Blackmagic Design Ultimatte 12 HD – HD Compositing Processor

Product Overview

The Blackmagic Design Ultimatte 12 HD is a real-time compositing processor for keying live-action video, adding 3G-SDI connectivity to the Ultimatte 12's advanced algorithms, improved spill suppression, color science, and color fidelity for photorealistic composites. It works in HD up to 1080p60 with sub-pixel processing, with one-touch auto-keying and realistic augmented-reality layers.

Product Description

Designed for news, sports, film and television, and entertainment production, the Ultimatte 12 HD creates life-like composites using fixed cameras, static backgrounds, or virtual-set systems, and can layer augmented-reality objects so talent can pre-visualize virtual sets while shooting against green screen. New technology lets it apply accurate keying parameters per camera, accounting for slight variations between camera positions, and a "realistic" layer mode adds translucent or tinted objects on top of the foreground.

One-touch keying sets over 100 parameters automatically once the set is well lit and white-balanced, dramatically reducing the time to pull a key. Advanced image-processing algorithms and a large color space generate internal mattes so different parts of the image are processed by color, producing fine detail on hair and smooth transitions, while refined flare and edge processing preserve colors you want to keep — even a bright yellow in front of a green screen. Connections include 3G-SDI BNC ports up to 1080p60, dedicated compositing inputs with loop outputs (background, background matte, garbage matte, foreground, holdout matte, layer, layer matte) and a program output, plus Ethernet and a GPI tally trigger. It requires the free Ultimatte Software Control for Mac/Windows and works with the Ultimatte Smart Remote 4, in a 1 RU half-rack chassis.

Key Features

• Up to 1080p60 — Over 3G-SDI BNC.
• 1-touch keying — Auto-sets 100+ parameters for a fast, clean key.
• Per-camera keying — Accurate parameters across multiple camera positions.
• Dedicated compositing inputs — 5× SDI inputs and loop outputs.
• Augmented reality — Realistic translucent and tinted layer compositing.
• Advanced image processing — Fine hair detail and high color fidelity.
• Smart Remote 4 — Optional hardware control panel.
• 1 RU half-rack — Compact, low-power design.

Typical Applications

• Broadcast studio — News, weather, sports, and HD virtual sets.
• House of worship — Real-time compositing for streamed and projected services.
• Auditorium — Virtual environments and augmented-reality presentation.

Technical Specifications

FAQ

How does the HD model differ from the HD Mini, 4K, and 8K? The HD uses 3G-SDI connectivity up to 1080p60; the HD Mini adds HDMI I/O at HD, while the 4K and 8K models scale to Ultra HD and 8K over 12G-SDI.

What does one-touch keying do? It auto-sets over 100 keying parameters once the set is well lit and white-balanced, for a fast, clean key.

Does it need a control panel? It requires the free Ultimatte Software Control for Mac/Windows; the Ultimatte Smart Remote 4 is optional.

Can it key difficult colors? Yes — refined flare and edge processing preserve colors like a bright yellow in front of a green screen.