Blackmagic Design is shipping Blackmagic Camera Control, a free iPad app that lets customers remotely control their URSA Mini Pro cameras via Bluetooth, along with Camera 4.4 for URSA Mini Pro cameras. The new Blackmagic Camera Control app is based on the open protocol for URSA Mini Pro cameras that Blackmagic Design demonstrated at NAB earlier this year.
Camera 4.4 Update can be downloaded free of charge from the Blackmagic Design website. Once installed, customers can download the Blackmagic Camera Control iPad app from the Apple app store.
All URSA Mini Pro cameras feature built in Bluetooth connectivity, which until now has not been enabled. According to the company press release, “The built in Bluetooth will allow customers to send and receive commands from up to 30 feet away. Once the camera is paired with the iPad, customers can remotely power URSA Mini Pro on or off, change all major settings, adjust and add metadata using a digital slate and trigger recording. The Blackmagic Camera Control app is perfect for customers that need to control cameras in hard to reach places such as on cranes, drones, in underwater housings and more.”
Blackmagic Design has also developed a new, open protocol and is publishing a developer API, along with sample code, for customers that wish to build their own camera control solutions. This free API and sample code will be available later this summer.
In addition to the Blackmagic Camera Control app, Blackmagic Design has also released Camera 4.4 Update, which enables Bluetooth functionality and adds new preset time code options on URSA Mini Pro cameras. The update also adds compatibility with Canon 18-80mm T4.4 for iris, focus and record trigger, along with improved EF, PL and B4 support, improved digital slate functionality and improved zebra stripe overlays on URSA Mini 4K cameras.
“URSA Mini Pro has become incredibly popular because of its amazing image quality combined with broadcast features and controls, built in ND filters and interchangeable lens mount,” says Grant Petty, Blackmagic Design CEO. “The new Blackmagic Camera Control app and open API means that the possibilities are truly endless. Customers are going to have the tools they need to build completely custom remote control solutions of their own design using the new Bluetooth support!”
Blackmagic Camera Control is available free of charge from the Apple app store. Customers downloading the app must also update their URSA Mini Pro cameras using the free Camera 4.4 Update, which is available for download from the Blackmagic Design website for all existing URSA Mini Pro customers.
