing on actors, for example,
a higher level of focus assistance can help resolve edge detail in faces. A shot of foliage or
brickwork, on the other hand, may show distracting amounts of focus information at higher settings.
For information on enabling focus assist on your camera’s HDMI output, see the ‘monitor
settings’ section in this manual.

TIP Your camera has two focus assist modes. You can switch between ‘peaking’ and
‘colored lines’ focus assistance in the ‘monitor’ settings menu. For more information,
see the ‘monitor settings’ section in this manual.

Frame Guides
The ‘frame guide’ setting toggles the appearance of frame guides on the LCD touchscreen.
You can also choose frame guide options for your camera’s HDMI output. See the ‘monitor
settings’ section for more information.
Frame guides include aspect ratios for various cinema, television and online standards.

Tap the ‘frame guides’ icon to access your camera’s frame guide settings

 o toggle the appearance of frame guides on the LCD touchscreen, tap the switch icon in the
T
bottom left of the screen.
Choose the frame guide you want to use by dragging the slider left and right, or tapping the
arrow buttons on either side of the currently selected aspect ratio. You can also enter a custom
frame guide ratio by tapping on the ratio between the arrow buttons.
The available guides are:

2.35:1, 2.39:1 and 2.40:1

Displays the broad widescreen aspect ratio compatible with anamorphic or flat widescreen cinema
presentation. The three widescreen settings differ slightly based on the changing cinema standards
over time. 2.39:1 is one of the most prominent standards in use today.

The LCD touchscreen with 2.40:1 frame guides enabled

Touchscreen Controls 31
2:1

Displays a ratio slightly wider than 16:9 but not as wide as 2.35:1.

1.85:1

Displays another common flat widescreen cinema aspect ratio. This ratio is slightly
wider than HDTV 1.78:1 but not as wide as 2.39:1.

16:9

Displays a 1.78:1 aspect ratio compatible with 16:9 HD television and computer screens. This ratio is
most commonly used for HD broadcasting and online videos. The same aspect ratio has also been
adopted for Ultra HD broadcasting.

14:9

Displays a 14:9 aspect ratio used by some television broadcasters as a compromise between 16:9 and
4:3 television sets. Ideally, both 16:9 and 4:3 footage remains legible when center cropped to fit 14:9.
You can use this as a compositional guide if you know your project may be broadcast by a television
station that uses 14:9 cropping.

4:3

Displays the 4:3 aspect ratio compatible with SD television screens, or to help with framing when
using 2x anamorphic adapters.

1:1

Displays a 1:1 ratio slightly narrower than 4:3. This square ratio is growing in popularity on social media.

4:5

Displays a 4:5 aspect ratio. This vertical aspect ratio is ideal for portraits and viewing on smartphones.

9:16

Displays a 9:16 aspect ratio. This vertical aspect ratio is useful for framing social media content.

Custom Frame Guide Ratio

To create your own frame guide ratio for a unique appearance, tap on the ratio displayed between
the arrow buttons. On the ‘custom frameguide’ screen tap the backspace button to delete the current
ratio, then use the numeric keypad to specify a new ratio. Tap ‘update’ to apply your custom frame
guide ratio and return to shooting.

Use the numeric keypad to enter a custom frame guide ratio

Touchscreen Controls 32
 TIP You can change the opacity of frame guide overlays. For more information see the
‘monitor settings’ section of this manual.

Grids
The ‘grids’ setting toggles the appearance of a rule of thirds grid, horizon meter, crosshair or
center dot on the LCD touchscreen, as well as setting the overlay that will be visible on the
HDMI output. For information on enabling grids on your HDMI output, see the ‘monitor settings’
section in this manual.

Tap the ‘grids’ icon while accessing ‘LCD monitor options’ to access the
grid settings

Grids and crosshair are overlays that can help with image composition. When ‘grids’ are
enabled, the LCD shows a rule of thirds grid, horizon, crosshair or dot.
To toggle the appearance of grids on your camera’s touchscreen, tap the switch icon in the
bottom left of the screen while in the ‘frame guides’ tab.
To set which overlay you want to display on the LCD and HDMI output, tap the ‘thirds’, ‘horizon’,
‘crosshair’ or ‘dot’ options. You can select one of ‘horizon’, ‘crosshair’ or ‘dot’ at a time in
conjunction with ‘thirds’. This lets you use a combination of ‘thirds’ and ‘horizon’, ‘thirds’ and
‘crosshair’, or ‘thirds’ and ‘dot’.

The rule of thirds grid automatically scales to any on screen frame guides

Thirds

The ‘thirds’ setting displays a grid with two vertical and horizontal lines placed in each third of the
image. Thirds are an extremely powerful tool to help compose your shots. For example, the human
eye typically looks for action near the points where the lines intersect, so it’s helpful to frame key
points of interest in these zones. An actor’s eyeline is commonly framed along the top third of
the screen, so you can use the top horizontal third to guide your framing. Thirds are also useful to
maintain framing consistency between shots.

Touchscreen Controls 33
Horizon

The ‘horizon’ meter indicates when your camera is rolled left or right and tilted up or down. This can
help you keep the horizon is level during handheld shots and balance the camera tilt on a gimbal.

The direction the light gray vertical line moves away from the dark gray crosshair in the middle
indicates the direction your camera is rolled. When the camera is tilted down the light gray horizontal
line moves up and when the camera is tilted up the light gray horizontal line moves down.

The distance the lines move away from the central crosshair is proportional to the amount of roll or tilt.
After you calibrate the camera’s motion sensor, the vertical line turns blue when the camera is aligned
to the roll axis and the horizontal line turns blue to indicate the camera is aligned to the tilt axis.

Note that if the camera is tilted straight down for an overhead shot or straight up, the horizon
meter takes this into account. If you roll the camera to shoot in portrait orientation, the horizon meter
rotates its axes 90 degrees.

This table shows examples of the horizon meter indicating tilt and roll of the camera.

Horizon meter Description

Straight and level

Tilted down and level

Straight and rolled left

Tilted up and rolled right

For normal use, calibrate the horizon meter for straight and level operation. If you want to use the
horizon meter to help maintain a consistent ‘dutch angle’ or a consistent tilt for a low or high shot, you
can calibrate the horizon meter at an incline. For information on how to calibrate the horizon meter,
see the ‘motion sensor calibration’ section.

Crosshair

The ‘crosshair’ setting places a crosshair in the center of the frame. Like thirds, the crosshair is a very
useful compositional tool, making it easy to frame the subject of a shot in the very center of a frame.
This is sometimes used when filming scenes that will be assembled using very fast cuts. Keeping
viewers’ eyes focused on the center of a frame can make rapid editing easier to follow.

Dot

The ‘dot’ setting places a dot in the center of the frame. This works in exactly the same way as the
‘crosshair’ setting, albeit with a smaller overlay that you may find less intrusive.

Touchscreen Controls 34
Safe Area Guides
The ‘safe area guides’ setting toggles the safe area guides on or off the LCD touchscreen, as
well as setting the size of safe area guides for the HDMI output.
Safe areas can be used in broadcast production so the most important parts of a shot can be
seen by viewers. By keeping the most important parts of your shot inside a central ‘safe area,’
you can avoid cropping on some televisions, as well as leaving space for a broadcaster to
add bugs, news tickers and other overlays along the edges of the screen. Many broadcasters
require footage to be submitted with important content, such as titles and graphics, contained
inside the 90% safe area.
Safe area guides can also be used to assist with framing your shot where you know that the
shot will be stabilized in post production, which can crop the edges of the image. They can also
be used to indicate a specific crop.

The ‘safe area’ indicator set to 75%

To toggle safe area guides for the LCD touchscreen, tap the switch icon in the bottom left of the
screen while in the ‘safe area guides’ tab. To set the level of safe area guides for your camera’s
HDMI output, tap the left or right arrows on either side of the current numerical value at the
bottom of the touchscreen. Alternatively, you can drag the slider left or right.

False Color
The ‘false color’ setting toggles the appearance of false color exposure assistance on the
LCD touchscreen.
False color overlays different colors onto your image that represent exposure values for
different elements in your image. For example, pink represents optimum exposure for lighter
skin tones, while green is a good match to darker skin tones. By monitoring the pink or green
false color when recording people, you can maintain consistent exposure for their skin tones.
Similarly, when elements in your image change from yellow to red, that means they are now
over exposed.

Touchscreen Controls 35
 The IRE false color chart on the left side of your
camera’s display shows you how to interpret the
different false colors.

False Color Meaning

95%WC White clipping

80%WC Near white clipping

MG+1 One stop over middle gray

18%MG Middle gray

NBDL Near black detail loss

BDL Black detail loss

In a well exposed image, skin tones are represented by green and pink false colors

To toggle false color for the LCD touchscreen, tap the switch icon in the bottom left of the
screen while in the ‘false color’ tab.

The ‘false color’ exposure assistance tab

Screen Brightness
Tap the ‘screen brightness’ icon and drag the slider to the left or right to adjust the brightness of
your camera’s touchscreen.

The ‘screen brightness’ setting set to 50%.

Touchscreen Controls 36
Frames Per Second
The ‘FPS’ indicator displays your currently selected frames per second.

Tap the frames per second indicator to access frame rate settings

Tapping the ‘FPS’ indicator lets you change your camera’s sensor and project frame rates via
a menu at the bottom of the LCD touchscreen.

Project Frame Rate

The project frame rate is the camera’s recording format frame rate and provides a selection of
common frame rates used in the film and television industry. This frame rate is normally set to
match your post production workflow.
8 project frame rates are available including 23.98, 24, 25, 29.97, 30, 50, 59.94 and 60 frames
per second.
To adjust your camera’s project frame rate while in the ‘FPS’ menu, tap the left or right arrows
next to the current frame rate at the bottom left of your touchscreen. Alternatively, you can drag
the slider left or right.

Tap the arrows on either side of the project frame rate or move the slider to
make adjustments

NOTE The project frame rate also sets the frame rate of the HDMI output.

Sensor Frame Rate

The sensor frame rate sets how many actual frames from the sensor are recorded every
second. This frame rate will affect how fast or slow your video will play back at your set project
frame rate.

With ‘off speed frame rate’ enabled, tap a preset or the arrows on either side of
the sensor frame rate or move the slider to make adjustments

Touchscreen Controls 37
By default, the project and sensor frame rates are matched for a natural playback speed.
However, by tapping the ‘off speed frame rate’ switch icon in the bottom right hand side of your
camera’s ‘FPS’ menu, you can independently set the sensor frame rate.
To change the sensor frame rate, tap the arrows next to the sensor frame rate indicator in the
lower left of your touchscreen. You can also drag the slider left or right to increase or decrease
the frame rate. Once you release the slider, the sensor frame rate will be selected. Above the
slider, you can tap on a common off speed frame rate. These are based on your current project
frame rate.
You can create dynamic and interesting speed effects in your clips by varying the sensor
frame rate. Setting the sensor frame rate higher than your project frame rate will create slow
motion during playback. For example, shooting with a 60 FPS sensor frame rate and playing
back at a 24 FPS project frame rate creates slow motion at 40% of the real speed of the action.
Alternatively, the lower your sensor frame rate, the faster your clips will appear. The principle is
similar to overcranking and undercranking a film camera. Overcranking speeds up the sensor
frame rate so you can stretch out moments in time during playback to enhance emotion.
Undercranking slows down the sensor frame rate so you can increase the speed of action in
fast moving scenes. The creative possibilities are endless and entirely up to you!
For information on the maximum frame rates available for each recording format and codec,
refer to the table in the ‘recording’ section of this manual.

NOTE When ‘off speed frame rate’ is selected the audio and video are no longer
synced. This is true even if you set the same project and sensor frame rate. For this
reason, avoid selecting ‘off speed frame rate’ if you want to guarantee audio syncing.

Shutter
The ’shutter’ indicator displays your shutter angle or shutter speed. By tapping this indicator,
you can manually change your camera’s shutter values or configure shutter priority auto
exposure modes. The shutter measurement setting can be used to select whether to display
shutter information as ‘shutter angle’ or ‘shutter speed’. See the ‘setup settings’ section in this
manual for more information.

Tap the shutter indicator to access shutter settings

Shutter angle or shutter speed defines the level of motion blur in your video, and can be
used to compensate for varying light conditions. 180 degrees is the optimum shutter angle for
capturing satisfying motion blur in most conditions, with the equivalent being a shutter speed of
1/50th of a second. However as lighting conditions change, or the amount of movement in your
scene increases, you may decide to adjust accordingly.
For example, 360 degrees is considered ‘wide open’ and allows maximum light onto the
sensor. This is useful for low light conditions with subtle movement in your scene. Alternatively,
if shooting subjects with a lot of movement, a narrow shutter angle like 90 degrees will provide
minimal motion blur for sharper, crisper images. The equivalent shutter speeds compared to
shutter angle depends on the frame rate you are using.
For example, if you are shooting at 25 frames per second, then 360 degrees will equate to
1/25th, and 90 degrees will equate to 1/100th of a second.

Touchscreen Controls 38
 NOTE When shooting under lights, your shutter can reveal light flicker. Blackmagic
Cinema Camera 6K will automatically calculate a flicker free shutter value for your
current frame rate. It will display up to three suggested flicker free shutter options at
the bottom of the touchscreen display when adjusting your shutter. These shutter
values are affected by mains power frequency in your region. You can set your
local power frequency to 50Hz or 60Hz in the camera’s setup menu. See the ‘setup
settings’ section in this manual for more information.

Tapping the ‘shutter’ indicator brings up the suggested shutter values along the bottom of the
touch screen. If you have auto exposure set to ‘off,’ this screen will show you your currently
selected shutter value, as well as the available flicker free shutter values, based on the mains
power frequency you have selected in your camera’s setup menu. For more information, see
the ‘setup settings’ section in this manual.
It’s worth mentioning the characteristics of individual light sources may still cause flicker even
when using flicker free values. We recommend always performing a test shoot when not using
continuous lights.
To select one of the flicker free shutter values, simply tap on one of the displayed shutter
values. Using the arrows on either side of the current shutter value indicator, will cycle through
some of the most commonly used values.

Your camera will suggest flicker free shutter values based on the mains power
frequency you choose in the ‘setup’ menu

If you are shooting outside, or using flicker free lights, you can also manually select a shutter
value by double tapping the current shutter indicator at the bottom left of your screen. When
shutter angle is selected, this will bring up a keypad which you can use to set any shutter angle
between 5 and 360 degrees.

Use the manual shutter keypad to enter your shutter timing of choice when
shooting outdoors or under flicker free lights

Your Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K has three shutter based auto exposure modes. To select
one of these, tap the ‘auto exposure’ button in the far right of the shutter menu.

Touchscreen Controls 39
Shutter
This setting automatically adjusts shutter value to maintain a constant exposure while keeping
iris aperture consistent. If you want to maintain a fixed depth of field, this is the setting to
choose. It’s worth mentioning that the subtle automatic adjustments of the shutter may have an
effect on motion blur. It’s also worth keeping an eye out for any flicker that may be introduced
from various light fixtures on indoor shoots. The auto iris feature is not available when the
‘shutter’ auto exposure mode is selected.

Shutter + Iris
Maintains the correct exposure levels by adjusting the shutter, then the aperture. If
the maximum or minimum available shutter value is reached and exposure still cannot be
maintained, your camera adjusts the aperture to keep exposure consistent.

Iris + Shutter
Maintains the correct exposure levels by adjusting the aperture, then the shutter value. If the
maximum or minimum available aperture is reached and exposure still cannot be maintained,
your camera adjusts the shutter value to keep exposure consistent.

While in the shutter menu, tap ‘auto exposure’ to access shutter based auto
exposure modes

When an auto exposure mode that affects the shutter or iris is enabled, a small ‘A’ appears next
to the shutter or iris indicator at the top of the LCD touchscreen.

Iris
The ‘Iris’ indicator displays your current lens aperture. By tapping this indicator, you can change
the aperture of compatible lenses and configure iris based auto exposure modes.

Tap the iris indicator to access iris settings

To adjust the Iris from the LCD touchscreen, your Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K must be fitted
with a lens that supports changing aperture via the camera.
Tapping the ‘iris’ indicator once brings up the iris menu along the bottom of the touchscreen.
You’ll see your current lens aperture at the far left of this menu. You can change the aperture
by tapping the left and right arrows on either side of the current aperture, or moving the slider
left or right.

While in the ‘iris’ menu, tap the arrows on either side of the iris indicator or use
the slider to adjust iris settings

Tapping the ‘auto exposure’ switch icon at the far right of the iris menu opens the iris auto
exposure menu.
This gives you the following auto exposure options.

Touchscreen Controls 40
Iris
This setting automatically adjusts the aperture to maintain a constant exposure while keeping
shutter angle consistent. This will keep motion blur unaffected, but may affect your depth
of field.

Iris + Shutter
Maintains the correct exposure levels by adjusting the aperture, then the shutter value. If the
maximum or minimum available aperture is reached and exposure still cannot be maintained,
your camera adjusts the shutter value to keep exposure consistent.

Shutter + Iris
Maintains the correct exposure levels by adjusting the shutter, then the aperture. If the
maximum or minimum available shutter value is reached and exposure still cannot be
maintained, your camera adjusts the aperture to keep exposure consistent.

While in the iris menu, tap ‘auto exposure’ to access iris based auto exposure modes

When an auto exposure mode that affects the iris or shutter is enabled, a small ‘A’ appears next
to the iris or shutter indicator at the top of the LCD touchscreen.

Duration Display
At the top of your camera’s LCD touchscreen, you’ll see your camera’s duration display.

Your camera’s duration display will turn red while recording.

 he duration display provides a timecode counter for checking the duration of your clips and
T
monitoring timecode during recording and playback. The counter displays a time sequence
showing Hours:Minutes:Seconds:Frames and will changes accordingly as you record or play
back clips. During recording the timecode is red.
The displayed duration starts from 00:00:00:00. The clip duration of the current or last
recorded clip is displayed on the touchscreen. Time of day timecode is embedded into clips for
easier post production.
To see the timecode, simply tap the duration display. Tap the duration display again to
return to clip duration.

Additional status indicators may appear around the duration display:

Appears to the left of the duration display when your Blackmagic Cinema
Camera 6K is using a windowed sensor mode.

Appears to the right of the duration display when showing timecode.

Appears to the right of the duration display if valid external LTC timecode is
connected to the 3.5mm stereo input jack.

Appears to the right of the duration display if the camera is running off an
internal timecode after being ‘jam synced’ and disconnected.

Touchscreen Controls 41
ISO
The ‘ISO’ indicator displays the current ISO setting, or light sensitivity. Tapping this indicator lets
you adjust your ISO to suit varying lighting conditions.

Tap the ISO indicator to access ISO settings.

While in the ‘ISO’ menu, your camera’s ISO settings appear along the bottom
of the LCD touchscreen. The slider below the presets lets you adjust ISO in 1/3
stop increments.

Depending on your situation, you may choose a lower or higher ISO setting. For example,
in low light conditions ISO 25,600 can be suitable but may introduce some visible noise.
In bright conditions ISO 100 can provide richer colors.

Dual Native ISO

Your Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K has a dual native ISO of 400 and 3,200, which
means that the sensor is optimized for shooting in both low light conditions, as well as
bright daylight.
Adjust the ISO for the varying lighting conditions, and the dual native ISO feature will
operate in the background to make sure your footage is clean and has minimal noise at
low and high ISO settings.
When the ISO setting is between 100 and 1,000 the native ISO of 400 is used as
a reference point. The ISO range between 1,250 and 25,600 uses the native ISO
of 3,200 as a reference. If you are shooting in conditions where you have a choice
between ISO 1,000 or 1,250, we suggest closing down one stop on your lens’ iris so
that you can select ISO 1,250 as it will engage the higher native ISO and provide much
cleaner results.
This chart shows the relationship between the ISO selection and dynamic
range allocation.

Touchscreen Controls 42
 Dynamic Range
ISO 100 125 160 200 250 320 400 500 640 800 1000 1250 1600 2000 2500 3200 4000 5000 6400 8000 10000 12800 16000 20000 25600

Total Stops 13.5 13.5 13.5 13.5 13.5 13.5 13.5 13.5 13.5 13.5 13.5 12.2 12.2 12.2 12.2 12.2 12.2 12.2 12.2 12.0 11.7 11.4 11.0 10.8 10.6

10

3.9
4.3
9.6 4.6
9.2 4.9
8.9 5.3
8.6 5.6
5.9
stops

0 8.2 6.3
7.9 6.6
7.6 6.9
7.2 7.3
6.9 5.6
6.6 5.9
6.2 6.3
6.6 6.6
6.3 6.9
5.9 7.3
5.6 7.6
5.3 7.9
4.9 8
4.6 7.9
4.3 7.9
-5
4 7.9
3.8 7.9
3.5 8
3.1
2.9
2.6

-10

Dual Native Dual Native

ISO 400 ISO 3200

Stops Above Stops Below

White Balance
The ‘WB’ and ‘TINT’ indicators display your camera’s current white balance and tint.
Tapping these indicators lets you adjust your camera’s white balance and tint to suit varying
lighting conditions.

Tap the white balance and tint indicators to access white balance and tint settings

Every light source emits a color that is defined using the kelvin unit of measurement. A
light source that emits a lower color temperature, like a candle, will emit a warm light at
approximately 3,200 degrees kelvin. A bright light source, like the sun on a clear day, will emit
a higher color temperature at 5,600 degrees giving the light a cool blue appearance. Your
camera will compensate by adding warmth or cooling the image down based on the set color
temperature.
For example, on a bright sunny day with the light measuring 5,600K, you can set your camera’s
white balance to 5,600K and the camera will compensate by adding warmth. If you set the
white balance to match a tungsten lamp at night emitting 3,200K, the camera will cool the
image down to compensate. This will make sure white is always displayed correctly and colors
will match what you see.

Touchscreen Controls 43
 TIP White balance settings can also be used creatively by warming or cooling the
image based on the story you are telling.

Your Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K comes with white balance presets for a variety of color
temperature conditions. These are:

Bright sunlight (5600K)

Incandescent bulbs (3200K)

Fluorescent bulbs (4000K)

Mixed light (4500K)

Cloud (6500K)

You can customize any of these presets by tapping or holding the arrow icons to the left and
right of the temperature indicator in the bottom left of the ‘white balance’ menu. Each tap
moves the color temperature up or down 50K, but holding the arrow icons down will increase
the speed. Alternatively, you can move the temperature slider.
To further refine the color in the image, you can adjust the ‘tint.’ This adjusts the mix of green
and magenta. For example, adding some magenta can compensate for the green cast of many
fluorescent lights. Many of your camera’s white balance presets include some tint.

Tapping the white balance and tint indicator gives you access to five presets,
as well as a white balance indicator and slider on the left, and a tint indicator
on the right

While in the ‘white balance’ menu, your camera’s current tint setting is shown at the bottom
right of the screen. To adjust the tint, simply tap or hold the arrows to the left and right of the
tint indicator. The available range is -50 to +50 in one unit steps. Holding down on the arrows
speeds up adjustment.

NOTE Customizing the white balance or tint will change your preset to ‘CWB,’ or
custom white balance. Custom white balances are persistent; your CWB settings will
stay configured between power cycles, and when switching to a preset and back to
CWB. This makes it easy to compare a custom white balance to the last preset used.

Auto White Balance

Your Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K can set white balance automatically. Tapping ‘AWB’ will
bring up the white balance screen.
When setting white balance automatically, a square will be overlaid on the center of your image.
Fill this square with a neutral surface such as a white or gray card and tap ‘update WB’. The
camera will automatically adjust its white balance and tint values so the average of the white or

Touchscreen Controls 44
grey inside the white balance square is as neutral as possible. Once updated, this will be set as
your camera’s custom white balance. Holding the WB button on the top of your camera for three
seconds also selects automatic white balance and activates the ‘update WB’ function.

Tapping the ‘AWB’ icon in the white balance menu will bring up the auto white
balance screen. Use this with a white or neutral grey surface to automatically set
a neutral white balance

Power
The camera’s power source and energy status are displayed in the top right of the LCD screen.

While using battery power, tapping the power indicator toggles between displays

AC Displays when your camera is plugged into mains power.

If your battery supports percentage display, the battery icon

shows the remaining battery level as a percentage, and drains
Percentage in 1% steps. At 20% charge remaining, the battery bar turns red.
To toggle the percentage display on or off, tap on the
battery icon.

The battery included with your camera shows a battery icon

Battery bars that drains in 25% steps. At 20% charge remaining, the battery
bar turns red.

Blackmagic Pocket Camera Battery Pro Grip can power

Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K from its two batteries as well as
Battery grip bars
the camera’s internal battery. These battery meters show the
states of all three batteries.

This shows the voltage supplied by the battery, or through the

DC power jack from a plug pack, D-tap adapter cable or custom
Power source voltage
power solution. To toggle the voltage display on or off, tap on
the battery icon.

Touchscreen Controls 45
LUT indicator
When you are using a LUT as a preview tool on set, a a white LUT icon will be displayed in the
top left corner of the screen to indicate that the LUT is currently active. This icon will be blue if
you also have ‘apply LUT in file’ switched on in the ‘record’ settings. For more information refer
to the ‘record settings’ section.

Histogram
At the bottom left of your camera’s touchscreen you can see the histogram. The RGB
histogram shows the tonal distribution of the image separated into individual red, green and
blue channels.

The histogram gives you an indication of the tonal range

between shadows and highlights in your clip. It is also a
helpful tool for checking the balance of your exposure and
to prevent your highlights from clipping

The left edge of the histogram displays shadows, or blacks, and the far right displays highlights,
or whites. When you close or open the lens aperture, you’ll notice the information in the
histogram moves to the left or right accordingly. You can use this to check ‘clipping’ in your
image shadows and highlights. When clipping occurs in the red, green or blue channel, the
respective indicator on the right side of the histogram lights up. If the left and right of your
edges of the histogram come to an abrupt stop rather than falling off gradually, you may be
losing highlight or shadow detail.
If you don’t see a histogram in the bottom left of your touchscreen, your LCD monitor settings
may be set to display ‘codec and resolution.’ See the ‘monitor settings’ section in this manual for
more information.

Record button
Next to the histogram, at the bottom of your camera’s touchscreen, is a round grey button. This
is the ‘record’ button. Tap it once to begin recording, and tap it again to stop. While recording,
the button, storage indicator and timecode at the top of your camera’s touchscreen turns red.

The record button is located next to the storage indicators at the bottom
of the LCD touchscreen

Touchscreen Controls 46
 When recording, the record button displays red.

Dropped Frame Indicator

The ‘record’ button is overlaid with a flashing ‘!’ indicator if the CFexpress card or USB disk
begins dropping frames while recording. The timecode indicator at the top of the LCD display
and the storage indicator will also flash. This lets you know if a particular CFexpress card of
USB-C flash disk is too slow for your currently selected codec and resolution. The dropped
frame indicator will remain visible until another clip is recorded or the camera is power cycled.
Refer to the ‘storage media’ section for more information.

Dropped frame indicator for the CFexpress card

NOTE You can set your Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K to stop recording if dropped
frames are detected to avoid recording unusable footage. See the ‘record settings’
section in this manual for more information.

Recording Time Remaining

When a CFexpress card is insterted, or a USB-C flash disk is attached to your camera, the
storage indicators at the bottom of the touchscreen show how much recording time is left on
the card or USB-C flash disk. The time is shown in hours, minutes and seconds and varies
according to your selected frame rate and codec. The indicator automatically recalculates
if either of these settings are changed. When there is approximately five minutes remaining
on your card or drive, the indicator text turns red, then blinks when there is only two minutes
remaining. The indicator displays ‘full’ when a card or drive reaches maximum capacity.

The storage indicator shows the name of your CFexpress or USB-C flash
disk and the record time remaining in minutes

The card or drive name is also presented in a small bar above the time remaining. The bar
turns blue to indicate the camera is set to record to this card or USB-C flash disk. To record to
a different card or drive, press and hold the name of the card or USB-C flash disk you wish to
record to. While recording, the bar is red.

Touchscreen Controls 47
Tapping the storage indicators opens the storage and formatting menu.

Tap the storage indicators on the LCD touchscreen to access the storage manager

This menu displays the amount of free space on each CFexpress card or USB-C flash disk
used by your camera, as well as the name of the card or drive, total number of clips and the
file format.
You can format your media from this menu. For more information, see the ‘preparing media for
recording’ section of this manual.

TIP Tapping the card or drive name in the storage menu sets it as the active card or
drive. Your Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K fills this card or drive first.

Audio Meter
The peak audio meters display audio levels for channels 1 and 2 when using the internal
microphone, or via external audio when connected. The display is calibrated to dBFS units
and features peak hold indicators which stay visible for a short time so you can clearly see the
maximum levels reached.
 o achieve optimum audio quality, ensure your audio levels do not reach 0 dBFS. This is the
T
maximum level that your camera can record, meaning that any audio that exceeds this level will
be clipped, resulting in distortion.

The colored bars on the audio meter represent peak audio

levels. Ideally your peak audio levels should fall in the upper
end of the green zone. If your peaks enter into the yellow or
red zones your audio is in danger of clipping.

Touchscreen Controls 48
You can tap the audio meter to bring up volume controls for audio input channels 1 and 2,
as well as headset or speaker volume.

Tap the audio meters on the LCD touchscreen to easily access volume and
headset or speaker settings

Double Tap to Zoom

You can magnify any part of your camera’s preview image by double tapping the LCD
touchscreen. The area you tap will be magnified, and you can move around the image by
dragging your finger around the LCD touchscreen. This is very helpful when checking focus. To
return to standard magnification, simply double tap your camera’s touchscreen again.

Pinch to Zoom
Adjust the zoom level on the LCD touchscreen with a pinch to zoom multitouch gesture. This
does not affect the HDMI output.
To start zooming at x2, double tap on the touchscreen or press the ‘focus zoom’ button on
the back of your camera. Then make a pinch gesture to change the zoom level. You can drag
your fingers around the touchscreen to move the area magnified. To return to the standard
magnification, double tap on the touchscreen again or press the ‘focus zoom’ button.
When you double tap on the touchscreen or press the ‘focus zoom’ button, the zoom level
toggles between your previous magnification level and the full view. For example, if you pinch
to zoom to x8 magnification, double tap zooms out, and a further double tap returns to x8.

Touch to Focus
Focus your lens in any region of the image by tapping and holding on the LCD screen in the
area that you want to focus. Press the ‘focus’ button to focus your lens in the chosen location.
Double press the focus button to reset the focus point to the center of the screen.

Full Screen Mode

It can be useful when framing or focusing a shot to temporarily hide your touchscreen’s
status text and meters. To hide them all at once, swipe up or down on the LCD touchscreen.
The record indicator, frame guides, grids, focus assist and zebra remain visible.
To show the status text and meters again, swipe up or down again.

Touchscreen Controls 49
 Swipe up or down to hide all status indicators on the LCD touchscreen

Playback Menu
Press your camera’s ‘play’ button to play back a clip. You can control previously recorded clips
using transport control buttons on the LCD touchscreen.

A timeline of segments represents all the recorded clips and each segment represents an
individual clip. The current clip name and number is shown at the top left of the display and the
total number of clips on the card or drive is shown in brackets.
The counter ahead of the timeline displays the current location of the playhead and the counter
after the timeline displays the total duration of all the clips.
The playback controls below the timeline let you navigate through the clips.

The playback controls

Touchscreen Controls 50
 Tap the ‘record’ button in playback mode to return your camera to standby mode,
ready to record.

Tap the ‘play’ button to view your clips. You are now in ‘playback’ mode.

Press the ‘stop’ button to stop playback. Pressing the ‘stop’ button a second time will
return your camera to standby mode.

Tap the ‘skip’ back button once to move the playhead to the first frame of the current clip. If the
playhead is already on the start of a clip, it will jump to the first frame of the previous clip.

Tap the ‘skip’ forward button once to move the playhead to the last frame of the current clip. If
the playhead is already at the end of a clip, it will jump to the first frame of the next clip.

Press and hold the ‘skip’ back and ‘skip’ forward buttons to change them to ‘rewind’
and ‘forward’ shuttle buttons. Now you can use them to change the shuttle speed to
2x, 4x, 8x or 16x.

To reduce the shuttle speed, simply tap the button in the opposite direction.

The shuttle speed indicator displays the speed and direction of footage being fast
forwarded or reversed

Change the playback mode from ‘all clips’ to ‘single clip’ in the ‘setup’ menu. In ‘single clip’
mode the last recorded clip is displayed when you press ‘play’.

TIP Swipe up or down on the touchscreen to hide status text while playing back
footage. Entering the slate in playback mode will allow you to mark the current clip
‘good take’ in metadata. For more information, see the ‘entering metadata’ section in
this manual.

Looping Playback
Tapping the play button more than once enables the ‘loop’ feature. Looping can be useful if you
want to continue looping the same clip, or loop all clips on the timeline.

Once your clip is playing, press the ‘play’ button again to set your camera
Loop
to play the current clip on a continuous loop.

Loop all Tap ‘play’ again to play all your recorded clips on a continuous loop.

Play Tap again to return to real time playback.

Touchscreen Controls 51
Settings
Dashboard
Press the ‘menu’ button to open your camera’s dashboard. This tabbed menu has settings not
available from the touchscreen. Settings are divided by function into ‘record’, ‘monitor,’ ‘audio,’
‘setup,’ ‘presets,’ and ‘LUTS’ tabs. Each tab has multiple pages, which you can cycle through by
tapping the arrows at the edge of your camera’s touchscreen, or swiping left or right.

Tap the ‘record,’ ‘monitor,’ ‘audio,’ ‘setup,’ ‘presets,’ and ‘LUTS’ headings to move
between your Cinema Camera 6K’s dashboard tabs

Record Settings
The ‘record’ tab lets you set your video format, codec, and resolution, as well as other settings
that are important for your recorded video, such as dynamic range and detail sharpening.

Record Settings 1
The first page of the ‘record’ settings tab contains the following settings.

Settings 52
Codec and Quality
The ‘codec and quality’ menu lets you set the quality for Blackmagic RAW. You can choose from
a selection of constant bitrate settings, or constant quality. For example 3:1, 5:1, 8:1, 12:1, or Q0,
Q1, Q3 and Q5 respectively. These provide options so you can set the amount of compression
used. For more information on Blackmagic RAW, refer to the ‘recording’ section of this manual.

Blackmagic RAW quality options

TIP The amount of video you can record on your storage media increases if you
choose codecs that use higher compression. You can estimate record duration
times based on different storage media capacities, frame rates and codec settings
using the data rate calculator at: https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/
blackmagiccinemacamera/blackmagicraw#data-rate-calculator

Resolution
This setting works in combination with the ‘codec’ setting to define the resolution of your image.

The resolution options on Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K

Settings 53
Record Settings 2
The second page of the ‘record’ settings tab contains the following options.

Dynamic Range
Adjust the ‘dynamic range’ setting by tapping the dynamic range icons. Your camera has three
dynamic range settings:

Video The ‘video’ setting is the best choice for recording to a high contrast, saturated
look suitable for direct delivery or minimal post processing. Video uses
Rec.709 primaries with a pleasing roll off in the highlights. This is a good option
if you want an accurate starting point that still has a pleasing gamma curve with
room for grading if needed.

Extended Video The ‘extended video’ setting is based on Blackmagic Wide Gamut with contrast
and saturation applied. The most notable differences to the video mode come
from the magenta/green axis having less saturation which is more typical of
print film.

Film The ‘film’ setting shoots video using a log curve that allows you to maintain the
greatest dynamic range and maximizes the information in your video signal to
help you get the most out of color grading software, such as DaVinci Resolve.

NOTE When recording Blackmagic RAW using using ‘film’ dynamic range, the image
will appear dull and desaturated on your touchscreen. This is because the image file
contains a lot of data that hasn’t yet been graded to suit a standard display. However,
while recording film dynamic range, you can monitor the video on the touchscreen and
HDMI output using a display LUT, or look up table, designed to simulate a standard
contrast. For more information, refer to the ‘3D LUTs’ section in this manual.

Project Frame Rate

The project frame rate provides a selection of frame rates commonly used in the film and
television industry. For example, 23.98 frames per second. This frame rate is normally set to
match your playback speed and audio sync used in your post production workflow and delivery
requirements.
Eight project frame rates are available, including 23.98, 24, 25, 29.97, 30, 50, 59.94 and
60 frames per second.

Settings 54
Off Speed Recording
By default, the project and sensor frame rates are matched for a natural playback speed.
However, tapping the ‘off speed recording’ switch icon lets you set your sensor frame rate
independently.

Off Speed Frame Rate

With ‘off speed recording’ enabled, tap the arrows next to the ‘off speed frame rate’ indicator to
set your camera’s sensor frame rate.
The sensor frame rate sets how many actual frames from the sensor are recorded every
second, and frame rate will affect how fast or slow your video will play back at your set project
frame rate.
For more information on off speed frame rates, see the ‘frames per second’ section in the
‘touchscreen features’ section of this manual.
For information on the maximum frame rates available for each recording format and codec,
refer to the tables in the ‘maximum sensor frame rates’ section.

Preferred Media for Recording

When both a CFexpress card is inserted and a USB-C flash disk is attached to your camera, use
this setting to determine which disk is recorded to first. The options are ‘CFexpress’, ‘USB-C’
and ‘Fullest’. Choosing ‘CFexpress’ or ‘USB-C’ is a matter of personal preference, and when the
selected media fills up, your camera will then continue recording on the alternate CFexpress
card or USB-C flash disk. ‘Fullest’ can help group files chronologically when shooting a single
camera project.
The setting you choose is applied when a CFexpress card or a USB drive is connected. You can
override this setting at any time by entering the storage manager and tapping the card name
to set it as active. It’s important to note that ejecting and reconnecting a card or drive reverts to
the current ‘preferred card for recording’ setting.
The ‘fullest’ setting is based on the percentage that your recording media is filled, rather than
their sizes or the amount of data used.

Record Settings 3
The third page of the ‘record’ settings tab contains the following settings.

Settings 55
Timelapse
This setting activates the timelapse feature to automatically record a still frame at the following
intervals:

Frames 2 – 10

Seconds 1 – 10, 20, 30, 40, 50

Minutes 1 – 10

For example, you can set the camera to record a still frame every 10 frames, five seconds,
30 seconds, five minutes etc.
The timelapse feature offers many creative options. For example, setting a two frame timelapse
interval gives your recorded video a high speed effect when played back.
Start recording by pressing the record button. When you press the button again to stop
recording, the timelapse sequence is saved as one single clip, matching the codec and frame
rate set in your camera. This means you can drop the timelapse sequence into your post
production timeline just like any other clip you have recorded.

Timelapse mode is indicated by an icon over the ‘record’ button.

TIP When you record clips in timelapse mode, the timecode counter updates when a
frame of video is recorded.

Detail Sharpening
Use this setting to sharpen the image. When sharpening is enabled, decrease or increase the
level of sharpening by selecting ‘low’, ‘medium’ or ‘high’.
This setting only affects your camera’s HDMI output and can be used when recording to an
external recorder over HDMI or if the output of the camera is connected to be used in a live to
air environment.

TIP When post processing your Blackmagic RAW files, you can achieve a comparable
level of sharpening to these settings by using the blur/sharpening tool in DaVinci
Resolve’s ‘color’ page.
Set the tool to a radius of 0.48 and adjust the scaling to 0.6, 0.3 or 0.15 for comparable
sharpening to ‘high,’ ‘medium,’ or ‘low.’
For detailed information on sharpening in post production, see the ‘motion effects and
blur palettes’ section in the full DaVinci Resolve manual.

If Card Drops Frame

Use this setting to configure your camera’s behavior when dropped frames are detected.
When set to ‘alert’ the dropped frame indicator will be displayed on the LCD touchscreen and
recording will continue with dropped frames. When set to ‘stop recording’ your camera will stop

Settings 56
recording when dropped frames are detected. This can prevent you wasting time shooting
unusable footage if you don’t spot the dropped frames indicator.
For more information on choosing a suitable CFexpress card or USB-C flash disk and how to
avoid dropping frames, refer to the ‘storage media’ section.

Apply LUT in File

If you are shooting with the Blackmagic RAW codec and applying a LUT to the HDMI output of
your camera, the selected LUT will be embedded into the Blackmagic RAW file you are recording.
This means that the LUT will be saved in the header of the file and can easily be applied to the
clip in post production without needing to handle a separate file. When the ‘apply LUT in file’
switch is set to ‘on’ in the record menu, this clip will open in Blackmagic RAW Player and DaVinci
Resolve with the chosen LUT already applied to it. The LUT can then be easily toggled ‘on’ or ‘off’
but will always travel with the Blackmagic RAW file as it is written into the clip itself.
DaVinci Resolve also has an ‘Apply LUT’ switch in the RAW settings palette for enabling or
disabling the 3D LUT in the Blackmagic RAW file. The ‘Apply LUT’ setting in DaVinci Resolve is
the same setting as in the camera. This means that when shooting you can direct the colorist
to use the LUT by setting it in the camera, but they can switch it off easily in DaVinci Resolve by
setting ‘Apply LUT’ to ‘off’.

Record Settings 4
The fourth page of the ‘record’ settings tab contains the following settings.

Vertical Recording
Your Cinema Camera 6K is capable of shooting vertically for social media delivery and for
general creative purposes.

Auto
When set to auto, recorded clips will follow the position of the camera when the record
button is pressed. For example, if the record button is pressed while the camera is in a
vertical position, the recording will be tagged in the metadata as vertical. All recordings
tagged as vertical in the metadata will appear vertical when played back using Davinci
Resolve, Blackmagic Raw Player or QuickTime Player.
Alternatively, if the camera is in a horizontal position when recording begins the recording
will stay horizontal and will be tagged as horizontal as well.

Lock Horizontal
Enable the ‘lock horizontal’ setting to tag clips as horizontal and ensure all recordings
appear horizontal regardless of the position of the camera.

Settings 57
 Lock Vertical
Enabling the ‘lock vertical’ setting tags all clips’ metadata as vertical and will be displayed
vertical in applications such as QuickTime Player and DaVinci Resolve.

NOTE Blackmagic RAW footage tagged as vertical requires the latest version of
DaVinci Resolve for the footage to automatically appear vertical.

File Naming Convention

Clips are recorded to your CFexpress card or USB-C flash disk in the Blackmagic RAW format.
Proxy files follow the same naming convention as Blackmagic RAW files but have a .MP4 suffix.
The table below shows an example of the file naming convention:

A001_08151512_C001.braw Blackmagic RAW Filename

A001_08151512_C001.braw Camera index

A001_08151512_C001.braw Reel Number

A001_08151512_C001.braw Month

A001_08151512_C001.braw Day

A001_08151512_C001.braw Hour

A001_08151512_C001.braw Minute

A001_08151512_C001.braw Clip Number

Still image files captured using the ‘still’ button follow the file naming convention for video clips,
however the filename has ‘S001’ representing the ‘still number’ as the last four characters of the
filename in place of the clip number. For information on how to change the camera index, see
the ‘Project Metadata’ section.

Monitor Settings
The ‘monitor’ tab lets you adjust status text, overlays and other monitoring options for your
Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K. Options are arranged by output between ‘LCD’ and ‘HDMI’.
The ‘viewfinder’ button provides monitoring options if you have a Blackmagic Pocket Cinema
Camera EVF installed on your camera.
Monitor settings have five pages of options, which you can cycle through by tapping the arrows
at the edge of your camera’s touchscreen or by swiping left or right.

Settings 58
Monitor Settings 1
The first page of the monitor tab contains identical settings for each output. For example, you
can set ‘zebra’ on for the LCD touchscreen, but off for the HDMI output.

Clean Feed
Tap the ‘clean feed’ switch to disable all status text and overlays for an output, except the
record tally indicator.

Your camera will display a record tally even in clean feed mode

Display 3D LUT
Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K can apply 3D LUTs to any output to approximate the look of
color graded footage. This is especially useful when recording clips using ‘film’ dynamic range.
If your camera has a 3D LUT active, use this setting to independently apply that LUT to your
LCD touchscreen, HDMI output or viewfinder. For more information on loading and using 3D
LUTs, see the ‘3D LUT’ section of this manual.

Zebra
Tap the ‘zebra’ switch to enable zebra guides. For more information on zebra guides and setting
zebra levels, see the ‘touchscreen features’ section in this manual.

Focus Assist
Tap the ‘focus assist’ switch to enable the focus assist overlay. For more information on focus
assist and setting focus assist levels, see the ‘touchscreen features’ section in this manual.

Settings 59
Frame Guide
Tap the ‘frame guide’ switch to enable frame guide overlays. For more information on frame
guides and choosing different guides, see the ‘touchscreen features’ section in this manual.

Grid
Tap the ‘grid’ switch to enable a rule of thirds grid. For more information on the rule of thirds
grid, see the ‘touchscreen features’ section in this manual.

Safe Area Guide

Tap the ‘safe area’ switch to enable the safe area overlay. For more information on the safe area
guide, see the ‘touchscreen features’ section in this manual.

False Color
Tap the ‘false color’ switch to enable false color exposure assistance. For more information on
using false color, see the ‘touchscreen features’ section in this manual.

Monitor Settings 2
The second page of the monitor tab contains the following settings.

LCD, HDMI and Viewfinder

Status Text
This setting can be useful to hide the status text and meters on your camera’s LCD
touchscreen, HDMI output or viewfinder, leaving only the information necessary to
compose or direct a shot. Tap the ‘status text’ switch icon to toggle the appearance of
status text and meters. Overlays such as frame guides, grids, focus assist and zebra remain
visible, if enabled. Swiping up or down on the LCD touchscreen has the same effect.

Anamorphic Desqueeze
When shooting with anamorphic lenses, the image will appear horizontally ‘squeezed’ on
your Cinema Camera 6k’s preview outputs and in recorded files. Select an ‘anamorphic
desqueeze’ option to correct the preview image on your Cinema Camera 6K as well as
recording the desqueeze amount used in the clip metadata for easy correction in post
production.
The available desqueeze options will vary depending on the resolution your Blackmagic
Cinema Camera 6K is set to.

Settings 60
 Anamorphic desqueeze options include:

Resolution and Aspect Ratio Desqueeze Amount

6K 3:2 1.6x
6:5 Anamorphic 2x
6K DCI 1.33x
6K 2.4:1 No desqueeze
Super35 4:3 1.8x
4K DCI 1.33x
Super16 16:9 1.33x
1080HD 1.33x

TIP If your image appears horizontally stretched when shooting with a standard
spherical lens, you may have an anamorphic desqueeze enabled by accident. Select
‘none’ to disable and this will ensure spherical lenses are displayed correctly.

LCD and Viewfinder

Display
Instead of a histogram and audio meters, your camera can display codec and resolution
information at the left and right bottom edges of the LCD touchscreen or optional
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera Pro EVF. This can be useful if you prefer to use
false color for dialing in exposure, or are recording audio separately and want to display
additional information in the space normally used by the histogram and audio meter. Simply
tap ‘meters’ or ‘codec and resolution’ in the ‘LCD’ menu to select your preferred view.

HDMI Only
Display Status Text for Cinematographer or Director
The LCD touchscreen displays information such as ISO, white balance, and aperture that is
useful to a camera operator or cinematographer setting up individual shots on that camera.
Your camera’s HDMI output, however, can also show information useful to a director or
script supervisor who is keeping track of multiple shots or cameras.

Setting the status text to ‘director’ in the HDMI monitor settings changes the status text for
that output to show the following information.
• FPS
Displays the currently selected frames per second for that camera. If off speed frame rate is
disabled, only the project frame rate is shown. If an off speed frame rate is being used, the
sensor frame rate is shown, followed by the project frame rate.

Settings 61
 • CAM
Displays the camera index as set in your camera’s slate. For more information,
see the ‘slate’ section.
• OPERATOR
Identifies the camera operator as set in your camera’s slate. For more information, see the
‘slate’ section.
• DURATION DISPLAY
Displays the duration of the current clip while recording, or the last recorded clip
in the following format: hours:minutes:seconds.
• REEL, SCENE, TAKE
Displays the current reel, scene and take. For more information on reels, scenes, takes and
their labelling conventions, refer to the ‘slate’ section.
• DYNAMIC RANGE
The bottom left hand corner of the monitor displays the currently applied LUT, if applied to
that output. If no LUT is applied, ‘film’ or ‘video’ dynamic range is displayed.
• TIMECODE
The bottom right of the monitor displays your camera’s timecode, in the following format:
hours:minutes:seconds:frames.

Monitor Settings 3
The third page of the ‘LCD’, ‘HDMI’ and ‘Viewfinder’ monitor tab contains identical settings for
each output. These settings act globally across all three monitoring outputs. For example, if
focus assist is enabled on your Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K’s LCD, HDMI and viewfinder
outputs changing the ‘focus assist type’ from ‘peaking’ to ‘colored lines’ will effect all
three outputs.

Zebra Levels
Set the exposure level that zebra appears at by tapping the arrow icons on either side of this
setting. Zebra level is adjustable in five percent steps between 75 and 100 percent exposure.
For more information, see the ‘zebra’ guide in the ‘touchscreen features’ section of this manual.

Focus Assist
Your camera has two focus assist modes, including ‘peak’ and ‘colored lines.’
• Peaking
When ‘peaking’ style focus assist is selected, areas of the shot that are in focus are heavily
sharpened on your LCD touchscreen, HDMI output or viewfinder, but not in the recorded
image itself. This causes focused parts of your shot to ‘pop’ out of the softer background

Settings 62
 on screen. As no additional overlays are used, this can be a very intuitive way to tell
when focus is dialed in, especially when the subject you’re focusing on is physically well
separated from other elements in shot.
• Colored Lines
When ‘colored lines’ style focus assist is selected, a colored line is superimposed around
the parts of the image that are in focus. This can be a little more intrusive than ‘peaking’
style focus assistance as the lines are drawn over your image, but especially in busy shots
with a lot of visible elements, it can be a precise focus aid.

Focus Assist Color

Use this setting to change the color of focus line overlays when using ‘colored lines’ style focus
assistance. Changing the focus line color can make it easier to tell focus assistance lines apart
from your image. The available options are ‘white,’ ‘red,’ ‘green,’ ‘blue’ and ‘black.’

Focus Assist Level

To set the level of focus assistance for your LCD, HDMI output and viewfinder, move the slider
from left to right.
Setting the focus assist intensity level does not affect whether focus assistance is enabled
on your Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K’s LCD, HDMI output and viewfinder. You need to
turn focus assistance on individually for each output in the LCD, HDMI output and viewfinder
monitor menus.

TIP The optimum level of focus assistance varies shot by shot. When focusing on
actors, for example, a higher level of focus assistance can help resolve edge detail in
faces. A shot of foliage or brickwork, on the other hand, may show distracting amounts
focus information at higher settings.

Monitor Settings 4
The fourth page of the ‘LCD’, ‘HDMI’ and ‘viewfinder’ monitor tab contains identical settings for
each output. These settings act globally across all three of your camera’s monitor outputs.

Frame Guides
Tap the left or right arrows in the ‘frame guides’ menu setting to cycle through frame guide
options for all outputs on your camera. The options are detailed in the ‘touchscreen features’
section of this manual, and are also accessible from the LCD monitoring menu in your LCD
touchscreen head up display. It’s worth noting that you can individually select whether

Settings 63
frame guides appear on the LCD touchscreen, HDMI output or viewfinder in their respective
‘monitor’ menus.

Safe Area Guide

To adjust the size of the safe area overlay on your camera’s LCD touchscreen, HDMI and
viewfinder outputs, tap the arrows to the left and right of the percentage displayed in this
setting. This percentage indicates the size of the safe area in relation to the image frame. Most
broadcasters require a 90% safe area.

Guide Opacity
Tap the left or right arrows in the ‘guide opacity’ menu setting to choose the opacity of the
areas blocked out by frame guides on your LCD touchscreen, HDMI output and viewfinder. The
options are 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%.

Guides Color
Tap the left or right arrows in the ‘guides color’ menu setting to choose a color for the guides.

Grids
To set which combination of grids and crosshair you want to display on your camera’s LCD
touchscreen, HDMI output and viewfinder, tap the ‘thirds’, ‘horizon’, ‘crosshair’ or ‘dot’ options in
this setting.
For more information, see the ‘grids’ guide in the ‘touchscreen features’ section.

Monitor Settings 5
The fifth page of your Cinema Camera 6K’s ‘LCD’ and ‘Viewfinder” monitor tab contains some
settings that vary depending on the selected output. These settings are not available for the
‘HDMI’ output.

LCD only
Screen Brightness
Drag the ‘screen brightness’ slider in the ‘LCD’ menu left or right to adjust the brightness of
your camera’s LCD touchscreen.

Viewfinder

Viewfinder Brightness
Allows adjustments for the brightness of the viewfinder display.

Settings 64
 Focus Chart
The viewfinder has a built in focus chart so you can focus the eye piece to suit your eyes.
The diopter has an adjustment range of -4 to +4. Simply turn the focus diopter on the
eyepiece until the chart is in perfect focus.

Smooth Motion
This setting smooths the motion of fast moving images displayed by the viewfinder. It is
common to see judder when shooting at frame rates lower than 30p on a display that
doesn’t run at that native frame rate, especially when you see the display close up. Judders
are eliminated when you switch on ‘smooth motion’ with the shutter angle at 180 or less and
the frame rate set to 23.98, 24, 25, 29.97 or 30p.

Audio Settings
The ‘audio’ tab lets you adjust the audio input and monitoring settings on your camera.
The audio settings for the camera are spread over two pages and divided between
channels 1 and 2.
You can map each audio channel to a different source, as well as adjusting various settings
such as gain control.

Audio Settings 1
The first page of the ‘audio’ tab contains the following settings.

• Channel Source
Use the ‘channel 1 source’ and ‘channel 2 source’ buttons to select your audio source for
each audio channel. Below is a description of each channel source setting.
• Camera Left or Right
Records from your camera’s internal microphones.
• Camera Mono
Creates a single audio channel from your Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K’s built in
microphone’s left and right channels.
• XLR Line
Uses your camera’s XLR input to record line level audio. You can also use this setting to
accept a timecode signal through the XLR port.
• XLR Mic
Records mic level audio from your camera’s XLR input. If phantom power is enabled
and you have your XLR input set to ‘mic’ you’ll also see a ‘+48V’ indicator here. It is also
important to ensure that the 48V switch gets turned ‘off’ when you disconnect your

Settings 65
 phantom powered microphone. You can also use this setting to accept a timecode signal
through the XLR port.
• 3.5mm Left – Line
Uses only the left channel of the 3.5mm input as line level audio. You can also use this
setting to accept a timecode signal on the left channel of the 3.5mm microphone input.
• 3.5mm Right – Line
Uses only the right channel of the 3.5mm input as line level audio.
• 3.5mm Mono – Line
Creates a mono mix of the left and right channel from the 3.5mm input as line level audio.
• 3.5mm Left – Mic
Uses only the left channel of the 3.5mm input as mic level audio.
• 3.5mm Right – Mic
Uses only the right channel of the 3.5mm input as mic level audio.
• 3.5mm Mono – Mic
Creates a mono mix of the left and right channel from the 3.5mm input as mic level audio.
• None
Disables your audio channel.

NOTE When selecting the 3.5mm input as an audio source, the channel 1 and channel
2 source both need to be line level or mic level. This means that if you select ‘3.5mm
left - line’ as your channel 1 source, the available options for the 3.5mm input on
channel 2 will all be line level: ‘3.5mm left - line’, ‘3.5mm right - line’ and ‘3.5mm mono -
line’. The mic level options will be grayed out.

Channel 1/2 Level

Use these sliders to adjust the recording levels of your chosen channel 1 and 2 sources. Audio
meters are included with each slider to help you set the correct audio level. These levels will
also update when you adjust the audio using the audio knobs on the ergonomic control panel.
To achieve optimum audio quality, ensure your audio levels do not reach 0 dBFS. This is the
maximum level that your camera can record, meaning that any audio that exceeds this level will
be clipped, resulting in distortion.

XLR Phantom Power

Your camera’s XLR inputs can provide 48V phantom power so you can use microphones that
aren’t self powered. When your camera is set to ‘XLR’ audio input, simply tap the ‘phantom
power’ switch icon to enable phantom power.

Settings 66
Audio Settings 2
The second page of the ‘audio’ tab contains the following settings.

Audio Meters
You can choose from two different audio meter display types.

VU The VU meter, or ‘volume units’ meter, averages out short peaks and troughs in
your audio signal. If you are using VU metering, adjust the input levels on your
Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K so that the meter peaks at the 0db indicator on
the audio meter. This maximizes the signal to noise ratio and ensures your audio
is at the highest quality. If your audio peaks beyond the 0dB indicator there is a
high risk of sound distortion.

PPM PPM meters, or ‘peak program meters’ displays a ‘peak hold’ feature that
momentarily holds the signal peaks and a slow fall back so you can easily see
where your audio is peaking.

Both VU and PPM meters are available at reference levels of -18dBFS or -20dBFS so you can
monitor your audio to suit different international broadcasting standards.

Audio meter setting Standard

PPM (-20 dBFS) SMPTE RP.0155

PPM (-18 dBFS) EBU R.68

Headphones Volume
This slider adjusts the output levels for headphones attached to your camera’s 3.5mm
headphone jack. Move the audio slider left or right to adjust levels. These levels will also update
when you adjust the headphone volume using the settings wheel on the forward control panel.

Speaker Volume
This slider adjusts the output levels for the built in speaker. Move the audio slider left or right
to adjust levels. These levels will also update when you adjust the speaker volume using the
settings wheel on the forward control panel.

Settings 67
 NOTE It is standard practice to plug in your XLR cable before switching phantom
power on. It is also important to switch phantom power to ‘off’ when you no longer
have a phantom powered microphone connected. Connecting equipment that
doesn’t require phantom power when still in phantom power mode can damage your
equipment, as the camera outputs a charge when in this mode. Phantom power can
also take quite a while to discharge after switching it off.
Please be aware that you should wait a few minutes when switching off phantom
power before plugging in any other microphones or XLR audio equipment.

Setup Settings
The ‘setup’ tab contains your Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K’s identification settings, software
version, function button settings and other camera settings not directly linked to recording or
monitoring. This menu has seven pages that you can cycle through by tapping the arrows at the
edge of the LCD touchscreen, or swiping left or right.

Setup Settings 1
The first page of your camera’s ‘setup’ tab contains the following settings.

Name
Use this option to give your camera a unique name.
To change the name:
1 Tap on the edit icon to open the text editor.
2 Tap the circled cross to delete the current name and type in a new name using the alpha
numeric keyboard.
3 Tap ‘update’ to save the new name.

Language
Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K supports 13 popular languages: English, Chinese, Japanese,
Korean, Spanish, German, French, Russian, Italian, Portuguese, Turkish, Polish and Ukrainian.
The language page will also appear on initial start up.
To select your language:
1 Tap the pencil icon and select your language from the list.
2 Select ‘ok’ to return to the setup menu.

Settings 68
Date and Time
Set your camera’s date and time by tapping the ‘date and time’ setting. The date format is year,
month, day and the time format is 24 hour. Date and time are also used for time of day timecode
if an external timecode source is not connected. The date and time can be set manually by
entering your own date, time and time zone, or you can set your camera to set it automatically.
When setting manually, tap on each field to enter the time and date and tap ‘update’ to confirm.
When set to ‘automatically’, your Cinema Camera 6K will update the date and time when
connected to a network via Ethernet, or the next time you update your camera. The camera’s
default network time protocol server is time.cloudflare.com but you can set it yourself by
tapping the ‘time protocol’ edit icon and entering your own NTP server. After entering the NTP
server tap ‘update’ to confirm.

Hardware ID
The ‘hardware ID’ indicator displays an 8 character identifier for your Blackmagic Cinema
Camera 6K. This is unique to each camera. A longer, 32 character version of this ID is also
included in the metadata for Blackmagic RAW. This can be useful for identifying which footage
came from a particular camera.

Software
Displays the version number of the currently installed software. See the ‘Blackmagic Camera
Setup Utility’ section for more information on updating software.

Camera
The camera setting sets the alpha numeric prefix at the start of a clip’s filename when recording
to external media. To edit the prefix, tap on the edit icon and replace it with a new one. Tap
‘update’ to apply.

Settings 69
Setup Settings 2
The second page of your camera’s ‘setup’ tab contains the following settings.

Shutter Measurement
Use this setting to select whether to display shutter information as ‘shutter angle’ or
‘shutter speed’.
It’s worth mentioning that when using shutter angle, the shutter conforms to the frame rate.
For example, 180 degrees produces the same motion blur, no matter which frame rate you use.
When using shutter speed, however, the shutter is given an absolute value determined
independently of the frame rate, so the results differ if you change the frame rate.

Flicker Free Shutter Based On

Use this setting to change the mains power frequency your camera uses to calculate flicker free
shutter settings.
When shooting under lights, your shutter can affect the visibility of flicker. Your Blackmagic
Cinema Camera 6K automatically calculates a flicker free shutter value for your current frame
rate and suggests up to three shutter values. Shutter values are affected by the frequency of
the local mains power supply used to drive those lights. In most PAL countries, this frequency
is 50Hz, while NTSC countries typically use 60Hz power. Tap ‘50Hz’ or ‘60Hz’ to set the right
frequency for your region.
Characteristics of various light sources may still cause flicker even when using flicker free
shutter values. We recommend performing a test shoot when not using continuous lights.

Drop Frame Timecode

Use the ‘timecode drop frame’ option to use drop frame timecode when using NTSC project
frame rates of 29.97 and 59.94. Drop frame timecode skips a small number of frames from the
timecode at set intervals. This keeps your project timecode accurate despite each second not
containing a whole number of frames at NTSC frame rates.

Image Stabilization
Use the ‘image stabilization’ option to enable or disable image stabilization on lenses without a
physical switch.
When using gyro stabilization in DaVinci Resolve, ensure this setting is disabled. For more
information on how to use gyro stabilization, refer to the ‘gyro stabilization’ section later in
this manual.

Settings 70
Setup Settings 3
The third page of your camera’s ‘setup’ tab contains the following settings.

Set Function Button

On the top of your Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K you’ll notice three function buttons. The dots
on the buttons represent function 1, function 2 and function 3. These can be mapped to
frequently used features and are quickly accessible when using your camera.

The function buttons are represented by dots and are located on the top of
your camera

To set these buttons, select a function button and then the behavior, settings and parameters
you want for that function.

1 2

1 Button 2 Behavior 3 Setting 4 Parameter

Settings 71
Function Button Behaves as Preset or Toggle
Once you have selected the function button you want to map, you can select a behavior.
The available options are:
• Preset
When set to this behavior, pressing a function button will recall a combination of a setting
and a parameter.
To set a preset, select the setting you want to use from the ‘setting’ menu, and adjust that
setting by tapping the arrow icons on either side of the ‘parameter’ menu.
For example, to set the F1 button to recall a preset white balance, use the ‘set function
button’ arrows to select ‘F1’, select the ‘preset’ behavior, tap the ‘WB’ setting, and tap the
arrows on either side of the ‘parameter’ menu until you get to WB ‘5600K’ and Tint ‘-20’.
Toggle
When set to this behavior, pressing a function button will toggle a particular setting on or
off. The ‘setting’ menu is grayed out in this mode. Instead, tap the left or right arrows in the
parameter menu to scroll through the available options. These are ‘clean feed’, ‘display
LUT’, ‘frame guides’, ‘focus assist’, ‘false color’, ‘zebra’, ‘grid’, ‘safe area guide’, ‘off speed
recording’, ‘color bars’, ‘record’, and ‘none’.
Using the ‘toggle’ behavior also lets you select the output this setting applies to. Simply tap
any combination of ‘LCD,’ ‘HDMI’ and ‘Viewfinder’ to select. If the output for an option is
not available, such as ‘color bars’ which always applies to all outputs, the ‘LCD,’ ‘HDMI’, and
‘Viewfinder’ settings are disabled.

Setup Settings 4
The fourth page of the ‘setup’ tab contains the following settings.

Settings 72
Tally Light LED
Your Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K has a small LED on the front to indicate the
recording status of the camera.
To enable or disable the tally light indicator, use the ‘tally light LED’ switch.

LED Brightness
To set the brightness of the tally light LED, tap ‘low,’ ‘medium,’ or ‘high.’

Auto Dim Display

Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K has an option to automatically turn down the brightness of the
LCD touchscreen during periods of inactivity to conserve battery power. Select an option for
‘dim display after’ to set how long to wait before dimming the display. Next time you touch the
LCD touchscreen, it will return to its normal brightness level.

Playback
This setting allows you to select whether to play back a ‘single clip’ or ‘all clips’ on the LCD
touchscreen from CFexpress card or USB-C flash disk. ‘All clips’ plays back through all matching
media sequentially, and ‘single clip’ plays one clip at a time. This also applies for the loop
function. Selecting loop on ‘all clips’ plays through all of the clips on the recording media and
then loop. Selecting ‘single clip’ loops one clip at a time.

Setup Settings 5
The fifth page of the ‘setup’ tab contains your camera’s network settings.
These settings allow you to configure options such as choosing between connecting to a
network using DHCP or a static IP address.

Connect to a network using DHCP or a static IP address

TIP You can also connect your Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K to a network using a
USB-C to Ethernet adapter.

Settings 73
Setup Settings 6
The sixth page of your camera’s ‘setup’ tab contain the Bluetooth settings.

Bluetooth®
Bluetooth control lets you control your camera wirelessly from portable devices. Using the
‘Blackmagic Camera Control App’ you can change settings, adjust metadata and trigger record
remotely from an iPad. Enable or disable Bluetooth by tapping the ‘Bluetooth’ switch icon in the
‘setup’ menu. When Bluetooth is enabled, the camera can be detected by Bluetooth devices
up to 30 feet away. Your camera uses the same set of commands for Bluetooth control as it
does for ‘Blackmagic SDI Camera Control Protocol’, so you can write your own applications to
control almost every setting in the camera remotely. For example, monitoring options and audio
settings, to the camera’s inbuilt DaVinci Resolve color corrector or even lens control.
For more information see the ‘Blackmagic Camera Control’ document available at
www.blackmagicdesign.com/developer

To pair your camera with an iPad for the first time:

1 Enable Bluetooth by tapping the ‘Bluetooth’ switch icon in the ‘setup’ menu.
2 Open the ‘Blackmagic Camera Control App’ and select the camera you would like to pair it
with. Available cameras are listed by a camera letter, followed by a unique hardware ID. For
example A:A0974BEA.

Select the Blackmagic camera you would like to pair with

Settings 74
 When you install the Blackmagic Camera Control App and run it for the first time, you will
be asked if you want to ‘allow location access.’ If you select ‘while using the app,’ GPS
readings from your iPad will be included in the metadata of the files you shoot, allowing
you to geotag your footage. This information can be viewed in Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve
version 15 or higher.
If you do not want to allow the use of this information, select ‘never.’
To change settings, go to settings, privacy, location services, camera control on your iPad.
3 When you try to connect for the first time the Blackmagic Camera Control App will request
a six digit code to pair with the camera. This code will be displayed on the camera’s LCD
screen. Type this code into the iPad and press ‘pair’.

4 When your camera connects to your iPad, it confirms it is paired.

Settings 75
5 If pairing the camera to your iPad fails, the camera presents an error message.
Try connecting again.

NOTE If you are not using Bluetooth to control your Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K,
it is a good idea to turn Bluetooth off for the purpose of security.

Disconnect Current Device

Use this setting to disconnect your Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K from the iPad it is currently
paired with.

Clear Paired Devices

Use this setting to clear the list of devices that your camera has been paired with.

Controlling Your Camera with the Blackmagic Camera Control App

Once you have successfully paired your camera to your iPad, you can change settings, adjust
metadata and trigger record remotely using the iPad app.

Once paired, the Blackmagic Camera Control app will display this screen,
allowing you to adjust your settings and start recording

Settings 76
 Tap the slate icon in the lower right corner to access and update the slate

Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K uses Bluetooth LE to communicate with devices for wireless
control. This is the same type of protocol used in portable devices, and uses a minimal amount
of battery power.

Setup Settings 7
The seventh page of your camera’s ‘setup’ settings contain the following settings.

Factory Reset
To reset the camera to its default factory settings, tap the ‘reset camera settings’ button. On
the confirmation page, tap ‘reset’ to confirm this action. Your camera erases any stored LUTs
and presets, and resets all settings. It is a good practice to export your presets to a CFexpress
card or USB-C flash disk as a backup before performing a factory reset. After a factory reset,
you can restore your presets quickly by importing them from the CFexpress card or USB-C
flash disk. It is important to note that a factory reset also resets the horizon meter, so you should
recalibrate the motion sensor after a factory reset to help ensure its accuracy.

Settings 77
Motion Sensor Calibration
To calibrate the horizon meter tap the ‘calibrate motion sensor’ button. It is essential that
you keep the camera stable during calibration. This is to ensure that the recorded motion
sensor metadata in the Blackmagic RAW files during filming is accurate. The process takes
approximately five seconds to complete.
The horizon can be set off center if needed. For example, if you want to set the tilt at a
consistent angle, calibrate the motion sensor with the camera at the angle you want, then use
the horizon meter to maintain the same angle.
The motion sensor data can be used in DaVinci Resolve to stabilize clips. Refer to the ‘gyro
stabilization’ section for more information.
Pixel Recalibration
The CMOS sensor used in your Blackmagc Cinema Camera 6K is made up of millions of
pixels that respond to light. Some pixels can change in brightness over time following sensor
calibration in the factory. As a result, they become more visible and become what is known
commonly as hot pixels. All camera sensors, regardless of manufacturer, will develop hot pixels.
To solve this, we have a calibration feature built into the camera which you can run if you see
any hot pixels in the image.
To begin this process, simply put on the lens cap and run the pixel remapping feature by
tapping the ‘calibrate’ button. The process takes approximately one minute to complete.

LCD White Balance Calibration

To perform LCD white balance calibration, adjust the ‘LCD temperature’ and ‘LCD tint’ controls
so that the two reference patches look neutral. After you change the settings, you can use the
‘reset’ button to return the controls to the factory calibration. The ‘restore’ button brings back

Settings 78
your new settings, which helps you compare the appearance before and after calibration. When
the LCD shows an accurate white balance, save your settings.

Presets
The ‘presets’ tab lets you save and recall up to 12 collections of settings. This is useful when
one camera is used for multiple projects. For example, you may use your camera for a variety
of different shoots, from documentaries to music videos, with very different settings between
types of projects. Your camera’s ‘presets’ function lets you save the setup for a particular
project or type of shoot and come back to it quickly and easily when required.
You can also import and export presets that are useful for setting up a multi camera shoot.
Simply set up one Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K to suit your project, then export that preset
for all the other Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6Ks on set.

The presets tab allows you to quickly switch between settings that you
have saved

Preset buttons
The button icons along the bottom of the ‘preset’ menu correspond with the following functions.

Add Load Update Edit Manage Delete

Settings 79
Saving and loading presets
To create a new preset, tap the ‘add’ icon. This brings up a touch keyboard on your LCD where
you can name your preset. Enter a name and tap ‘update’ to save all of your current settings to
that preset.
If your camera already has a preset loaded with the same name, you can choose to overwrite
the existing preset or keep both.

Once you have a preset saved, tap its name in the preset menu to select it. To load a preset,
tap the ‘load’ icon.
You can update a preset by tapping the ‘update’ icon. This will bring up a prompt asking you
if you want to update the preset with your Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K’s current setting.
Tap ‘update’ to confirm.

Select a preset and tap the ‘load’ icon to load it. Selected presets will appear solid
blue, while currently loaded presets have a blue line on the left of their icon.

To change the name of a preset, tap the ‘edit’ icon and enter a new name using the keypad.
Tap ‘update’ to confirm.

Importing presets
To import a preset, tap the ‘manage’ icon at the bottom of the ‘presets’ menu. Tap ‘import
presets’, then tap ‘import’ to confirm. This brings up the presets import screen. If your
preferred preset is not on the active card or drive, switch between recording media by tapping
a media button at the top of the touchscreen. You can import presets from a USB-C flash
disk or CFexpress card.
Your camera searches the root directory and ‘Presets’ folder on your selected media, and lists
available presets. Any presets you have saved elsewhere are not visible.

Settings 80
Tap a preset to select it, then tap ‘import’ to confirm your selection and copy it to the next
available slot on the camera.
If the preset you want to import has the same name as a preset already saved to your camera,
you can choose to overwrite the existing preset or keep both. At the top right of this screen,
you’ll see the number of remaining empty preset slots available on your camera. You are able to
import as many presets as you have free slots on your camera.

TIP The import menu will be unavailable if all your camera’s preset slots are full. To
import a new preset you will need to delete an existing preset to make room.

Exporting presets
To export a preset to a card or USB-C flash disk, tap the preset you want to export, then tap
the ‘manage’ button. Tap ‘export selected preset’, then tap the media where you want to export
the preset. If a preset with the same name is already present, choose whether to overwrite the
preset or keep both. The camera exports the preset to a ‘Presets’ folder.

Deleting presets
To delete a preset, select it and tap the ‘delete’ icon. When you are prompted to confirm your
choice, tap ‘delete’.

3D LUTs
The ‘LUTS’ menu lets you import, export and apply 3D LUTs to your camera’s outputs.

Introducing 3D LUTs
3D LUTs can be applied to images on your camera’s LCD touchscreen, HDMI output and
optional Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera Pro EVF viewfinder. LUTs work by telling your
camera what color and luminance output to show for a particular color and luminance input.
For example, a LUT may tell your camera to display a vibrant, saturated blue when it receives a
relatively dull blue input. This can be useful when shooting Blackmagic RAW footage, or using
‘film’ dynamic range, both of which have an intentionally undersaturated, ‘flat’ appearance. By
applying a LUT, you can get an idea of what your footage will look like after it has been graded.
It is easy to create 3D LUTs using DaVinci Resolve or other color correction software, and LUTs
are available online from a variety of sources. Up to 10 17 point or 33 point 3D LUTs up to 1.5
megabytes each can be stored on the camera. Once loaded, you can choose to display a given
LUT on your camera’s LCD touchscreen, HDMI output or viewfinder.

Settings 81
Your Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K supports 33 point 3D LUTs in .cube format created in
DaVinci Resolve and 17 point 3D LUTs converted to Resolve .cube format via LUT conversion
programs. Your camera processes 3D LUTs using high quality tetrahedral interpolation.
For more information on displaying LUTs, see the ‘monitor settings’ section in this manual.

TIP For more information on displaying LUTs on your camera’ s LCD and HDMI
outputs, see the ‘monitor settings’ section.
To read more about applying LUTs to Blackmagic RAW files, refer to the ‘record
settings’ section.

Built-in LUTs
A number of built in LUTs are provided that allow you to preview different looks when shooting
in ‘film’ dynamic range or Blackmagic RAW.
Each camera provides LUTs that are specific to Gen 5 color science:
• Gen 5 Film to Extended Video
Displays a wider dynamic range than the ‘film to video’ LUT, and applies a mild contrast
change with a smooth roll off in the highlights.
• Gen 5 Film to Rec 2020 Hybrid Log Gamma
Displays a gamma curve that is suitable for HDR screens and compatible with standard
dynamic range screens.
• Gen 5 Film to Rec 2020 PQ Gamma
Displays a gamma curve that is based on what we can perceive with our eyes, for efficient
encoding of HDR images.
• Gen 5 Film to Video
Similar to the REC 709 color standard for high definition video, and has a high level of
contrast and saturation. You may find this setting useful when using Blackmagic Cinema
Camera 6K alongside other broadcast cameras using the REC 709 color space.

LUTs buttons
The button icons along the bottom of your camera’s ‘LUTS’ screen correspond to the following
functions:

Load Manage Delete

Importing LUTs
To import a 3D LUT, tap the ‘manage’ icon at the bottom of the ‘LUTs’ menu. Tap ‘import LUT’,
then tap ‘import’ to confirm. This brings up the LUT import screen. If your preferred 3D LUT is
not on the active card or drive, switch between recording media by tapping a media button at
the top of the touchscreen. You can import LUTs from a USB-C flash disk, CFast or SD card.
Your camera searches the root directory and ‘3DLUTs’ folder on your selected media, and lists
available LUTs. Any LUTs you have saved elsewhere are not visible.
Tap a LUT to select it, then tap ‘import’ to confirm your selection and copy it to the next
available slot on the camera.

Settings 82
It’s worth noting that if you want to import a new LUT but all 10 3D LUT slots are full, you need to
delete an existing LUT to make space.
If the LUT you want to import has the same name as a LUT already saved to your camera, you
can choose to overwrite the existing LUT or keep both. At the top right of this screen, you’ll see
the number of remaining empty LUT slots available on your camera. You are able to import as
many LUTs as you have free slots on your camera.

NOTE If you have trouble importing a LUT, it may be the wrong size. You can use a LUT
editor like Lattice to check its size, or open it in any text editor on your computer. Next
to the tag ‘LUT_3D_SIZE’ is a number indicating the LUT’s size. If this value is not 17 or
33, you can use Lattice to resize your 3D LUT to 17 points.

Applying a LUT
Once you have a LUT saved onto your camera, tap it in the LUT menu to select it, and tap the
‘load’ icon. This enables the LUT for all outputs on your camera. To display the loaded LUT on
your camera outputs, switch on ‘display 3D LUT’ in the monitor menu. See the ‘monitor settings’
section for more information.

Exporting LUTs
To export a LUT to a card or USB-C flash disk, tap the LUT you want to export, then tap the
‘manage’ button. Tap ‘export selected LUT’, then tap the media where you want to export the
LUT. If a LUT with the same name is already present, choose whether to overwrite the LUT or
keep both. The camera exports the LUT to a ‘3DLUTs’ folder.

Deleting LUTs
To delete LUTs you are no longer using or make room for more, select the LUTs you want to
delete and tap the delete icon. When you are prompted to confirm your choice, tap ‘delete’.

Embedded 3D LUTs
When a 3D LUT is used while shooting Blackmagic RAW on Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K, the
selected LUT will be embedded into the Blackmagic RAW file that you are recording. The 3D
LUT is actually saved with your recorded files in the header of the .braw file, and can easily be
applied to footage in post production without needing to handle a separate file.
So when Blackmagic RAW files are delivered to an editor or colorist, they will be able to easily
access the LUT that was used while filming, which greatly reduces the possibility that the wrong
3D LUT could be applied to a clip. They can then choose whether to apply the 3D LUT when
editing or color grading the footage, and can disable the 3D LUT at any time.
When the ‘apply LUT in file’ switch is set to ‘on’ in the record menu, the recorded clip will open
in Blackmagic RAW Player and DaVinci Resolve with the chosen 3D LUT already applied to it.
The 3D LUT can then be easily toggled ‘on’ or ‘off’ but will always travel with the Blackmagic
RAW file as it is written into the clip itself. DaVinci Resolve also has an ‘Apply LUT’ switch in the
RAW settings palette for enabling or disabling the 3D LUT in the Blackmagic RAW file.
The ‘Apply LUT’ setting in DaVinci Resolve is the same setting as in the camera. This means that
when shooting you can direct the colorist to use the LUT by setting it in the camera, but they
can switch it off easily in DaVinci Resolve by setting ‘Apply LUT’ to ‘off’.

Settings 83
Entering Metadata
Metadata is information saved inside your clip, such as take numbers, camera settings and
other identifying details. This is extremely useful when sorting and processing footage in
post production. For example, take, shot and scene numbers are essential organisational
tools, while lens information can be used to automatically remove distortion or better match
VFX assets to plates.
Your Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K automatically saves some metadata to each clip, such
as camera settings, timecode, date and time. You can use your camera’s slate to add many
additional details.

Slate
Swipe left or right on your camera’s touchscreen from the main view to bring up the slate.
The slate is divided into ‘clip’ and ‘project’ tabs. The ‘clip’ tab contains information that may
vary clip by clip, while ‘project’ is where you enter details common between clips, such as the
project name, director, and camera and operator ID.

TIP Metadata entered into the slate is viewable on the HDMI output when ‘display
status text for’ is set to ‘director’ on the ‘monitor’ tab. See the ‘monitor settings’ section
in this manual for more information.

‘Clip’ metadata
Making changes to clip metadata works differently in standby mode to playback mode. In
standby mode, when your camera is ready to record, clip metadata gets saved to the next clip
recorded, except the ‘good take last clip’ button applies a ‘good take’ tag to the most recently
recorded clip. In playback mode, when you are reviewing footage already shot, the ‘good take’
button is shown and clip metadata is always attached to the current clip being viewed.

When the camera is in playback mode, ‘slate for’ identifies the clip the slate
applies to and shows the ‘good take’ button. In standby mode, the slate is for
‘next clip’ and shows the ‘good take last clip’ button.

Slate for
This setting shows the clip which the metadata currently displayed in the ‘clip’ applies to.
In playback mode it applies to the current clip, and in standby mode it refers to the next clip
you record.

Entering Metadata 84
Lens Data
If you are using a lens with in built electronics that communicate with your camera, you can see
the lens model information here. To change or add any information regarding the lens you are
using, press the ‘lens data’ option above.
For more information refer to the ‘lens data metadata’ section in this manual.

Reel
Displays the current reel.
Your camera automatically increments reel numbers, so there is usually no need to enter this
manually. When you are moving to a new project and want to start from reel ‘1’ again go into the
project tab of the slate and tap ‘reset project data’.

Scene
The ‘scene’ indicator shows the current scene number, and can also show the current shot
number and type.
The number on this indicator always refers to the current scene. You can adjust it with the left
and right arrows on either side of the scene number, or tap the scene number to enter the
scene number editor.
Scene numbers range from 1 to 9999.
By adding a letter to the scene number in the scene number editor, you can also indicate the
current shot. For example 23A indicates scene twenty three, shot one. If you have a shot letter
added to your scene number, your camera suggests the next scene number and shot letter
whenever you enter the scene number editor. For example, if your current scene number is 7B,
the camera suggests ‘8’ and ‘7C’.
The scene number indicator can also show information about the current shot type in the top
right corner. You can select these in the scene number editor at the right hand side of the
shot keyboard.
The shot types available are:

WS wide shot

MS medium shot

MCU medium close up

CU close up

BCU big close up

ECU extreme close up

Entering Metadata 85
 When entering ‘scene’ metadata, the camera prompts you with scene number
suggestions to the left of the touch keyboard, and shot types to the right

Take
The ‘take’ indicator shows the take number for the current shot. You can adjust it by tapping the
left or right arrows on either side of the take number, or tapping the indicator to enter the take
number editor.

TIP When the shot number or scene letter advance the take number reverts to ‘1.’

You can add descriptions in the take number editor. These are on the right of the take number
keyboard and correspond to the following scenarios:

‘Pick up.’ This refers to a reshoot of a previous take to add additional material
P/U
after principal photography has wrapped.

VFX ‘Visual effects.’ This refers to a take or shot for visual effect use.

'Series.' This refers to a situation in which multiple takes are shot while the
SER
camera is kept running.

Tap ‘A’ to automatically

increment the take number
for each clip while in
standby mode. A small
'A' appears next to the
take number on the slate
when enabled.

When entering ‘take’ metadata, your Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K will offer prompts for additional shot types
to the right of the touch keyboard

Entering Metadata 86
Good take
Tap the ‘good take’ indicator to tag good takes for easy recall in post production. This button
applies the ‘good take’ tag to the clip currently being viewed in playback mode. If the camera is
in standby mode and ready to record, the ‘good take last clip’ button applies a ‘good take’ tag
to the last clip recorded.

Interior / Exterior
Tap ‘interior’ or ‘exterior’ to add a interior or exterior tag to the next clip in standby mode, or the
current clip in playback mode.

Day / Night
Tap the ‘day’ or ‘night’ icons to add a day or night tag to the next clip in standby mode, or the
current clip in playback mode.

‘Project’ metadata
Project metadata behaves the same way whether you are in standby or playback mode.
This metadata always refers to your project as a whole and is independent of clip numbers.

Enter project details using your camera’s ‘project’ slate tab

Project name
Displays your current project name. Tap the pencil icon to change the project name.

Camera
Displays a single letter camera index. Tap the pencil icon to change the camera index.

Director
Displays the director’s name for the current project. Tap the pencil icon to change
the director name.

Camera Operator
Displays the camera operator. Tap the pencil icon to change the camera operator name.

Reset Project Data

To clear all the project information, tap the ‘reset data’ button.

‘Lens Data’ metadata

These settings display information about the current lens fitted to your camera. Many electronic
lenses automatically supply information such as the lens model, aperture and focal length. If you
are using a lens that does not provide this information, or you want to enter additional data, you

Entering Metadata 87
can tap the pencil icon in this setting to enter the information manually. This will bring up the
‘lens data’ menu, which contains the following information:

The ‘lens data’ menu showing information automatically populated from an

attached lens, and filter information that has been manually entered

• Lens Type
Shows the lens model. If your lens type is not automatically shown here, you can tap this
setting to enter the data manually. Your camera has an internal database stored for many
commonly used lenses, so if you need to enter data manually, your camera will suggest
names automatically as you type. This makes entering data much faster.

Use the touch keyboard to enter lens data if it is not provided automatically

• Iris
Shows the iris aperture setting at the start of your clip. This information can be displayed in
f- or T-stops depending on the lens used, if supplied automatically. Tap this setting to enter
data manually.
• Focal length
Shows the focal length setting of the lens at the start of the recorded clip. When
automatically supplied, this is shown in millimeters. Tap this setting to enter the focal
length manually.
• Distance
Shows the focus distance settings of the lens for the recorded clip. Some lenses can
provide this data automatically and it will be provided in millimeters. You can also enter this
data manually.

Entering Metadata 88
 • Filter
Shows the current lens filters used. Tap this setting to enter data manually. You can make
multiple entries separated by commas.

Filter information needs to be entered manually

You can clear lens data at any time by tapping the ‘reset lens data’ icon in the ‘lens data’ menu.
You will be prompted to confirm your choice. If you confirm, all lens data will be cleared and
repopulated with any lens data automatically provided by the currently fitted lens. If you have
manually entered any information into these fields, you will need to reset the lens data the next
time you mount a lens, otherwise the manually entered value will remain.

Gyro Stabilization
Your Blackmgaic Cinema Camera 6K automatically records pan, tilt and roll data captured by an
internal motion sensor. This data is also known as gyro data, which DaVinci Resolve can then
use to stabilize handheld shots.
It’s important to calibrate your camera’s motion sensor prior to recording to ensure that the
recorded gyro data is accurate. You can find more information in the ‘settings’ section under
‘motion sensor calibration’.

Enabling Gyro Stabilization

To enable the gyro stabilization you will need to make sure your lens’s optical image
stabilization is turned off. L-mount lenses with built in optical stabilization have a physical switch
to turn it on or off.

Recording Gyro Data with Manual Lenses

For gyro stabilization to work at its best, it requires accurate lens focal length information which
is included in the metadata that is automatically recorded when using most L-mount lenses. For
manual lenses that do not support electronic communication with the camera you will need to
enter this information into the camera’s slate.
1 Swipe left or right on your camera’s touchscreen from the main view to bring up the slate.
2 Tap the ‘lens data’ tab.
3 Tap on the ‘focal length’ section and type in the focal length of the lens you are using.

Entering Metadata 89
 Enter ‘lens data’ when using lenses that do not have electronic communication with
the camera

NOTE You will need to update this information each time you change manual
lenses of different focal lengths. Lenses with in built electronics will automatically
overwrite the metadata.

Applying Gyro Stabilization in DaVinci Resolve

After importing your clips and setting them up on a timeline:
1 Go to the ‘edit’ page’s inspector window and scroll down to ‘stabilization’.
2 Set the stabilization mode to ‘camera gyro’.
3 Click ‘stabilize’.

A progress bar will let you know when the stabilization is complete.

In the inspector window select ‘camera gyro’ to stabilize the clip using gyro data

TIP You can enhance the results by shooting with narrow shutter angles to minimize
motion blur. For example, 45 degrees.

Entering Metadata 90
Camera Video Output
HD Monitoring Output
The camera’s full size HDMI connector outputs 1080p HD video so you can easily connect
to monitors or even consumer television sets to preview your images. This 10-bit output also
supports HDR and on screen overlays showing full camera status, making it perfect for on
set monitoring.
HDMI monitoring can be helpful when accessing the LCD is impractical, such as when
the camera is secured high on a jib arm, on a crane, or mounted on a vehicle. Monitoring
information is displayed on your HDMI output by adjusting the HDMI overlays options in the
display settings menu. HDMI overlays provide frame guides and information such as recording
details and camera settings. If you simply want to monitor your shots, you can always turn
overlays off for a clean HDMI output.
By using a converter like the Blackmagic Micro Converter HDMI to SDI, you can convert the
signal to SDI, allowing you to connect to SDI monitors, capture devices, broadcast switchers
and other SDI devices. You can even power the Blackmagic Micro Converter HDMI to SDI via
your Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K’s USB port.

Using DaVinci Resolve

Shooting with your Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K is only part of the process of creating film
and television content, and just as important is the process of media backup and management
as well as editing, color correction and encoding final master files. Your Blackmagic Cinema
Camera 6K includes a version of DaVinci Resolve for Mac and Windows so you have a complete
solution for shooting and post production!

NOTE We recommend using the latest version of DaVinci Resolve for accurate color
treatment of clips shot using Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K.

After connecting your CFast, SD card or SSD to your computer, you can use DaVinci Resolve’s
‘clone’ tool, in the ‘media’ page, to create running backups as you shoot. This is recommended
as any type of media is susceptible to becoming damaged or developing a fault so creating
backups means your shots will be immune to loss. Once you have used DaVinci Resolve to
backup your media, you can then add your clips to the DaVinci media pool, then edit, color
correct, and finish your production without ever having to leave DaVinci Resolve.

Using DaVinci Resolve 91

DaVinci Resolve is the same tool used on most major blockbuster movies, so it’s much more
than a simple NLE software tool, as it has extremely advanced technology built in for high end
digital film. You get the advantage of this technology when you use DaVinci Resolve to edit and
color correct your work.
Included here is information on how to get started using DaVinci Resolve with your camera
files. Of course, DaVinci Resolve is extremely advanced and includes a lot more features than
you immediately see when first looking at its user interface. To learn more about how to use
DaVinci Resolve, please check for the DaVinci Resolve instruction manual on the Blackmagic
website, where you can also find many training courses and tutorial videos.

Project Manager
Before you import your clips and start editing, you will need to set up your project using the
project manager.
The project manager is the first screen you will see when launching DaVinci Resolve, but you
can open the manager at any time by clicking on the ‘home’ icon at the bottom right of the user
interface. This is helpful when you want to open previous projects and create new ones.
To create a new project, click on ‘new project’ at the bottom of the window and give your
project a name. Click ‘create’.
Using the ‘cut’ page, you can start working on your edit immediately.

The project manager shows all projects belonging to the current user

For more information about the Project Manager, refer to the DaVinci Resolve manual which is
available to download on the Blackmagic Design website support page.

Editing with the Cut Page

The ‘cut’ page gives you a fast, dynamic editing workflow that lets you quickly assemble, trim
and edit clips efficiently.
Two active timelines let you work with your entire edit plus a detailed area simultaneously.
This means you can drop clips anywhere on a large timeline, then refine your edit in a detailed
timeline within the same workspace. Using this workflow, you can edit on a laptop without
needing to zoom in and out and scroll as you work, which can be an enormous time saver.

Using DaVinci Resolve 92

The Cut Page Layout
When you open the cut page, you will see the media pool, viewer window and timeline.
These three primary windows give you complete control over your edit.

The Cut page default workspace, with the Media Pool in icon view

For more information on the Cut page, see the ‘The Cut Page’ chapter in the
DaVinci Resolve manual.

Media Tabs
At the top left corner of the user interface you will see five tabs.
Click on these tabs to open the media toolsets you will use when creating your edit.
For example, the first tab is the media pool and you can see it is already selected. The other
tabs are for the sync bin, media transitions, titles and effects.

• Media Pool: The media pool contains all your clips, folders and files you imported using the
media page. You can also import files directly from the cut page, so you don’t have to go
back to the media page if you want to import a new clip.
• Sync Bin: This powerful feature automatically syncs all your clips via timecode, date and
time so you can choose angles from all cameras on a multi camera project.
• Transitions: If you click on the neighboring transitions tab, you will see all the video and
audio transitions you can use in your edit. These include common transitions such as cross
dissolves and motion wipes.
• Titles: Next to transitions is the ‘titles’ tab. Here you can select the title type you want to
use. For example a scroll, standard text or lower thirds title. There are also a list of Fusion
templates you can use for more animated dynamic titles which can be customized in
DaVinci Resolve’s ‘Fusion’ page.
• Effects: The fifth tab is the ‘effects’ tab. This provides all the different filters and effects
you can use to bring more life to your edit, for example customizable blurs, glows and lens
effects. There are many powerful effects to choose from and you can find them quickly
using the search tool.

Using DaVinci Resolve 93

 TIP Use the search tool near the media tab icons to find the exact items you are
looking for. For example, if you have the transitions tab selected, type “dissolve” in the
search tool and only dissolve transition types will be shown in the viewer, making it
quicker for you to find the dissolve transition you want.

Viewer Tabs
In the top left corner of the viewer window you will see the viewer mode buttons.

The viewer mode buttons

These buttons control which viewer is currently being used, including ‘source clip’, ‘source tape’,
and ‘timeline’. These viewer modes give you an enormous amount of control when selecting
clips for your edit and it’s worth spending a moment to look at how they work.

Source Clip The source clip viewer displays a single clip from the media pool
and you can set in and out points along the entire length of the
viewer timeline. This gives you greater control. Select a source clip
to view by double clicking on a clip in the media pool, or dragging
it into the viewer.

Source Tape Source tape lets you view all the source clips in the media pool.
This powerful feature is helpful if you want to quickly search
through all your clips to find a specific event. As you scrub the
playhead over the clips, you will see their thumbnails selected in
the media pool. This means once you have found the clip you want
to edit, you can click on the source clip tab and its corresponding
source clip will appear in the viewer automatically.

The source tape viewer really lets you take advantage of non-
linear editing, giving you the freedom to work on your edit, find
shots quickly, try new ideas and stay in the moment.

Timeline The timeline viewer lets you view the edit timeline so you can play
back your project and refine your edits.

Importing Clips to the Media Pool

Now you can start importing media into your project. You can do this in the media pool window
of the cut page using the import tools at the top.

Select one of the import options

to add media to your project

Using DaVinci Resolve 94

 Import Media The import media option will import individual media files selected
from your storage location.

Import Media Folder To import a folder from your media storage, select the import
folder option. When importing a folder, DaVinci Resolve will keep
the file structure, treating each folder as a separate bin so you can
navigate between bins to find your videos and other media files.

To import media:
1 Click on the ‘import media’ or ‘import media folder’ icon.
2 Navigate to your media storage for the media you want to import.
3 Select the file or folder and click ‘open’.

Once you’ve added media to your project, it is a good time to save your changes. DaVinci
Resolve features a fast, on the go autosave called ‘live save’. Once you save you project once,
‘live save’ will save further changes as you make them, removing the risk of losing your work.
For more information on ‘live save’ and other auto save functions, refer to the DaVinci
Resolve Manual.

Using Proxy Media

Your Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K simultaneously records proxy media files when recording
to Blackmagic RAW. Proxy media files are smaller, compressed versions of Blackmagic RAW
files that make it easy to edit projects remotely or using portable computers that may not have
the same power as a desktop PC.
When you import your camera original files into DaVinci Resolve, the proxy media files are
automatically synced to the full resolution Blackmagic RAW files. This means you can switch
between proxy and full resolution media as needed.

When a proxy file is synced to a Blackmagic RAW file, a small camera

icon is displayed next to the clip name

Switching between Proxy Media and Blackmagic RAW

To switch between proxy media and Blackmagic RAW using the Playback menu:
1 Click on the ‘playback’ menu in the menu bar at the top of your screen.

Using DaVinci Resolve 95

2 Select ‘proxy handling’ and click on ‘prefer proxies’.
Your timeline will now use the proxy files.

You can also select proxy files in the ‘cut’ page using the proxy handling quick select icon:
1 Click on the small camera ‘proxy handling’ icon near the top right side of the screen.
2 Select ‘prefer proxies’ from the menu items.

Proxy Handling Options

The proxy handling settings tells DaVinci Resolve how you want to handle the proxy file
workflow on your timeline. This section describes what the options are.
• Disable All Proxies: Select this option to disable proxy files and only use Blackmagic RAW
files for playback. If the Blackmagic RAW file isn’t available, a ‘media offline’ graphic is
displayed.
• Prefer Proxies: Choose this option to use proxy files for playback. If a proxy file isn’t
available the Blackmagic RAW clip will automatically be used instead. When proxy files are
being used and the original Blackmagic RAW files are unavailable, a purple line is displayed
at the top of the timeline.
• Prefer Camera Originals: Choose this option to use Blackmagic RAW files for playback.
Proxy media will be used automatically if the Blackmagic RAW files are unavailable and a
purple line will be displayed at the top of the timeline.

Adding Clips to the Timeline

Now that you are familiar with the media tabs and viewer mode buttons, you can open the
media pool and quickly start adding clips to your timeline.

The timeline of the cut page, comprising the upper timeline and the zoomed in timeline below

The timeline is where you will build your edit and is like a board with tracks you can attach clips
to, move them around and trim their edits. Tracks let you layer clips over others which gives you
more flexibility to try different edits and build transitions and effects. For example, you can try
an edit with a clip on one track without affecting other clips on tracks below it.
There are different ways to add clips to the timeline, such as smart insert, append, place on
top and more.

Using DaVinci Resolve 96

 NOTE If you are editing clips using a vertical aspect ratio, you can easily set your
timeline to vertical by clicking on the ‘timeline resolution’ quick menu and selecting
‘portrait 1080x1920’.

Set the timeline for vertical aspect ratios using the

timeline resolution quick menu

Appending Clips
When selecting takes and assembling an edit, you will likely want to add these shots to your
timeline one after the other. The append tool is perfect for this task and will get you editing
very fast.

Click on the append icon to quickly

add clips to the end of the last clip

To append a clip:
1 Double click on a clip in the media pool to open it in the viewer.
2 Using the scratch trim tool, drag the in and out points to select the precise duration of your
shot. You can also press the ‘i’ and ‘o’ keyboard shortcuts to set in and out points.

3 Now click the ‘append’ icon underneath the media pool.

Your first clip will be placed at the head of the timeline.
Repeat steps 1 to 3 to keep adding more clips and they will automatically append, ensuring
there are no gaps in the timeline.

Using DaVinci Resolve 97

Appending clips ensures there are no gaps between them on the timeline

TIP You can speed up the process further by assigning a keyboard shortcut to the
‘append’ icon. For example, if you assign the ‘P’ key, you can set your in and out points
using ‘I’ and ‘O’ then press ‘P’ to append the clip. Refer to the DaVinci Resolve manual
for information on how to assign shortcut keys.

Trimming Clips on the Timeline

With clips added to the timeline, you have complete control to move them around and
trim edits.
To trim an edit, hover the mouse over the start or end of a clip, then click and drag it left or right.
For example, drag the end of the clip left or right to decrease or increase its duration. You might
notice that all clips after that edit will shift on the timeline to accommodate the new adjustment.
This is one way the ‘cut’ page helps to save you time.
You can even pick the clip up and drop it on a new video track in the large timeline without
having to zoom in or out. This speeds up the edit process because it minimizes time navigating
a long timeline.

Audio Trim View

Audio trim view helps you make accurate audio edits by expanding the audio waveform in the
timeline. This is useful if you’re editing a dialogue scene or a music clip and makes it easy to
find an edit point between words or beats.

To use Audio Trim view:

1 Click the audio trim icon between the snapping and marker tools to the left of the timeline.

The Audio Trim view button

2 Now when you trim an edit you will see an expanded waveform in the timeline. When you
finish trimming, the clips in the timeline will return to their normal size.

Using DaVinci Resolve 98

 Audio trim view expands the audio waveform in the timeline.

After you have finished editing clips using the ‘cut’ page, you might want to add a title. The next
section will show you how.

Adding Titles
Placing a title on your timeline is easy and you have many options.
To see the different types of titles you can use, click on the ‘titles’ media tab at the top left
corner of the user interface. In the selection window you will see all the different title generators
you can use displayed as thumbnails, from lower thirds, scrolls, to a standard text title. You can
even add any of the Fusion titles which are animated titles that you can customize.

Previewing Titles
Before you add a title to your timeline you can preview it from the ‘titles’ selection window. This
lets you quickly scan through all the available options before making a choice.

To preview a title:
1 Click the option menu to the top right-hand side of the titles panel and check ‘hover
scrub preview’.

Enable Hover Scrub Preview from the option menu.

2 In the ‘titles’ selection window, hover your mouse pointer over a thumbnail to preview a title
in the viewer. If you are previewing an animated or Fusion title move the pointer across the
title’s thumbnail from left to right to see the animation.

Hover over a title’s thumbnail to preview it in the viewer.

Once you’ve chosen a title you can add it to your timeline.

Using DaVinci Resolve 99

To add a standard title:
1 Click on the title and drag it onto the timeline. It doesn’t matter which timeline, but for
greater accuracy we recommend using the detailed timeline. The title will automatically
create a new video track for the title and will snap to the playhead.
2 Release the mouse and the title will appear on the new track. You can now move it or
change its duration like you would another video clip.
3 To edit the title, click on the new title clip and then click the tools icon underneath the
clip viewer.
You will now see a row of tools you can use to modify the title clip. For example transform,
crop, dynamic zoom and more.
4 Now click the inspector tab.

This will open the inspector window where you can type in the title you want and edit the text
settings, for example tracking, line spacing, font type, color and more.
You have a lot of options to customize the title exactly how you want it. We recommend playing
with all the different settings to see how they can change the appearance and shape of your title.

TIP You can also use the hover scrub function to preview effects, transitions,
generators and filters on the ‘cut’ and ‘edit’ pages.

Working with Blackmagic RAW Files

Blackmagic RAW clips give you maximum flexibility in post production. This lets you make
adjustments to clips, such as white balance and ISO settings, as if you were changing the
original camera settings. Working with Blackmagic RAW also retains more tonal information
within shadows and highlights, which is useful for recovering details, for example in blown out
skies and dark areas of the picture.
It’s worth shooting in Blackmagic RAW if you are after the highest possible quality, or for shots
where there is an extreme variance between highlights and shadows and you may need to
push and pull those regions as much as possible in the grade.
The speed and small file size of Blackmagic RAW means you don’t need to make proxy files and
playback is just like a standard video clip. This section of the manual describes the features of
Blackmagic RAW and how to use Blackmagic RAW files in your DaVinci Resolve workflow.

TIP It is a good practice to adjust the Blackmagic RAW settings for your clips on the
‘color’ page before you start color grading.

Clip Settings for Blackmagic RAW

When you first import Blackmagic RAW files, DaVinci Resolve will decode the camera data
contained in the files using the ISO, white balance and tint settings used at the time of shooting.
If you’re happy with the look of these settings, you can start editing right away.
The great thing about shooting Blackmagic RAW is that you’re not tied to these settings at all!
The breadth of available post processing options when working with Blackmagic RAW files
mean that you’ll develop your own workflow over time. Experimenting with the ‘clip’ settings

Using DaVinci Resolve 100

for each clip in the ‘camera raw’ tab will show you just how powerful and flexible working with
Blackmagic RAW can be.

In the ‘camera raw’ tab, select ‘clip’ from the ‘decode using’ menu to make adjustments to your clip’s
Blackmagic RAW settings

Changing Blackmagic RAW Settings

Once you have set DaVinci Resolve to enable clip settings for Blackmagic RAW, the clip
settings and gamma controls are now adjustable. Adjusting these settings to optimize your clips
can bring them close to a full primaries grade. This is especially powerful when using DaVinci
Resolve’s scopes which can help you neutralize and balance the clips ready for applying a look.
The following information contains descriptions for the clip and gamma controls.

ISO
The ISO value can be changed by increasing or decreasing this setting. This setting is helpful
if you need to set the clip to a brighter or darker starting point for optimization.

Highlight Recovery
Check the box to reconstruct highlight information in clipped channels using information from
non-clipped channels.

Gamut Compression
Check the box to automatically maintain safe Gamut levels.

Color Temp
Adjust the color temperature to warm or cool the image. This can be used to help neutralize
the color balance in each image.

Tint
Adjusting this setting will add green or magenta into the image to help balance the color.

Exposure
Use this setting to refine the overall brightness of the image.

Saturation
Saturation controls default at 1 and range from 0 for the minimum saturation to 4 for
maximum saturation.

Contrast
Defaulting at 1.0, drag the slider to the left for the least amount of contrast at 0 or to the right
to increase the contrast up to 2.

Using DaVinci Resolve 101

Midpoint
In Blackmagic Design Film, your middle gray value defaults to 0.38, or 38.4%. Drag the slider
to the left to lower your midpoint or to the right to raise it to 100. When contrast is adjusted away
from the default setting, you can modify your highlight and shadow rolloff.

Highlight Rolloff
Adjust the highlights by dragging the slider to the left to lower the value to 0, or to the right to
increase the highlights to 2. The default value is 1.

Shadow Rolloff
Drag the slider to the left to lower your shadows to 0 or to the right to raise your shadows to 2.

White Level
Adjust the white point of the gamma curve by dragging the slider from the highest value
of 2 to the lowest value of 0. The default value is 1.

Black Level
Raise the black point of the custom gamma curve by dragging the slider to the right from
the lowest value of -1 to a maximum of 1. The default value is 0.

Use Video Black Level

Check the box to set your black levels to video.

Export Frame
Clicking the ‘export frame’ button lets you export a single frame from your Blackmagic RAW clip.

Update Sidecar
Click this button to update the Blackmagic RAW sidecar file for the current clip.
Any changes you have made to your Blackmagic RAW clips will be identified by the gamma
setting changing to Blackmagic Design Custom.

If you want to revert your clip to one of the default gamma options available, simply select it from the gamma
dropdown menu.

TIP Gamma controls are disabled for footage shot with the ‘video’ dynamic range,
but you have not lost your Blackmagic RAW data. Simply select Blackmagic Design
Film or Blackmagic Design Extended Video from the dropdown gamma menu and
make your adjustments.

Using DaVinci Resolve 102

Saving your Blackmagic RAW changes
1 Adjust the gamma controls for your Blackmagic RAW clip.
2 Click the ‘update sidecar’ button.

A ‘sidecar’ file will now be created in the same folder as your .braw file. When another
user imports the Blackmagic RAW files, the sidecar files will automatically be read by
DaVinci Resolve. If you make additional adjustments, press ‘update sidecar’ again.

TIP To remove your sidecar file, you can simply delete it from its location on your
media drive.

Project Settings for Blackmagic RAW

If you need to make a setting change that is common to all the clips, for example a global
change to the white balance or ISO setting, you can set the clips to use the project ‘camera raw’
settings and make global changes from there.

To set project settings for Blackmagic RAW:

1 Enter the project settings menu by clicking ‘file,’ and selecting ‘project settings.’
2 In the ‘Camera RAW’ tab, you’ll see a menu next to RAW profile. Click on the arrow to select
Blackmagic RAW from the list.
3 Select ‘project’ in the ‘Decode Using’ menu.
4 Select a Color Science option from the menu.
5 Set the white balance to ‘custom’.
6 Select ‘Blackmagic Design Custom’ from the gamma menu. Set the color space to
‘Blackmagic Design’.
7 Choose your resolution from the ‘Decode Quality’ menu. A lower resolution will give you
better playback on limited systems. You also have the flexibility to change to full resolution
later on before delivery for the highest quality output.

Now you can adjust the camera settings for your clips such as saturation, contrast and midpoint.
This will affect all clips in your project that are set to decode using ‘project’.

Color Correcting your Clips with the Color Page

Now with your clips on the timeline and titles added, you can start color correcting using the
‘color’ page. The color page is extremely powerful and will define the overall look of your film,
but for this example a good place to start is to neutralize all your clips so they are consistent.
You can also return to the ‘cut’ or ‘edit’ page at any time if you want to make changes to
your edit.
The color page lets you adjust the look of your edit and in many ways color correction is an art
form in itself. You are really adding emotion to your work when you add color correction. It’s
an incredibly creative part of the workflow and very satisfying when you learn these skills and
can see your work come alive! This is usually the first step and is referred to as primary color
correction, or adjusting the primaries. After primary color correction is done, you can then make
secondary color correction adjustments which is where you can make extremely precise color
adjustments of specific objects in your images. That is a lot of fun, but is normally done after
primaries because it helps make the process more efficient and you will get a better result!

Using DaVinci Resolve 103

First click on the ‘color’ tab to open the color page.
You’ll see the camera raw settings, color wheels, curves palettes and general color correction
tools as well as the preview and nodes window. Don’t feel overwhelmed by the vast array of
features in front of you, they are all there to help you get the most amazing looking pictures.
This getting started section will show the basics, but for more detailed information refer to the
relevant sections in the manual. They will show you exactly what all the tools are for and how to
use them in easy to follow steps. You’ll learn the same techniques the professionals use in high
end color correction facilities.
Generally, the first step for primary color correction is to optimize the levels for shadows, mid
tones and highlights in your clips. In other words adjust the ‘lift’, ‘gamma’ and ‘gain’ settings.
This will help get your pictures looking their brightest and best with a clean, balanced starting
point from where you can begin grading the ‘look’ of your film. To optimize the levels, it’s helpful
to use the scopes.

Using Scopes
Most colorists make creative color choices by focusing on the emotion and the look they want
their program to have and then simply work using the monitor to achieve that look. You can look
at everyday objects and how different types of light interact with them to generate ideas on
what you can do with your images and a little practice.

The parade scope helps you optimize highlights,

mid tones and shadows

Another way to color grade is to use the built in scopes to help you balance shots. You can
open a single video scope by clicking the ‘scope’ button, which is the second from the right
on the palette toolbar. You can choose to display a waveform, parade, vectorscope, histogram
or CIE chromaticity scope. Using these scopes you can monitor your tonal balance, check the
levels of your video to avoid crushing your blacks and clipping the highlights, plus monitor any
color cast in your clips.
The ‘color wheels’ palette contains the ‘lift’, ‘gamma’ and ‘gain’ controls which will generally
constitute your first adjustment. If you’ve previously had experience with color correction,
these should resemble controls you’ve seen in other applications for doing color and
contrast adjustments.

Using DaVinci Resolve 104

 The ‘lift, ‘gamma’, ‘gain’ and ‘offset’ color wheels give you total control over the color and tonal
balance of your clips. To make a uniform adjustment to all colors for each tonal region, drag the
dial underneath the color wheels back and forth

The primaries bars make color adjustments easier when using a mouse.

For more accurate control of each color using a mouse, you can change the color wheels to
‘primaries bars’ which let you adjust each color and luminance channel for the lift, gamma and
gain controls separately. Simply select ‘primaries bars’ from the dropdown menu near the top
right of the color wheels.
• Adjusting the ‘lift’: With your clip selected on the color timeline, click on the ‘lift’ dial
underneath the first color wheel. Slide it back and forth and watch how it affects your
image. You’ll see the brightness of the dark regions of your picture increase and decrease.
Set it to where you want the dark areas to look their best. If you decrease the lift too
much, you’ll lose details in the blacks and you can use the parade scope to help avoid
this. The optimal position for blacks on the waveform is just above the bottom line of the
parade scope.
• Adjusting the ‘gain’: Click on the ‘gain’ dial and slide it back and forth. This adjusts the
highlights which are the brightest areas of your clip. The highlights are shown on the
top section of the waveform on the parade scope. For a brightly lit shot, these are best
positioned just below the top line of the waveform scope. If the highlights rise above
the top line of the waveform scope, they will clip and you will lose details in the brightest
regions of your image.
• Adjusting the ‘gamma’: Click on the ‘gamma’ dial underneath the color wheel and slide it
back and forth. As you increase the gamma you’ll see the brightness of the image increase.
Notice the middle section of the waveform will also move as you adjust the gamma. This
represents the mid tones of your clip. The optimal position for mid tones generally falls

Using DaVinci Resolve 105

 between 50 to 70% on the waveform scope. However, this can be subjective based on the
look you are creating and the lighting conditions in the clip.

You can also use the curves palette to make primary color corrections. Simply click to create
control points on the diagonal line inside the curve graph, and drag them up or down to adjust
the master RGB contrast at different areas of image tonality. The optimum points to adjust are
the bottom third, mid, and top third of the curve line.
There are many more ways of doing primary color correction in DaVinci Resolve.

The curves palette is another tool you can use to make primary color
corrections, or enhance specific areas of your clip when using a power window

Secondary Color Correction

If you want to adjust a specific part of your image then you need to use secondary corrections.
The adjustments you have been doing up until now using the lift, gamma and gain adjustments
affect the whole image at the same time and so they are called primary color corrections.
However, if you need to adjust specific parts of your image, say for example you wanted to
improve the color in the grass in a scene, or you wanted to deepen the blue in a sky, then you
can use secondary corrections. Secondary color corrections are where you select a part of the
image and then adjust only that part. With nodes, you can stack multiple secondary corrections
so you can keep working parts of your image until everything is just right! You can even use
windows and tracking to allow the selections to follow movement in your images.

Qualifying a Color
Often you’ll find a specific color in your clip can be enhanced, for example grass by the side
of a road, or the blue in a sky, or you may need to adjust color on a specific object to focus the
audience’s attention on it. You can easily do this by using the HSL qualifier tool.

Using the HSL qualifier to select colors in your image

is helpful when you want to make areas of your image
‘pop’, to add contrast, or to help draw the audience’s
attention to certain areas of your shot

Using DaVinci Resolve 106

To qualify a color:
1 Add a new serial node.
2 Open the ‘qualifier’ palette and make sure the ‘selection range’ picker tool is selected.
3 Click on the color in your clip you want to affect.
4 Usually you’ll need to make some adjustments to soften the edges of your selection and
limit the region to only the desired color. Click on the ‘highlight’ button above the viewer to
see your selection.
5 Adjust the ‘width’ control in the ‘hue’ window to broaden or narrow your selection.

Experiment with the high, low and softness controls to see how to refine your selection.
Now you can make corrections to your selected color using the color wheels or custom curves.
Sometimes your selection can spill into areas of the shot you don’t want to affect. You can easily
mask out the unwanted areas using a power window. Simply create a new window and shape it
to select only the area of color you want. If your selected color moves in the shot, you can use
the tracking feature to track your power window.

Adding a Power Window

Power windows are an extremely effective secondary color correction tool that can be used to
isolate specific regions of your clips. These regions don’t have to be static, but can be tracked
to move with a camera pan, tilt or rotation, plus the movement of the region itself.

Use power windows to mask out areas you don’t want to be affected by the HSL
qualifier secondary adjustments

For example, you can track a window on a person in order to make color and contrast changes
just to that person without affecting his or her surroundings. By making corrections like this you
can influence the audience’s attention on areas you want them to notice.

To add a power window to your clip:

1 Add a new serial node.
2 Open the ‘window’ palette and select a window shape by clicking on a shape icon. Your
selected window shape will appear on the node.
3 Resize the shape by clicking and dragging the blue points around the shape. The red
points adjust the edge softness. You can position the shape by clicking the center point
and moving it to the area you want to isolate. Rotate the window using the point connected
to the center.
Now you can make color corrections to your image in just the area you want.

Using DaVinci Resolve 107

 Power windows let you make secondary corrections to specific parts of your image

Tracking a Window
The camera, object or area in your shot may be moving, so to make sure your window stays
on your selected object or area, you can use DaVinci Resolve’s powerful tracking feature. The
tracker analyzes the pan, tilt, zoom and rotation of the camera or object in your clip so you
can match your windows to that movement. If this isn’t done, your correction can move off the
selected target and call attention to itself, which you probably don’t want.

14
You can 4track objects or areas in your clip using the tracker feature so power
windows can follow the action

To track a window to a moving object:

1 Create a new serial node and add a power window.
2 Go to the start of your clip and position and size the window to highlight just the object or
area you want.
3 Open the ‘tracker’ palette. Select the pan, tilt, zoom, rotate, and perspective 3D settings
appropriate for the movement in your clip by checking or unchecking the relevant ‘analyze’
checkboxes.
4 Click on the ‘forward’ arrow to the left of the checkboxes. DaVinci Resolve will now apply
a cluster of tracking points on your clip and then step through the frames to analyze the
movement. When the tracking is done, your power window will follow the path of the
movement in your clip.

Most of the time automatic tracking is successful, but scenes can be complex and sometimes
an object can pass in front of your selected area, interrupting or affecting your track. This
can be solved manually using the keyframe editor. Refer to the DaVinci Resolve manual to
find out more.

Using DaVinci Resolve 108

Using Plugins
While making secondary color corrections you can also add Resolve FX or Open FX plugins to
create fast, interesting looks and effects using the ‘color’ page, or imaginative transitions and
effects on your clips on the ‘cut’ and ‘edit’ pages. Resolve FX are installed with DaVinci Resolve,
OFX plugins can be purchased and downloaded from third party suppliers.
After installing a set of OFX plugins, you can access them or Resolve FX plugins on the color
page by opening the Open FX inspector to the right of the ‘node editor’. Once you create a new
serial node, simply click the ‘Open FX’ button to open the FX library and drag and drop a plugin
onto the new node. If the plugin has editable settings, you can adjust these in the adjoining
‘settings’ panel.

OFX plugins are a quick and easy way to create an imaginative and interesting look

In the ‘edit’ page you can add plugin filters, generators and transitions to clips by opening the
‘Open FX’ panel in the ‘effects library’ and dragging your selected plugin onto the video clip or
track above your clip on the timeline depending on the plugin requirements.

Mixing Your Audio

Mixing Audio in the Edit Page
Once you have edited and color corrected your project, you can begin to mix your audio.
DaVinci Resolve has a helpful set of features for editing, mixing and mastering audio for your
project directly in the ‘edit’ page. For projects requiring more advanced audio tools, the
Fairlight page provides you with a full audio post production environment. If you are already
familiar with the edit page and want to move straight to Fairlight, skip this section and move
onto the next.

Adding Audio Tracks

If you are working in the edit page and want to mix a basic sound edit with lots of sound effects
and music, you can easily add more audio tracks when you need them. This can be helpful
when building your sound, and separating your audio elements into individual tracks, for
example, dialogue, sound effects and music.

To Add an Audio Track to the Edit Page

Right click next to the name of any audio track on your timeline and select ‘add track’ and
choose from the options, including ‘mono’, ‘stereo’, and ‘5.1’. This will add the track to the
bottom of the track list. Alternatively select ‘add tracks’ and select the position you would like
the new track or multiple tracks placed.
Your new audio track will appear on the timeline.

Using DaVinci Resolve 109

 TIP If you wish to change the type of track after creating it, right click next to the name
of the track and select ‘change track type to’ and select the type of audio track you
want, such as stereo, mono or 5.1.

Adjusting Audio Levels in the Timeline

Each clip of audio in the timeline has a volume overlay that lets you set that clip’s level by
simply dragging it up or down with the pointer. This overlay corresponds to the Volume
parameter in the Inspector.

Dragging a volume overlay to adjust the clip level

For projects requiring more advanced audio tools, the Fairlight page provides you with a full
audio post production environment.

The Fairlight Page

The ‘Fairlight’ page in DaVinci Resolve is where you adjust your project audio. In single
monitor mode, this page gives you an optimized look at the audio tracks of your project, with
an expanded mixer and custom monitoring controls that make it easy to evaluate and adjust
levels in order to create a smooth and harmonious mix. Don’t feel overwhelmed by the vast
array of features in front of you, they are all there to help you deliver the best audio quality
for your project.

This guide provides a basic overview of the features on the Fairlight page, but to learn more
about all the details for each feature, refer to the DaVinci Resolve manual. The DaVinci Resolve
manual provides details on the purpose of each tool and describes how to use them in easy to
follow steps.

Using DaVinci Resolve 110

The Audio Timeline
• Track Header: At the left of each track is a header area that displays the track number, track
name, track color, audio channels, fader value and audio meters. The track header also
contains different controls for locking and unlocking tracks, plus solo and muting controls.
These controls can help to keep your tracks organized, and let you preview individual
tracks one at a time.
• Tracks: Each track on the Fairlight page is divided into lanes, which show each individual
channel of clip audio for editing and mixing. The edit page hides these individual audio
channels, displaying only a single clip in the timeline to make it easier to edit multi channel
sources without needing to manage a huge number of tracks.

The track header on track A1 indicates a mono track with a single lane for mono audio,
and the A2 track header indicates a stereo track with two lanes to accommodate stereo audio

What is a Bus?
A bus is essentially a destination channel made up of audio sources grouped together into a
single signal that can be controlled via a single channel strip. Fairlight automatically creates a
bus for you and all the audio tracks in your timeline are sent to this bus by default, this means
you can adjust the overall level of your audio mix once you have adjusted the level of each
individual track.
If your edit is a bit more complex you can create more buses and combine multiple tracks of
audio that belong to the same category such as dialogue, music or effects so that everything
in that category can be mixed as a single audio signal. For example, if you have five dialogue
tracks, you can route the output of all five dialogue tracks to a separate bus, and the level of all
dialogue can then be mixed with a single set of controls.
The Fairlight Flexbus structure gives you complete flexibility over bus types and signal routing
including the option for bus-to-bus, track-to-bus and bus-to-track routing. For more information
on audio bus settings in Fairlight, refer to the DaVinci Resolve manual.

The Mixer
Each audio track in your timeline corresponds to an individual channel strip in the Mixer, and by
default there’s a single strip on the right for the default bus labeled ‘Bus 1’. Additional channel
strips will appear on the right hand side with a set of controls for each additional bus you create.
A set of graphical controls allows you to assign track channels to output channels, adjust EQ
and dynamics, set levels and record automation, pan stereo and surround audio, and mute and
solo tracks.

Using DaVinci Resolve 111

 The audio mixer, with channel strips corresponding to the tracks in the timeline

Using the Equalizer to Enhance your Audio

After adjusting the audio levels of your audio clips in your project, you may find that the audio
needs further finessing. In some cases you may find that the dialogue, music and sound effects
are competing for the same frequency on the audio spectrum, making your audio too busy
and unclear. This is where using EQ can help, as it allows you to specify the parts of the audio
spectrum that each track occupies. You can also use an equalizer to help remove unwanted
elements from your audio by isolating and reducing the level on particular frequencies that
contain low rumbles, hums, wind noise and hiss, or simply to improve the overall quality of your
sound so it is more pleasing to listen to.
DaVinci Resolve provides EQ filters that can be applied at a clip level to each individual clip or
at the track level to affect entire tracks. Each audio clip in the timeline has a four band equalizer
in the inspector panel, and each track has a 6 band parametric equalizer in the mixer panel. The
graphical and numeric controls for boosting or attenuating different ranges of frequencies, and
different filter types allow you to define the shape of the EQ curve.

The four band equalizer can be applied to every clip in

the timeline

Using DaVinci Resolve 112

Outer bands let you make band filter adjustments using hi-shelf, lo-shelf, hi-pass and lo-
pass filters. A pass filter affects all the frequencies above or below a particular frequency,
by removing those frequencies completely from the signal. For example, a high pass filter
will allow the high frequencies to pass through the filter while cutting the low frequencies.
Any frequencies outside the cutoff frequency are cut gradually in a downward sloping curve.
A shelf filter is less aggressive, and is useful when you want to shape the overall top end or
low end of the signal without completely removing those frequencies. The shelf filter boosts or
cuts the target frequency and every frequency either above or below it evenly, depending on
whether you use a high shelf or low shelf.
The middle sets of band controls let you make a wide variety of equalization adjustments, and
can be switched between lo-shelf, bell, notch, and hi-shelf filtering options.
• Bell: Bell filters boost or cut frequencies around a given center point of the bell curve, and
as the name suggests the shape of the curve is like a bell.
• Notch: Notch filters allow you to specifically target a very narrow range of frequencies.
For example, removing a mains hum at 50 or 60Hz.
• Lo-Shelf: Low shelf filters boost or cut the target frequency at the low end, and every
frequency below it
• Hi-Shelf: High shelf filters boost or cut the target frequency at the high end, and every
frequency above it

To add EQ to an individual clip:

1 Select the clip in the timeline that you want to add the EQ filter to.
2 Click on the inspector and then click the ‘equalizer’ enable button.

To add EQ to a track:
1 Double click in the EQ section for one of your tracks in the mixer to open the equalizer for
that track.
2 Select the band filter type from the dropdown menu for the band you want to adjust.

The EQ section in the mixer panel indicating

an EQ curve has been applied to track one

The 6 Band parametric equalizer that can be applied to every track

Using DaVinci Resolve 113

Once you have added EQ to your clip or track, you can adjust the EQ for each band. Note that
controls may vary depending on which band filter type is selected.

To adjust the EQ for a band filter:

1 Select the band filter type from the dropdown menu for the band you want to adjust.
2 Adjust the ‘frequency’ value to select the center frequency of the EQ adjustment.
3 Adjust the ‘gain’ value to boost or attenuate the frequencies governed by that band.
4 Use the ‘Q factor’ value to adjust the width of affected frequencies.

Use the reset button to reset all controls in the EQ window to their defaults.
Fairlight has many controls you can use to improve the quality of each audio track. You can
add more tracks and arrange buses to organize them, plus add effects like delay or reverb, and
generally perfect your audio mix.

Adding VFX and Compositing on the Fusion Page

Now that you have completed your edit, you can open the Fusion page to add 2D or 3D visual
effects and motion graphics right within DaVinci Resolve. Unlike layer based compositing
software, Fusion uses nodes, giving you the freedom to build complex effects while routing
image data in any direction. The nodes window clearly shows every tool used along the way.
If you have experienced the node workflow in the color page, this will feel familiar to you.

The Fusion Page

The Fusion page features 2 viewer windows across the top with transport controls to view your
media, an inspector window to the right to access tool settings, and a nodes window at the
bottom where you build your composition. While the viewers and transport controls are always
visible, clicking on the icons on the interface toolbar at the very top of the display will let you
show or hide the nodes and inspector windows, or reveal or hide additional windows including
the effects library and editors for spline and keyframes.

Using DaVinci Resolve 114

 • Media Pool: The media pool functions the same way as it appears in the edit page. Simply
drag additional media from your bins directly to your composition.
• Effects Library: The effects library is where you will find your Fusion tools and templates
sorted into categories including particle, tracking, filters and generators. You can either
click on the tool or drag it to the nodes area to add it to your composition. The media pool
and effects library take up the same screen area, so you can swap between the two to
keep your viewers as large as possible.
• Clips: Clicking the clips tab will reveal or hide thumbnails representing clips on your
timeline. The thumbnails are located underneath the nodes editor, letting you instantly
navigate to other clips.

Create a new version of your composition by right clicking on a thumbnail

and selecting ‘create new composition’.

• Viewers: The viewers are always visible and let you see the different views of your
composition, for example an overall 3D perspective via the merge 3D node, a camera
output, or your final render output. These viewers also let you see how your changes are
affecting a specific element.
You can choose which nodes to view by clicking on a node and typing ‘1’ for the left viewer
or ‘2’ for the right viewer. White button icons appear beneath the node to let you know which
viewer it is assigned to. If you’re using external video monitoring, there will be a third button
available to route your media to your external video monitor.

TIP You can also assign a node to a viewer by dragging the node into the viewer itself.

The transport controls underneath the viewers let you skip to the start or end of the clip, play
forward or reverse, or stop playback. The time ruler displays the entire range of a clip, with
yellow marks indicating the in and out points.

The yellow marks on the time ruler indicate your clip’s in and out points on your timeline. If you are using
a Fusion clip or compound clip, the time ruler will only show you the duration of the clip as it appears on
the timeline, without handles.

Using DaVinci Resolve 115

 • Nodes: The nodes window is the heart of the Fusion page where you build your node tree
by connecting tools together from one node’s output to another node’s input. This area will
change size depending on which editors are open, for example the spline or keyframes
editor. A toolbar at the top of the nodes area features the most commonly used tools for
fast access.
• Spline: When the spline editor is open, it will appear to the right of the nodes window. This
editor lets you make precise adjustments to each node, such as smoothing the animation
between two keyframes using bezier curves.
• Keyframes: Keyframes for each tool can be added, removed or modified using the
keyframes editor. This also appears to the right of the nodes viewer.
• Metadata: The metadata window will show you metadata available for the active clip,
including the codec, frame rate and timecode.
• Inspector: The inspector in the top right corner displays all settings and modifiers available
for one or more selected nodes. Additional tab options will appear to provide quick access
to other settings for nodes sorted by category.

The text inspector contains additional tabs for text, layout,

transform, shading, image and settings.

Getting Started with Fusion

To get started with Fusion, simply position your playhead over any clip on your timeline and
click on the ‘Fusion’ tab to open the Fusion page.
On the Fusion page, your clip is immediately available in a media input node labelled ‘MediaIn’.
Every composition will begin with a ‘mediain’ and a ‘mediaout’ node. This mediain node
represents the top most clip of your timeline at the playhead, and ignores any clips underneath.
Any adjustments you’ve applied to the clip on the edit page, such as transform tools and
cropping changes, are also included.

The media output node, named ‘MediaOut’, is the node that sends the output back to your timeline on DaVinci
Resolve’s edit page.

TIP ResolveFX or OFX plug-ins applied to clips in the cut or edit pages are not
applied in the Fusion page. This is because Fusion effects occur prior to color
correction and OFX/ResolveFX processing. If you want OFX applied before Fusion
effects, right click the clip in the edit page and select ‘new fusion clip’ before clicking
on the Fusion page.

Using DaVinci Resolve 116

Understanding Nodes
It can be helpful to think of each node as a visual icon representing a single tool or effect.
Nodes are connected to other nodes to build the overall composition, much like ingredients
in a cake. It’s important to understand the inputs and outputs of each node as this will help you
navigate the flow of your composition while building detailed visual effects.
Some tools have multiple inputs and outputs you can connect to other nodes. The merge
node, for example, lets you attach a foreground input, background input, and a mask input for
mattes or keys.

Foreground input
Background input
Effect mask input
Output

Multiple outputs on nodes means a single node can connect to many different nodes in
your composition, so you don’t have to duplicate clips as you would in layer based software.
Arrows on the line between connected nodes are a great visual indicator to show you which
direction the image data is flowing.

Adding Nodes to the Node Editor

Adding effects is as simple as placing nodes on the line between the ‘mediain’ and
‘mediaout’ nodes.
There are a few ways you can do this. You can hold down the shift button and drop a node
between two nodes, or click on the node you want to attach an effect to and select the
tool you want to add. The new node will automatically connect to the tool selected. You can
also add a node anywhere on the node window and manually connect nodes by dragging the
output of one to the input on another.

The most commonly used tool is the 2D or 3D merge node. This node is like a central hub that combines tools
on the node editor into a single output.

The merge node has controls for how the inputs are managed, including settings for size,
position, and blend. These settings are all accessible in the inspector panel when the merge
node is selected.
The toolbar above the node panel contains the most commonly used tools as icons that you
can either click on to add the node, or drag the tool to the node panel. If you want to see all the
complete tools available, click on the ‘effects library’ in the top left corner and expand the ‘tools’
option. Here you’ll find all the tools sorted by category, as well as a set of pre-built ‘templates’
you can use, for example lens flares, shaders and backgrounds.

TIP Once you’re familiar with the tool names, you can hold down ‘shift’ and press
‘spacebar’ on your keyboard and a ‘select tools’ menu will appear. As you type the tool
name, the menu will suggest the relevant tool. This is a very fast way to select the tool
you want.

Using DaVinci Resolve 117

Adjusting Nodes Using the Inspector Panel
Adjust your node settings using the inspector panel. Simply click on the node you want to
modify and the panel will update to display its settings and controls.
With Fusion, you don’t have to be viewing the node you’re editing, as you can modify one node
while viewing another in your composition. For example, you can modify the size and center
position of a ‘text+’ node while the merge node is in the viewer, letting you view the text relative
to the background.

Selected nodes appear with a red border. Here the inspector panel is displaying the layout tab controls for the
text node.

There are different parameters and settings you can adjust for every node depending on its
task, from sizing and center positions to changing the number of particles in an emitter node.
Setting keyframes and changing the settings over time will animate the effect.

Working with Keyframes

In the inspector window, set a keyframe by right clicking on a setting and choosing ‘animate’
from the contextual menu. The keyframe icon to the right of the setting will turn red. This means
keyframes are now active and any changes you make will be applied to the current frame only.
When two or more keyframes are created by changing the setting parameters on a different
frame, a transition is interpolated between them. Arrows on each side of the keyframe icon let
you move the playhead to those exact positions on the timeline.

Here, the ‘size’ keyframe animation has been smoothed into a bezier curve.
You can click the bezier handles to shorten or lengthen the curve, or the keyframe square icons to move the
keyframe location.

Using DaVinci Resolve 118

The splines panel gives you further control over keyframe animation. You can select keyframes,
such as the first and last, and smooth the animation between them into a bezier curve by typing
‘shift’ + ’s’, or right clicking on a keyframe and selecting ‘smooth’.

Using the Motion Tracker and Adding Text

To get a better idea of how to use Fusion, we have included the following examples to show
how to use the tracker tool to track an element in a clip, plus add text and attach it to the
element using the tracking data.
The ‘tracker’ tool tracks pixels over time on the x & y axis, and generates data you can use to
attach other elements. This is great for when you want to match the position of text to a moving
object, such as a car driving along the road, or a bird as it flies across frame.
1 In the ‘effects library’, select the ‘tracker’ tool and drag it to the line between the ‘mediain’
and the ‘mediaout’ nodes. Now click the tracker node to reveal its properties in the
inspector.
2 Type ‘1’ on your keyboard to see the ‘tracker’ node on the left viewer. The clip will appear in
the viewer together with the tracker at its default position. Hover your mouse pointer over
the tracker to reveal the tracker handle. Click on the tracker handle at the top left corner
and drag the tracker to an area of interest on your clip. High contrast areas work well, for
example the badge on the hood of a car. The tracker will magnify the image area for extra
precision.
3 In the inspector window, click on the ‘track forward’ button to start tracking. A notification
window will appear when the tracking is done. Click OK.

Tracking options in the inspector panel include track reverse from last frame or current frame, stop track
or track forward from current frame or first frame.

TIP Track reverse or forward from current frame is great for situations where your area
of interest disappears during the render range, such as a car or bird moving out of
frame. This lets you track only the relevant footage.

Now you can take that tracking data and apply the motion path to a text tool.

Using DaVinci Resolve 119

4 Click on the ‘text+’ node icon from the toolbar of commonly used nodes and drag it to
the node panel near the ‘tracker’ node. Connect the ‘text’ output square to the green
foreground input on the ‘tracker’.

5 Click on the ‘tracker’ node and type ‘1’ so you can see the merged results on your left hand
viewer. In the ‘tracker’ inspector panel, click on the ‘operations’ tab. Click the menu next to
operation and select ‘match move’.
6 Click the ‘text’ node to reveal the properties in the inspector. Type your text into the text
box and change the font, color and size to suit your composition.
This will apply the tracking position data from your tracker to your text. If you want to
change the text offset, click on the ‘trackers’ tab back in the inspector panel and use the x
and y offset scroll wheels to modify the position.

Scroll wheels at the bottom of the tracker inspector

panel let you adjust the offset position for the text.

Now you can play back your composition and see your text attached to the object you
have tracked!

The green square is the tracker’s current position along the green path,
and the red dashed line is the offset position used to animate the text.

Using DaVinci Resolve 120

 For some shots you might want to remove track points after tracking, such as when the
object you are tracking disappears off the screen. The keyframe editor makes this a very
simple process.

7 Click on the keyframes tab above the inspector to open the keyframes editor. Any nodes
with keyframes applied will have a small arrow next to the node label, and only the
parameter with keyframes added will appear in the list below. Click on the magnify icon and
drag a box around the area you want to edit. This will zoom into that area so you can see
the keyframes easier.
8 Move the playhead to the location of the last keyframe you want. Now select the keyframes
you wish to remove by drawing a box around them with your mouse. The keyframes will
highlight yellow. Right click and choose delete from the menu.

TIP If your effects are particularly system intensive, right clicking on the transport
controls area will give you viewer options, including proxy playback, helping you
get the most out of your system while you build your composition. Refer to the
DaVinci Resolve manual for further detail on all the playback options.

You have now completed your first composition animating text to match a movement in
your footage!
If you want to track an area of the image that contains a flat surface you want to enhance or
replace, you can use the planar tracker. Tracking 2D planes can be helpful for changing labels
and signs in a moving image, or even adding an image to a monitor or TV in your shot.
For more information about the planar tracker and the many powerful tools in the
DaVinci Resolve Fusion page, see the DaVinci Resolve manual.

TIP As you build visual effects in the Fusion page, it’s worth noting if the effect you
are building is a 2D effect, or a 3D effect, as this will determine which merge tool
is used. You may discover yourself frequently combining 2D and 3D effects in the
one composite. In this scenario, it’s helpful to remember that any visual effect using
the 3D space needs to be rendered as a 2D image before it can be merged into a
2D composite.

Using DaVinci Resolve 121

We believe you will have lots of fun with Fusion and exploring Fusion’s visual effects with the
power of DaVinci Resolve’s edit, color, and Fairlight pages. With all these tools at your finger
tips, DaVinci Resolve is incredibly powerful and there is really no limit to what you can create!

Mastering Your Edit

Now you’ve edited, graded, added vfx and mixed your audio, you’ll want to share it with others.
You can use the Quick Export button, or menu selection, to output the contents of the Timeline
as a self contained file in one of a variety of different formats, or use the additional features of
the ‘deliver’ page.

The ‘deliver’ page is where you export your edit. You can select from many different video formats and codecs

Quick Export
You can choose File > Quick Export to use one of a variety of export presets to export your
program from any page of DaVinci Resolve. You can even use quick export to export and
upload your program to one of the supported video sharing services, including YouTube,
Vimeo, Twitter and Frame.io.

To use Quick Export:

1 In the ‘cut’, ‘edit’, fusion’ or ‘color’ page, optionally set in and out points in the timeline to
choose a range of the current program to export. If no timeline in or out points have been
set, the entire timeline will be exported.
Choose File > Quick Export.
2 Select a preset to use from the top row of icons in the quick export dialog. If you want to
simultaneously upload to your TikTok or YouTube channel, click on the ‘upload directly’
checkbox and fill in the details. Click ‘export’.
3 Choose a directory location and enter a file name using the export dialog, then click ‘save’.
A progress bar dialog appears to let you know how long the export will take.

Using DaVinci Resolve 122

 NOTE When uploading directly to online accounts such as TikTok, you will need to
sign in using DaVinci’s Internet accounts settings. These settings are located in the
‘system’ tab of the DaVinci Resolve preferences.

Directly upload to TikTok when exporting your project by clicking the ‘upload
directly’ setting and filling in the details

The Deliver Page

This page lets you select the range of clips you want to export, plus the format, codec and
resolution you want. You can export in many types of formats such as QuickTime, AVI, MXF
and DPX using codecs such as 8-bit or 10-bit uncompressed RGB/YUV, ProRes, DNxHD, H.264
and more.

To export a single clip of your edit:

1 Click on the ‘deliver’ tab to open the deliver page.
2 Go to the ‘render settings’ window on the top left of the page. Choose from a number of
export presets, for example YouTube, Vimeo and audio presets, or you can set your own
export settings manually by leaving it set to the default ‘custom’ preset and entering your
own parameters. For this example, select YouTube, then click on the arrow next to the
preset and select the 1080p video format.
The frame rate will be locked to your project frame rate setting.
3 Underneath the presets you will see the timeline filename and the target location for your
exported video. Click the ‘browse’ button and choose the location where you want to save
your exported file and then select ‘single clip’ from the render option.
4 Immediately above the timeline, you’ll see an options box with ‘entire timeline’ selected.
This will export the entire timeline, however you can select a range of the timeline if you
want to. Simply choose ‘in/out range’ and then use the ‘i’ and ‘o’ hot key shortcuts to
choose the in and out points in your timeline.
5 Go to the bottom of the ‘render settings’ and click on the ‘add to render queue’ button.
Your render settings will be added to the render queue on the right side of the page. Now
all you have to do is click ‘start render’ and monitor the progress of your render in the
render queue.
When your render is complete you can open the folder location, double click on your new
rendered clip and watch your finished edit.

Using DaVinci Resolve 123

 Now that you have a basic knowledge of how to edit, color, mix audio and add
visual effects, we recommend experimenting with DaVinci Resolve. Refer to the
DaVinci Resolve manual for more details on how each feature can help you make the
most of your project!

Working with Third Party Software

To edit your clips using your favorite editing software such as DaVinci Resolve, you can copy
your clips from your camera to an external drive or RAID and then import your clips into the
software. You an also import your clips directly from your storage media using a dock or
adapter for your CFexpress card, or via the USB-C port for a USB-C flash disk.

Working with Files from CFexpress Cards

Mount CFexpress cards on your computer using a

CFexpress reader

To import your clips from a CFexpress card:

1 Remove the CFexpress card from your Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K.
Mount the CFexpress card to your Mac or Windows computer using a CFexpress Type B
card reader.
2 Double click on the CFast or SD card to open it and you should see folders that contain
your Blackmagic RAW files or a list of QuickTime movie files. Depending on the format
you chose to record in, you might have a mixture of files, but they should all use the same
naming convention.
3 Drag the files you want from the CFexpress card onto your desktop on another drive, or you
can access the files straight from the CFexpress card using your editing software.
4 Before you unplug the CFexpress card from your computer, it is important to always eject
the card from Mac or Windows. Removing your card without ejecting can corrupt footage.

Working with Files from USB-C flash disks

To import your clips from a USB-C flash disk:
1 Unplug the USB-C flash disk from your camera.
2 Mount the USB-C flash disk to your Mac or Windows computer via a USB-C port on your
computer. USB 3.0 is preferable as USB 2.0 is not fast enough to edit video in real time.
3 Double click on the USB-C flash disk to open it and you should see a list of Blackmagic
RAW files.

Working with Third Party Software 124

4 Drag the files you want from the USB-C flash disk onto your desktop or another hard drive,
or you can access the files straight from the USB-C flash disk using your NLE software.
5 Before you unplug the USB-C flash disk from your computer, it is important to eject the
USB-C flash disk first.

Using Final Cut Pro

To edit your clips using Final Cut Pro, you need to create a new project and set a suitable video
format and frame rate. This example uses ProRes 422 HQ 1080p24.

TIP It’s important to note that Final Cut Pro does not support Blackmagic RAW files
natively. To edit Blackmagic RAW files recorded on your Cinema Camera 6K in Final
Cut Pro, you will first need to create ProRes versions of the Blackmagic RAW files.
Alternatively, there are various third party plugins available that allow you to import
Blackmagic RAW files directly into Final Cut Pro.

1 Launch Final Cut Pro. In the library properties, you will notice the default untitled standard
project name. Click on its corresponding ‘modify’ icon. Create a new library by going to the
file menu, then selecting new and library.
2 Select the new library in the libraries sidebar and click its corresponding ‘modify’ icon.
An options window will appear asking you to set the color space for your project. Select
‘standard’ for an SD or HD project using a standard color gamut. If you are intending to
create a wide color gamut HDR movie, select ‘wide gamut HDR’.
3 Click ‘change’ to confirm your setting.
4 Create a new project by right clicking the library name in the libraries sidebar and selecting,
‘new project’. Type a name and choose an event to place your project in. If you haven’t
already created one, you can choose the default event, which is named as the current date.
5 Set your rendering settings to Apple ProRes 422 HQ and the audio settings to stereo
and 48kHz.

Final Cut Pro project settings

6 Click OK to complete the creation of your new project.

To import your clips into your project, go to the ‘menu’ bar and select ‘file/import/media’.
Choose your clips from your hard drive.
You can now drag your clips onto the timeline for editing

Working with Third Party Software 125

Using Avid Media Composer
To edit your clips using Avid Media Composer, create a new project and set a suitable video
format and frame rate. For this example, clips are set using 1080p24.

Setting the project name and project options in Avid Media Composer

1 Launch Avid Media Composer and the ‘select project’ window will appear.
2 Click on the ‘new project’ tab
3 Choose your preferred ‘user profile’ if you have previously created one.
4 Select a private, shared or external project location for your project.
5 In the ‘format’ drop down menu select HD 1080 > 1080p 24 and click ‘create’ to create
the project.
6 Double click the project in the ‘select project’ window to open it.
7 Select file > input > source browser and navigate to the files you wish to import.
8 Select your ‘target bin’ from the drop down menu and click ‘import’.

When the clips appear in the media bin you can drag your clips onto the timeline and
begin editing.

NOTE To edit Blackmagic RAW files recorded using Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K in
Media Composer, you will need the Blackmagic RAW Installer. This can be found here
https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/blackmagicrawinstaller

Working with Third Party Software 126

Using Adobe Premiere Pro
To edit your clips using Adobe Premiere Pro, you need to create a new project using the media
you’ve recorded on your Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K.
1 Launch Adobe Premiere Pro. In the welcome window click on ‘new project’ in the top left
corner. The import window will appear.
2 Name your project in the project name field and select where you want to save it using the
project location menu.
3 Navigate to the location of your media, select the clips you want to import and then click on
create in the lower right hand corner.

Setting the project name and project options in Adobe Premiere Pro

4 A new project and sequence will be created matching your clip settings.
5 To change your resolution or audio channel format, click on the sequence and then choose
settings from the sequence menu.

NOTE To edit Blackmagic RAW files recorded using Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K
in Premiere Pro, you will need the Blackmagic RAW Installer. This can be found here
https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/blackmagicrawinstaller

Working with Third Party Software 127

Blackmagic Camera Setup
Updating Camera Software – Mac
After downloading the Blackmagic Camera Setup utility software and unzipping the
downloaded file, open the resulting disk image to reveal the Blackmagic Camera Setup Installer.
Launch the installer and follow the on screen instructions. After the installation has finished, go to
your applications folder and open the Blackmagic Cameras folder where you’ll find this manual, the
Blackmagic Camera setup utility, plus a documents folder containing readme files and information.
You’ll also find an uninstaller for when updating to later versions of Blackmagic Camera Setup.

Updating Camera Software – Windows

After downloading the Blackmagic Camera Setup utility software and unzipping the
downloaded file, you should see a Blackmagic Camera Setup folder containing this PDF manual
and the Blackmagic Camera Setup Installer. Double-click the installer and follow the on screen
prompts to complete the installation.
In Windows 11, click the start button and select ‘all apps’. Scroll down to the Blackmagic design
folder. From here you can launch Blackmagic Camera Setup.

Updating your Camera’s Internal Software

After installing the latest Blackmagic Camera Setup utility on your computer, connect a USB-C
cable between the computer and your camera. The USB-C port is located on the left side
panel. Simply open the rubber cap to access the port.

Launch the Blackmagic Camera Setup utility and follow the on screen prompts to update
the camera software. The camera restarts on the ‘select language’ screen. It’s important to
note that updating your camera software erases any presets and custom LUTs, and resets all
settings. It is a good practice to export them to a memory card as a backup before performing
a software update. After a software update, you can restore your presets and LUTs quickly by
importing them from the memory card.

Blackmagic Camera Setup 128

Using Blackmagic Camera Setup
Blackmagic Camera Setup is used to change settings and update the internal software
in your camera.
To use Blackmagic Camera Setup:
1 Connect your camera to your computer via USB.
2 Launch Blackmagic Camera Setup. Your camera model will be named in the setup
utility home page.
3 Click on the circular ‘setup’ icon or the image of your camera to open the setup page.

Setup
If you have more than one camera, you may wish to give each unit a discrete name to make
them easy to identify. You can do this by entering a new name into the name field and clicking
the ‘set’ button. It’s worth noting that changing the name of the camera will invalidate any digital
certificates in use, so it’s worth changing the name before generating a certificate signing
request or self signed certificate. More details on digital certificates is available in the ‘secure
certificate’ information later in this section of the manual.

Date and Time

Set your date and time automatically by ticking the ‘set date and time automatically’ checkbox.
When this checkbox is enabled, your camera will use the network time protocol server set in
the NTP field. The default NTP server is time.cloudflare.com, but you can also manually enter
an alternate NTP server and then click on ‘set’.

Blackmagic Camera Setup 129

If you are entering your date and time manually, use the fields to enter your date, time and time
zone. Setting the date and time correctly ensures your recorded clips have the same time and
date information as your network and also prevents conflicts that can occur with some network
storage systems.

Network Settings
Protocol
To control your camera remotely via Ethernet it needs be on the same network as your other
equipment using DHCP or by manually adding a fixed IP address.

DHCP Your camera is set to DHCP by default. The dynamic host configuration protocol, or DHCP,
is a service on network servers that automatically finds your camera and assigns an IP
address. The DHCP is a great service that makes it easy to connect equipment via Ethernet
and ensure their IP addresses do not conflict with each other. Most computers and network
switchers support DHCP.

Static IP When ‘static ip’ is selected, you can enter your network details manually. When setting
IP addresses manually so all units can communicate, they must share the same subnet
mask and gateway settings. If there are other devices on the network that have the same
identifying number in their IP address, there will be a conflict and the units won’t connect.
If you encounter a conflict, simply change the identifying number in the unit’s IP address.

Network Access
Your Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K can be accessed via a network for transferring files.
Access will be disabled by default, but you can choose to enable individually or via a username
and password for added security when using the web manager.

Blackmagic Camera Setup 130

File Transfer Protocol
Enable or disable access via FTP using the checkbox. If you are supplying access via an FTP
client such as CyberDuck, click the icon to copy the FTP address. For more information, refer to
the section ‘transferring files over a network’.

File Sharing
At the bottom left corner you will notice a button named ‘Show in Finder’ on a Mac or ‘Show in
Explorer’ on Windows. This button lets you access your media files using your computer’s file
browser. All you need to do is enable ‘file sharing’ and then click on the ‘show in Finder’ button.
You can also copy the URL and paste the file path into your browser.
Your operating system may prompt you to allow access to the card.

Web Media Manager

Enabling web media manager lets you download clips from CFexpress cards over your network,
or even delete unwanted clips if you need to free up disk space. When you click on the link or
copy and paste it into your web browser a simple interface will open where you can access
the media.
Enable access via HTTP by selecting the ‘enabled’ checkbox. You can also set up a secure
certificate using the ‘enabled with security only’ option. When using a digital certificate,
connections to web media manager are encrypted via HTTPS. More information on digital
certificates is available in the ‘secure certificate’ section.
REST API also uses HTTP and this means enabling access to media via the web media manager
also enables camera control via REST API.

Allow Utility Administration

Blackmagic Camera Setup can be accessed when your camera is connected via the network or
via USB. To prevent users having access via the network, select ‘via USB’.

Secure Login Settings

If you have selected ‘enabled with security’ for web media manager access you will need
to enter a username and password. Type a username and password and click ‘save’.

Blackmagic Camera Setup 131

The password field will appear empty once a password is entered. Once a username and
password is set, you will need to enter it when accessing the web media manager.

Secure Certificate
To enable web media manager access via HTTPS, you will require a secure certificate. This
digital certificate acts as an identification card for your Cinema Camera 6K so that any incoming
connections can confirm they are connecting to the correct unit. Along with confirming
the identity of the unit, using a secure certificate ensures data transmitted between your
camera and a computer or server will be encrypted. When using the secure login settings the
connection will not only be encrypted but require authentication for access.
There are two certificate types you can use with your camera. A secure certificate signed by a
certificate authority, or a self signed certificate. A self signed certificate may be secure enough
for some user workflows, for instance only accessing the camera via a local network.
To generate a self signed certificate click on ‘create certificate’. You will be prompted to
confirm you understand the risks with using a self signed certificate. Once you click on ‘create’,
the certificate details will autofill the ‘domain’, ‘issuer’ and ‘valid until’ fields in the Camera
Setup utility.

Following a factory reset any current certificate will be deleted, but you can also remove it at
any time by clicking on the ‘remove’ button and following the prompts.
When using a self signed certificate to access media files using HTTPS, your web browser
will alert you to the risks of accessing the site. Some browsers will allow you to proceed once
you confirm you understand the risks, however other web browsers may prevent you from
proceeding at all.

To ensure access is granted to any web browser, you will need to use a signed certificate.
To obtain a signed certificate, you first need to generate a certificate signing request, or
CSR, using Blackmagic Camera Setup utility. This signing request is then sent to a certificate
authority, also known as a CA, or your IT department to be signed. Once completed, a
signed certificate with a .cert, .crt or .pem file extension will be returned which you can
import into your Cinema Camera 6K.

Blackmagic Camera Setup 132

 Certificate Authority

Blackmagic
Cinema Camera 6K

To generate the certificate signing request CSR:

1 Click on the ‘generate signing request’ button.

2 A window will appear prompting you to enter a common name and subject alternative
name for your camera. Adjust any other details as required using the table below.

Information Description Example

Common Name The domain name you will use cinemacamera.melbourne.com

Subject Alternative Name An alternate domain name cinemacamera.melbourne.net

Country Country for your organization AU

State Province, region, county or state Victoria

Location Town, city, village etc. name South Melbourne

Organization Name Name of your organization Blackmagic Design

3 Once you have filled in the certificate details, press ‘generate’.

When you generate a .csr you will also be creating a public key and private key at the same
time. The public key will be included with the signing request while the private key will remain
with the unit. Once the CA or IT department have verified the information in the CSR with your
organization, they will generate a signed certificate with the above details along with your
public key.
Once imported, your camera will use the public and private key to confirm the identity of the
camera and to encrypt and decrypt data share via HTTPS.
Importing a signed certificate:
1 Click on ‘import signed certificate’.
2 Navigate to the location of the signed certificate using the file browser and once the file is
selected click on ‘open’.

The domain, issuer and valid until fields will update with the information from your CA.
Generally, a signed certificate will be valid for about a year so the process will need to be
repeated as you reach the expiration date.

Blackmagic Camera Setup 133

Since a domain name was selected, you will need to speak to your IT department
about resolving the DNS entry for your Cinema Camera 6K. This will point all traffic for
the IP address of the camera to the selected domain address in the signing request.
This will also be the HTTPS address you use to access files via the web media manager,
for example https://camera.melbourne
It’s worth noting that the certificate will be invalidated following a factory reset and a new
certificate will need to be generated and signed.

Reset
Select ‘factory reset’ to restore your camera to factory settings. A factory reset will invalidate
the current certificate. If a secure certificate is being used you will need to generate a new
certificate signing request to be signed by a certificate authority or IT department.

Blackmagic Camera Setup 134

Transferring Files over a Network
Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K is able to transfer files using the following protocols:

HTTP
Hypertext transfer protocol.

HTTPS
Hypertext transfer protocol secure.

FTP
File transfer protocol.

SMB
Server message block.
These protocol options let you copy files directly from your camera’s CFexpress card media to
your computer via a network with the fast speeds a local network can provide. For example,
you can copy clips and start editing them as soon as you have finished recording.
Access to your Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K via any of these protocols can be enabled or
disabled via the Camera Setup utility. For example, you could disable FTP access and enable
HTTPS access at the same time.

Connecting to your Cinema Camera 6K via HTTPS

To access your camera via the web media manager you will need the URL available via the
network access settings.
1 Using a USB-C cable, connect your computer to your camera via the USB port on the side
panel and open Camera Setup. You should see a USB connection icon next to the unit
name. Click on the circular icon or anywhere on the product image to open the settings.
2 When using a self signed certificate, navigate to the network access settings and click on
the copy icon beside the URL. This URL is based on the name of your camera. To modify
the URL, modify the name of the unit.

When using a self signed certificate, click on the link

3 If you have imported a certificate signed by a CA or IT department, copy and paste the
address in the domain field for the current certificate.

Transferring Files over a Network 135

 Copy the domain address and paste into a browser

4 Open your web browser and paste the address into a new window. If you have enabled
access with security only you will be prompted to enter the username and password set in
Camera Setup.

When using a self signed certificate, a browser warning will appear regarding the
privacy of the connection. This means a trusted signed certificate has not been imported
via the Camera Setup utility
To continue without a valid and trusted certificate, follow your browser prompts to acknowledge
the risks and proceed to the website.

Transferring Files Using Web Media Manager

When you first open the web media browser view you will see a folder that contains your clips.
Double click the folder to reveal the contents.

Click the download button to download files or the trash icon to delete them

To download files, use the arrow icon on the far right. Your browser may prompt you to allow
downloads from the site. Click on ‘allow’. To delete a file, click the trash can icon and a delete
file window will appear. Click ‘delete’ to proceed.

Transferring Files via FTP

With your computer and camera on the same network, all you need is an ftp client and your
camera’s IP address or the FTP URL in the Camera Setup utility.
1 Download and install an FTP client on the computer you want to connect your camera
to. We recommend Cyberduck, FileZilla or Transmit but most FTP applications will work.
Cyberduck and FileZilla are free downloads.

Transferring Files over a Network 136

2 With your camera connected to your network, open Camera Setup and click on URL or
press the copy icon to paste it manually. You may need to click the link a second time if the
FTP program doesn’t open a connection.

3 If you are manually opening an FTP connection, paste the URL into the client’s server field.
Check ‘anonymous login’ if available.

4 Expand the ‘nvme1’ folder to see your clips. You can now drag and drop files using the FTP
interface.

Transferring Files over a Network 137

Using a Battery Grip
Adding a battery grip to your Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K adds a horizontal handle and is a
portable way to extend the duration of your shooting sessions. If you have a battery grip then
it’s a good idea to install it now before you continue.
Blackmagic Pocket Camera Battery Grip Pro holds two NP-F570 batteries. You can power your
Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K from its internal battery in conjunction with both batteries in the
grip. The 12 V DC input can recharge the batteries in the grip or provide uninterrupted power
to the camera while changing the batteries. You can use the USB-C port to recharge batteries
in the grip while the camera is switched off. When you attach a battery grip, your camera’s LCD
touchscreen shows three battery icons. For more information, see the ‘power’ section.

Attaching Blackmagic Pocket Camera Battery Pro Grip

Before you start attaching Blackmagic Pocket Camera Battery Pro Grip to your Cinema Camera
6K, switch off your camera and unplug any external power source. For maximum running time,
you are advised to keep the internal battery inside the camera when you install the battery grip
and power your camera from all three batteries.

1 2

Locate the small cover on the underside the camera Remove the cover from the underside of the camera
near the battery compartment, and loosen the screw to reveal the electrical contacts that provide power
that holds it in place. from the battery grip.

3 4

For safe storage of the contacts cover from the Gently push the camera grip onto the underside of
underside of camera, insert it into the recess on your camera. The 1/4 inch screw on top of the battery
top of the battery grip and secure it in place by grip should line up with the 1/4-20 mounting point on
tightening the screw. the base of the camera. Small pins on both sides of
the 1/4 inch screw help maintain correct alignment.

Using a Battery Grip 138

 5

Turn the knob on the front of the battery grip to

the right to tighten the screw firmly and secure the
battery grip to the camera.

Inserting Batteries into the Battery Pro Grip

1 2

Twist the locking tab on the end of the battery grip Place two NP-F570 batteries into the battery tray,
anticlockwise to unlock the battery tray. Slide out the being careful of their orientation, and slide them
battery tray. You can do this before or after attaching away from each other. A tab between the batteries
the battery grip to your camera. moves up to lock the batteries into place. When you
want to remove the batteries, press down on this
locking tab and slide the batteries toward each other.

3 4

Slide the battery tray into the battery grip and turn Twist the locking tab on the end of the battery grip
the locking tab clockwise. It’s important to note that clockwise to lock the battery tray.
you can continue filming while changing batteries
in the battery grip if your camera is powered by an
external source plugged into the DC power input.

Using a Battery Grip 139

Developer Information
Camera Control REST API
If you are a software developer you can build custom applications or leverage ready to use
tools such as REST client or Postman to seamlessly control and interact with your compatible
Blackmagic camera using Camera Control REST API. This API enables you to perform a wide
range of operations, such as starting or stopping recordings, accessing disk information and
much more. Whether you’re developing a custom application tailored to your specific needs
or utilizing existing tools, this API empowers you to unlock the full potential of your Blackmagic
camera with ease. We look forward to seeing what you come up with!

NOTE It’s important to mention that controlling Blackmagic cameras via REST API
relies on the web manager being enabled on each compatible Blackmagic camera.
Enable the web media manager in the Blackmagic Camera Setup ‘network access’
settings for each camera you are controlling.

The following Blackmagic cameras are compatible with Camera Control REST API:
• Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K

• Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K Plus • Blackmagic Studio Camera 6K Pro

• Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K Pro G2 • Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K Pro
• Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K Plus G2

Sending API Commands

To send an API command to your camera from a third party application such as Postman,
add /control/api/v1/ to the end of the camera’s Web media manager URL or IP address.
For example, https://Studio-Camera-6K-Pro.local/control/api/v1/
You can find the Web media manager URL and IP address information in Blackmagic
Camera Setup.

The Web media manager URL in Blackmagic Camera Setup

Developer Information 140

Downloading API’s from your Camera
You can download REST API YAML documentation from your camera by adding
/control/documentation.html to the end of the camera’s Web media manager URL or IP
address. For example, https://Studio-Camera-6K-Pro.local/control/documentation.html

NOTE It’s worth noting that changing the camera name in Blackmagic Camera Setup
will also change the camera’s Web media manager URL.

Transport Control API

API for controlling Transport on Blackmagic Design products.

GET /transports/0
Get device’s basic transport status.

Response
200 - OK
The response is a JSON object.

Name Type Description

Transport mode. Possible values are: InputPreview,

mode string
InputRecord, Output.

PUT /transports/0
Set device’s basic transport status.

Parameters

Name Type Description

mode string Transport mode. Possible values are: InputPreview, Output.

Response
204 - No Content

Developer Information 141

GET /transports/0/stop
Determine if transport is stopped.

Response
200 - OK
The response is a JSON object.

PUT /transports/0/stop
Stop transport.

Response
204 - No Content

GET /transports/0/play
Determine if transport is playing.

Response
200 - OK
The response is a JSON object.

PUT /transports/0/play
Start playing on transport.

Response
204 - No Content

GET /transports/0/playback
Get playback state.

Response
200 - OK
The response is a JSON object.

Name Type Description

type string Possible values are: Play, Jog, Shuttle, Var.

When true playback loops from the end of the timeline to

loop boolean
the beginning of the timeline

When true playback loops from the end of the current clip to
singleClip boolean
the beginning of the current clip

speed number Playback Speed, 1.0 for normal forward playback

position integer Playback position on the timeline in units of video frames

Developer Information 142

PUT /transports/0/playback
Set playback state.

Parameters

Name Type Description

type string Possible values are: Play, Jog, Shuttle, Var.

When true playback loops from the end of the timeline to

loop boolean
the beginning of the timeline

When true playback loops from the end of the current clip to
singleClip boolean
the beginning of the current clip

speed number Playback Speed, 1.0 for normal forward playback

position integer Playback position on the timeline in units of video frames

Response
204 - No Content

GET /transports/0/record
Get record state.

Response
200 - OK
The response is a JSON object.

Name Type Description

recording boolean Is transport in Input Record mode

PUT /transports/0/record
Set record state.

Parameters

Name Type Description

recording boolean Is transport in Input Record mode

Used to set the requested clipName to record to, when

clipName string
specifying “recording” attribute to True

Response
204 - No Content

Developer Information 143

GET /transports/0/timecode
Get device’s timecode.

Response
200 - OK
The response is a JSON object.

Name Type Description

The time of day timecode in units of binary-coded decimal

timecode number
(BCD).

The position of the clip timecode in units of binary-coded

clip number
decimal (BCD).

GET /transports/0/timecode/source
Get timecode source selected on device

Response
200 - OK
The response is a JSON object.

Name Type Description

timecode string Possible values are: Timecode, Clip.

Timeline Control API

API for controlling playback timeline.

GET /timelines/0
Get the current playback timeline.

Response
200 - OK
The response is a JSON object.

Name Type Description

clips array

clips[i] object

clips[i].clipUniqueId integer Unique ID used to identify this clip

clips[i].frameCount integer Number of frames in this clip on the timeline

DELETE /timelines/0
Clear the current playback timeline.

Response
204 - No Content

Developer Information 144

POST /timelines/0/add
Add a clip to the end of the timeline.

Parameters
This parameter can be one of the following types:

Name Type Description

clips integer Unique ID used to identify this clip

Name Type Description

clips array

clips[i] integer Unique ID used to identify this clip

Response
204 - No Content

Event Control API

API For working with built-in websocket.

GET /event/list
Get the list of events that can be subscribed to using the websocket API.

Response
200 - OK
The response is a JSON object.

Name Type Description

events array

List of events that can be subscribed to using the

events[i] string
websocket API

Developer Information 145

System Control API
API for controlling the System Modes on Blackmagic Design products.

GET /system
Get device system information.

Response
200 - OK
The response is a JSON object.

Name Type Description

codecFormat object

codecFormat.codec string Currently selected codec

codecFormat.container string Multimedia container format

videoFormat object

videoFormat.name string Video format serialised as a string

Frame rate Possible values are: 23.98, 24.00, 24, 25.00, 25,
videoFormat.frameRate string 29.97, 30.00, 30, 47.95, 48.00, 48, 50.00, 50, 59.94, 60.00,
60, 119.88, 120.00, 120.

videoFormat.height number Height dimension of video format

videoFormat.width number Width dimension of video format

videoFormat.interlaced boolean Is the display format interlaced?

501 - This functionality is not implemented for the device in use.

GET /system/supportedCodecFormats
Get the list of supported codecs.

Response
200 - OK
The response is a JSON object.

Name Type Description

codecs array

codecs[i] object

codecs[i].codec string Currently selected codec

codecs[i].container string Multimedia container format

Developer Information 146

GET /system/codecFormat
Get the currently selected codec.

Response
200 - OK
The response is a JSON object.

Name Type Description

codec string Currently selected codec

container string Multimedia container format

501 - This functionality is not implemented for the device in use.

PUT /system/codecFormat
Set the codec.

Parameters

Name Type Description

codec string Currently selected codec

container string Multimedia container format

Response
204 - No Content
501 - This functionality is not implemented for the device in use.

GET /system/videoFormat
Get the currently selected video format.

Response
200 - OK
The response is a JSON object.

Name Type Description

name string Video format serialised as a string

Frame rate Possible values are: 23.98, 24.00, 24, 25.00, 25,
frameRate string 29.97, 30.00, 30, 47.95, 48.00, 48, 50.00, 50, 59.94, 60.00,
60, 119.88, 120.00, 120.

height number Height dimension of video format

width number Width dimension of video format

interlaced boolean Is the display format interlaced?

Developer Information 147

PUT /system/videoFormat
Set the video format.

Parameters

Name Type Description

Frame rate Possible values are: 23.98, 24.00, 24, 25.00, 25,
frameRate string 29.97, 30.00, 30, 47.95, 48.00, 48, 50.00, 50, 59.94, 60.00,
60, 119.88, 120.00, 120.

height number Height dimension of video format

width number Width dimension of video format

interlaced boolean Is the display format interlaced?

Response
204 - No Content
501 - This functionality is not implemented for the device in use.

GET /system/supportedVideoFormats
Get the list of supported video formats for the current system state.

Response
200 - OK
The response is a JSON object.

Name Type Description

formats array

formats[i] object

Frame rate Possible values are: 23.98, 24.00, 24, 25.00, 25,
formats[i].frameRate string 29.97, 30.00, 30, 47.95, 48.00, 48, 50.00, 50, 59.94, 60.00,
60, 119.88, 120.00, 120.

formats[i].height number Height dimension of video format

formats[i].width number Width dimension of video format

formats[i].interlaced boolean Is the display format interlaced?

501 - This functionality is not implemented for the device in use.

Developer Information 148

GET /system/supportedFormats
Get supported formats.

Response
200 - OK
The response is a JSON object.

Name Type Description

supportedFormats array

supportedFormats[i] object

Possible values are: 23.98, 24.00, 24, 25.00, 25,

supportedFormats[i].codecs array 29.97, 30.00, 30, 47.95, 48.00, 48, 50.00, 50,
59.94, 60.00, 60, 119.88, 120.00, 120.

supportedFormats[i].codecs[i] string

supportedFormats[i].frameRates array

supportedFormats[i].frameRates[i] string

supportedFormats[i].maxOffSpeedFrameRate number

supportedFormats[i].minOffSpeedFrameRate number

supportedFormats[i].recordResolution object

supportedFormats[i].recordResolution.height number Height of the resolution

supportedFormats[i].recordResolution.width number Width of the resolution

supportedFormats[i].sensorResolution object

supportedFormats[i].sensorResolution.height number Height of the resolution

supportedFormats[i].sensorResolution.width number Width of the resolution

501 - This functionality is not implemented for the device in use.

GET /system/format
Get current format.

Response
200 - OK
The response is a JSON object.

Name Type Description

codec string Currently selected codec

Frame rate Possible values are: 23.98, 24.00, 24, 25.00, 25,
frameRate string 29.97, 30.00, 30, 47.95, 48.00, 48, 50.00, 50, 59.94, 60.00,
60, 119.88, 120.00, 120.

maxOffSpeedFrameRate number

minOffSpeedFrameRate number

offSpeedEnabled boolean

offspeedFrameRate number

recordResolution object

recordResolution.height number Height of the resolution

Developer Information 149

 recordResolution.width number Width of the resolution

sensorResolution object

sensorResolution.height number Height of the resolution

sensorResolution.width number Width of the resolution

501 - This functionality is not implemented for the device in use.

PUT /system/format
Set the format.

Parameters

Name Type Description

codec string Currently selected codec

Frame rate Possible values are: 23.98, 24.00, 24, 25.00, 25,
frameRate string 29.97, 30.00, 30, 47.95, 48.00, 48, 50.00, 50, 59.94, 60.00,
60, 119.88, 120.00, 120.

maxOffSpeedFrameRate number

minOffSpeedFrameRate number

offSpeedEnabled boolean

offspeedFrameRate number

recordResolution object

recordResolution.height number Height of the resolution

recordResolution.width number Width of the resolution

sensorResolution object

sensorResolution.height number Height of the resolution

sensorResolution.width number Width of the resolution

Response
204 - No Content
501 - This functionality is not implemented for the device in use.

Developer Information 150

Media Control API
API for controlling media devices in Blackmagic Design products.

GET /media/workingset
Get the list of media devices currently in the working set.

Response
200 - OK
The response is a JSON object.

Name Type Description

size integer The fixed size of this device’s working set

workingset (required) array

workingset[i] object

workingset[i].index integer Index of this media in the working set

workingset[i].activeDisk boolean Is this current item the active disk

workingset[i].volume string Volume name

workingset[i].deviceName string Internal device name of this media device

workingset[i].remainingRecordTime integer Remaining record time on media device in seconds

workingset[i].totalSpace integer Total space on media device in bytes

workingset[i].remainingSpace integer Remaining space on media device in bytes

workingset[i].clipCount integer Number of clips currently on the device

GET /media/active
Get the currently active media device.

Response
200 - OK
The response is a JSON object.

Name Type Description

workingsetIndex integer Working set index of the active media device

deviceName string Internal device name of this media device

PUT /media/active
Set the currently active media device.

Parameters

Name Type Description

workingsetIndex integer Working set index of the media to become active

Response
204 - No Content

Developer Information 151

GET /media/devices/doformatSupportedFilesystems
Get the list of filesystems available to format the device.

Response
200 - OK
The response is a JSON object.

GET /media/devices/{deviceName}
Get information about the selected device.

Parameters

Name Type Description

{deviceName} string

Response
200 - OK
The response is a JSON object.

Name Type Description

The current state of the media device. Possible values

state string are: None, Scanning, Mounted, Uninitialised, Formatting,
RaidComponent.

GET /media/devices/{deviceName}/doformat
Get a format key, used to format the device with a put request.

Parameters

Name Type Description

{deviceName} string

Response
200 - OK
The response is a JSON object.

Name Type Description

deviceName string Internal device name of this media device

The key used to format this device, it must be fetched with

key string
the GET request and then provided back with a PUT request

Developer Information 152

PUT /media/devices/{deviceName}/doformat
Perform a format of the media device.

Parameters

Name Type Description

{deviceName} string

Name Type Description

The key used to format this device, it must be fetched with

key string
the GET request and then provided back with a PUT request

Filesystem to format to (supportedFilesystems returns list of

filesystem string
supported fileSystems)

volume string Volume name to set for the disk after format

Response
204 - No Content

Preset Control API

API For controlling the presets on Blackmagic Design products

GET /presets
Get the list of the presets on the camera

Response
200 - OK
The response is a JSON object.

Name Type Description

presets array List of the presets on the camera

presets[i] string

POST /presets
Send a preset file to the camera

Response
200 - OK
The response is a JSON object.

Name Type Description

presetAdded string Name of the preset uploaded

Developer Information 153

GET /presets/active
Get the list of the presets on the camera

Response
200 - OK
The response is a JSON object.

Name Type Description

preset string

PUT /presets/active
Set the active preset on the camera

Parameter

Name Type Description

preset string

Response
200 - OK
The response is a JSON object.

GET /presets/{presetName}
Download the preset file

Parameter

Name Type Description

{presetName} string

Response
200 - OK
The response is a binary file.

PUT /presets/{presetName}
Update a preset on the camera if it exists, if not create a preset and save current state with the
presetName

Parameter

Name Type Description

{presetName} string

Response
200 - OK
The response is a JSON object.

Developer Information 154

DELETE /presets/{presetName}
Delete a preset from a camera if exists

Parameter

Name Type Description

{presetName} string

Response
200 - OK
The response is a JSON object.

Audio Control API

API For controlling audio on Blackmagic Design Cameras

GET /audio/channel/{channelIndex}/input
Get the audio input (source and type) for the selected channel

Parameter

Name Type Description

{channelIndex} integer

Response
200 - Currently selected input
The response is a JSON object.

Name Type Description

Possible values are: None, Camera - Left, Camera - Right,

Camera - Mono, XLR1 - Mic, XLR1 - Line, XLR2 - Mic, XLR2
input string - Line, 3.5mm Left - Line, 3.5mm Left - Mic, 3.5mm Right -
Line, 3.5mm Right - Mic, 3.5mm Mono - Line, 3.5mm Mono
- Mic.

404 - Channel does not exist

Developer Information 155

PUT /audio/channel/{channelIndex}/input
Set the audio input for the selected channel

Parameter

Name Type Description

{channelIndex} integer

Name Type Description

Possible values are: None, Camera - Left, Camera - Right,

Camera - Mono, XLR1 - Mic, XLR1 - Line, XLR2 - Mic, XLR2
input string - Line, 3.5mm Left - Line, 3.5mm Left - Mic, 3.5mm Right -
Line, 3.5mm Right - Mic, 3.5mm Mono - Line, 3.5mm Mono
- Mic.

Response
200 - OK
400 - Invalid input
404 - Channel does not exist

GET /audio/channel/{channelIndex}/input/description
Get the description of the current input of the selected channel

Parameter

Name Type Description

{channelIndex} integer

Response
200 - Description of the current input of the selected channel
The response is a JSON object.

Name Type Description

gainRange object

gainRange.Min number The minimum gain value in dB

gainRange.Max number The maximum gain value in dB

capabilities object

capabilities.PhantomPower boolean Input supports setting of phantom power

capabilities.LowCutFilter boolean Input supports setting of low cut filter

capabilities.Padding object

capabilities.Padding.available boolean Input supports setting of padding

capabilities.Padding.forced boolean Padding is forced to be set for the input

capabilities.Padding.value number Value of the padding in dB

404 - Channel does not exist

Developer Information 156

GET /audio/channel/{channelIndex}/supportedInputs
Get the list of supported inputs and their availability to switch to for the selected channel

Parameter

Name Type Description

{channelIndex} integer

Response
200 - The list of supported inputs
The response is a JSON object.

Name Type Description

supportedInputs array

supportedInputs[i] object

supportedInputs[i].schema object

Possible values are: None, Camera - Left, Camera - Right,

Camera - Mono, XLR1 - Mic, XLR1 - Line, XLR2 - Mic, XLR2
supportedInputs[i].schema.input string - Line, 3.5mm Left - Line, 3.5mm Left - Mic, 3.5mm Right -
Line, 3.5mm Right - Mic, 3.5mm Mono - Line, 3.5mm Mono
- Mic.

Is the input available to be switched into from the current

supportedInputs[i].available boolean
input for the selected channel

404 - Channel does not exist

GET /audio/channel/{channelIndex}/level
Get the audio input level for the selected channel

Parameter

Name Type Description

{channelIndex} integer

Response
200 - Currently set level for the selected channel
The response is a JSON object.

Name Type Description

gain number

normalised number

404 - Channel does not exist

Developer Information 157

PUT /audio/channel/{channelIndex}/level
Set the audio input level for the selected channel

Parameter

Name Type Description

{channelIndex} integer

Name Type Description

gain number

normalised number

Response
200 - OK
400 - Invalid input
404 - Channel does not exist

GET /audio/channel/{channelIndex}/phantomPower
Get the audio input phantom power for the selected channel if possible

Parameter

Name Type Description

{channelIndex} integer

Response
200 - Currently set level for the selected channel
The response is a JSON object.

Name Type Description

phantomPower boolean

404 - Channel does not exist

PUT /audio/channel/{channelIndex}/phantomPower
Set the audio phantom power for the selected channel

Parameter

Name Type Description

{channelIndex} integer

Name Type Description

phantomPower boolean

Response
200 - OK
400 - Phantom power is not supported for this input
404 - Channel does not exist

Developer Information 158

GET /audio/channel/{channelIndex}/padding
Get the audio input padding for the selected channel

Parameter

Name Type Description

{channelIndex} integer

Response
200 - Currently set padding for the selected channel
The response is a JSON object.

Name Type Description

padding boolean

404 - Channel does not exist

PUT /audio/channel/{channelIndex}/padding
Set the audio input padding for the selected channel

Parameter

Name Type Description

{channelIndex} integer

Name Type Description

padding boolean

Response
200 - OK
400 - Padding is not supported for this input
404 - Channel does not exist

GET /audio/channel/{channelIndex}/lowCutFilter
Get the audio input low cut filter for the selected channel

Parameter

Name Type Description

{channelIndex} integer

Response
200 - Currently set low cut filter for the selected channel
The response is a JSON object.

Name Type Description

lowCutFilter boolean

404 - Channel does not exist

Developer Information 159

PUT /audio/channel/{channelIndex}/lowCutFilter
Set the audio input low cut filter for the selected channel

Parameter

Name Type Description

{channelIndex} integer

Name Type Description

lowCutFilter boolean

Response
200 - OK
400 - Low cut filter is not supported for this input
404 - Channel does not exist

GET /audio/channel/{channelIndex}/available
Get the audio input’s current availability for the selected channel. If unavailable, the source
will be muted

Parameter

Name Type Description

{channelIndex} integer

Response
200 - Currently set availability for the selected channel
The response is a JSON object.

Name Type Description

available boolean

404 - Channel does not exist

Lens Control API

API For controlling the lens on Blackmagic Design products

GET /lens/iris
Get lens’ aperture

Response
200 - OK
The response is a JSON object.

Name Type Description

continuousApertureAutoExposure boolean Is Aperture controlled by auto exposure

apertureStop number Aperture stop value

normalised number Normalised value

apertureNumber number Aperture number

Developer Information 160

PUT /lens/iris
Set lens’ aperture

Parameter

Name Type Description

apertureStop number Aperture stop value

normalised number Normalised value

apertureNumber number Aperture number

Response
200 - OK

GET /lens/zoom
Get lens’ zoom

Response
200 - OK
The response is a JSON object.

Name Type Description

focalLength integer Focal length in mm

normalised number Normalised value

PUT /lens/zoom
Set lens’ zoom

Parameter

Name Type Description

focalLength integer Focal length in mm

normalised number Normalised value

Response
200 - OK

GET /lens/focus
Get lens’ focus

Response
200 - OK
The response is a JSON object.

Name Type Description

focus number Normalised value

Developer Information 161

PUT /lens/focus
Set lens’ focus

Parameter

Name Type Description

focus number Normalised value

Response
200 - OK

PUT /lens/focus/doAutoFocus
Perform auto focus

Response
200 - OK

Video Control API

API For controlling the video on Blackmagic Design products

GET /video/iso
Get current ISO

Response
200 - OK
The response is a JSON object.

Name Type Description

iso integer Current ISO value

PUT /video/iso
Set current ISO

Parameter

Name Type Description

iso integer ISO value to set

Response
200 - OK

Developer Information 162

GET /video/gain
Get current gain value in decibels

Response
200 - OK
The response is a JSON object.

Name Type Description

gain integer Current gain value in decibels

PUT /video/gain
Set current gain value

Parameter

Name Type Description

gain integer Gain value in decibels to set

Response
200 - OK

GET /video/whiteBalance
Get current white balance

Response
200 - OK
The response is a JSON object.

Name Type Description

whiteBalance integer Current white balance

PUT /video/whiteBalance
Set current white balance

Parameter

Name Type Description

whiteBalance integer White balance to set

Response
200 - OK

PUT /video/whiteBalance/doAuto
Set current white balance automatically

Response
200 - OK

Developer Information 163

GET /video/whiteBalanceTint
Get white balance tint

Response
200 - OK
The response is a JSON object.

Name Type Description

whiteBalanceTint integer Current white balance tint

PUT /video/whiteBalanceTint
Set white balance tint

Parameter

Name Type Description

whiteBalanceTint integer White balance tint to set

Response
200 - OK

GET /video/ndFilter
Get ND filter stop

Response
200 - OK
The response is a JSON object.

Name Type Description

stop number Current filter power (fStop)

PUT /video/ndFilter
Set ND filter stop

Parameter

Name Type Description

stop number Filter power (fStop) to set

Response
200 - OK

Developer Information 164

GET /video/ndFilter/displayMode
Get ND filter display mode on the camera

Response
200 - OK
The response is a JSON object.

Name Type Description

displayMode string Possible values are: Stop, Number, Fraction.

PUT /video/ndFilter/displayMode
Set ND filter display mode on the camera

Parameter

Name Type Description

displayMode string Possible values are: Stop, Number, Fraction.

Response
200 - OK

GET /video/shutter
Get current shutter. Will return either shutter speed or shutter angle depending on shutter
measurement in device settings

Response
200 - OK
The response is a JSON object.

Name Type Description

continuousShutterAutoExposure boolean Is shutter controlled by auto exposure

Shutter speed value in fractions of a second (minimum is

shutterSpeed integer
sensor frame rate)

shutterAngle integer Shutter angle

PUT /video/shutter
Set ND filter display mode on the camera

Parameter

Name Type Description

Shutter speed value in fractions of a second (minimum is

shutterSpeed integer
sensor frame rate)

shutterAngle integer Shutter angle

Response
200 - OK

Developer Information 165

GET /video/autoExposure
Get current auto exposure mode

Response
200 - OK
The response is a JSON object.

Name Type Description

mode object Auto exposure mode

mode.mode string Possible values are: Off, Continuous, OneShot.

mode.type string Possible values are: , Iris, Shutter, Iris,Shutter, Shutter,Iris.

PUT /video/autoExposure
Set auto exposure

Parameter

Name Type Description

mode object Auto exposure mode

mode.mode string Possible values are: Off, Continuous, OneShot.

mode.type string Possible values are: , Iris, Shutter, Iris,Shutter, Shutter,Iris.

Response
200 - OK

Color Correction Control API

API For controlling the color correction on Blackmagic Design products based on DaVinci
Resolve Color Corrector

GET /colorCorrection/lift
Get color correction lift

Response
200 - OK
The response is a JSON object.

Name Type Description

red number

green number

blue number

luma number

Developer Information 166

PUT /colorCorrection/lift
Set color correction lift

Parameter

Name Type Description

red number

green number

blue number

luma number

Response
200 - OK

GET /colorCorrection/gamma
Get color correction gamma

Response
200 - OK
The response is a JSON object.

Name Type Description

red number

green number

blue number

luma number

PUT /colorCorrection/gamma
Set color correction gamma

Parameter

Name Type Description

red number

green number

blue number

luma number

Response
200 - OK

Developer Information 167

GET /colorCorrection/gain
Get color correction gain

Response
200 - OK
The response is a JSON object.

Name Type Description

red number

green number

blue number

luma number

PUT /colorCorrection/gain
Set color correction gain

Parameter

Name Type Description

red number

green number

blue number

luma number

Response
200 - OK

GET /colorCorrection/offset
Get color correction offset

Response
200 - OK
The response is a JSON object.

Name Type Description

red number

green number

blue number

luma number

Developer Information 168

PUT /colorCorrection/offset
Set color correction offset

Parameter

Name Type Description

red number

green number

blue number

luma number

Response
200 - OK

GET /colorCorrection/contrast
Get color correction contrast

Response
200 - OK
The response is a JSON object.

Name Type Description

pivot number Default value is: 0.5.

adjust number Default value is: 1.

PUT /colorCorrection/contrast
Set color correction contrast

Parameter

Name Type Description

pivot number Default value is: 0.5.

adjust number Default value is: 1.

Response
200 - OK

GET /colorCorrection/color
Get color correction color properties

Response
200 - OK
The response is a JSON object.

Name Type Description

hue number

saturation number Default value is: 1.

Developer Information 169

PUT /colorCorrection/color
Set color correction color properties

Parameter

Name Type Description

hue number

saturation number Default value is: 1.

Response
200 - OK

GET /colorCorrection/lumaContribution
Get color correction luma contribution

Response
200 - OK
The response is a JSON object.

Name Type Description

lumaContribution number Default value is: 1.

PUT /colorCorrection/lumaContribution
Set color correction luma contribution

Parameter

Name Type Description

lumaContribution number Default value is: 1.

Response
200 - OK

Developer Information 170

Blackmagic SDI Camera Control Protocol
Version 1.6.2
If you are a software developer you can use the Blackmagic SDI to construct devices that integrate
with our products. Here at Blackmagic Design, our approach is to open up our protocols and we
eagerly look forward to seeing what you come up with!

Overview
This document describes an extensible protocol for sending a unidirectional stream of small control
messages embedded in the non-active picture region of a digital video stream. The video stream
containing the protocol stream may be broadcast to a number of devices. Device addressing is used
to allow the sender to specify which device each message is directed to.

Assumptions
Alignment and padding constraints are explicitly described in the protocol document. Bit fields are
packed from LSB first. Message groups, individual messages and command headers are defined as,
and can be assumed to be, 32 bit aligned.

Blanking Encoding
A message group is encoded into a SMPTE 291M packet with DID/SDID x51/x53 in the active region
of VANC line 16.

Message Grouping
Up to 32 messages may be concatenated and transmitted in one blanking packet up to a maximum
of 255 bytes payload. Under most circumstances, this should allow all messages to be sent with a
maximum of one frame latency.

If the transmitting device queues more bytes of message packets than can be sent in a single frame,
it should use heuristics to determine which packets to prioritize and send immediately. Lower priority
messages can be delayed to later frames, or dropped entirely as appropriate.

Abstract Message Packet Format

Every message packet consists of a three byte header followed by an optional variable length data
block. The maximum packet size is 64 bytes.

Device addresses are represented as an 8 bit unsigned integer. Individual

Destination device (uint8) devices are numbered 0 through 254 with the value 255 reserved to
indicate a broadcast message to all devices.

The command length is an 8 bit unsigned integer which specifies the

Command length (uint8) length of the included command data. The length does NOT include
the length of the header or any trailing padding bytes.

The command id is an 8 bit unsigned integer which indicates the message

type being sent. Receiving devices should ignore any commands that they
Command id (uint8) do not understand. Commands 0 through 127 are reserved for commands
that apply to multiple types of devices. Commands 128 through 255 are
device specific.

This byte is reserved for alignment and expansion purposes. It should

Reserved (uint8)
be set to zero.

Developer Information 171

 The command data may contain between 0 and 60 bytes of data.
Command data (uint8[])
The format of the data section is defined by the command itself.

Messages must be padded up to a 32 bit boundary with 0x0 bytes.

Padding (uint8[])
Any padding bytes are NOT included in the command length.

Receiving devices should use the destination device address and or the command identifier to
determine which messages to process. The receiver should use the command length to skip
irrelevant or unknown commands and should be careful to skip the implicit padding as well.

Defined Commands
Command 0 : change configuration

The category number specifies one of up to 256 configuration categories

Category (uint8)
available on the device.

The parameter number specifies one of 256 potential configuration

parameters available on the device. Parameters 0 through 127 are
Parameter (uint8)
device specific parameters. Parameters 128 though 255 are reserved
for parameters that apply to multiple types of devices.

The data type specifies the type of the remaining data. The packet length
Data type (uint8) is used to determine the number of elements in the message. Each
message must contain an integral number of data elements.

Currently defined values are:

A void value is represented as a boolean array of length zero.

0: void/boolean The data field is a 8 bit value with 0 meaning false and all other
values meaning true.

1: signed byte Data elements are signed bytes

2: signed 16 bit integer Data elements are signed 16 bit values

3: signed 32 bit integer Data elements are signed 32 bit values

4: signed 64 bit integer Data elements are signed 64 bit values

5: UTF-8 string Data elements represent a UTF-8 string with no terminating character.

Data types 6 through 127 are reserved.

Data elements are signed 16 bit integers representing a real number with
128: signed 5.11 fixed 5 bits for the integer component and 11 bits for the fractional component.
point The fixed point representation is equal to the real value multiplied by 2^11.
The representable range is from -16.0 to 15.9995 (15 + 2047/2048).

Developer Information 172

 Data types 129 through 255 are available for device specific purposes.

The operation type specifies what action to perform on the specified

Operation type (uint8)
parameter. Currently defined values are:

The supplied values are assigned to the specified parameter. Each

element will be clamped according to its valid range. A void parameter
0: assign value may only be ‘assigned’ an empty list of boolean type. This operation will
trigger the action associated with that parameter. A boolean value may be
assigned the value zero for false, and any other value for true.

Each value specifies signed offsets of the same type to be added to the
current parameter values. The resulting parameter value will be clamped
1: offset/toggle value according to their valid range. It is not valid to apply an offset to a void
value. Applying any offset other than zero to a boolean value will invert
that value.

Operation types 2 through 127 are reserved.

Operation types 128 through 255 are available for device specific purposes.

The data field is 0 or more bytes as determined by the data type and
Data (void)
number of elements.

The category, parameter, data type and operation type partition a 24 bit operation space.

Group ID Parameter Type Index Minimum Maximum Interpretation

0.0 Focus fixed16 – 0.0 1.0 0.0 = near, 1.0 = far

0.1 Instantaneous autofocus void – – – trigger instantaneous autofocus

Aperture Value (where fnumber

0.2 Aperture (f-stop) fixed16 – -1.0 16.0
= sqrt(2^AV))

0.3 Aperture (normalised) fixed16 – 0.0 1.0 0.0 = smallest, 1.0 = largest

Steps through available

0.4 Aperture (ordinal) int16 – 0 n aperture values from minimum
(0) to maximum (n)

Instantaneous auto trigger instantaneous auto

0.5 void – – –
Lens aperture aperture

0.6 Optical image stabilisation boolean – – – true = enabled, false = disabled

Move to specified focal length

0.7 Set absolute zoom (mm) int16 – 0 max in mm, from minimum (0) to
maximum (max)

Set absolute zoom Move to specified focal length:

0.8 fixed16 – 0.0 1.0
(normalised) 0.0 = wide, 1.0 = tele

Start/stop zooming at specified

Set continuous zoom rate: -1.0 = zoom wider fast, 0.0
0.9 fixed16 – -1.0 +1.0
(speed) = stop,
+1 = zoom tele fast

Developer Information 173

Group ID Parameter Type Index Minimum Maximum Interpretation
fps as integer
[0] = frame rate – –
(eg 24, 25, 30, 50, 60)
[1] = M-rate – – 0 = regular, 1 = M-rate
0 = NTSC, 1 = PAL, 2 = 720,
3 = 1080, 4 = 2kDCI, 5 = 2k16:9,
1.0 Video mode int8
[2] = dimensions – – 6 = UHD, 7 = 3k Anamorphic,
8 = 4k DCI, 9 = 4k 16:9,
10 = 4.6k 2.4:1, 11 = 4.6k
[3] = interlaced – – 0 = progressive, 1 = interlaced
[4] = Color space – – 0 = YUV
1x, 2x, 4x, 8x, 16x, 32x, 64x, 128x
1.1 Gain (up to Camera 4.9) int8 1 128
gain
int16 [0] = color temp 2500 10000 Color temperature in K
1.2 Manual White Balance
int16 [1] = tint -50 50 tint
Calculate and set auto white
1.3 Set auto WB void – – –
balance
Use latest auto white balance
1.4 Restore auto WB void – – –
setting
1.5 Exposure (us) int32 1 42000 time in us
Steps through available
1.6 Exposure (ordinal) int16 – 0 n exposure values from minimum
(0) to maximum (n)
0 = film, 1 = video,
1.7 Dynamic Range Mode int8 enum – 0 2
2 = extended video
0 = off, 1 = low, 2 = medium,
1.8 Video sharpening level int8 enum – 0 3
3 = high
fps as integer
[0] = file frame rate – –
(eg 24, 25, 30, 50, 60, 120)
Video
fps as integer, valid when
sensor-off-speed set (eg 24,
[1] = sensor frame
– – 25, 30, 33, 48, 50, 60, 120),
rate
no change will be performed
if this value is set to 0
[2] = frame width – – in pixels
1.9 Recording format int16
[3] = frame height – – in pixels
– – [0] = file-M-rate
[1] = sensor-M-rate, valid
– –
when sensor-off-speed-set
[4] = flags – – [2] = sensor-off-speed
– – [3] = interlaced
– – [4] = windowed mode
0 = Manual Trigger, 1 = Iris,
1.10 Set auto exposure mode int8 – 0 4 2 = Shutter, 3 = Iris + Shutter,
4 = Shutter + Iris
Shutter angle in degrees,
1.11 Shutter angle int32 – 100 36000
multiplied by 100
Current Shutter speed value as a
1.12 Shutter speed int32 – sensor 5000 fraction of 1, so 50 for 1/50th
frame rate of a second
1.13 Gain int8 – -128 127 Gain in decibel (dB)
1.14 ISO int32 – 0 2147483647 ISO value
0 = None, 1 = Custom,
[0] = selected LUT – – 2 = film to video,
1.15 Display LUT int8 3 = film to extended video
[1] = enabled or not – – 0 = Not enabled, 1 = Enabled

Developer Information 174

Group ID Parameter Type Index Minimum Maximum Interpretation
[0] = stop 0.0 15.0 filter power, as f-stop
0 = stop
1.16 ND Filter Stop fixed16
[1] = display mode – – 1 = density
2 = transmittance
2.0 Mic level fixed16 – 0.0 1.0 0.0 = minimum, 1.0 = maximum
2.1 Headphone level fixed16 – 0.1 1.0 0.0 = minimum, 1.0 = maximum
2.2 Headphone program mix fixed16 – 0.1 1.0 0.0 = minimum, 1.0 = maximum
2.3 Speaker level fixed16 – 0.1 1.0 0.0 = minimum, 1.0 = maximum
0 = internal mic,
Audio 1 = line level input,
2.4 Input type int8 – 0 3
2 = low mic level input,
3 = high mic level input
[0] ch0 0.0 1.0 0.0 = minimum, 1.0 = maximum
2.5 Input levels fixed16
[1] ch1 0.0 1.0 0.0 = minimum, 1.0 = maximum
true = powered,
2.6 Phantom power boolean – – –
false = not powered
bit flags:
[0] = display status,
[1] = display frame guides
uint16
Overlay enables [0] = bit field – – [2] = clean feed
bit field
Some cameras don’t allow
separate control of frame
3.0 guides and status overlays.
bit flags:
[0] = LCD
uint16 [1] = target displays [1] = HDMI
– –
bit field bit field [2] = EVF
[3] = Main SDI
[4] = Front SDI
0 = HDTV, 1 = 4:3, 2 = 2.4:1,
Frame guides style (Camera
3.1 int8 – 0 8 3 = 2.39:1, 4 = 2.35:1,
3.x)
5 = 1.85:1, 6 = thirds
Output Frame guides opacity
3.2 fixed16 – 0.1 1.0 0.0 = transparent, 1.0 = opaque
(Camera 3.x)
0 = off, 1 = 2.4:1, 2 = 2.39:1,
[0] = frame guides 3 = 2.35:1, 4 = 1.85:1, 5 = 16:9,
– –
style 6 = 14:9, 7 = 4:3, 8 = 2:1,
9 = 4:5, 10 = 1:1
[1] = frame guide
0 100 0 = transparent, 100 = opaque
Overlays opacity
(replaces .1 and .2 percentage of full frame
3.3 int8 [2] = safe area
above from 0 100 used by safe area guide
Cameras 4.0) percentage
(0 means off)
bit flags:
[0] = display thirds,
[3] = grid style – – [1] = display cross hairs,
[2] = display center dot,
[3] = display horizon

Developer Information 175

Group ID Parameter Type Index Minimum Maximum Interpretation
4.0 Brightness fixed16 – 0.0 1.0 0.0 = minimum, 1.0 = maximum
bit flags:
uint16 [0] = Zebra
Exposure and focus tools [0] = bit field – –
bit field [1] = Focus Assist
[2] = False Color

4.1 bit flags:

[0] = LCD
uint16 [1] = target displays [1] = HDMI
– –
bit field bit field [2] = EVF
[3] = Main SDI
[4] = Front SDI
4.2 Zebra level fixed16 – 0.0 1.0 0.0 = minimum, 1.0 = maximum
4.3 Peaking level fixed16 – 0.0 1.0 0.0 = minimum, 1.0 = maximum
Display 0 = disable bars,
4.4 Color bar enable int8 – 0 30 1-30 = enable bars with timeout
(seconds)
[0] = focus assist 0 = Peak,
– –
method 1 = Colored lines
0 = Red,
4.5 Focus Assist int8 1 = Green,
[1] = focus line color – – 2 = Blue,
3 = White,
4 = Black
0 = disable, 1-30 = enable with
4.6 Program return feed enable int8 – 0 30
timeout (seconds)
signed 0 = Clip,
4.7 Timecode Source [0] = source – –
byte 1 = Timecode
Sets the tally front and tally rear
brightness to the same level.
5.0 Tally brightness fixed16 – 0.0 1.0
0.0 = minimum,
1.0 = maximum
Sets the tally front brightness.
5.1 Front tally brightness fixed16 – 0.0 1.0 0.0 = minimum,
Tally
1.0 = maximum
Sets the tally rear brightness.
0.0 = minimum,
5.2 Rear tally brightness fixed16 – 0.0 1.0 1.0 = maximum
Tally rear brightness cannot be
turned off
0 = internal,
6.0 Source int8 enum – 0 2 1 = program,
Reference 2 = external
6.1 Offset int32 – – – +/- offset in pixels

Developer Information 176

Group ID Parameter Type Index Minimum Maximum Interpretation
[0] time _ _ BCD - HHMMSSFF (UCT)
7.0 Real Time Clock int32
[1] date _ _ BCD - YYYYMMDD
ISO-639-1 two character
7.1 System language string [0-1] _ _
language code
7.2 Timezone int32 _ _ _ Minutes offset from UTC
BCD - s0DDdddddddddddd
Confi- where s is the sign:
guration [0] latitude _ _ 0 = north (+), 1 = south (-);
DD degrees, dddddddddddd
decimal degrees
7.3 Location int64
BCD - sDDDdddddddddddd
where s is the sign: 0 = west
[1] longitude _ _ (-), 1 = east (+); DDD degrees,
dddddddddddd decimal
degrees
[0] red -2.0 2.0 default 0.0
[1] green -2.0 2.0 default 0.0
8.0 Lift Adjust fixed16
[2] blue -2.0 2.0 default 0.0
[3] luma -2.0 2.0 default 0.0
[0] red -4.0 4.0 default 0.0
[1] green -4.0 4.0 default 0.0
8.1 Gamma Adjust fixed16
[2] blue -4.0 4.0 default 0.0
[3] luma -4.0 4.0 default 0.0
[0] red 0.0 16.0 default 1.0
[1] green 0.0 16.0 default 1.0
8.2 Gain Adjust fixed16
Color [2] blue 0.0 16.0 default 1.0
Correction [3] luma 0.0 16.0 default 1.0
[0] red -8.0 8.0 default 0.0
[1] green -8.0 8.0 default 0.0
8.3 Offset Adjust fixed16
[2] blue -8.0 8.0 default 0.0
[3] luma -8.0 8.0 default 0.0
[0] pivot 0.0 1.0 default 0.5
8.4 Contrast Adjust fixed16
[1] adj 0.0 2.0 default 1.0
8.5 Luma mix fixed16 – 0.0 1.0 default 1.0
[0] hue -1.0 1.0 default 0.0
8.6 Color Adjust fixed16
[1] sat 0.0 2.0 default 1.0
8.7 Correction Reset Default void – – – reset to defaults

Developer Information 177

Group ID Parameter Type Index Minimum Maximum Interpretation

0 = CinemaDNG,
1 = DNxHD,
[0] = basic codec – –
2 = ProRes,
3 = Blackmagic RAW

CinemaDNG:
0 = uncompressed,
– –
1 = lossy 3:1,
2 = lossy 4:1

ProRes:
0 = HQ,
10.0 Codec int8 enum 1 = 422,
– – 2 = LT,
3 = Proxy,
[1] = code variant
4 = 444,
5 = 444XQ

Blackmagic RAW:
0 = Q0,
1 = Q5,
– – 2 = 3:1,
3 = 5:1,
4 = 8:1,
5 = 12:1
Media
0 = Preview,
[0] = mode – – 1 = Play,
2 = Record

-ve = multiple speeds

backwards,
[1] = speed – –
0 = pause,
+ve = multiple speeds forwards

1<<0 = loop,
1<<1 = play all,
10.1 Transport mode int8
[2] = flags – – 1<<5 = disk1 active,
1<<6 = disk2 active,
1<<7 = time-lapse recording

0 = CFast card,
[3] = slot 1 storage
– – 1 = SD,
medium
2 = SSD Recorder

0 = CFast card,
[4] = slot 2 storage
– – 1 = SD,
medium
2 = SSD Recorder

0 = Previous,
10.2 Playback Control int8 enum [0] = clip – –
1 = Next

true = enabled,
10.5 Stream bool [0] = enabled – –
false = disabled

true = enabled,
10.6 Stream Information void bool [0] = enabled – –
false = disabled

true = enabled,
10.7 Stream Display 3D LUT void bool [0] = enabled – –
false = disabled

Developer Information 178

Group ID Parameter Type Index Minimum Maximum Interpretation

-1.0 = full speed left,

[0] = pan velocity -1.0 1.0
1.0 = full speed right
11.0 Pan/Tilt Velocity fixed 16
-1.0 = full speed down,
[1] = tilt velocity -1.0 1.0
1.0 = full speed up
PTZ
Control 0 = reset,
int8 [0] = preset
– – 1 = store location,
enum command
11.1 Memory Preset 2 = recall location

[1] =
int8 0 5 –
preset slot

Developer Information 179

 Example Protocol Packets
Packet
Operation Length Byte

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

header command data

destination

parameter
command

operation
reserved

category
length

type
trigger instantaneous
8 4 4 0 0 0 1 0 0
auto focus on camera 4

turn on OIS on all cameras 12 255 5 0 0 0 6 0 0 1 0 0 0

set exposure to 10 ms on
camera 4 (10 ms = 10000 12 4 8 0 0 1 5 3 0 0x10 0x27 0x00 0x00
us = 0x00002710)

add 15% to zebra level

12 4 6 0 0 4 2 128 1 0x33 0x01 0 0
(15 % = 0.15 f = 0x0133 fp)

select 1080p 23.98 mode on

16 255 9 0 0 1 0 1 0 24 1 3 0 0 0 0 0
all cameras

subtract 0.3 from gamma

adjust for green & blue 16 4 12 0 0 8 1 128 1 0 0 0x9a 0xfd 0x9a 0xfd 0 0
(-0.3 ~= 0xfd9a fp)

4 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 255 5 0 0 0 6 0 0

1 0 0 0 4 8 0 0 1 5 3 0 0x10 0x27 0x00 0x00

all operations combined 76 4 6 0 0 4 2 128 1 0x33 0x01 0 0 255 9 0 0

1 0 1 0 24 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 4 12 0 0

8 1 128 1 0 0 0x9a 0xfd 0x9a 0xfd 0 0

Developer Information 180

Blackmagic Embedded Tally Control Protocol
Version 1.0 (30/04/10)
This section is for third party developers or anybody who may wish to add support for the
Blackmagic Embedded Tally Control Protocol to their products or system. It describes the
protocol for sending tally information embedded in the non-active picture region of a digital
video stream.

Data Flow
A master device such as a broadcast switcher embeds tally information into its program feed
which is broadcast to a number of slave devices such as cameras or camera controllers. The
output from the slave devices is typically fed back to the master device, but may also be sent to
a video monitor.
The primary flow of tally information is from the master device to the slaves. Each slave device
may use its device id to extract and display the relevant tally information.
Slave devices pass through the tally packet on their output and update the monitor tally status,
so that monitor devices connected to that individual output may display tally status without
knowledge of the device id they are monitoring.

Assumptions
Any data alignment / padding is explicit in the protocol. Bit fields are packed from LSB first.

Blanking Encoding
One tally control packet may be sent per video frame. Packets are encoded as a SMPTE 291M
packet with DID/SDID x51/x52 in the active region of VANC line 15. A tally control packet may
contain up to 256 bytes of tally information.

Packet Format
Each tally status consist of 4 bits of information:
uint4
bit 0: program tally status (0=off, 1=on)
bit 1: preview tally status (0=off, 1=on)
bit 2-3: reserved (0x0)
The first byte of the tally packet contains the monitor device tally status and a version number.
Subsequent bytes of the tally packet contain tally status for pairs of slave devices. The
master device sends tally status for the number of devices configured/supported, up to a
maximum of 510.
struct tally
uint8
bit 0: monitor device program tally status (0=off, 1=on)
bit 1: monitor device preview tally status (0=off, 1=on)
bit 2-3: reserved (0b00)
bit 4-7: protocol version (0b0000)
uint8[0]
bit 0: slave device 1 program tally status (0=off, 1=on)
bit 1: slave device 1 device preview tally status (0=off, 1=on)
bit 2-3: reserved (0b00)
bit 4: slave device 2 program tally status (0=off, 1=on)
bit 5: slave device 2 preview tally status (0=off, 1=on)
bit 6-7: reserved (0b00)

Developer Information 181

 uint8[1]
bit 0: slave device 3 program tally status (0=off, 1=on)
bit 1: slave device 3 device preview tally status (0=off, 1=on)
bit 2-3: reserved (0b00)
bit 4: slave device 4 program tally status (0=off, 1=on)
bit 5: slave device 4 preview tally status (0=off, 1=on)
bit 6-7: reserved (0b00)
…

Slave Device
(1)

Master Device Slave Device

(2)

Slave Device
Monitor Device
(3)

Byte 7 MSB 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 LSB

Version Version Version Version Reserved Reserved Monitor Monitor

0
(0b0) (0b0) (0b0) (0b0) (0b0) (0b0) Preview Program

Reserved Reserved Slave 1 Slave 1 Reserved Reserved Slave 0 Slave 0

1
(0b0) (0b0) Preview Program (0b0) (0b0) Preview Program

Reserved Reserved Slave 3 Slave 3 Reserved Reserved Slave 2 Slave 2

2
(0b0) (0b0) Preview Program (0b0) (0b0) Preview Program

3 ...

Developer Information 182

Help
The fastest way to obtain help is to go to the Blackmagic Design online support pages and
check the latest support material available for your camera.

Blackmagic Design Online Support Pages

The latest manual, software and support notes can be found at the Blackmagic Design support
center at www.blackmagicdesign.com/support.

Contacting Blackmagic Design Support

If you can’t find the help you need in our support material, please use the ‘Send us an email’
button on the support page to email a support request. Alternatively, click on the ‘Find your
local support team’ button on the support page and call your nearest Blackmagic Design
support office.

Checking the Software Version Currently Installed

To check which version of Blackmagic Camera Setup utility software is installed on your
computer, open the About Blackmagic Camera Setup utility window.
– On Mac, open Blackmagic Camera Setup utility from the Applications folder.
Select About Blackmagic Camera Setup utility from the application menu to reveal the
version number.

– On Windows, open Blackmagic Camera Setup utility from your Start menu or Start
Screen. Click on the Help menu and select About Blackmagic Camera Setup utility to
reveal the version number.

How to Get the Latest Software Updates

After checking the version of Blackmagic Camera Utility software installed on your computer,
please visit the Blackmagic Design support center at www.blackmagicdesign.com/support to
check for the latest updates. While it is usually a good idea to run the latest updates, it is wise to
avoid updating any software if you are in the middle of an important project.

Help 183
Regulatory Notices
Disposal of Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment Within the
European Union.
The symbol on the product indicates that this equipment must not be disposed of
with other waste materials. In order to dispose of your waste equipment, it must be
handed over to a designated collection point for recycling. The separate collection
and recycling of your waste equipment at the time of disposal will help conserve
natural resources and ensure that it is recycled in a manner that protects human
health and the environment. For more information about where you can drop off
your waste equipment for recycling, please contact your local city recycling office
or the dealer from whom you purchased the product.

This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class A
digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC rules. These limits are designed to
provide reasonable protection against harmful interference when the equipment is
operated in a commercial environment. This equipment generates, uses, and can
radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the
instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. Operation of
this product in a residential area is likely to cause harmful interference, in which case
the user will be required to correct the interference at personal expense.
The operation of this equipment is subject to the following two conditions:
1 This equipment or device may not cause harmful interference.
2 This equipment or device must accept any interference received, including
interference that may cause undesired operation.

R-R-BMD-20230112001

ISED Canada Statement

This device complies with Canadian standards for Class A digital apparatus.
Any modifications or use of this product outside its intended use could void
compliance to these standards.
Connection to HDMI interfaces must be made with high quality shielded
HDMI cables.
This equipment has been tested for compliance with the intended use in a
commercial environment. If the equipment is used in a domestic environment,
it may cause radio interference.

Regulatory Notices 184

 Bluetooth®
The product is a Bluetooth wireless technology enabled product.
Contains transmitter module FCC ID: QOQBGM113
This equipment complies with FCC radiation exposure limits set forth for an
uncontrolled environment.
Contains transmitter module IC: 5123A-BGM113
Includes transmitter module certified in Mexico. IFT: RCPSIBG20-2560.
This device complies with Industry Canada’s license-exempt RSS standards and
exception from routine SAR evaluation limits given in RSS-102 Issue 5.
Certified for Japan, certificate number: 209-J00204. This equipment contains
specified radio equipment that has been certified to the technical regulation
conformity certification under the radio law.
This module has certification in South Korea, KC certification number:
MSIP‑CRM-BGT-BGM113
Hereby, Blackmagic Design declares that the product is using wideband
transmission systems in 2.4 GHz ISM band is in compliance with directive
2014/53/EU.
The full text of the EU declaration of conformity is available from
[email protected]

Certified for Mexico (NOM) for Bluetooth module manufactured by Silicon Labs.
model number BGM113A.

Safety Information
Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K is suitable for use in tropical locations with
an ambient temperature of up to 40°C.
No operator serviceable parts inside product. Refer servicing to your local
Blackmagic Design service center.
During sunny conditions, consider shading of the camera to prevent exposure of the
camera or lithium battery to extended periods of sunlight. Keep lithium batteries away
from all sources of heat.

When using the supplied power adapter, use only at altitudes

not more than 2000m above sea level.

State of California statement

This product can expose you to chemicals such as trace amounts of polybrominated
biphenyls within plastic parts, which is known to the state of California to cause cancer
and birth defects or other reproductive harm.
For more information go to www.P65Warnings.ca.gov.

Safety Information 185

Warranty
Limited Warranty
Blackmagic Design warrants that this product will be free from defects in materials and workmanship
for a period of 12 months from the date of purchase. If a product proves to be defective during this
warranty period, Blackmagic Design, at its option, either will repair the defective product without
charge for parts and labor, or will provide a replacement in exchange for the defective product.
In order to obtain service under this warranty, you the Customer, must notify Blackmagic Design
of the defect before the expiration of the warranty period and make suitable arrangements for
the performance of service. The Customer shall be responsible for packaging and shipping the
defective product to a designated service center nominated by Blackmagic Design, with shipping
charges pre paid. Customer shall be responsible for paying all shipping charges, insurance, duties,
taxes, and any other charges for products returned to us for any reason.
This warranty shall not apply to any defect, failure or damage caused by improper use or improper or
inadequate maintenance and care. Blackmagic Design shall not be obliged under this warranty: a) to
repair damage resulting from attempts by personnel other than Blackmagic Design representatives
to install, 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 Design parts or supplies, or d) to service a product that has been modified or
integrated with other products when the effect of such a modification or integration increases the
time or difficulty of servicing the product.
THIS WARRANTY IS GIVEN BY BLACKMAGIC DESIGN IN LIEU OF ANY OTHER WARRANTIES,
EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. BLACKMAGIC DESIGN AND ITS VENDORS DISCLAIM ANY IMPLIED
WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. BLACKMAGIC
DESIGN’S RESPONSIBILITY TO REPAIR OR REPLACE DEFECTIVE PRODUCTS DURING THE
WARRANTY PERIOD IS THE WHOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDY PROVIDED TO THE CUSTOMER.
BLACKMAGIC DESIGN WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR
CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES IRRESPECTIVE OF WHETHER BLACKMAGIC DESIGN OR THE
VENDOR HAS ADVANCE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. BLACKMAGIC
DESIGN IS NOT LIABLE FOR ANY ILLEGAL USE OF EQUIPMENT BY CUSTOMER. BLACKMAGIC IS
NOT LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES RESULTING FROM USE OF THIS PRODUCT. USER OPERATES
THIS PRODUCT AT OWN RISK.
© Copyright 2023 Blackmagic Design. All rights reserved. ‘Blackmagic Design’, ‘URSA’, ‘DeckLink’, ‘HDLink’, ‘Workgroup Videohub’,
‘Multibridge Pro’, ‘Multibridge Extreme’, ‘Intensity’ and ‘Leading the creative video revolution’ are registered trademarks in the
US and other countries. All other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they
are associated.
The Bluetooth word, mark and logos are registered trademarks owned by Bluetooth SIG, Inc. and any use of such marks by
Blackmagic Design is under license. Other trademarks and trade names are those of the respective owners.

Warranty 186