Blackmagic Pocket Cinema 4K

[Shawn Miller]

Hey, Winston. I don’t know of any in-person camera classes in your area, but the Blackmagic camera systems are straightforward to learn. I’ve seen experienced videographers become competent with BMD cameras in about an hour. The menu system is so dead simple and intuitive – it takes about ten minutes for most people to understand. If you can, I recommend renting the BMPCC4k for a weekend and watching something like Frame Voyager’s complete video manual.

https://youtu.be/H0V7GQAa-vc

If you’re looking for certification, I believe LinkedIn Learning also has a course on BMD cameras.

Shawn

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[Winston A. cely]

Thanks for the feedback, Shawn! I appreciate it. I’ll check that video out, and someone else mentioned that Ripple Training has a video as well. I’ve got my homework cut out for me this summer. 👍

[Shawn Miller]

Hey, Winston. Good luck! I hope the BMD system works out for you and your students! 😃

Shawn

[Tum Nahi]

I’d like to get some training on them before I begin teaching how to use them, and I’m wondering if there are any options for this? I would much rather have in-person training, and certification if available, but if virtual is the only thing available I’d love to know what the options are. I’m based in South Carolina but can travel if necessary.

Thanks!

[Winston A. cely]

Hi Tum,

I’ve been teaching them for a year now, and using one myself as well. My advice based on this experience is to simply look up some YouTube videos. That sounds silly in a professional sense, but it’s all you need. I love how easy these cameras are to operate, hands down the best user interface of any pro-sumer/professional camera on the market. Honestly, if you know the basics of how to use a camera, you can very easily teach these cameras as well.

<font face=”inherit”>I start my sophomores and juniors on Sony A6300’s using the exposure triangle (</font>Aperture, ISO, and Shutter Speed). Once they’re seniors, I introduce the Pocket 4K and go over the difference between Shutter Speed and Shutter Angle (as seniors putting the Pocket 4K into Shutter Angle is way easier). <font face=”inherit”>I did end up watching some videos on the difference between those so that I could </font>simplify for them, but that was not a problem. Yes, the 4K is technically a rolling shutter, but its processor is so awesome, it’s great with fast action or panning. In fact, it becomes a great way to teach rolling versus global using our A6300’s as rolling and the 4K as “global.”

Frame Voyager on YouTube has a great full users guide. I watched the whole thing, but there are others that I’ve seen that are shorter, and many more specific items in more detail.

Good luck with teaching!