Archive for December 5th, 2011

FLEXXITY Output page rendering QuickTime ProRes files

Whether facilities are working with on-set dailies, post dailies, playout and mastering, or archive workflows, FLEXXITY ingests and reads ProRes files directly, without the need for transcoding. Due to this native support, there are no workflow slowdowns that are often caused by transcoding delays.

FLEXXITY software runs on Linux, making it an ultra-stable, high performance, and high-throughput post production software tool for a variety of workflow pipelines. Linux also offers scale-up flexibility that allows users to implement a system that is fine-tuned to their specific needs from single-user seats, to multi-user workgroups. Linux OS is highly valued in post production environments for how quickly and predictably it responds. more

PARIS, France – The 35,000-capacity Hippodrome de Paris-Vincennes, which over the years has been as well known for hosting rock concerts as for its main purpose of horse racing, has recently upgraded its production infrastructure.

One of the steps taken by the technical department was to replace its old analogue mixing console with a Studer Vista 5 M2 digital desk, configured with 32 mic/line inputs, 72 line out and eight AES I/O. This was the first sale of the new console in France (and one of the first to be shipped anywhere in the world).

The large venue, with its 3000 sq metre Grand Hall, is a world famous venue for trotting events, with the jockeys pulling a two-wheel cart known as a ‘sulky’. The main track itself measures 2km in length (whereas it is generally only 800m or 1600m in other horse racing arenas).

It is to these meetings, which include the famous ‘Prix d’Amerique’, that the control room itself is dedicated, while the races themselves are displayed on a 100 sq. metre large external screen, one of the largest in Europe.

The venue’s management company SECF (Société d’Encouragement du Cheval Français), contacted Jean-Philippe Blanchard, Broadcast Division Director at Audiopole, the French Studer distributor, with whom they have a long association.

“They were looking for an upgrade to mix the ambient sounds and commentaries within the amphitheatre, both for live playback and broadcast purposes,” stated M. Blanchard.

“The operators were impressed by the quick and easy operation of the Vistonics screen, which gives them instant control over all the channel functions, and by the new metering, which will give them better control of all incoming signals. They also noticed that engineers are able to work for hours at a time on the console without getting tired.”

Installation of the new Vista 5 M2 took place during the month of August when the venue was closed. Its arrival marks the start of a new era of broadcast coverage for a venue that dates back to 1879 — when it was originally built.

HARMAN (www.harman.com) designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer and professional markets — supported by 15 leading brands, including AKG, Harman Kardon, Infinity, JBL, Lexicon and Mark Levinson. The Company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 12,500 people across the Americas, Europe and Asia, and reported net sales of $4.0 billion for twelve months ending September 30, 2011.

C200 used for mixing live events for TV, radio, internet and DVD delivery

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – Remote Recorders, a high-end mixing facility based in Sydney, Australia, recently stepped up its control room with a Solid State Logic C200 HD Digital Production Console. The studio, which features a large, well-equipped control room with associated overdub/vocal booth, mixes live presentations for content providers including iTunes Australia, Abbey Road Studios’ Abbey Road Live Here Now, and music television channels such as Channel [V], Music Max and the Country Music Channel. The C200 allows the studio to handle all post production duties, while delivering a digital version of SSL’s industry standard ergonomic interface.

“Remote Recorders is one of Australia’s foremost specialists in live music audio production and post-production for radio, television, DVD and instant delivery,” says Cameron McCauley, director of Remote Recorders. “We had a very successful run over the years with an SSL 4000 series console, but the time had come where we needed to move into a digital console with more capacity. The C200 gives us the digital console version of Total Recall™ so recalling the settings of a project is very fast. We have the familiar SSL automation and channel layout our engineers have been used to with the 4000, plus we continue to be able to offer SSL’s sonic heritage to our clients. As a bonus, we have a console we can easily upgrade and expand at a later date. The C200 covers all bases for what we do.”

Remote Recorders has worked with a raft of top acts including everyone from Kanye West, Coldplay, Mia and Muse to The Pixies, Chemical Brothers, Moby, Iggy Pop and Blondie, to name a few. Some other recent projects include live DVD’s for the Powderfinger “Sunsets” tour and the ARIA iTunes countdown for Live Nation.

“The integrated features on the C200 are a lifesaver in terms of workflow efficiency,” states McCauley. “We can control our DAW from the desk and offer multiple 5.1 and stereo mixes to our clients. In every way, the C200 helps us to accomplish more in less time, while maintaining the highest quality levels, allowing us to participate in services like instant delivery.”

Solid State Logic is the world’s leading manufacturer of analogue and digital audio consoles and provider of creative tools for music, broadcast and post production professionals. For more information about our award-winning products, please visit: www.solidstatelogic.com.

Computer Imagery for Medical Explanations
Compelling visuals make complicated information approachable and understable

Advertising agency Landmark360 uses 3D animation to help doctors and their patients see microscopic benefits of using Periosheild to prevent disease

Click here to see the animation

Creative Services for Television Networks
Hand held SRL photo-sequence technique delivers a gritty feel to show opens and graphics packages

NBC News/ Peacock Producutions strengthened the brands of Dateline and Cloo Network by capturing viewers’ attention through a textural show open

Click here to see the open

Twist Director/DP Rich Michell joined forces with NetApp to produce two online short films which highlight the innovative technology NetApp has to offer through their network storage solutions, virtualization, and cloud computing. With a background in fine arts and a fine-tuned eye for composition, Rich Michell brings his signature look to these NetApp spots to showcase the diverse application of their product.

To view the new short films online, go here: http://bit.ly/NetAppTwist

“Be The Match” shares the stunning story of how NetApp’s groundbreaking technology has revolutionized the donor matching process. Michell’s talent for combining real stories with stunning visuals is beautifully illustrated in this thought-provoking spot that highlights how IT can save lives. “Thomson Reuters” further showcases how NetApp transformed the manner in which the legal industry gets their information with a break-through development for Thompson Reuters Company Westlaw.

Credits:
Client: NetApp
Title: “Be the Match” 2:10; “Thomson Reuters” 1:42

Advertising Agency: Eleven/ San Francisco, CA
ACD/Copywriter: Paul Carek
Art Director: Michel Edens
Producer: Cathy Carolan
Producer: Katie Rinki
Producer: Iliani Matisse (“Thomson Reuters”)

Production Company: Twist/New York & Minneapolis
Director/DP: Rich Michell
Owner/Executive Producer: Jim Geib
Executive Producer: Amyliz Pera
Staff Reps: Rob Neill, Kathryn Lotis
Line Producer: Dave Bellmont
Production Supervisor: Adam Warner

Editorial & Postproduction Company: Beast/San Francisco

Twist:
A global production company, Twist has offices in New York and Minneapolis. Headed by EP/President Jim Geib and EP Amyliz Pera, the Twist directorial roster features the diverse talents of Directors Matt Pittroff, Rich Michell, Grady Cooper, Chris Stocksmith and Marc André Debruyne. New projects for Twist include a hilarious three-spot campaign for NASCAR’s 2011 Nationwide series, directed by Matt Pittroff. Twist’s Marc André Debruyne also recently directed his first American commercial project for Maine Medical Center and shot his 100th music video, a big career milestone. Twist is in the midst of production on commercial campaigns for Ameristar, Johnsonville, and the company will unveil new spots for AdCouncil in the New Year.

www.twistfilm.com

New York, New York, Dec. 5, 2011 – Gravity Digital, a unit of Gravity, an international visual effects, design and brand communications company, continues its expansion with the hiring of Alina Braverman as Director of Strategy and Business Development. She will report to Win Peniston, Gravity’s EVP and Chief Digital Officer. Zviah Eldar, Gravity’s CEO and Chief Creative Officer,
made the announcement.

“We are thrilled to add Alina, a well-regarded professional in the social marketing space, to Gravity Digital. Today, social content is increasingly in demand by virtually all consumer-focused brands, and more and more of our clients are requesting these services from us. She will aid our clients through her proven expertise in social content strategy.” said Peniston.

ABOUT ALINA BRAVERMAN:

Prior to joining Gravity, Ms. Braverman had been with eTribeca, a systems integrator, where she created social media and online marketing campaigns for the company, as well as its clients.

Braverman, who has 10 years of social media, digital marketing and technology experience, began her career with the one of the very first social media communities, SixDegrees.com. She has also consulted Cisco, Prudential Securities, Merrill Lynch, Rolex and Natuzzi in the areas of digital, mobile and social marketing.

Prior to Six Degrees, Braverman graduated from University of Pittsburgh with degrees in Political Science, English Literature and Eastern European Studies, including a Masters’ degree in Russian Literature from Moscow State University.

ABOUT GRAVITY:

Gravity is an international visual effects, design and brand communications company with proven expertise in three integrated divisions: Features & Television, Commercials, and Digital. With 250 talented professionals across offices in New York, Los Angeles, Connecticut and Tel Aviv, the company is a
widely renowned generator of high-end visual effects, creative content, motion graphics design, animation, branding, and digital strategy.

Gravity’s powerful combination of innovation and design are consistently aligned to help brands drive meaningful, dynamic connections with consumers – whether they experience them via television, cinema, websites, social media or mobile applications. The company’s digital marketing clients include Coca-Cola, International Playthings, Pantene, MGA Entertainment, Carlsberg, Israel Bonds, Recyclebank, Unilever, P&G and Braun.

Gravity’s New York office is located at 315 Madison Avenue, 3rd Floor, New York, NY, 10017. The phone is 212.986.1584. For more information, please visit www.GravityWorld.com.

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Award-winning editor Erik Carlson has signed with VOLT for exclusive representation, marking the launch of creative editorial at the VFX/Motion Design studio. With this signing, VOLT has just completed the build-out of the company’s inaugural edit suite, now home to Carlson.

Carlson’s introduction to working at VOLT came through noteworthy freelance collaborations on 2011 campaigns: the Cannes award-winning H&R Block for Fallon, the National Geographic’s King Tut exhibition campaign and the Subaru Grand Opening campaign both via Carmichael Lynch. This experience launched VOLT’s longstanding plan to integrate creative editorial with the right talent in place.

“We’ve been waiting a long time to get into creative edit, and truly great editors like Erik are rare, explains VOLT Founder Steve Medin. “He’s an A-level talent who truly cares about what he does and he’s a blast to be around. We have long-standing relationships with the best ad people in town and Erik does as well, so it made sense to put it all together. We hope to grow creative edit here at VOLT, but will do so carefully. Erik has set the bar high…”

“Erik is incredibly smart, passionate editor who puts himself deeply into each job,” says Fallon Creative Director Scott O’Leary. “His energy is contagious and instinct for story, sourcing music and clarity of opinion make him a great resource that we are lucky to have in Minneapolis.”

From a young age, Erik loved filmmaking and banded together with middle school friends to produce cable access shows and other independent projects. His commercial career was launched at Fallon’s in house editorial department, where he had the opportunity to work with leading agency and directorial talent including Errol Morris on PBS “Light,” Scott Vincent on Holiday Inn Express and on “Salami Fighting Association” with Paul Malmstrom and Linus Karlsson. He worked there from 1999 – 2003, and became known for editing at the intersection of comedy and story.

“Just starting out in the business and having the opportunity to work with the some of the top craftspeople in the world of storytelling was amazing,” recalls Carlson.

After working at Fallon, Carlson moved to San Francisco to edit for Mad River Post from 2004-2006. There, he edited national spots for British Airways, EA Games and Arby’s, among others, before moving to Los Angeles from 2007-2008. In LA, Carlson cut various projects including Bud Light via Rival Editorial, JVC for Red Three, along with the short film “Butterscotch Dawn” for Director Jon Nowak. Having returned to Minneapolis in 2009 Erik freelanced for Fallon on their Charter campaign, as well as BBDO New York’s popular Red Stripe online campaign, before he joined forces with Volt.

“I’ve worked in shops on both coasts, and Volt is as smart and creative as they come. There’s a great vibe here, it’s awesome to be apart of it,” concludes Carlson.

For more on VOLT and to view Erik Carlson’s reel, please visit: http://www.voltstudios.tv

EMERYVILLE, CALIF.– Advanced Systems Group (ASG), a leading West Coast video and film integration firm, will examine large raster acquisition workflow challenges during its annual workshop on Dec. 13 at the SF Film Society | New People Cinema at the New People building in San Francisco. The daylong event starts at 10 a.m. and will include five presentations. The workshop is free and lunch will be served, but attendees are encouraged to register at www.asgllc.com/events/topic-raster-acquisition-workflows-december-13.

“As 4K continues to emerge as a viable acquisition and distribution format, video professionals are still trying to find ways to produce the best images and handle all that data,” said Dave Van Hoy, president of ASG. “This year, our annual conference will detail 4K options at every point in the production process, and explore the best way to manage these file-based workflows.”

The workshop begins with “Let’s Talk 4K,” an overview that explains the technical specifications of the format and explores current choices in 4K acquisition and delivery. There is a noted lack of consensus on several aspects of 4K, which will also be addressed. The session will be led by veteran director of photography and industry consultant Suny Behar, who is currently teaching a Master Class at the UCLA Graduate School of Film and Television in Los Angeles.

“DIT, Data Management, and On-Set Color Workflows” will cover a broad range of filmmaking topics. It will define the differences between DIT and DAM, explain the subtleties of file-based workflows for RED, ALEXA, and other high-resolution camera systems, and examine popular on-set color, dailies, and transcoding workflows. Presenter Jordan Livingston is an independent filmmaker and digital imaging technician who serves the Hollywood and Bay Area markets through his company, DIGILOID, which specializes in digital imaging and workflow for motion pictures, commercials, and corporate productions.

Eric Hanson of Spy Post, a FotoKem post-production company, will discuss the 4K post-production process for commercial film and corporate productions. Additional presentations will address 4K color correction and color management, as well as delivery and projection of large raster content.

About ASG:
Advanced Systems Group LLC of Emeryville, Calif., with offices in Southern California, has provided engineering, systems, integration, support and training to the broadcast, film, creative, and corporate video markets since 1997. With unmatched experience in Apple-based newsroom systems, shared storage, archiving, editing, finishing, and VFX systems, ASG has become one of largest installers of post production and shared storage systems on the West Coast. The ASG team is highly focused on customer success, and has installed and supported more than 175 SANs, production, and post production systems over the last five years. For more information, visit www.asgllc.com or call 510-654-8300.

Specialist display-products distributor singles out Mura video wall controller boards as perfect fits with upcoming product line thanks to their stand-out versatility and high functionality

London, England, December 5, 2011 — Matrox Graphics Inc. announced today a new partnership with PSCo Technical Distribution and the incorporation of Matrox Mura MPX Series video wall controller boards into fully integrated systems built by the leading UK value-added distributor of large-format displays. Multiple Mura boards can be combined in a single system to serve as building blocks of increasingly large-scale setups. The first single-slot, PCI Express x16 Gen2 video wall controller board to feature both inputs and outputs, Mura is multi-functional and designed for use in everything from command and process control centers to conference and classrooms as a presentation solution.

While the two companies have collaborated for many years, this new partnership will extend PSCo Technical Distribution’s product line to include turnkey video wall solutions that will complement their existing line of high-performance displays. Partnering with Matrox is essential to PSCo Technical Distribution’s big-picture growth strategy, which includes becoming a complete video wall-solutions provider.

“Mura helps us offer controllers alongside our high-quality video walls, enabling PSCo Technical Distribution to make available fully functional, top-to-bottom solutions for the first time,” said Paul O’Reilly, Managing Director of PSCo Technical Distribution. “We’re excited by the prospects of this partnership. Mura adds another dimension to our product line and, based on its versatility, unmatched value for our clients.”

Working with a small number of partners including Matrox, PSCo Technical Distribution will be closely overseeing the video wall design and installation processes, as well as offering technical support and customisable software solutions to their customer base, which primarily comprises systems integrators. Amongst these solutions, MuraControl for iPad represents a streamlined, free-to-download, and easy-to-use alternative that is compatible with any Mura-powered video wall.

As a single-slot, input/output, PCI Express x16 controller board, Mura is the ideal solution for video walls of increasing size and complexity, a functionality that is key to PSCo Technical Distribution’s plan to tailor custom solutions to individual customers.

“PSCo Technical Distribution is a company whose reputation precedes itself as a leader within the audiovisual industry and an exclusive distributor of many cutting-edge display solutions,” said Cecilia Wills, Country Manager, Matrox Graphics UK. “Joining forces in this fashion enables Mura to build even more on its unique and impressive value proposition as a multi-purpose video wall controller solution.”

About PSCo Technical Distribution
PSCo Technical Distribution is a trade-only advanced technical distribution and services business, specialising in high-impact, cutting- edge display technologies build systems around them. Our mission is to create visual excitement and engagement, empowering the businesses and organisations we work with, offering them solutions, reducing their carbon footprint. PSCo is a specialist in videowalls and large format displays, with exclusive partnerships with Orion, NanoLumens and Prysm, and preferred supplier status with Panasonic, NEC, Sharp, Samsung and now Matrox.

About Matrox Graphics Inc.
Matrox Graphics is a leading manufacturer of graphics solutions for professional markets. In-house design expertise, top-to-bottom manufacturing, and dedicated customer support make our solutions the premier choice in industries that require stable, high-reliability products. Founded in 1976, Matrox is a privately held company headquartered in Montreal, Canada, with representation and offices in the Americas, Europe, and Asia.

For more information, visit www.matrox.com/graphics or contact Matrox Graphics directly at graphics@matrox.com.