Background

Since Blackmagic Design released BMMCC, it’s been about five years. But it is still sold as a brand new nowadays.
For me, it’s the first cinema camera, and it’s working for the location scouting or a small project.
So, as the others so, I decided to develop the controller, and it finally becomes some kind of working prototype today.

Concepts

The main concepts are the following based on my requirements.

1. Tinyness.

The tinyness is the importance because of the tinyness of the camera. If the tinyness is not important, we should buy the bigger and more reliable one sold by CINEGEARPRO.
https://www.cinegearpro.co.uk/products/cgpro-bmmcc-bmmsc-focus-zoom-record-remote-controller

2. Minimum function.

Just control the camera properties (and a few for the lens).
If the focus or the zoom must be controlled, we should use the LANC controller.
If the other function is required, we should build another external device.

3. Modularized.

Must be fit on ‘PWM(S.Bus)+LANC+DC BMMCC Angle Expansion Box Module’.
https://forum.blackmagicdesign.com/viewtopic.php?t=56186

4. Hardware Extendability.

The 5V, GND, and two digital pins can be used through the 3.5mm 4 poles TRRS jack.

5. Software Extendability.

The mainboard is Arduino Nano. The firmware will be on Github. You can fork and write your firmware for free.

Current Issues

The current issues about cost are the following.

1. Case

3D printed cases are cheap but cheesy. CNC Aluminum cases are sturdy but expensive.

2. Compliance

Mainly RoHS and CE are required to sell worldwide, but the parts are more expensive.

Price

I wish to sell around 100 – 200 USD.

Specifications

Prerequisites:

1. Breakout box for SBus x 1

Use ‘PWM(S.Bus)+LANC+DC BMMCC Angle Expansion Box Module’.
https://forum.blackmagicdesign.com/viewtopic.php?t=56186

2. 3.5mm 3-pole TRS Cable x 1

3. Camera Remote settings.

Set Remote settings as follows. Simply set the channels from top to bottom.

• Rec Start/Stop: SBus 1
• Iris: SBus 2
• (Focus: SBus 3. Disabled. You can enable on your forked firmware)
• Auto Focus: SBus 4
• (Zoom: SBus 5. Disabled. You can enable on your forked firmware)
• ISO: SBus 6
• Shutter Angle: SBus 7
• White Balance: SBus 8
• Audio Level: SBus 9
• Frame Rate: SBus 10
• Codec: SBus 11

Hardware and Operation Manual:

1. 0.49″ 64×32 OLED Display.

2-1. Rotary Encoder with Push-Switch 1.

Rotation: for menu navigation.

• Rotate CW: Go to the next menu.
• Rotate CCW: Go to the previous menu.
• The menu order is: FPS(Frame Rate) > SA(Shutter Angle) > A(Iris) > ISO > WB(White Balance) > MIC(Audio Levels) > CODEC.

Pushing:

• 2-Click: REC Start/Stop
• 3-Click: Trigger AutoFocus
• 4-Click: Rotate Display CW
• 5-Click: Rotate Display CCW
• x-Click: Unassigned. (You can extend your forked firmware)
• x-Clicks and Long Press: Unassigned. (You can extend your forked firmware)
• NOTE: May vary in the final version.

You can use this in any direction by Display Rotation.

2-2. Rotary Encoder with Push-Switch 2.

Rotation: for value control.

• Rotate CW: Increment value.
• Rotate CCW: Decrement value.

Pushing:

• 3-Click and Long Press: Reset all values.
• Other: Unassigned. (You can extend your forked firmware)
• NOTE: May vary in the final version.

3. 3.5mm 3-pole TRS Jack

Connect to the camera.
Tip: 5V, Ring: SBus, Sleeve: GND.

4. 3.5mm 4-pole TRRS Jack

Connect to the external devices.
Tip: 5V, Ring: D4,D5, Sleeve: GND.

5. USB Port for firmware updates.

Product Images

Use cases