Latin America. Blackmagic Design announced that the new Blackmagic 3G-SDI Arduino Shield, an expansion card that allows users to create custom controllers for cameras and other SDI equipment, is now available.
This product is now available at all Blackmagic Design dealers at a price of $95.
Creating customized systems for camera control using SDI connections presents a serious challenge and, to overcome it, programming knowledge is necessary.
This makes it difficult to integrate Blackmagic Design cameras into special broadcast platforms, since it would be necessary to manufacture equipment with SDI technology to handle them remotely using the control protocol developed by the company. In order to solve this problem, the company has created an expansion card for Arduino microcontrollers, called Blackmagic 3G-SDI Arduino Shield, which facilitates this task to technicians and engineers specialized in the area.
Arduino is a firm that develops open source electronic boards based on physical and computer media. Like the Raspberry Pi model (more oriented towards systems engineers), its products are preferred by equipment manufacturers and are designed with the purpose of offering a simpler and cheaper way to create customized solutions.
Arduino opted for the English word "shield" to name its expansion cards, and Blackmagic Design has decided to take advantage of its functionality by developing the new Blackmagic 3G-SDI Arduino Shield. The company has also provided an example of the code used, in order to show how the Arduino boards communicate with the Blackmagic card and how these in turn send the control commands to the cameras.
The new product consists of a simple expansion card that includes an SDI input and output. The first allows you to use any type of sources, while the second connects to the camera and has an integrated control protocol.
This device is very easy to use. It is only necessary to look for the commands that you want to use in the instruction manual and then add them to the Arduino code that is used to send them to the Blackmagic card, which in turn allows them to be integrated into the SDI signal.
The control protocol makes use of the suppression interval in this channel to transmit the commands that allow adjusting the lens in the camera, adjusting the color, receiving the main signal, and using pilot lights or communication systems, among other features, through SDI cables, in order to avoid the use of other more expensive equipment.
This protocol is documented in Blackmagic's product manuals and has also been adopted by other manufacturers. Today, it is part of several devices developed by the company, including its wide range of cameras, mixers, cards, electronic viewfinders and monitors.
For example, you can create a simple controller with a joystick on top of the card that sends the commands, in order to adjust the focus or aperture of the diaphragm. The possibilities are limitless, and users now have a means to easily create adaptable solutions according to their needs.
The new Blackmagic 3G-SDI Arduino Shield device consists of a single double-sided SDI card that provides the possibility to supply electrical power to the Arduino board. In turn, it includes a USB port that will allow you to update the internal software when Blackmagic develops new features in the future. On the other hand, the I2C bus facilitates the connection of both units by means of a cable, in those cases that it is necessary to place them within small spaces.
"We are excited to be able to offer the Blackmagic Design 3G-SDI Arduino Shield card, as it provides greater accessibility to all of our products," said Grant Petty, CEO of Blackmagic Design. "Also, using it together with the new URSA Mini camera or the Studio Viewfinder viewfinder, for example, offers the possibility of creating unique and interesting solutions to use our devices in totally different ways. We look forward to the extraordinary results that users will achieve."
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