Cinépolis the world's fourth largest cinema chain and India's top international exhibitor has opened its newest multiplex at Bannerghatta Road in Bengaluru. The all-digital seven screen 1328 seat multiplex will feature a 3D screen and a macro screen. Cinépolis is launching the cinema with the much awaited movie of the year Dum Maaro Dum starring Abhishek Bachchan Deepika Padukone Bipasha Basu and Prateik Babba and nine other movie titles. Speaking on the occasion Milan Saini managing director and country head Cinépolis India said We are pleased to announce the launch of Bengaluru's first international multiplex. Cinema patrons can look forward to enjoying from a wide selection of movie titles and show timings with over 35 shows screened every day. UB Venkatesh CMD Vishala India Developers Royal Meenakshi Mall said The RM mall is an ensemble of top tier brands in retail & entertainment. We are thrilled to bring a truly world class cinema operator to Bengaluru. With Cinepolis viewers will enjoy and appreciate watching movies in a superior ambience backed by over four decades of experience by one of the leading cinema companies in the world. Ashish Shukla head of exhibition Cinépolis added Bengaluru is a key market for Cinépolis India as it enjoys multiple language cinemas. With our cinema we bring to Bengaluru a world class cinema viewing experience that includes the best in class audio visual technology state-of-the-art 3D experience comfortable seating delightful and freshly prepared gourmet foods wide and spacious foyers and our top notch customer service. Apart from creating a compelling movie experience Cinépolis also offers Internet ticketing and gourmet food and beverage at its own wi-fi enabled Cafe Coffee Tree. The Cinépolis experience comes at an introductory price between Rs. 60 and Rs. 180. Shukla said Cinépolis believes in actively engaging with its customers. We invite our Bangalore patrons to connect with us on Facebook and Twitter and take advantage of our enormously successful loyalty program called Club Cinepolis. Cinépolis has an aggressive India growth strategy and plans to open 500 screens by 2016. More than half of these screens are slated to open in South India. Bengaluru marks the first Cinepolis in South India. ,2370
Eco-Friendly 3D Glasses ,2011-04-29,By Marty Shindler Who says 3D can’t be eco-friendly? It can and should be; it’s just not as eco-friendly right now as it could be in the near future. It’s Earth Week as this article is being written but the message goes way beyond Earth Week or Earth Day or even for any particular locale. Earth friendly products and concepts are important every day on a global basis. Since the modern era of 3D arrived in November 2005 with the release of Chicken Little by Disney Dolby and RealD the number of theaters that have gone 3D and the number of movies released in 3D has grown significantly. During that time period I’ve noticed the dramatic increase in the number of petroleum based plastic 3D glasses that have been created and disposed of. The numbers bantered about are 200 – 250 million on an annual basis and the number continues to grow. This is astronomical in my opinion. This does not even take into account the eyewear that will be produced for the forthcoming roll out of 3D TV. Sure in time a recycling program began but the eyewear is still made from a petroleum-based product that is not renewable and sustainable and will sit in a landfill for 450 – 500 years before they degrade according to experts. I have introduced 3D eyewear made from Cereplast a renewable and sustainable material that contains no fossil fuels so at the beginning of its life the product is natural. At the end of their life whether the 3D glasses are used once or many times with the emphasis on the latter the lenses can be pushed out and the frames can be sent to a municipal or industrial compost facility where they will biodegrade in less than six months returning to a natural state. Notwithstanding the recycling programs that are in place landfills do not need more plastic and we need to conserve fossil fuels. Now why does all this matter? It matters because to the best of our knowledge petroleum is not a renewable substance. Plant based materials such as used in Cereplast are renewable. We can plant new crops this year and more next year if necessary. Furthermore the impact on our environment is considerable. Consider a pair of the plastic glasses that seem ubiquitous in the industry. Ten million pair of the glasses made from Cereplast is equivalent to eliminating green house emissions from burning 74 039 gallons of gasoline or 1 536 barrels of oil. Put another way it would reduce CO2 emissions by 728 metric tons. Ten million pair of 3D glasses today is a fraction of the global total that are used for even one movie let alone the 35 40 or so 3D movies slated for 2011 release. Multiply these numbers by a factor of 20 or 25 to arrive at the CO2 emissions created by the 200 – 250 million pair of plastic glasses used annually to understand the environmental impact better. At the commissaries at the movie studios in and around Los Angeles and elsewhere take out containers and other utensils are increasingly made from natural compostable materials. The studios have already endorsed green initiatives. In fact in a recent Newsweek listing of green minded companies on a global and US basis Sony ranks number four globally. The other studios and/or their parent companies and their ranking on the US list include Disney (69) GE (83) News Corp. (107) Time Warner (163) and Viacom (298). The world is ready for a 3D product with a strong green appeal. I hope you agree. The next generation will thank you too. Marty Shindler can be reached at [email protected]. ,2372
Pandora’s Promise Tackles Nuclear Power,2011-04-29, Award-winning filmmaker Robert Stone is mid-way through production of his next project Pandora’s Promise. Best known for Radio Bikini Guerrilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst Oswald’s Ghost and Earth Days in his latest feature-length project Stone is taking on nuclear power and how mankind’s most controversial technological discovery may ultimately hold the key to its survival.
Pandora’s Promise is built around a number of in-depth interviews with several of the world’s leading environmentalists scientists and energy experts many of whom (like Stone) have undergone a metamorphosis in their thinking about nuclear power. Operating as history cultural meditation and contemporary exploration the documentary aims to inspire a realistic debate over one of the most important issues of our time: how we continue to power modern civilization without destroying it.
Stone is the producer/director of Pandora’s Promise with his longtime collaborator—and top National Geographic cinematographer – Howard Shack as Director of Photography. The filmmakers are planning on a 2012 theatrical release following festival submissions to the Sundance and Tribeca film festivals. They’re shooting the movie with the new Panasonic AG-AF100 large imager HD cinema camcorder. Stone has been a longtime user of Panasonic HD and digital tape-based camcorders and was an early adopter of the AF100 taking delivery of it from Abel Cine Tech in New York at the beginning of January.
“The AF100 has taken me back to my roots as a still photographer and made me excited about cinematography again ” Stone says. ”The camcorder’s image production is pretty remarkable and I believe Pandora’s Promise looks better than anything I’ve ever shot.”
“I began my documentary career shooting on 16mm film ” he says. “With the advent of digital video came streamlined acquisition but the images were flat. I experimented with HDSLRs which delivered the shallow depth of field but had practical production liabilities notably with audio. Certainly content and narrative are paramount in documentary storytelling but it’s great to direct an audience’s eye with depth of field. And to be able to do that on a low budget is fabulous.”
Stone recently wrapped one his main shoots covering thousands of miles traveling from England to Las Vegas to San Francisco in just over two weeks. The location work ranged from interviews to live action to verite. DP Shack shot 1080/24p utilizing the camcorder’s highest-quality PH (24mbps) mode; he worked handheld and with the AF100 on sticks and tracks employing a wide variety of Lumix Olympus and Canon lenses.
“We chose to record internally versus outputting to a nano Flash recorder ” Stone says. “The AVCHD codec is working so well I didn’t see the advantage of transporting extra batteries and chargers. I fully anticipate the material will look stunning on a big screen. We’ve also done a lot of slo-mo work. It’s a huge step-up to shoot variable frame rates at 1080p vs. 720p.”
Stone’s company Robert Stone Productions in Rhinebeck New York is handling the edit which is being done in Final Cut Pro. ,2373
Perfecting the Fragile Illusion,2011-04-29,By Nick Dager Last month I was part of a group of about a dozen journalists who were invited by Sony to spend a few days in and around Los Angeles trying out a series of stereoscopic 3D camcorders and cameras. To call the experience a revelation would be an understatement. We started by spending a day on the Sony Pictures lot in Culver City where we first learned some of the basics about 3D from Buzz Hays senior vice president of the Sony 3D Technology Center who calls stereoscopic 3D “a fragile illusion.” Hays teaches an intensive three-day seminar on stereoscopic 3D at the center that covers the theory fundamentals and physiology of 3D. He said it basically boils down to “how the brain processes images.” The main focus though is the story. “We talk about storytelling ” he said. “3D should support the storytelling.” To date more than 1 200 filmmakers have gone through the Hays’ training session mostly cinematographers but increasingly directors and gamers. Making 3D is easy but making good 3D is hard said Hays. I've had the pleasure of making 3D movies with Hollywood's true pioneers over the last five years and I am excited to dedicate my time fully to sharing what we've learned as this medium makes its way toward primetime. Among his 3D credits as a producer are the family adventure G-Force a Jerry Bruckheimer Production for Walt Disney Pictures Monster House Open Season and Robert Zemeckis' Beowulf. After about an hour of instruction from Hays we were taken to two studios on the lot to begin using our camcorders which in this case were the Sony 3D Handycam HDR-TD10 a consumer camera that retails for about $1 500. Sony and other consumer electronics companies recognize that the public has been slow to invest in 3D-ready televisions for the home. Now they’re trying a new strategy: Smart TVs. The idea is that if consumers embrace the notion of shooting their home videos and pictures with these lower-priced 3D cameras they’ll want to share them with their friends on YouTube Facebook and Twitter. Sony believes that 3D personal videos could be the killer app to get people to buy 3D-ready televisions. Only time will tell whether that strategy will work but after using these cameras for a few days I can make some observations. First shooting 3D is nothing like shooting 2D. It takes practice and it takes some serious relearning of what a good picture is. As an example when I shoot a 2D image I typically place something in the foreground to help create perspective. While this can be accomplished if you really know how to work in 3D my sense is that by and large it’s not worth the effort. In 3D an object that is too close to the camera tends to overwhelm the image in a very bad way. What I came to understand over the course of the two days is that 3D really is about trying to capture the depth of an image that we all experience in our every day lives. For me this is what people are talking about when they call 3D an immersive experience. Our first efforts with the camcorders involved shooting actors playing short scenes. In one case it was two stuntmen dressed as cowboys and staging a fight. In another it was a couple playing a domestic scene: the staple of American TV. It’s fair to say that none of us got very good footage out of that experience. We all had difficulty dealing with convergence even though the camera has an auto-convergence setting that to my mind works very well. Over a buffet lunch on the lot we reviewed our footage and several Sony executives critiqued our work and gave us tips on how to do better. After lunch we went outside and again Sony had arranged for talent to shoot. This time it was among other things jugglers some clowns and a ragtime band. The results were much better for all of us and all of us got some decent 3D footage to show for our efforts. We started the next day at the Los Angeles Flower Market and spent the afternoon at the Santa Monica Pier. We finished the day as the sun was setting and the light was incredibly rich on Venice Beach. Some of the footage that I got with the 3D Handycam HDR-TD10 and the Bloggie 3D MHS-FS3 was to my mind stunning. This can be attributed to the amazing golden light that day and to the cameras’ ability to capture it.
I was not happy with the results I got with the HX9V Cyber-shot and I don’t know if that was my fault or the camera’s. I do know that many people expressed some reservations about that camera but I also saw some very nice 3D images that others got using it. At the start of the junket I was already among those who believe that stereoscopic 3D is here to stay. The Sony experience not only strengthened that belief but it also demonstrated to me just how challenging making quality 3D really is and even more what the possibilities are. It’s true that these are the very earliest days of the stereoscopic 3D era. But it’s also true as Buzz Hays said that “2D is just a passing fad.” ,2381
Stereoscopic 3D is Topic One at NAB 2011,2011-04-29, For at least the third year in a row stereoscopic 3D was the number one topic of discussion at the annual National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas. Is there anyone left who seriously believes that 3D is just a passing fad? Attendance topped 90 000 at the show this year but there were noticeably fewer exhibitors in the vast halls. Thankfully most of the missing companies seemed to be the ones that last year were displaying 2D-3D conversions systems that ranged from mediocre to awful. Even in technology cream does eventually rise to the top. Business deals dominated a lot of the chatter in the exhibit halls and perhaps the one that got the most buzz was the news that legendary filmmaker and 3D visionary James Cameron has teamed up with acclaimed cinematographer and fellow 3D pioneer Vince Pace to form the Cameron-Pace Group. Their stated goal is to accelerate worldwide growth of 3D across all entertainment platforms including features episodic and live television sports advertising and consumer products pioneering a new generation of camera systems services and a variety of creative tools that are innovative powerful and easier to embrace. In combination Cameron’s and Pace’s technologies products and services have been responsible for $4.7 billion of box office receipts and have played an extensive role in 25 features seven concert and music entertainment projects and 40 sports productions worldwide including Avatar TRON: Legacy Resident Evil: Afterlife and U2 3D. “Our goal is to banish all the perceived and actual barriers to entry that are currently holding back producers studios and networks from embracing their 3D future ” said Cameron. “We are dedicated to building a global brand that is synonymous with high quality 3D and spans multiple channels from features to episodic television and changes the boundaries of what is understood to be 3D material.” “CPG’s mission is to step up industry-wide efforts to help filmmakers realize 3D’s full potential as a creative and powerful storytelling medium and accelerate the growth of the next generation of 3D solutions across all platforms ” said Pace. ARRI announced that it is extending its relationship with the Cameron-Pace Group to begin a cooperative partnership in the development of the Alexa M camera system which was shown as a first concept product at the show. They have already worked together on several 3D projects including The Three Musketeers; Martin Scorsese's Hugo Cabret due for release this November; Ang Lee's ongoing production Life of Pi; and now 47 Ronin starring Keanu Reeves which recently entered principal photography. ARRI managing director Martin Prillmann said The Alexa M camera system is designed for mobile 2D and 3D camera configurations offering the same unparalleled image quality reliability and workflow options as all other cameras in the Alexa product range. The Cameron-Pace Group will have exclusive commercial access to the first systems to be made available in September 2011 pioneering its use in a variety of exciting 3D productions during which the design will be enhanced and optimized with new 3D application features unique to the CPG/ARRI collaboration. Serial production and sales release of the Alexa M to all customers will commence during the first quarter of 2012. Band Pro Film & Digital and Red Digital Cinema announced a joint sales and marketing agreement that provides Red Epic and Leica Summilux-C lens packages for sale. Under the arrangement Band Pro will sell 5K Red Epic cameras bundled with the Leica Summilux-C lenses. The kit will include a set of five Leica primes in prespecified focal lengths. “We will provide our customers with the ability to purchase a beyond-4K camera equipped with beyond-4K lenses ” said Amnon Band president of Band Pro. “I take my hat off to Jim Jannard and his rebel crew at Red for putting this deal together with us. Red has never allowed anyone else to sell their cameras in the U.S. before so that’s a first and we feel honored and challenged. We bring traditional experience to the Red sales and marketing machine. Red brings us into the rebellion into tomorrow.” Red is thrilled with Band Pro's commitment to true high resolution cinematography ” said Ted Schilowitz of Red Digital Cinema. “Band Pro’s bundled package of the Red Epic camera and a special matched set of Leica Prime lenses will be the killer package for lensing big budget movies 3D movies high-end TV commercials and everything else that is looking for the best possible image quality from the high res sensor to the lens and onto the screen.” Red Epic and Leica packages will be sold from all four Band Pro offices in Burbank California; New York New York; Munich Germany; and Tel Aviv Israel. The camera and lens packages from Band Pro will not interfere with deliveries of Red Epic’s to those customers who have them on backorder. Production Technology Sony unveiled its much-anticipated next-generation CineAlta camera the F65 which Sony says “raises the bar in the quest for the look of 65mm film and delivers on its promise to derive true 4K resolution and beyond – at the point of image capture.” Sony’s unique 8K-image sensor with approximately 20 megapixels offers higher image fidelity than any other camera. With 16-bit Raw output the F65 establishes the gateway to a complete end-to-end 4K mastering workflow. “Sony's new F65 digital motion picture camera combines true 4K resolution with an expansive dynamic range that enables a more nuanced reproduction of fine textural and tonal details ” said Curtis Clark of the American Society of Cinematographers. “Along with excellent contrast and exceptional color reproduction the F65 produces images that have a rich filmic look and feel providing filmmakers with significantly enhanced creative photographic possibilities.” At the heart of the F65 camera is Sony’s newly developed 8K sensor which will deliver pristine HD 2K and true 4K resolution today and will go far beyond 4K in the future as industry needs evolve. The Sony imager is also the first to provide a dedicated green photo site for each pixel in the 4K-output image. This is twice the amount of green resolution compared with traditional 4K Bayer pattern sensors providing a significant improvement in image resolution that is ideal for VFX processing. The 8K CMOS sensor can run up to maximum 120Fps. This sensor performance combined with 16-bit Raw output makes the F65 the first image capture system designed from the ground up to support the Academy IIF-ACES Image Interchange Framework Academy Color Encoding Specification. The F65 has also been designed for multiple production applications including 3D rigs and Steadicam and will offer a compact and lightweight detachable camera T-head for these configurations. In addition an optional mechanical rotary shutter will be available for eliminating motion artifacts that are inherent with other CMOS sensor technology. Sony introduced its first 3D single-body camcorders for professional applications. The new models include the PMW-TD300 shoulder-mount model and the HXR-NX3D1U NXCam compact camcorder. “These new cameras will address many of the needs in live 3D production working in the field as a perfect complement to the HD cameras currently used in 3D rigs by leading production companies and giving creative professionals a more flexible and mobile option for getting the right 3D shot ” said Bob Ott vice president of product marketing and management for Sony Electronics. The PMW-TD300 features a dual ½-inch Exmor 3 CMOS sensor design with full HD 1920x1080 pixel resolution. The camcorder is based on the XDCam EX recording platform. Left and right eye signals are simultaneously recorded onto separate SxS cards (four SxS card slots in total two slots for each view). The HXR-NX3D1U allows users to simply adjust the left-right disparity to film 3D with the dial on the body and check the 3D effect on its glasses-free LCD. Double Sony G Lenses and double Exmor R CMOS sensors deliver professional quality 3D shooting while 1920x1080 full HD left and right images enable realistic HD recording. Double full HD recordings are encoded in H.264 MVC (multi-views coding) then packed in a single file. When the file is imported to compatible editing software such as Sony Vegas Pro 10.0d it can be treated as L and R synchronized images without having to import them twice. The PMW-TD300 will be available in late 2011 at a suggested list price of around $33 000. The HXR-NX3D1 is expected in the U.S. this summer at a suggested list price of around $3 400. JVC featured a technology demonstration of its new large-scale integration (LSI) chip for high-speed processing of high definition which enables processing encoding and recording of 4K images. It also has the power to record two 1920x1080 images from left and right cameras simultaneously using MPEG-4 MVC for HD 3D production. In its booth JVC had a few camera prototypes that utilize the new LSI technology including two 4K cameras with sample video. JVC was also showing the GY-HMZ1U ProHD 3D handheld camcorder that will be introduced this fall. “JVC continues to be at the forefront of technological innovation in our industry. Our new LSI technology can handle data-intensive acquisition which opens the door to exciting possibilities for the production community ” said Bob Mueller executive vice president and COO. “Over the next few months JVC is going to invite innovative cinematographers and other production professionals to help us develop 4K cameras 3D cameras and other products that deliver outstanding images and improved workflows at an affordable price point.” Element Technica unveiled a new suite of camera accessories for the 5K Red Epic camera. “The new accessories are purpose-built for the Red Epic camera ” said Steve Hertler Element Technica operations manager. “They are designed to provide the same increase in functionality ET brought to the original Red One.” Central to the accessory suite for the Red Epic is the Cheese Plate. Attached to the top of the camera the flat aluminum Cheese Plate provides an array of Swiss cheese-like 1/4-20 and 3/8-16 threaded holes that are ideal mounting points for various accessories including a handle. The Cheese Plate like the Epic itself is modular. As modules are added to the Epic complementary Cheese Plate modules can also be added. The handle for the Epic can also be lengthened or shortened to match the size of the Epic assembly. Cheese Plates also serve as mounting points for the cameras when they are low slung off camera support devices such as Steadicams cranes and dollies. Element Technica also introduced a new accessory suite for the new Sony F3 camera. “The Sony F3 is a breakthrough for independent producers and filmmakers in terms of features performance and price ” said Hertler. “Element Technica F3 accessories provide the bridge to truly professional filmmaker camera and lens tools to complement this amazing camera.” The Cheese Plate again plays a role. The Cheese Plate provides an array of Swiss cheese-like 1/4-20 and 3/8-16 threaded holes that are ideal mounting points for various accessories including an F3 handle which is also populated with 1/4-20 and 3/8-16 threaded holes. Also available for the F3 is a riser designed to put the lens mount at the proper height to allow use of ET’s revolutionary Hybrid system. 3ality Digital unveiled a range of new stereoscopic 3D tools in its 3space line including: IntelleScene IntelleMatte and IntelleMotion. IntelleScene promises automated management of transitions and scenes for S3D comfort. By managing real time depth-specific metadata IntelleScene prevents painful-to-the-eye transitions between shots increasing viewer comfort and helping broadcasters avoid potential safety issues that arise with poorly managed S3D geometry. IntelleMatte is an S3D graphics application that provides production crews the ability to insert a graphic between objects in the foreground and background for true S3D compositing via automated composite scene depth management.
IntelleMotion provides real time S3D motion stabilization which enables broadcasters to use powerful long lenses to capture motion from great distances without causing unnecessary viewer discomfort. Since IntelleMotion can compensate for IS/VR tracking special lenses are no longer required which opens up the standard long lenses that outside broadcasting clients demand.
IntelleMatte and IntelleMotion are standalone systems that can be used with any S3D Left Eye/Right Eye program feed and are not dependent on a 3ality Digital acquisition system. “Viewer experience is a primary concern among broadcasters seeking to deliver 3D content. We’ve tailored these solutions to address some of the core challenges in capturing live events in S3D while reducing the complexity and costs associated with its production ” says Steve Schklair CEO and founder of 3ality Digital. “Whether applied to sports concerts or episodic television our 3space technologies make it possible to visually capture things that have never been done before in S3D.” 3ality Digital’s technology is already being used on feature films such as The Amazing Spider-Man and The Hobbit. Codex Digital debuted The Vault an on-set laboratory system for review and dailies and deliverables production that supports digital cinema cameras made by Red Arri Sony and other leading manufacturers. “The Vault is the solution that cinematographers producers and DITs have been waiting for: it provides a simple seamless workflow that can be applied to all cameras and service all deliverable needs ” said Codex Digital managing director Marc Dando. “It eliminates much of the complexity involved in designing production workflows while taking full advantage of the efficiencies of file-based production and the ability to share rich metadata.” Codex Digital plans to begin delivering The Vault this summer. Codex Digital and 5th Kind demonstrated a new workflow for capturing processing and managing digital assets from the camera to the screen. The demonstration linked Codex Digital’s Transfer Station an on-set solution for dailies processing and deliverables production with 5th Kind’s web-based production asset management system. “This workflow takes full advantage of the possibilities of file-based production providing producers with powerful tools to manage their assets and share them with others in a secure flexible web environment ” said Dando. “It’s a boon to collaboration and efficient production.” Codex Digital and Colorfront held joint demonstrations of a new dailies workflow. The demonstrations used Codex's Transfer Station and Colorfront's On-Set Dailies and showed the playback of ArriRaw files from Codex's Virtual File System in real time. “The Codex/Colorfront ArriRaw workflow was used last November on the feature film Styria and we are excited to show it to a wider audience ” said Dando. “This means that all of the technology is production-proven.” “There is a natural fit between what Codex does and what Colorfront does” said Colorfront’s managing director Mark Jaszberenyi “We believe that this workflow provides the most efficient way to produce movies at the highest possible quality and this will make it a compelling choice. The dailies grades are baked in to the dailies deliverables so that the creative intent is always shown but the original files are archived without grading for later use in the final grading. The dailies grade is kept with the files as metadata so it can be used as a starting point. This maximizes creative control in an extremely efficient workflow.” Finally Codex showed its dailies workflow for television and film utilizing the new IIF/ACES post production process. Developed by the under the auspices of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Science and Technology Council the IIF/ACES process has generated considerable interest as a way to establish a standard format for digital production. Currently television and film production is complicated by the existence of multiple formats used by various digital cameras and post-production applications resulting in inefficiencies and incompatibilities and losses in image quality. “We are very excited about the possibilities presented by IIF/ACES and believe that it is crucial to the future of digital production ” said Dando. “We expect this new workflow to be embraced widely by the production industry both as a way to improve efficiency and as a way to attain maximum quality in digitally-captured imagery.” Cinedeck announced Extreme v2.0 which provides full support for Avid DNxHD CineForm and Apple ProRes in a camera-to-post workflow environment. Cinedeck also unveiled the Cinedeck Stereo Option for 3D capture and playback which adds dual camera monitoring capture and playback to the Extreme. And Cinedeck and Silicon Imaging announced a new collaboration between the two companies in which Cinedeck is now delivering SI-2K 12-bit RAW 2K or HD Uncompressed and CineForm recording 3D-LUT Color Processing with dual SDI monitoring on the Extreme. Post-Production Technology Avid announced that content creators can now use Avid Artist Color to control the color grading features of Assimilate Scratch Image Systems Nucoda and Pomfort Silverstack SET Edition via native support for Avid’s EuCon protocol. Avid was also previewing EuControl version 2.6 which delivers Windows functionality for Artist Color. “We’re proud to announce another milestone in our development of an open ecosystem of third party workflows based around the EuCon protocol ” said Chris Gahagan senior vice president of products and solutions at Avid. “Creating open and interoperable audio and video solutions are key goals for Avid and we are proud to work with industry leaders like Image Systems Assimilate and Pomfort in the pursuit of that vision. Our expanded partnerships enable us to deliver even more flexible workflows precise control and the creative options that our customers depend on every day.” Avid was also conducting a technology preview of the latest stereoscopic 3D capabilities of the Media Composer. According to Vincent Maza Avid’s worldwide marketing manager post-production marketing current systems allow editors to work on side-by-side 2D clips that can only be viewed as 3D after the final edit. He called that “very basic.” Version 6.0 of Media Composer which he said should be released by the end of the year will offer what he called “true 3D editing ” including the ability to adjust convergence in real time. Version 6.0 will give editors the option of working in 2D or in 3D. Pricing for the new system has not been determined but a hardware upgrade for existing Media Composers will be required. Autodesk announced that it is now shipping its 3D visual effects and finishing software Flame Premium 2012. Flame Premium 2012 features tools for relighting in post an enhanced stereoscopic 3D finishing workflow and improved integration with Autodesk 3D animation software. “While budgets and production schedules shrink creative expectations are growing ” said Marc Petit senior vice president Autodesk Media & Entertainment. “Our 2012 lineup prioritizes artistic control and efficient workflows from production through post-production. The relighting tools in Flame Premium are a great example of how Autodesk continues to innovate with next-generation finishing tools that empower artists to tell the immersive 3D stories of today and tomorrow.” Autodesk also announced that it is now shipping Autodesk Smoke 2012 for Mac OS X software an all-in-one editorial finishing tool with a robust integrated 3D visual effects toolset. Smoke for Mac has been used to create corporate videos for companies from Oakley to Land Rover; commercials for high-profile brands including Adidas ESPN Volkswagen and Subway; and for unique multiscreen projects on display at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center and the California Science Center. “From digital signage to in-house corporate video to television commercials everywhere you look people need to produce high-quality video content that stands out from the crowd ” said Petit. “Smoke for Mac appeals to creative professionals looking for ways to expand their creative service offerings and generate new business. We are seeing new users from independent professionals to established ad agencies purchasing Smoke and adding high-end graphics and 3D visual effects to their capabilities.” A Smoke 2012 for Mac OS X license is available at a suggested retail price of $14 995. Autodesk Subscription is available for purchase simultaneously with the product license for $1 995 per year. Subscription program benefits include software extensions version upgrades and product support as well as access to exclusive training materials during the Subscription term. Smoke 2012 is also available for a free 30-day trial download. Doremi featured a full range of 2K/4K video servers 2D and 3D converters and generators hardware and software mastering stations digital cinema play back devices and alternative content solutions. The H2S-30 and S2H-30 HDSDI/HDMI converters are set to join the established range of video converters.
Both the H2S-30 (HDMI-to-HDSDI) and the S2H-30 (HDSDI-to-HDMI) converters offer high quality processing including scaling frame rate and color space conversion to provide output standards up to 2K resolution and 60 Hz frame rate to suit virtually any application. The DC-Post is a server designed for 2K 3D and 4K play back in post-production. Moreover the DC-Post adds trick modes to allow precise detailed viewing and fast access. The features include up to 200 percent variable speed replay forwards or backwards jog skip and chase modes while keeping picture sound and subtitles in sync. Doremi’s established software-based CineAsset digital cinema mastering solution adds Final Cut Pro compatibility. Offering new opportunities for content creators using Intel-based Macs the new plug-in allows the creation of digital cinema packages directly from Final Cut Pro saving valuable post-production time. CineAsset converts popular video files such as QuickTime AVI JPEG and TIFF to unencrypted JPEG2000 MPEG2 or H.264 MXF-wrapped files also known as Digital Cinema Packages. These are suitable for playback on digital cinema servers including Doremi’s DCP-2000 DCP-2K4 and DSV-J2 and the new ShowVault. It can also scale image size perform XYZ' colorspace conversions and create 2D or 3D packages allowing exhibitors advertisers and independent filmmakers to prepare their own content for exhibition.
CineAsset is available for download from the Doremi Cinema website http://www.doremicinema.com. The Dimension 3D is a versatile 3D Format converter allowing the conversion of any standard 3D format to another including changing of the frame rate. Standard video formats are supported from high definition to 2K. Dimension 3D accepts both dual and single stream as well as HDMI inputs and outputs. The Dinmension 3D allows for any 3D input stream format to be used with all types of display components currently available including high end projectors and the latest generation 3D ready LCD displays. The Foundry was previewing Nuke 6.3 which provides new tools reducing the need to leave Nuke for external applications. New Spline and Grip Warpers 3D particles a Planar Tracker new Denoise and audio scratch track all improve fluidity and flexibility of workflow saving artists time. Nuke 6.3 introduces for the first time a new Deep Compositing pipeline allowing artists to work with deep data from 3D renders supporting new ways to approach visual effects and more control when integrating and finishing CG rendered elements. The Foundry was also showing Storm which launched in March and the company says brings a focussed and easy to adopt tool to digital camera workflows that offers a consistent and reliable way to review organise prepare edit conform grade and deliver RED Digital Cinema camera media on a laptop or workstation on or near-set. Storm is currently available on Mac OS X and supports the Red Rocket card. The roadmap for Storm 1.1 is already well into development and is due for release this summer. It will widen support for workflows including DSLR camera QuickTime and ARRI media Avid editorial integration and extended platform support to include Windows. Finally The Foundry was showing Mari. Since its initial release last July Mari has gained significant traction and has been embraced by industry leaders including Digital Domain Framestore Animal Logic and Double Negative. Mari has been in continual development with two releases since launch promoting a scalable approach to workflow while maintaining a full artistic toolset and facilitating integration into existing pipelines. Mari 1.3 which was previewed at NAB brings a UV-less texturing workflow with the addition of PTex support following a groundbreaking technology sharing agreement with Walt Disney Studios. Displacement preview using dynamic mesh tessellation tiled textures with masking snapshots and environment mapping are also new helping artists be more efficient and accurate completing work in one paint package. Fraunhofer IIS announced the general availability of its Curator Archive Suite which provides a suite for post-production archiving and playback from the archive. It includes the tools to create both a Master Archive Package and an Intermediate Access Package. The software creates MAP files with lossless coding. For IAP files it creates an MXF-Container in 2K and 4K horizontal resolutions. IAP is an extension of a Digital Cinema Package and can be used for fast access and further distribution. DCPs can be directly extracted from the IAP without recoding. “In production lossless compression is critical to preserving the integrity of digital film archives ” said Dr. Siegfried Foessel of Fraunhofer IIS’ s Moving Pictures Technology department. “This will be especially important as projectors and film production evolves to 8K or to higher color gamuts because the archives will be only capable of producing a file for remastering based on their archived quality.” The suite consists of three components: Curator Creator to package the image audio and metadata files for the creation of a MAP IAP or DCP. Curator Player for real-time playback of the MAP or IAP on a standard PC for quick quality checks and unpackaging. Fraunhofer J2K Quicktime plug-in to convert images into MOV files with JPEG2000 encoded images. Qube Cinema introduced QubeMaster Xport which is a full Digital Cinema Package mastering system for Final Cut Pro users. “The QubeMaster technology has delivered DCPs to thousands of theaters around the world ” said Eric Bergez director of sales and marketing at Qube Cinema “but rather than having to buy expensive dedicated systems QubeMaster Xport allows FCP users to work within the familiar Final Cut environment at a fraction of the cost.” Using QubeMaster Xport is as simple as sending a Final Cut sequence to Compressor. The artist can make full use of the Compressor feature set in creating their DCPs including batch processing of user-defined DCP settings. QubeMaster Xport DCP settings can also be saved as Compressor Droplets providing the ease and efficiency of drag-and-drop mastering of any sequence. All formats supported by Final Cut Studio such as ProRes Red XDCam DPX TIFF and many others – including stereoscopic 3D content – can be mastered to 2K and 4K Digital Cinema with QubeMaster Xport. “This means that anyone who uses Final Cut Studio will now have the means to finish package and distribute DCPs ” said Bergez. “Because it works inside the Final Cut suite QubeMaster Xport provides the final step in a complete post-production pipeline. This puts Digital Cinema within reach of filmmakers and facilities.” Pricing for QubeMaster Xport starts at $799 which allows for encoding of 2K DCPs. Stereoscopic 3D and 4K upgrade options are also available. Qube Cinema is offering competitive upgrades for QuVIS Wraptor license holders. Qube also showed Keysmith which allows filmmakers production companies and post houses to encrypt digital cinema content with Key Delivery Messages for exhibitors. As a result a new generation of companies and facilities can now offer full digital cinema distribution services for anything from film festivals to full theatrical releases. Key Delivery Messages are unique pass codes that allow the exhibitor to unlock and play back digital content on a specific server and projector for a specific period of time. To ensure security the KDM is encrypted and delivered to the exhibitor separately from the content itself. Creating the KDM requires the digital security credentials of the playback equipment as well as the show-booking schedule. Until now independent producers have lacked the in-house tools to easily manage the data the transactions and logistics this requires. We've engineered a powerful and flexible solution for automating the creation of bulk KDMs for wide distributions of theatrical content said Rajesh Ramachandram chief technology officer of Qube Cinema and the user can just as easily generate small runs of keys cost-effectively for independent films small theater circuits film festivals or studio screening rooms. Qube KeySmith leverages the same Real Image technology that is already generating thousands of KDMs every week.
NVIDIA was highlighting its Quadro professional graphics system which is based on the NVIDIA Fermi architecture and supported by industry leaders including Adobe ARRI Assimilate Autodesk Avid Chyron Pixel Power Quantel and Vizrt among many others. “Some of the biggest names in the production and broadcast business including CNN and DirecTV are using tools that embrace the power of the GPU ” said Greg Estes industry executive media & entertainment NVIDIA. “Proof is all around us here in Las Vegas that NVIDIA is a key force behind much of the latest software and hardware solutions that are now being used in the marketplace.”
FilmLight launched Blackboard 2 an entirely new control surface for its Baselight color grading system. Every key is ‘soft’ programmable and is labeled from below with back projection that changes as the functions change. Blackboard 2 can therefore accommodate future functionality additions without the need for redesign and suit individual preferences and the needs of individual projects.
Additionally the control surface includes a series of configurable “haptic” controls that allow users to perform certain functions in a more intuitive and tactile manner. Blackboard 2 also features four high-resolution screens that provide the user with live in-context feedback about complex grading functions.
“Blackboard 2 represents a huge ergonomic shift that will result in increased productivity and transform grading into a more dynamic and exciting process for both the colorist and the client ” said FilmLight co-founder Wolfgang Lempp. “For post-production service providers Blackboard 2 offers a way to empower artists and differentiate a facility from its competitors by providing a premium creative service.” FilmLight will continue to manufacture and market the original Blackboard which remains the industry’s best hard-key control surface.
FilmLight plans to begin shipping Blackboard 2 in the summer.
Emotion3D featured the two main tools in their software package which is simply a plug-in for Adobe After Effects. The first is the ability to change a project’s display size meaning remastering so a film shot for the big screen can look just as good on a television and converting stereo 3D to ortho stereo so it can be viewed on a glasses-free television. The second tool is the ability to change convergence and interaxial in post which up until now has been said to be impossible. “You don’t always get it right when you go out shooting ” said Tom Wilson PhD. CEO of emotion3D. “Because things are still new and everyone is still learning we see a lot of imperfect 3D out there. Of course I would never say that someone should use these tools instead of filming correctly but if minor mistakes were made during production this allows you to correct those.” Emtion3D’s software allows the computer to work out what the differences are between the left image and the right image and correct any mismatches. “Our technology which is based on a depth map allows you to change the perspective of the scene so you can change both the interaxial and the convergence in post ” said Wilson. “And with our remastering software it’s just like going out and filming the same project but for a different screen size.” One of the great things about emotion3D is that their plug-in integrates directly into After Effects which enables stereographers to work within their existing workflow and to have new features and new tools without any surprises. “The menus are the same there’s just new tools you can use ” said Wilson. “Our plug-ins build on top of the very strong framework that’s already in After Effects.” The additional revenue that can potentially be made from a 3D feature film in the cinema now being able to go into people’s homes in the same 3D condition is tremendous. We all know that only the tip of the iceberg in film revenues is made at the box office and the rest is in auxiliary media. Pricing has not yet been set and availability for wide-purchase won’t be until September but a senior director of a high-profile post-production company in North America who will remain nameless has already begun a trial version the software. “He’s desperate to get all the poor quality 3D he’s receiving into a state where it can be shown on TV ” said Wilson. “But it’s simply not good enough so he’s coming to us to make corrections in post so that it’s suitable for distribution.” Emotion3D’s Stereoscopic Suite X1 is currently undergoing field-testing with several selected filmmakers as beta testers with general release scheduled for September at the IBC in Amsterdam. “Almost everyone we showed it to at NAB begged to have a pre-release version sooner ” Wilson said. “So we will try to get something out before then possibly with the limited functionality that we demoed here.” Assimilate has been around since 2004 creating DI software designed primarily for independent and documentary filmmakers and boutique post-production facilities. “We really caught the growth curve of file-based production ” explained Steve Bannerman vice president of marketing. “We were the first ones to support the Red when nobody even knew what it was and thought that they would never use it.” Assimilate announced Scratch6 at NAB this year which features a tighter integration with editorial systems like Final Cut Pro and Avid. Their pricing was also impacted because of the broadcast market’s significantly different pricing thresholds. A year ago Scratch5 was sold at about $40 000 and now its $17 000. They also recognized that a lot their customers weren’t using the full package of what they were buying in Scratch and had been using it only in the dailies workflows on set and in visual effects. “We hadn’t really been focusing on those markets ” said Bannerman “but because the product supports all the native film formats and is really high performance – easily mixing and matching those formats – and can play it back in real time we realized we needed to take that full package and shrink it down to what we call ScratchLab. We carved out the pieces of Scratch that the on-set dailies people were using and made this digital lab product priced at $4 995.” Digital file-based workflows have certainly been one of the major trends in the industry over the past decade. Because of the horrible and unfortunate tragedy that happened in Japan many episodic television shows that used digital tapes are scrambling now. “These production companies had their to-do lists where somewhere in the next six months or so they knew they’d need to make the switch to data-centric workflow but now it’s been pushed up to the next week because of the loss the Sony factories in Japan which held all of the SR tapes in supply ” Bannerman said. Another major drive for Assimilate has been the move into stereo 3D filmmaking and the very nature of production itself. “Things that were classically post-production are moving to the set ” said Bannerman. “You can really see it at NAB this year as well; everyone’s got their on-set widget and on-set this and that. Everyone’s trying to make sense of it all. And especially in the film space the roles on the crew are starting to really evolve. The DP is the one who always sets the look which goes all the way through the post and they work with the colorist to make it come out that way in the end. But now the colorist has way more control because everything’s digital and there’s no budget for DPs in post.” Assimilate has traditionally been a Windows-based company but Scratch6 is Mac-based and all their products are now fully cross-platform. “Since we’ve been around in this new digital era from the get-go one of the tremendous advantages we have is that our tools are the most mature out there ” Bannerman added. Assimilate also announced a technological partnership with Panasonic as the first end-to-end DI workflow solution for their entire 3D camera range. Adobe announced that its Creative Suite 5.5 Production Premium now runs on NVIDIA GPUs utilizing NVIDIA Fermi architecture delivering real-time video editing and effects-processing capabilities for the professional market. Adobe was demonstrating the software accelerated with NVIDIA Quadro 4000 and Quadro 5000 pro graphics on workstations. Bright Technologies demonstrated its 3D Stereoscopic Optimizer a new addition to the company’s BrightDrive G2 and BrightDrive G2 Pro media file servers that the company says simplifies the workflow requirements of 3D post-production and enables smaller post facilities to undertake 3D projects without having to dramatically increase their hardware commitments. “As the movie and television industry turns more towards 3D content Bright has responded with a technology that facilitates the handling and management of 3D interleaved projects ” said Ed Rodriguez president Bright Technologies. “The new 3D Stereoscopic Optimizer also makes 3D projects more accessible for small post facilities as it eases the burden of hardware costs. Once again Bright continues to lead the field in the development of new and innovative features that truly respond to customer demands.” Quantel demonstrated a line of new stereoscopic 3D tools for its post and also announced that the new 3D toolset is now a standard feature on all V5 eQ iQ and Pablo systems. Geometry errors between the left and right eye images are almost inevitable with the use of two cameras when capturing 3D. Fixing these errors is essential but undertaking this manually can be a very time-consuming process. The new Geofix tool automates the process making geometry fixes fast and accurate. Geofix first analyses the two images then applies translation rotation and corner-pin DVE processes to correct errors. The result is less time spent on fixing stereoscopic 3D material reducing costs and increasing the time available to make great content. Geofix has already been released and the remainder of the tools will be delivered in a V5 point software release in May. Additional reporting by Valentina I. Valentini
Cinépolis Opens Multiplex in Bengaluru
