Blackmagic captures Baidu’s summer festivities
Published: ASIA
CHINA: Each year, Chinese web company Baidu hosts the Baidu Summer Party for its 10,000 employees. To capture the event, authorised Blackmagic Design reseller Oxygentec deployed some of the manufacturer’s equipment.
‘We set up two URSA Mini 4Ks and two URSA Mini 4.6Ks, with each outputting 1080i50 to a Blackmagic ATEM 1 M/E Production 4K switcher,’ recalled Oxygentec’s Lin Enjing. ‘One URSA Mini was mounted on a jib and it was monitored with a Blackmagic Video Assist 4K. Though it was bright outdoors, we could still easily see what was going on through the 7-inch screen of the Video Assist 4K.’
As part of Baidu’s summer festivities, the company stages an award ceremony, unveiling its annual ‘Baidu Million Dollar Prize Winners’. The awards are presented by Baidu CEO Robin Li and this year, the list of winners was flown above the audience in an oversized envelope, which was then lowered to the stage.
‘To highlight this moment, we wanted to mount a small camera on the envelope to record the envelope being moved by thousands of people surrounding the stage from one audience member to another until it got to Robin Li on the stage through a POV shot,’ explained Mr Enjing. ‘We decided to use a Micro Studio Camera 4K, as it is small enough, uses an interchangeable lens and can be controlled and adjusted in real time using an ATEM Software Control Panel. Also, the video from the Micro Studio Camera 4K can go to the switcher directly. Another advantage is that it uses a common Canon LP-E6 battery, which is replaceable. The envelope-moving moment was recorded nicely with consistent brightness and accurate colors.
‘It was 34-degrees C that day,’ he continued. ‘The Micro Studio Camera 4K worked for nearly 12 hours without a stopping. It didn’t suddenly die and there was no colour bias due to the heat. Baidu Summer Party started in daylight and ended at night; lighting conditions varied over time. With other solutions, we would have had to keep adjusting colour balance, but with our Blackmagic workflow, we were able to easily make fine tweaks accordingly on the ATEM switcher.’