Preparing Media For Recording - Blackmagicdesign Cinema Operation Manual

About SSDs and SD Cards
15
Select the 'format disk' or 'format card' icon on the camera
dashboard to format your SSD or SD card.
Choose from HFS+ or exFAT formats. Confirm your selection
by tapping the 'yes, format my disk/card' icon to continue,
or 'cancel' to cancel the format.

Preparing Media for Recording

SSDs used by Blackmagic Cinema Camera and Production Camera 4K, and SD cards used by
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera must be formatted as either HFS+ or exFAT. These disk formats
allow long clips to be recorded as single files and can be formatted using the 'format disk' feature
on the dashboard.
You can also format SD cards and SSDs via a Mac or PC computer. SSDs can be formatted using an
SSD dock such as Blackmagic MultiDock.
HFS+ is also known as Mac OS Extended. It is the recommended format as it supports "journaling".
Data on journaled media is more recoverable and less likely to be corrupted. HFS+ is natively
supported by Mac OS X.
ExFAT is supported natively by Mac OS X and Windows without needing to purchase any additional
software. However, exFAT does not support journaling which means data is less protected against
the rare event your media card or SSD is corrupted.
To format your SSD or SD card using the dashboard Format Disk feature:
Step 1. Press the 'menu' button to open the dashboard.
Step 2. Select the 'format disk' or 'format card' icon by tapping on the touchscreen or using the
navigation and 'ok' buttons on the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera.
Step 3. Choose your format by selecting the HFS+ or exFAT icon.
Step 4. A warning will appear asking you to confirm the format. Select 'yes, format my disk/card'
to continue, or 'cancel' to cancel the format.
Step 5. A progress bar shows you the progress of the format. 'Complete' will appear when the
format is done.
Step 6. Select the 'done' icon to return to the dashboard.