Trade shows the size of the National Association of Broadcasters convention which this year had more than 90 000 attendees all have one thing in common: they are a large collection of people and ideas gathered around a single organizing theme. For the NAB held annually in April in Las Vegas the theme for the past few years has been “Where Content Comes to Life.” Increasingly this encompasses a wide and diverse selection of approaches to the same basic concept which is developing the best ways to deliver audio and video information to a mass audience. Sounds simple and in theory it is. In practice however that concept has become incredibly complex and there is no end to the complexity in sight. For this reason one of the overriding technology issues being discussed at this year’s NAB was the fact that on one hand there is a long and growing list of competing production formats and file types and correspondingly while on the other hand there is an equally long and growing list of competing distribution and display formats and file types. In between are post-production professionals who are tasked with reconciling all of this and are constantly faced with time and budget constraints. Delivering audio and video content to a mass audience has never been so challenging and you could sum up both the NAB trade show and the challenge that content creators face in two words: organized chaos. Here are the technology highlights from the show broken into production and post-production products. Production Anton/Bauer debuted its QRC-CA940 Gold Mount for the new Canon EOS C300 digital cinema camera. To help streamline battery management for Canon EOS C300 users Anton/Bauer has simultaneously introduced the QRC-CA940 a Gold Mount that provides 7.2V power to the camera via a DC connector and 14.4V on (3) PowerTap connectors. “While the QRC-CA940 operates similar to our other Gold Mounts this particular mount will have three PowerTap outputs where typically we only have one ” said Shin Minowa vice president of marketing and business development. “It is our goal to continually offer innovative power solutions to the NAB community and we are looking forward to sharing the QRC-CA940 this year. The more accessories we can power in addition to the camera the better. Understanding our customers’ professional applications and goals this Gold Mount was designed so that users will not have to monitor multiple batteries therefore reducing downtime in the field as well as the number of chargers needing to be transported.” Arri unveiled the Alexa Plus 4:3 a new Alexa model with similar functionality to the Alexa Plus but featuring a 4:3 Super 35 sensor the ability to switch from 16:9 sensor mode to 4:3 sensor mode and built-in licenses for high speed shooting anamorphic de-squeeze and DNxHD. In May Arri will start delivering the Alexa M which shines with its ability to fit into places a regular Alexa could not go. Alexa M is the ideal camera for 3D rigs action Steadicam aerial underwater and in general for placing a camera in tight spots such as car interiors. Band Pro debuted two new focal lengths in the Leica Summilux-C family of professional cine lenses. The new focal lengths 29mm and 65mm bring the total number of lenses in the set to 10. Just like the other 8 lenses the two new focal lengths share a common small size length and weight. The new lenses are also T1.4 just like the original set. Band Pro delivered the first set of Leica Summilux-C lenses to Camtec a Burbank-based rental house that serves the motion picture industry. They have a special focus on lenses offering modern and vintage lenses as well as spherical and anamorphic. Band Pro also introduced a first-of-its-kind professional electronic viewfinder with a true 1920 x 1080 LCOS display.The NewFinder is a custom product conceived by Band Pro and manufactured in partnership with Astrodesign to meet the needs of countless camera operators who have watched the resolution of digital cameras increase without a comparable increase in viewfinder resolution. The NewFinder compensates for different sensor aspect ratios and can be switched from 1.78:1 (Sony F35) to 1.88:1 (Sony F65). Markers include 1.78:1 1.85:1 and 2.35:1. Future software upgrades will enable additional markers for 4:3 as well as 1.33x and 2x anamorphic. Band Pro is the exclusive distributor of the NewFinder in most of the world with the exception of Japan and some parts of Asia and is available from all Band Pro offices (Burbank New York Munich and Tel-Aviv). Blackmagic Design introduced the Blackmagic Cinema Camera a revolutionary digital cinema camera design that includes powerful features such as super wide 13 stops of dynamic range high resolution 2.5K sensor built in high bandwidth SSD recorder open file format support color correction with full version of DaVinci Resolve and a built in LCD with metadata entry all in an attractive compact design for only $2 995. Many current generation video cameras suffer from a video look due to a limited contrast range a maximum HD resolution sensor poor quality optics and lenses the use of heavy video compression for file recording and poor integration with NLE software metadata management. With these limitations they cannot be used for high-end work or feature films. Blackmagic Cinema Camera has been designed to eliminate these problems so customers get a true feature film look and at an affordable cost can shoot high end television commercials episodic television programming and feature films. Blackmagic Cinema Camera includes 13 stops of dynamic range large 2.5K sensor a built in SSD recorder that has the bandwidth to capture open standard CinemaDNG RAW ProRes and DNxHD files a built in capacitive touch screen LCD for direct metadata entry standard jack audio connections built in high-speed Thunderbolt connection 3 Gb/s SDI output a refrigerated sensor for low noise and is fully compatible with Canon EF and Zeiss ZF mount lenses. Blackmagic Cinema Camera also includes a full copy of DaVinci Resolve for color correction and Blackmagic UltraScope software for waveform monitoring. UltraScope can be run on a laptop connected to the camera via a Thunderbolt connection. Canon debuted the EOS C500 camera which capitalizes on the groundbreaking ergonomic design of the EOS C300 camera and offers a new Super 35mm 8.85-megapixel CMOS image sensor DIGIC DV III Image Processor and an expansive range of recording and output options specifically for 4K and 2K image acquisition. Addressing the discrete needs of cinema and TV the EOS C500 offers two forms of 4K origination - productions can dynamically select DCI (SMPTE 2048-1:2011 standard) or the alternative television-centric Quad-HD (SMPTE 2036-1:2009 and ITU-R BT.1769 standards) source image formats - and output a selection of 4K 2K and HD digital sampling formats. The EOS C500 features uncompressed Canon RAW output for both 4K and 2K recording. The Canon RAW output is delivered to external recording systems via built-in dual 3G-SDI ports. Dual uncompressed HD-SDI out ports supports external live monitoring. HD or 2K content can be written to dual onboard CF cards simultaneously to provide proxy video for offline NLE systems. Canon has collaborated with some of the most respected names in the industry to ensure the standardized 4K/2K output interfaces work with external digital recording units portable and master monitors and color grading systems - affording maximum flexibility to production and post-production teams. Canon also unveiled the EOS C500 PL which is a PL-mount camera. In addition Canon announced the development of four new EF Cinema zoom lenses designed to deliver exceptional optical performance on 4K resolution Super 35mm-equivalent cameras. Each of the four lenses features a compact lightweight design to facilitate handheld and Steadicam shooting while also covering a wide range of focal lengths. Included are two wide-angle cine zooms – the CN-E15.5-47mm T2.8 L S (for EF mounts) and the CN-E15.5-47mm T2.8 L SP (for PL mounts) – and two telephoto cine zooms – the CN-E30-105mm T2.8 L S (for EF mounts) and CN-E30-105mm T2.8 L SP (for PL mounts). Canon’s newest model in the line of EOS DSLR cameras and the first to be designed as a member of the Cinema EOS system the EOS-1D C Digital SLR records video at 4K (4096 x 2160-pixel) or Full HD (1920 x 1080-pixel) resolution to support high-end motion picture television production and other advanced imaging applications. The Canon EOS-1D C Digital SLR camera incorporates the Canon Log Gamma to enable the recording of high-quality video while also providing a high level of color-grading freedom. The camera includes an 18.1-megapixel full-frame 24mm x 36mm Canon CMOS sensor with the ability to record 8-bit 4:2:2 Motion JPEG 4K video to the camera’s CF memory card or Full HD video. Additional features include an expanded sensitivity range of up to ISO 25600 for exceptional motion-imaging results with reduced noise even in low-light settings. To help showcase Canon's complete workflow capabilities Canon is in process of developing a display monitor with 4K resolution developmental samples of which will be shown in the booth during NAB 2012.These high-quality displays show the potential for use in professional applications such as color grading in professional video industries image quality management in VFX/CG production and checking image quality at the shooting sites of various productions. Codex called its new Onboard S Recorders an ideal recording solution for compact HD digital cinema cameras such as the Canon EOS C300. Data is recorded onto Codex’s new Capture Drives from the HD-SDI output of the camera. Codex has partnered with both Vocas and Arri’s PCA group to design new mounts and hand-held solutions for the C300 to accommodate the Onboard S recorder. In recent months Codex has also been working with Canon as the company developed the Cinema EOS C500 and Cinema EOS C500 PL digital cinematography cameras which will be capable of originating 4K (4096 x 2160-pixel) resolution digital motion imagery to ensure that the entire workflow from recording to production is a seamless experience. The Codex Onboard M can record the 4K RAW files from the Cinema EOS C500 and C500 PL digital cinematography cameras onto Codex datapacks at up to 120 FPS. The datapacks can be loaded on a Codex Transfer Station for Mac OS X a Codex Digital Lab or a Codex Vault S for QC dailies generation and archiving. “Codex is committed to supporting a wide range of cameras and we are excited to work with Canon as they introduce a variety of cameras for the feature film television and commercials markets ” said Codex managing director Marc Dando. “Given our experience in recording RAW data it was a natural progression for us to develop an entire workflow from recording through to post.” The Codex Onboard M Recorder was used with the Canon Cinema EOS C500 camera to capture the Canon promo film “4 Cities” featuring material shot by Tony Pierce-Roberts BSC; Ben Seresin ASC BSC; and Martin Ruhe. Dashwood Cinema Solutions announced the immediate availability of price-reduced and free versions of the award-winning Stereo3D CAT stereoscopic calibration and analysis software. This marks the first time this stereoscopic monitoring analysis and playback software is available for use by anyone with a Mac computer and a compatible HD capture device. We are very excited to bring elements of this professional tool to the masses at absolutely no charge said Tim Dashwood founder of Dashwood Cinema Solutions. The full version of Stereo3D CAT has been used on major Hollywood and IMAX 3D projects with amazing results and now a free subset of those same features are available to anyone with a Mac a compatible capture device and an HDMI1.4a 3D camera. Customers will experience a dramatic improvement in the quality of their 3D work and I think it will also become a valuable training tool for budding stereographers. The free version of Stereo3D CAT includes the same parallax line guides left/right solo anaglyph split displays QuickTime playback and Stereo3D Visualizer of the full version; however it limits resolutions to HD and screen sizes to 3DTV or mobile devices. Depth analysis side-by-side line-by-line checkerboard superimpose difference Parallax Inspector Alignment Tracker 3D waveform/vectorscope variable interaxials are features only offered with the personal license. Geometry correction metadata logging IMAX screen sizes external output and phone tech support are features only included with a full license of Stereo3D CAT. Customers who want to eliminate these restrictions can purchase a license for $1249. Dashwood also announced 3D input support for Blackmagic Design's UltraStudio 3D and Decklink Extreme 3D devices in the Stereo3D CAT v1.1 software update. When Stereo3D CAT is paired with either device on a Mac users can monitor calibrate and analyze real-time stereoscopic 3D feeds from dual-SDI or HDMI1.4a 3D cameras. Blackmagic Design has set a new standard for affordable portable and user-friendly 3D products said Dashwood. I really love the idea that anyone with a Thunderbolt-equipped Mac can simply plug in the UltraStudio 3D patch in a 3D rig or any compatible HDMI1.4a 3D camera and then monitor or analyze a full-raster live image directly on the screen with Stereo3D CAT. Product integration like this really expands the accessibility of our tools. In what it said was an NAB first FilmLight introduced Flip a real time image processing product that lets the creative production team design looks in pre-production and apply and refine them on the set. Employing a powerful Baselight GPU renderer with Truelight Color Management Flip can create and store an unlimited number of pre-set looks and spatial filters which can then be applied and refined in real time on set. Directors and cinematographers will be able to set exactly the ‘look’ they want before shooting begins refine it on set and save the grade so that it can be applied to dailies and other downstream processes. FloLight unveiled what it called the world's first single fixture LED light for green screen shooting: The CycLight. Acording to the company FloLight's patented Light Wave technology limits the amount of light close to the floor and progressively increases the light for a perfectly lit green screen every time. The Department of Moving Picture Technologies at Fraunhofer IIS showed its high frame rate technologies being tested in the 3D space. Together with Arri and Stereotec Fraunhofer IIS shot short test clips with 120 frames per second per eye (fpspe) to simulate content at various frame rates and to create digital cinema packages (DCP) that will play back at 24 fpspe 30 fpspe and 60 fpspe based on the same footage. For the shooting two Arri Alexa cameras and a midsize rig from Stereotec were used. Siegfried Foessel head of department Moving Picture Technologies at Fraunhofer IIS explained the technology and tested these clips at the 2012 Technology Summit On Cinema: Advances in Image and Sound to show the audience how the direct comparison can be made on the visual appearance between high frame rate 3D and low frame rate 3D. Until now 3D movies were shot and viewed with 24 fps. This low frame rate has been known to lead to motion blur or stuttering during scenes with fast movement. For projection the left and right image playback was combined in most cases with the triple flashing technique. But this is only a substitution for high frame rate capture and playback of scenes. JVC added the DT-V21G11Z 21-inch HD monitor to its high-end Vérité G Series of professional LCD monitors. The new model is the first in the G Series to be driven by mercury-free white LED backlighting. As a result it consumes 20-30 percent less power than LCDs using conventional CCFL-driven lighting but does not sacrifice its highly accurate image quality. The DT-V21G11Z has a suggested list price of $3 595 and is now shipping. JVC also announced the DT-E21L4 21-inch and DT-E17L4G 17-inch monitors. Driven by mercury-free LED backlighting the new units consume 20-30 percent less power than LCDs using conventional CCFL-driven lighting. Both E Series monitors feature a new full HD resolution 1920x1080 TN panel with 10-bit color processing and an IMD (in-monitor display) function based on TSL’s UMD protocol version 4.0. HDMI analog RGB video and component video inputs as well as composite video and HD/SD-SDI I/O accommodate a variety of sources. Suggested list price for the DT-21L4 is $2 950 and $2 650 for the DT-E17L4G. Both E Series monitors are now shipping. And JVC announced the GY-HM600 a next-generation handheld ProHD camera. It features a built-in wide-angle 23x autofocus zoom lens delivers superior low-light performance and provides excellent sensitivity (F11 at 2000 lux) in a comfortable versatile form factor. The lightweight camera records HD or SD footage in multiple file formats including native XDCam EX (.MP4) Final Cut Pro (.MOV) and AVCHD to non-proprietary SDHC or SDXC media cards. In addition to relay mode for uninterrupted recording the GY-HM600 allows simultaneous recording to both memory cards for instant backup or client copy. “JVC understands the needs of today’s video professionals and our new GY-HM600 delivers innovation without compromise ” said Craig Yanagi manager marketing and brand strategy. “It sets a new standard of performance for handheld cameras with incredible optics intuitive operation and the industry’s fastest shoot-to-edit workflow.” The GY-HM600 has a suggested list price of $4 695 and will be available in Fall 2012. Litepanels debuted the Inca Series tungsten balanced LED Fresnel fixtures. “With our new Inca Series Fresnels production studios can begin realizing the financial benefits of LED lighting without requiring a facility to convert to daylight balanced light fixtures” said Chris Marchitelli Litepanels vice president of global marketing. “The greatly reduced energy consumption of Litepanels LED fixtures provides an ROI of less than 3 years which make them an obvious choice for any studio. Now customers have the flexibility of choosing tungsten or daylight balanced output.” MTI Film unveiled its new on location image and data management tool Cortex::Capture. The company says the application includes all the functionality needed by DITs and data wranglers with a price tag of only $95. Cortex::Capture provides onset playback of a dozen common camera formats including Sony SRMaster and F65 Red ArriRaw DNxHD and ProRes. It includes tools for maintaining color decisions by importing and setting looks that can be exported as stills ASC CDLs and LUTs. Its project management features include commenting on frame or clips and creating templates with color audio and burn-in options for use in dailies and throughout the post-production process. All metadata including color generated in Capture can be exported and shared with other Cortex products at the post facility saving time and ensuring consistency. Panasonic announced several new products technology initiatives and technology alliances. Chief among these were the AG-HPX600 P2 HD camcorder with 10-bit 4:2:2 AVC-Intra recording and the lowest weight of a shoulder-mount unit and a new series of memory cards called microP2 card which have an SD card form factor to further cost-efficiencies in media pricing.
Both the HPX600 and the microP2 card will support Panasonic’s newest video compression platform AVC-ULTRA. Weighing less than 7 pounds and using low power the HPX600 incorporates a newly-developed 2/3 type MOS sensor to produce beautiful HD and SD images. The HPX600 will allow the user to upgrade his camera as new functionality becomes available. This future-proof camera will provide inventive functionality and improved workflows with options such as wireless metadata input proxy recording and variable frame rates (available this fall) and then AVC-ULTRA recording.
“With its ultra-light weight and low power consumption the HPX600 is the first shoulder mount that’s easy on the shoulder while being super-efficient on battery usage ” said Joseph Facchini vice president Panasonic System Communications Company of North America. “With its innovative design and selectable options the HPX600 is upgradability to new technology such as wireless remote from a smart phone and much more.”
The AG-HPX600 will be available in the fall at a targeted suggested list price of less than $16 000 (body only). Shotgun announced it has teamed up with Tweak on a new product called Revolver that provides digital studios with an all-in-one review toolset. Revolver combines production tracking and review making it easy for teams in any location to view their latest work in context of the cut browse and compare iterations annotate on images write notes and collaborate on work in real-time. A web-player provides access to the work from any browser or mobile device and Tweak’s high-end native player RV is deeply integrated to provide real-time playback of high res frames from local storage at the desktop or in the screening room. Additional players like an Alembic viewer from Fabric Engine will be offered as optional apps allowing studios to customize their ideal review pipeline. Sound Devices introduced its new PIX 260 production audio/video recorder. Based on the PIX 220 and PIX 240 recorders the rack-mounted PIX 260 is a file-based video/audio recorder/player that seamlessly replaces tape-based video decks in production and post-production environments. Using the Apple ProRes or Avid DNxHD codecs the PIX 260 records and plays files up to 220 Mbps in high-quality 10-bit 4:2:2 video as well as 32 tracks of 48 kHz audio. Files from the PIX 260 are ready for direct import into Avid and Final Cut editing environments eliminating time-consuming transferring and transcoding. Files can also play out of the PIX 260 for real time applications. T3 Motion announced the launch of the T3-MT and T-41 vehicle systems designed to support and assist camera crews during the film production process. This launch into the film production industry perfectly exemplifies the unlimited application possibilities for our T3 Motion street-legal small vehicle platform said Ki Nam T3 Motion chief technology officer. By leveraging our existing technology platforms we will continue to capitalize upon niche markets across the board and to amplify our brand in the professional market space. The inspiration for the vehicle came from the film and video production industry itself Nam said. T3 Motion innovators started asking questions of industry experts about portable camera uses applications and issues and discovered that current cameras are cumbersome to the point of limiting their effectiveness. The T3-MT and T-41 technologies assist Steadicam Glidecam and other camera system operators to ride comfortably and safely with the camera attached to the vehicle itself rather than the operator allowing for flawless content production and decreasing operator fatigue. The T-41 eliminates the need for laying a track while filming. Additionally the new platform will feature a seven-inch high-definition monitor with an anti-glare screen that will allow the camera operator to view the images while filming. Post-Production Aframe announced that its US private cloud network is now live and actively supporting the company’s growing North American client base. Operational in London since 2010 Aframe’s private cloud network allows professional video creators to share search and collaborate without on-site equipment or full-time staff and only requiring an Internet connection. “We are very excited to have the support of such an esteemed group of industry partners and will be continuing to add Aframe Upload Partners in the coming months ” said Mark Overington president of Aframe North America and part of the founding team at Avid Technology and its former head of marketing. Already used by BBC MTV Giant Film & Television Shine Group Veria Living and others in the US Aframe remains the first private cloud SaaS video production platform offering that eliminates many of the issues associated with full broadcast-quality video production and is easier to use than Facebook. Aframe saves professionals time stress and money all the way through a production workflow. “It’s high time our industry uses technology that matches our business model – that of far-flung project teams assembled from anywhere and everywhere in the world and united by the cloud ” said David Peto co-founder and CEO of Aframe and former founder of a post facility in London. “Technology should free us and allow us greater flexibility in the editorial workflows. Finally with Aframe it’s doing just that.” Aframe is available as a free personal account with professional accounts available starting at $99 a month per user or an enterprise account at $249 a month per user. Aspera creators of next-generation software technologies that move the world’s data at maximum speed today announced that Universal Pictures has deployed the Aspera faspex system to send receive and share large media files internationally between production facilities and post-production houses. Aspera’s flagship person-to-person and project-based file exchange solution has significantly reduced production cycle times while meeting stringent security requirements and ensuring high levels of flexibility in their workflows. Autodesk introduced Autodesk Smoke 2013 video editing software a completely redesigned and repackaged version of the all-in-one video editing and visual effects tool for the Mac. Smoke 2013 born out of two decades of visual effects leadership features a unified creative workflow that brings powerful node-based compositing right in the timeline. “Autodesk combined over 20 years of visual effects leadership and customer feedback to create video editing and effects software that serves the current and evolving marketplace for high-quality video content. Early feedback has been gratifyingly enthusiastic ” said Marc Petit senior vice president Autodesk Media & Entertainment. The industry is already abuzz with excitement for this upcoming version of Smoke. Matt Silverman creative director at San Francisco-based Bonfire Studios said “Autodesk creates tools for pros and listens to pros to create their tools.” A recent Autodesk-commissioned survey of film and video production companies found that editors and studio owners are grappling with limited budgets file management complexity and tight project timelines. Of the respondents 42 percent cited dealing with different file formats as one of the biggest challenges with current editing and finishing tools. In the survey 82 percent called out Smoke software’s support for HD and higher resolution formats and 60 percent its all-in-one package as the most valuable features to help combat production complexity and streamline their post-production workflow. The research illuminated a thriving professional video market with more Hollywood blockbuster-quality content required for web new mobile platforms interactive advertising and traditional broadcast. The professional video market is eagerly awaiting an improved post-production workflow and demanding pipeline efficiency. The new all-in-one Smoke with its unified editing and effects workflow can be that tool. Smoke can help editors simplify their workflow centrally manage their media work interactively with high-res media throughout their projects and deliver high-end content. Autodesk Smoke 2013 is anticipated to be available later this fall at a suggested retail price of $3 495 per license. Telestream announced major Episode 6.3 product enhancements including support for the x264 video codec that brings higher-quality H.264 encoding to all Episode software products. In addition Telestream makes it easier for post-production companies artists and operators to access Episode’s range of high-quality encoding capabilities by providing direct integration with Autodesk finishing systems such as Smoke and Flame. Direct export from Adobe Premiere Pro provides access to Episode’s vast range of formats and enables centralization of encoding functions. “Episode is well suited for post-production environments with its high-quality format support and ability to easily create file-based deliverables including distribution and mezzanine formats as well as digital masters ” said Barbara DeHart vice president of marketing at Telestream. Episode was chosen by the Cannes Film Festival for its ability to streamline the video encoding and delivery process all within a single application. This year’s festival is being held May 16-27 in Cannes France. “We are honored that Episode Engine was selected to encode the online video components for this prestigious film festival ” said DeHart. “The workflow at Cannes highlights Episode’s ability to reliably deliver multiple encodes to multiple destinations while utilizing all of the processing power at its disposal for maximum speed and efficiency.” Assimilate announced support for AMD Radeon HD 5770 and 5870 graphics cards on the MacOS X versions of these applications. AMD Radeon Graphics join NVidia Quadro graphics and AJA Kona SDI to form an extremely flexible line-up of powerful GPU and video-playback solutions for SCRATCH and Lab on MacOS X. “Scratch and Scratch Lab for MacOS X have proven hugely popular since their introduction a year ago ” said Jeff Edson CEO of Assimilate. “Our support for AMD Radeon Graphics coupled with our support for AJA SDI and NVidia Quadro graphics offers our customers the best possible menu of options when it comes to Mac-based performance. Now regardless of whether the camera formats and Codecs our customers choose to use are optimized for NVidia CUDA or AMD OpenCL Scratch and Lab will deliver the most intuitive interactive user experience with the fastest rendering speeds possible.” “We believe that applications like Scratch and Scratch Lab optimized for FirePro graphics and OpenCL can form a powerful creative cornerstone for some of the most talented artists and storytellers in the world ” said Matt Skynner corporate vice president and general manager of AMD Graphics. “We can’t wait to see what’s coming next as Assimilate continues to optimize their software to our technology further pushing the envelope of what’s possible while enabling ever-more breathtaking entertainment experiences to television and movie screens alike.” Bluefish444 announced that it has collaborated with Assimilate to provide Windows and MacOSX X 3D HD SDI support for Scratch and Scratch Lab for its Epoch video card range. Craige Mott managing director of Bluefish444 said “We’re pleased to continue our collaboration with Assimilate. Both of our product lines are in wide use by colorists worldwide and a tight integration ensures greater capabilities in DI and 3D workflows in a seamless fashion.” “Scratch and Scratch Lab have built a well-earned reputation for being leading solutions in the digital workflows for DI and production dailies ” said Steve Bannerman vice president of marketing at Assimilate. “One of the primary reasons our customers love our products is because they can build solutions from a broad ecosystem of industry-leading technologies. Our long-standing relationship with Bluefish444 has delivered outstanding SDI solutions to Scratch customers for many years. We’re excited to see that trend continue with the addition of the Epoch 3D HD SDI support and we look forward to support for the plug in as well.” Colorfront announced Express Dailies a dailies tool for commercials motion picture and TV production workflows and the first multi-license purchase of Express Dailies by Hollywood post facility Light Iron for its Outpost system. Express Dailies is based on the image-science technology color grading and management tools that feature in Colorfront’s renowned On-Set Dailies system used on major Hollywood features and primetime episodic TV shows. Express Dailies is designed to meet the need of productions for a simple cost-effective color grading and data wrangling tool but with leading edge features and performance. Highlights of Express Dailies include a simple GUI for users such as DITs or camera assistants realtime RAW support for the very latest digital cameras faster-than-real time deliverables in multiple formats plus data and archival management. Aron Jaszberenyi managing director of Colorfront said “Express Dailies is an exciting new addition to Colorfront’s family of dailies and back-end workflow systems for feature television and commercials production. It gives them access to a set of leading edge features with the same market-leading performance of our On-Set Dailies system which has gained such a dominant market position.” Also Colorfront and German software developer CinePostproduction announced Copra a free-of-charge iPad App that brings new levels of ease and convenience for film and television professionals to interact with dailies footage during production. Using Copra selected footage can be streamed as high-definition media over a local Wi-Fi network from Colorfront’s On-Set Dailies system directly to an iPad. The footage and associated notes can be reviewed in a variety of ways utilizing the Copra App either on or away from set or streamed wirelessly in full HD to Apple TV. Users can make notes as they review materials in the Copra App and these can be streamed back to the production team via On-Set Dailies. Fraunhofer Institute announced its partnership with Digital Film Technology to integrate Fraunhofer IIS’s easyDCP into DFT’s Flexxity workflow providing a more cost-effective way to create digital cinema packages as a master format. Though notoriously expensive to create DCPs are highly regarded as the best replacement for film reels due to its high quality and ability to create a wide variety of distribution formats. DFT chose Fraunhofer IIS’s easyDCP due to its software-base that does not require costly additional hardware. ”With DFT we have gained a globally renowned partner who recognizes and relies on our expertise to enhance its products ” said Heiko Sparenberg head of the digital cinema group. “In order to integrate our software core functionalities were bundled and extended to provide access for external systems. This required developing a new library to enable communication between our easyDCP and DFT’s Flexxity system.” Together with Fraunhofer we have done a seamless integration of the Pristine board into the easyDCP Creator workflow. The standard PCI-Express (8 Lanes) interface supports fast communication between the easyDCP software and the hardware acceleration board where the encoding is done says Jean-Baptiste Lorent product manager from Intopix. Workflows for digital cinema production or lossless archiving will profit from this combination. Digital Vision announced significant enhancements to its Nucoda color-grading platform including the Nucoda Film Master ACES workflow which was designed by the Science and Technology Council of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.
Today’s post-production environment has seen an explosion in the number of cameras file formats and distribution channels required for many projects. These new formats also need to coexist and stay compatible with older formats and assets which can result in much greater project complexity and data management headaches for the production. ACES addresses this problem by delivering a single post-production workflow that keeps all production assets at their maximum possible quality and providing the full benefit of High Dynamic Range (HDR) production pipelines. The upcoming version of Nucoda Film Master comes with ACES support and a full HDR grading capability including a rich toolset for dealing with color critical workflows such as HDR capture from Arri and Red cameras.
DVS debuted its new versatile video board CinePlay. Equipped with two HD-SDI inputs two HDMI links and decompression hardware a single CinePlay can play out 3D material in 2K at 24 fps per eye per second. The video board has been specially designed to work with JEPG2000 compressed material as well as uncompressed data. On top of decompression the board carries out RSA and AES128 decryption and link encryption. This way MXF files can be played out in real time without any time-consuming pre-processing. CinePlay manages RGB YUV or X’Y’Z’ color spaces and runs all the necessary color-space conversions in real time. The Foundry launched Hiero which it calls a brand new innovation in VFX software. Hiero is a lightweight shot manager for VFX. Hiero 1.0 is not a compositor or a system for finishing grading or editing. It allows production facilities to efficiently conform review and export shots to visual effects artists and into finishing systems. Hiero has been designed to work seamlessly with The Foundry’s Nuke and Nukex compositing applications but also enables collaborative working with other editorial VFX and finishing tools. Matt Plec head of product design at The Foundry said Nuke is already a powerful compositing tool but it’s missing a component many artists need. Hiero provides this missing link functionality currently dealt with either by expensive tools in-house scripting or a cumbersome manual process. Hiero’s the bridge tool our customers have been asking us for.” Hiero removes human error by automatically creating a file structure based on rules that can be created by users as they conform and parcel out VFX shots to multiple Nuke artists. Because Hiero knows exactly where to look for updates VFX supervisors can easily review shot progress in the context of the edit with the added confidence of knowing that the latest versions are always at their fingertips. Hiero significantly reduces the infrastructure work required to keep a VFX team up and running saving time and money on every job. The Foundry also released the latest update of Mari its paint tool for 3D artists. This release features countless fixes and tweaks and includes a host of substantial upgrades that current users have requested. Many of the changes are designed to help artists truly immerse themselves in the creative painting process without being held back by unfamiliar surroundings and monotonous manual tasks. A number of additional functions are now included to remove unnecessary manual work and free up more time for artists to focus on their craft. These include Linked Patches that allow users to easily replicate texture data across patches without having to cut and paste and Cancel Functionality that lets artists undo long running operations at the touch of a button. Customization settings have also been expanded in Mari 1.4v3. Preset navigation modes now allow users to replicate the feel of other familiar packages including Autodesk Maya Side Effects Houdini as well as The Foundry’s Nuke. This addition improves interoperability and is designed to help users that are accustomed to the interface of a specific package. Lightbeam Systems introduced the Lightbeam E5 series of professional workstations render nodes and GPU nodes based on the latest Intel Xeon processor E5 2600 series Nvidia Quadro professional graphics and Nvidia Tesla GPUs. Designed to accelerate high-performance computing (HPC) applications such as Autodesk Maya and 3ds Max NewTek LightWave 3D Maxon Cinema 4D Nuke Adobe Creative Suite MARI Mental Ray V-Ray V-Ray RT Final Render and Bunkspeed PRO the Lightbeam E5 series delivers up to a 10x performance gain over previous-generation computing systems. Studios such as Warner Bros. IMAX Atomic Fiction Bad Robot Fuse FX and many others rely on Lightbeam Systems workstations and render nodes to streamline productivity and improve workflow. Matrox Video Products Group announced Matrox MC-100 a dual SDI to HDMI mini converter that supports a wide range of display resolutions through 3G Dual Link HD and SD-SDI. Priced at $495 this single portable unit can be used as an HD-SDI switcher a distribution amplifier a multiplexer and a 3D processing unit making it the most versatile mini converter on the market. Broadcast engineers and A/V professionals have diverse needs when it comes to managing SDI signals within their environments—for monitoring distributing switching multiplexing and converging 3D said Alberto Cieri senior director of sales and marketing at Matrox. Until now they have been forced to purchase different devices to perform these tasks. The new Matrox MC-100 solves all these challenges in one inexpensive easy-to-use device. It should be in every video professional's toolbox. Matrox MC-100 will be available through a worldwide network of authorized dealers in October 2011. MTI Film has added support for the Canon EOS C300 camera to the current version of its digital workflow solution Control Dailies. Post production facilities and other Control Dailies users can now provide a streamlined solution for dailies processing and digital deliverables generation to feature film and television productions using Canon’s groundbreaking new camera. Introduced with considerable fanfare last fall the Canon EOS C300 is Canon’s first digital camera designed specifically for the professional market. In response to the growing role of Canon cameras in professional productions MTI Film prioritized support for the camera so that Control Dailies users could begin working with it as soon as it became available on the market. “Control Dailies already supports the Canon 5D and 7D as many productions drop in shots from these quality lightweight cameras ” said MTI Film vice president of product development David McClure. “So it was an obvious decision to add support for the C300 as it is targeted at professionals and we expect it to be widely adopted. We want our customers to have the freedom and confidence to tell their clients that they can begin using this great new camera immediately without disruption to the successful post-production workflows they have already established.” Content creators ranging from 2012 Oscar winners Industrial Light & Magic to up-and-coming independents such as Bandito Brothers (Act of Valor Waiting for Lightning) and smaller creative services shops such as Dawnrunner Productions and Digital Spatula are increasing the speed quality and productivity of their workflows through the adoption of GPU computing featuring Nvidia Quadro and Tesla GPUs.
Visual effects studios post-production houses advertising agencies and film studios are under constant pressure to more rapidly deliver better content under tight production budgets. They use NVIDIA GPU technology to transform their content creation workflows using parallel computing on tasks once reserved for supercomputers or racks of costly CPUs.
“GPU computing is a key component of our innovation roadmap ” said Dave Story chief technology officer of Lucasfilm. “To achieve the breakthroughs we’re known for we constantly evaluate the tools and technology that our artists rely on for uncompromising quality and maximum efficiency. To that end we’re developing our own tools and using commercial software to leverage the immense power available to us through Nvidia CUDA architecture and both Nvidia Quadro and Tesla GPUs.” “I use After Effects every day and 90 percent of my work is post-production with a heavy dose of motion graphics mixed with tons of video editing ” said Steve Taylor senior creative director of Digital Spatula. “By using the new 3D ray tracing capability in After Effects running on an Nvidia Maximus-equipped workstation I’m getting so much more done in less time freeing me up to be more creative and thoughtful about the project. I’m no longer interrupted by having to switch to a second 3D application to create compelling animated 3D text and logos. Not only is it powerfully fast efficient and easy to use but After Effects CS6 also gives me more time to focus on delivering higher quality productions.” One reason content creators choose Nvidia GPU technology is the immediate business value that comes from achieving both high-performance parallel processing and graphics on the same system often in the same workflow.
Nvidia Maximus technology combines the power of Nvidia Quadro professional graphics and Nvidia Tesla parallel processing in a single workstation enabling customers to for instance create motion graphics while rendering effects in the background – with no impact to the artist’s interactivity.
“Maximus literally saved the day for us ” said James Fox chief executive officer of Dawnrunner Productions. “We had a client ask us for overnight changes on a job that had taken us 32 hours to render. There was no way we could pull that off. We had just gotten our Maximus system and decided the only way to meet the deadline was to put it into production right then and there. We used it to run Adobe CS5.5 and Autodesk 3ds Max and completed the job with time to spare. No way could we have done that without Maximus technology.”
A number of companies debuted support for Nvidia Maximus technology including Adobe Blackmagic Design (DaVinci Resolve) Chaos Software (V-Ray RT) Cinnafilm (Dark Energy) eyeon Software (Fusion) GenArts (Sapphire) and Quantel (Pablo).
“We’ve seen the adoption of GPU computing more than double by software vendors in just one short year from NAB 2011 until today ” said Greg Estes industry executive media and entertainment for Nvidia. “It’s pretty clear that customers across the content creation spectrum are embracing Nvidia CUDA as the architecture of choice for GPU computing and our software partners are seeing that they can grow their business by being on the forefront of this trend.” Qube Cinema introduced the new Quad 3G interface for digital cinema projectors. The Quad 3G interface allows for integrated post-production and digital cinema mastering workflows. Facilities can use one projector setup for both HD-4K uncompressed color grading and 2K-4K digital cinema playback providing a comprehensive review and quality control solution from one system. Qube Cinema also demonstrated the new Qube Xi 4K Integrated Media Block installed in a Barco DP4K-32B projector. The new post-production version of the Qube IMB features a Quad 3G interface with four BNC connectors that can be connected to color grading or finishing systems in order to stream uncompressed 4K digital content directly to the projector. The Qube XP-I D-cinema server offers a data throughput of up to 1 000 Mbps sufficient for 4K dual-projector 3D playback from a single server and the Qube Xi can support High Frame Rate playback and DCPs up to 500Mbps. Internal synchronization of the IMB allows for multiple-projector setups for example for stereo 3D playback or for venue entertainment projection. With the Quad 3G interface users can switch seamlessly between uncompressed 4K and 4K DCP playback. ,3281
Bollywood DI,2012-05-15,The digital intermediate and recording of Rajan Khosa’s multiple award-winning Gattu was completed at Filmlab in Mumbai. ,3285
CinemaxX Mannheim Focuses on Sound,2012-05-15,After upgrading the picture to full digital the focus of CinemaxX Mannheim is now on bringing the sound quality in line with the improved silver screen picture quality. After extensive testing where many different sound systems were evaluated in studios and cinemas CinemaxX Mannheim decided for a test set-up from company Alcons Audio in cinema room Kino 10: equipped with 722 seats and a screen of 276 meters the largest screen in Baden-Württemberg it is one of the largest theatres in Baden-Württemberg. More than 12 hours were spent to get the most realistic application of the test set-up. The complete team of CinemaxX Mannheim saw their decision confirmed after a wide variety of content from blockbusters to opera and concert registrations were auditioned through the system. In Kino 10 a completely new developed sound system was installed behind the screen as well as new subwoofers and the complete surround sound system. Also the amplification and speaker processing were replaced. Eight hours were reserved for the tuning of the sound system alone and this resulted in a more than convincing sound through all tested sound genres. For the test hearing session content like Avatar Phantom of the Opera Street Dance and the concert by the sea of Andrea Bocelli were played. The Cinemarray System from Alcons Audio is a complete new cinema sound system which design is based on line-source technology and thus offerring a flat sound pressure level from the front to the rear of the audience seating. The patented pro-ribbon transducer technology of Alcons is successfully being used in live-sound/concert applications around the globe due to the undistorted non-compressed 1:1 reproduction and the natural sound. Now this techology is specifically developed for digital cinema applications with the Cinemarray CRA30 system as the first product. Carsten Albrecht Alcons Audio said “This prestigious installation is the next step in Alcons’ presence in the German cinema market and a clear indicator of the success Alcons C-series is enjoying worldwide as one of the most innovative digital cinema ready sound systems available.” Company fours GmbH from Heidelberg worked in close cooperation with Alcons Audio on the installation and cabling of the entire system. This guaranteed that Kino 10 also in sound quality is among the best cinema screens in Baden-Württemberg. Michael Braner technical manager CinemaxX Mannheim said “ After all studies and tests we’ve done and participated in we can only say that currently Alcons is among the most innovative developers of cinema sound systems. So we’re very proud that we’ve installed Kino 10 as the first project and that we have the best cinema sound experience with Alcons Cinemarray.” The system is being fed by a Doremi 2K4 Digital Server with DataSat AP20 sound processor.
Organized Chaos
