Editing

The postproduction portion of the NAB convention seemed designed toplease Millimeter readers. Some of the most impressiveannouncements involved workflows for filmmakers.

The best example of a new film editing workflow could be found inthe Quantel booth. Quantel featured a Final Cut Pro Macintosh inits general presentation. An Apple FCP in the Quantel booth!? Yes.Thanks to an AAF metadata plug-in application from AutomaticDuck, the timeline of all edit decisions and processes were beingtransferred to the Quantel eQ. The program (either batch digitized or,if DV based, imported) could then be "up-rezzed" and prepared for adigital film recorder or a digital cinema format. For the independentfilmmaker, this offers a low-cost way to produce a project. Thefilmmaker can edit on an inexpensive Macintosh and create a DVD forapplication to film festivals. If accepted, the filmmaker can then takethe project to a Quantel postproduction facility and polish it up,including a final color grading for the specific film emulation ordigital cinema projection, and output it to the selected media at atremendous cost savings. For many, this was the first practicaldemonstration of what the Advanced Authoring Format (AAF) can nowdeliver.

The Snell & Wilcox Synapse Metadata Server, incorporatedin daVinci's 2K Plus DATA, offered another practical example of an AAFapplication. This is an option to da Vinci's 2K Plus color-corrector.It includes the storage management system called "Server InterfaceOption," where AAF is used for conforming projects and for managementof the color corrector's metadata.

Quantel had a very big show. Beyond its film editing workflowpresentation, the company introduced to NAB the QEdit Pro, aWindows-based editing/finishing product that is the least expensiveeditor to feature "resolution co-existence." That means an NLE withup-to-standard uncompressed video-and multi-resolution compositing atup to 2K resolutions-all for less than $70,000. Since Quantel's winterannouncement of this turnkey system, the company has increased theamount of storage from 2.5 to 3 hours of uncompressed video whileadding an exchangeable storage option called HotSwap.

QEdit Pro now features version 1.5 software, which includes realtimeaspect ratio conversions, and features major improvements in editingand compositing tools. These tools include matchframe, extend, editdirectly to the timeline, audio sync and lock, improved audio metering,three-band EQ, MP3 and 44.1kHz audio file import, selective colorcorrection of every layer, multiple keys on every layer, improvedarchiving, etc. Version 1.5 is also available on the eQ and iQsystems.

Quantel also demonstrated version 2.0, which features unlimitedlayer compositing, integrated "in-context" plug-ins, process treecompositing views, and a 3D compositing environment featuring cameraview. Version 2 will ship on the iQ and eQ systems in the thirdquarter. Quantel debuted other gear, including iQ for HD RGB, which iscapable of handling 4K material with new preview and compositinghardware. This option will be available before the end of the year.Quantel also announced QColor Unlimited, a new color grading option,plus a wealth of new plug-ins including da Vinci Revival, the VDSNeuron Bundle, and Imagineer Systems Grain Management Tools. Majorsales include iQs to Lucas Digital (purchased for Star Wars Episode3), and a Film Unity to Peter Jackson.

The biggest announcement of the show? That may have been made byAvid Technology, which announced Avid DNA. As part of that, thecompany debuted a range of three new product lines. DNA stands forDigital Nonlinear Accelerators. This is the new hardware portion of ahardware-plus-software equation that equals Avid's future direction.DNA is a series of progressively more powerful hardware subsystems thatare designed to deliver realtime performance, allow advanced input andoutput capabilities, and provide tight interoperability with the AvidUnity family of shared-storage and media asset managementsolutions.

The low-end DNA product, Mojo, complements the new Xpress Pro andNewsCutter XP software. Mojo provides basic realtime analog and DV I/Ocapabilities and handles offline compressed media, DV, and uncompressed8-bit 601 resolutions. While Mojo has no SDI or CAV connections, itdoes include an IEEE 1394 connector, as well as analog audio, video,RCA, and mini DIN4 pin connections for input and output. Mojo alsoincludes genlock.

The Avid Xpress Pro software works on both Mac- and Windows-basedlaptops and desktops. It is important to know that the performance ofthe software improves with the performance of the platform. Avid XpressPro provides powerful realtime effects, titles, keys, audio, colorcorrection, and compositing. The software features JKL Trim, 24 videoand 24 audio tracks, two MetaSync tracks, automatic expert colorcorrection, Open GL-based 2D and 3D effects, offline resolutions,23.976p film editing (and support for the Panasonic AG-DVX100 24pcamera), clip grouping and ganging, extend and replace edits,transcoding and mixed resolutions in the same timeline, and manyrealtime preview capabilities.

Add Avid Mojo hardware, and you get realtime video out to tape andscalability all the way from DV to uncompressed SD. The software alsocomes bundled with FilmMaker's Toolkit (Avid FilmScribe, AutoSync, DupeDetection, Script-Based editing, Avid Log Exchange, Film Effects),IllusionFX, Image Stabilization, Avid Pan and Zoom, Sorenson Squeeze3.1 Compression Suite, Boris Graffiti, Sonic Solutions ReelDVD, andProfound Effects Elastic Gasket.

The Avid Adrenaline DNA offers more extensive I/O connections, plusscalability from DV to uncompressed 10-bit SD and all the way tocompressed HD (with the HD option). The product is compatible with awide variety of compressed resolutions (DV25 including support forPanasonic's 24p DV camera, DV50, MPEG IMX, ABVB, and Meridien JFIF).The accelerator portion provides a broad range of realtime multi-streameffects.

This Adrenaline DNA hardware complements the Avid Media ComposerAdrenaline and Avid NewsCutter Adrenaline FX software packages. TheMedia Composer Adrenaline software is the next-generation MediaComposer software. This package now includes the Film Composer toolset.The DVE is an Open GL-based software video effect. It no longerrequires a special hardware board. You can mix formats and resolutionson the timeline.

The Nitris DNA is the most powerful accelerator subsystem Avidoffers. It offers scalability from DV to uncompressed 10-bit HD andeven 2K scanned image files. The technology, featuring programmablerealtime codecs and programmable realtime effects, provides guaranteedmulti-stream effects on top of all that the host processor offers. TheNitris DNA works with the Avid DS Nitris and Avid DS Nitris Editorsoftware packages. Nitris turnkey products are expected to ship in thethird quarter with a suggested entry-level price starting at under$80,000.

Avid achieved the big surprise it was hoping for, but with thesurprise came confusion and uncertainty about what this means for thecompany, the users of the present product lines, and for potentialpurchasers. The Avid website should have a FAQ that answers mostquestions by the time you read this. The three things to remember aboutthese announcements are:

1) Avid DNA capabilities will improve as software versions aredeveloped and the host processes continue to grow more powerful.

2) The other Avid products from Avid Xpress DV to Symphony andAvid|DS are still sold and supported. Avid President David Krall saidsoftware development will continue for the Meridien-based products aslong as there is demand for them.

3) These products represent advancements in hardware and softwarecapabilities with reductions in price.

There are so many NAB highlights that could be discussed, includingdigital intermediate products, media asset management solutions, clientreview streaming video applications, and a plethora of new plug-ins(including the re-birth of Monsters by SpeedSix Software, a start-up byformer 5D employees who bought the plug-in assets of their formeremployer). For now, let's remain focused on the editing highlights ofthe show, here presented alphabetically.

The biggest news in the Discreet booth was the introductionof Lustre, the company's new color grading product based on Colorfronttechnology. But also notable were the NAB introductions of Cleaner XLcompression encoding software, 3ds Max 5, and Character Studio 4modeling, character animation, and rendering software. Don't forgetversion 2.1 of Combustion, a unified vector paint, compositing, andcolor correction solution for motion graphics and visual effects on thedesktop. Discreet also presented version 5.0 of Inferno, Fire, andSmoke, along with version 8.0 of Flame and Flint.

On April 22, Discreet announced that it had recorded a significantincrease in HDTV programming being finished on its systems over thelast twelve months. Many Discreet post facilities saw substantialincreases in demand for HDTV programming. The company also stated thatthis trend was reinforced by a similar increase in the number ofHDTV-capable systems being purchased from Discreet.

In the Eyeon Software booth, version 4.0 of Digital Fusiondebuted, along with a Linux version of this 2D/3D compositingapplication. Eyeon also demonstrated its plug-in implementation ofOpenEXR, a file format that was originally developed by IndustrialLight & Magic but is now in the public domain.

As part of the Digital Film Experience in the SGI booth,Interactive Effects demonstrated its Piranha HD, an excellentcompositing and finishing solution. The software also worked with 4KSpirit2 scans in the Thomson booth. As a member of the Open Plug-inGroup, it was demonstrating the member plug-ins.

Lightworks continues to plug away with the Lightworks Touchsystem. Introduced last year, the NLE software enjoys a growing list ofsuccesses in Hollywood. The product works in a standalone configurationor in a collaborative workgroup on a storage area network. Along withrealtime 2D DVE, color correction, and luma- and chromakeying,Lightworks Touch includes FX Curve editor and a number of third-partyplug-ins, along with the company's famous jog/shuttle interface.

The best compositing/finishing demonstration was given off the showfloor. In a demo suite in the Mirage, Soluciones Graficas PorOrdenador (SGO) introduced Mistika, a new HD/SD editing,compositing, and finishing solution. This SGI-based, scaleable, openarchitecture product features a complete set of compositing tools.Mistika offers such performance that it felt like you needed a seatbeltto drive the system.

This was one of the biggest NABs for postproduction yet!