Archive of the Digital Cinema Category

Portable Power Solutions for Sony, Canon, Panasonic, RED and ARRI Will Be On Site

WASHINGTON, NOVEMBER 28, 2011—From November 29 to December 1, Anton/Bauer® (Booth 223), a brand of The Vitec Group, and a premier global provider of batteries, chargers, lighting and other mobile power systems for the professional broadcast, video and film industries, will demonstrate the company’s latest power solutions for government buyers and suppliers of video, AV, broadcast and multimedia technology at the Government Video Expo (GV Expo) 2011. more

New high definition (HD, 2K, 4K) royalty-free stock footage timelapse shot in Venice, Italy and Turku, Finland have been added in different categories (City, Celestial, Marine and People) on HDtimelapse.net website.


Some of the locations from Venice, Italy are Aerial View of St Mark’s Basilica (San Marco Basilica), Bell Tower (Campanile), Doge’s Palace (Palazzo Ducale), Venezia, Venetian Lagoon, Veneto Region, Adriatic Sea, Biblioteca Marciana, Piazza San Marco, Grand Canal (Canale Grande), UNESCO, World Heritage Site, Rialto Bridge (Ponte di Rialto), Gondolas, Ferries and Taxi Boats, Santa Maria della Salute, Chiesa di San Giovanni Crisostomo, Santa Maria della Pieta, Campanario de San Francesco de la Vigna, Comunita Dei Greci Ortodossi, Biblioteca Cappuccini Redentore, The Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, Basilica Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Basilica San Giorgio Maggiore, Molino Stucky, Church of Santa Maria del Rosario, Gesuati, Sunset, Sunrise and Twilight.


Some of the locations from Turku, Finland are Turku City Hall, Aura River, Cathedral of Turku (Tuomiokirkko), Auransilta, Ships, Farmacy Museum, Aninkaistenkatu, Bascule Bridge, Turku Market Square (Kauppatori), Orthodox Church, Empress Alexandra Martyr, Swedish Theatre, Abo Svenska Teater, Hansa Shopping Centre.


HDtimelapse.net library contains 6700+ time lapse video clips from 125 locations in 40 countries.


Timelapse royalty-free stock footage here: http://www.hdtimelapse.net

Innovative new purchasing channel offers even more third-party workflow tools with special reduced-pricing offer

ASSIMILATE (www.assimilateinc.com), the leading provider of powerful post-production tools for digital workflows, has announced “Cyber Monday”, a 24-hour sales event on 28th November 2011 at its online Store (http://store.assimilateinc.com), when significant price reductions will be offered across a range of ASSIMILATE and third-party products.

Coinciding with “Cyber Monday”, ASSIMILATE has expanded the Store with the addition of Drastic Technologies’ MediaReactor plug-in for ASSIMILATE, and MediaNXS video capture and playback software. The MediaReactor plug-in allows SCRATCH and SCRATCH Lab artists to read nearly 100 media formats and file types with no out-of-application transcoding, saving time and streamlining workflows. MediaNXS combines advanced capture and playback functionality with media import and export. MediaNXS offers wide file format support, video monitoring tools and timeline editing. Free trial versions of each product will also be available on the Store.

The ASSIMILATE Store is a unique online marketplace where artists can discover, trial and purchase ASSIMILATE’s popular SCRATCH Lab workflow tool for production and VFX dailies. Also available is a growing range of third-party software and hardware accessories that boost the performance of SCRATCH and SCRATCH Lab across many areas of professional content creation – including DI color grading, 3D stereo, VFX, on-location and post-production workflows, subtitling and image-restoration. These now include products from 3ality Technica, Drastic Technologies, GenArts, RE:Vision Effects, 4K Co. Ltd, HS-Art, Calibrated Software and Tangent. ASSIMILATE-branded merchandise is also available.

The “Cyber Monday” promotion, on Monday 28th November, offers at least 15% price reductions on most products at the ASSIMILATE Store. Customers can purchase SCRATCH Lab at a discount in the ASSIMILATE Store by obtaining a coupon code from their local reseller, a list of whom can be found at www.assimilateinc.com/partners/resellers. Reseller coupons are available immediately, but can only be redeemed for the discount on “Cyber Monday”. Once a customer enters the code into the online order form, the discount is automatically applied to their order.

“The ASSIMILATE Store is quickly becoming the go-to place to explore the SCRATCH ecosystem,” said Steve Bannerman, VP of marketing at ASSIMILATE. “We’re excited to add MediaReactor and MediaNXS from Drastic Technologies to the growing list of third-party products available on the Store. These new powerful workflow tools, combined with our “Cyber Monday” sales event, give artists a unique opportunity to significantly extend the capabilities of their SCRATCH and SCRATCH Lab systems at even more attractive prices.”
 
New additions to the ASSIMILATE Store:

Drastic Technologies – MediaReactor: SCRATCH and SCRATCH Lab already support the most commonly used file formats. The MediaReactor Windows/MAC OSX plug-in for ASSIMILATE reads nearly 100 file formats, writes the most important file formats and dramatically extends the capabilities of SCRATCH and SCRATCH Lab in production and post-production pipelines. With no out-of-application transcoding step, MediaReactor saves time and streamlines the vast majority of workflows. For the complete list of supported formats, codecs and metadata visit: http://store.assimilateinc.com/products.php?product=MediaReactor-Workstation-for-ASSIMILATE.
 
Drastic Technologies – MediaNXS: professional video capture and playback software with a range of file types, codecs and video tools. MediaNXS provides HD-SDI/2K/4K capture and playback for SCRATCH and SCRATCH Lab, and includes import/export, waveform/vectorscope, and clip list/timeline/EDL features. With MediaNXS users can create the files they need in the formats best-suited to their workflow, and use SCRATCH or SCRATCH Lab to trim, convert and conform them before outputting to tape. More information on MediaNXS can be found at: http://store.assimilateinc.com/products.php?product=MediaNXS.

James Brooks, development/OEM support, Drastic Technologies, commented: “All production begins with acquisition. Drastic MediaReactor and MediaNXS offer digital artists unmatched flexibility in media capture and translation. We’re delighted to deliver our superior price/performance to SCRATCH artists via the ASSIMILATE Store. It truly is a one-of-a-kind outlet that offers an excellent way for artists to discover and explore products like ours and then buy whenever they’re ready.”

ASSIMILATE is the premier provider of digital workflow and post-production tools, that have proven essential to the successful creation of thousands of studio and independent features, television shows, music videos and corporate video productions. The company’s SCRATCH products, running on Windows and Mac OSX, are the heartbeat of today’s most demanding digital post-production and dailies workflows for 2D and stereo 3D productions. They equip Directors, DPs and Artists with the state-of-the-art, intuitive, data-centric solutions they need to meet the continual challenges of increased creativity and productivity amid ever-shrinking budgets. ASSIMILATE’s SCRATCH data-centric DI system, is the most comprehensive, end-to-end cinema and broadcast imaging tool for playback, conform, editing, color grading, compositing and finishing of RED and other digital workflows. SCRATCH Lab delivers a comprehensive toolset for the review, versioning, color correction, conform and output of on-set or VFX dailies. ASSIMILATE, a privately held company, with headquarters in Santa Clara, California, USA, offices in London, UK, Groningen, NL and Beijing City, CN markets its products worldwide via a global reseller network. To learn more please visit www.assimilateinc.com.

Drastic Technologies is a leading-edge developer of digital video solutions for the broadcast, sports playback, production, graphics and scientific communities. Drastic products include standalone software, SDKs, and digital disk recorders for clip control, VTR emulation, external device control, digital media playback and file conversion. Visit www.drastictech.com for more information.

Dream Sequence Conjures Imagery of Greek Mythology


Montreal, Que: Nov. 17, 2011… Montreal-based visual effects studio Modus FX delivered a surreal dream sequence for Immortals, the stereo 3D feature film released in theaters on Nov. 11. The 16-second scene produced by Modus depicts a surreal combat sequence between Theseus (Henry Cavill) and King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke) on a small boat, set on a sea of shields. Other than a live action shot of the actors in the middle of the sequence, the entire scene was created and rendered in CG.


“It’s a very artistic piece which aims to capture the iconic imagery of Greek mythology,” explained Martin Pelletier, CG supervisor at Modus. “Developing the sequence was a collaboration between our artists and director Tarsem Singh. For us it was an in-depth process of visualizing and clarifying the director’s imagination.”


The Sequence


The scene begins when the film’s hero Theseus touches Phaedra – a psychic oracle played by Freida Pinto. In that instant, the camera swoops into Phaedra’s mind for the vision sequence.


Red CG petals fall from the sky and we see King Hyperion and Theseus spinning around in combat on the boat. The scene cuts to a wider shot and various fighting poses are discernable in the whirling mass. The audience sees that the boat is sitting on a mass of warriors’ shields, like a Greek phalanx, with the water in the background.


For a moment, Hyperion and Theseus freeze and the camera pans down to show a mummy lying on the ground with the petals falling onto it: beauty, transience and death in a single image. As they begin to fight and spin again, the view pulls back to a wider shot. In the background the sea, created by Scanline VFX, swells up into a giant tsunami approaching the shore.


Capturing the Imagination as Moving Imagery


The imagery is ambitious. At the start of the project in September 2010, Modus FX had several meetings with director Tarsem Singh to map out the shots and the look of the scene. Singh wanted what he referred to as a “clay effect,” with the figures becoming malleable organic forms, blending together as they spin in combat.


After the initial meetings, the team at Modus spent four months developing the ideas in a process of exploration and refinement, gradually shaping the final look of the scene. Test shots were sent back to the director for review on a weekly basis.


Early on the team had decided the scene would be done in three shots: close up, wide and very wide. Then they began working on the spinning figures – how fast they should rotate and how many poses should appear. Testing was done with Softimage XSI combining textures, including skin, glossy black helmets, a gold mask, blue cloth and brown leather. The textures were tried at different speeds with different motion blurs and shutter speeds.


“It took a lot of experimentation, but as we progressed, we started to develop some really interesting ideas,” said Pelletier. “We liked the clay effect, but it still needed something more to look believable.”


He explained that the team at Modus then developed a “force field” effect to augment the scene, which had to fit in seamlessly with the overall aesthetic and the other surreal effects of the film. “It worked very well,” said Pelletier. “It shows how important it can be to keep the creative process going right to the end. The effort paid off.”


The Sea and the Sky


“We wanted the lighting to look magical or even supernatural,” said Pelletier. “We played around with sky colors until we had the right tones and then redid the lighting on the live plates to match the CG lighting. This was an interesting challenge because usually we do the opposite – match the CG to the lighting in the live shots.”


The sea of shields was realized much more quickly. “We hit bull’s-eye on the first try with that,” recalled Pelletier.


A Company That Solves Problems


“Relativity Media saw us as a company that solves problems,” said Yanick Wilisky, visual effects supervisor and co-founder of Modus FX. “It was a very complex sequence, artistically and technically, but we found the way. We solved it for them.”


Immortals is a 3D fantasy adventure film directed by Tarsem Singh and starring Henry Cavill, Freida Pinto and Mickey Rourke. It was released in 2D and 3D on Nov. 11 by Universal Pictures and Relativity Media.

About Modus FX
Since launching in 2007, Modus FX has become an industry leader in high-end feature film visual effects and animation, boasting an international clientele and a talented team of hand-picked artists from around the globe. Led by co-founders Marc Bourbonnais and Yanick Wilisky, Modus has developed a unique approach to creating digital content, combining a cutting-edge production pipeline with personalized on-going project coordination. The studio collaborates with each director through the artistic process, from editorial script and on-set supervision to final delivery. Based just outside Montreal, Modus offers a full scope of services in its modern 12,000-square-foot studio. For more information, visit www.modusfx.com.

Les Cinémas Guzzo (“Guzzo”), one of Canada’s leading independent chains and the largest privately owned cinema chain in Quebec, is going 100 percent digital with its recent purchase of projectors, support and services from Christie®. The contract includes the Christie CP2000ZX, Christie CP2000-SB, Christie CP2210, Christie CP2200, and Christie CP2300 projectors. It also includes the upgrading of 27 screens to the Christie CP4220 and Christie CP4230 4K projectors.
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With installation managed in-house – supported by Christie – the conversion of all 142 Guzzo screens is planned for completion by April 2012.
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“In addition to the terrific image quality offered by digital projection, the conversion will give us more flexibility in the types of presentation we can offer, such as 3D and 2D, and more personalized pre-show and alternative content,” says Vincenzo Guzzo, executive vice president and chief operating officer, Cinémas Guzzo. “It will also help us decrease booth labor cost.
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“With Christie, we get first-class service and great after-sale support. It’s also a bonus that their manufacturing is centered in Canada, since that means few border-crossing issues. We’ve been with Christie from our first installs in 2008, so we know they’re the most reliable choice for this project.”
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Dave Muscat, senior director of sales, Christie Canada, said, “Christie is honored to help Cinémas Guzzo make this pivotal transition to digital, with best-in-class product and flexible, customized service. Christie is committed to meeting the needs of all exhibitors, including independents. We have earned more than 85 percent of Canada’s digital cinema exhibition market through our commitment to long-term partnership with our customers.”
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Services as Well as Projectors Included
Guzzo has committed to working with Christie Managed Services in support of sourcing, integrating and validating hardware that enables Managed Services to remotely monitor and manage Guzzo’s digital cinema projection environments. Included with the hardware will be Library Management Servers that hold the feature films, advertisements, trailers and other digital content for playing on multiple screens.
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In addition, Cinémas Guzzo will use Christie ACT™, a theater automation controller to automate presentations in some of its theaters. Christie ACT translates cues from connected devices to control most theater equipment including lighting, curtains, sound, masking and projectors. Christie ACT is accessible on any networked computer, laptop or handheld device using any web browser.

3D Film Factory’s Successful 3D Workshops Now Offer 3D Certification.

Since 2008 the 3D Film Factory (3DFF) has successful taught more individuals how to prep, shoot and edit stereoscopic 3D than any other organization. Now for the first time, 3DFF is giving participants the opportunity to get Certified in Stereoscopic Filmmaking.

What does that mean to be certified in stereography? “For us it’s a lot more than just a piece of paper. It’s an assurance of superior training,” say Shawn Gilmore, the company’s manager of operations. “It means that program participants have undergone 2-days of intensive, quality instruction with a veteran stereographer. Certification means that participants not only have a comprehensive understanding of stereoscopic theory, but an actual working knowledge and skills to shoot and edit professional-quality 3D.”

A partial list of workshops topics include; the guiding principles and overlying theory of stereoscopic 3D, how to make effective use of 3D, prepping for 3D, transforming your 2D ideas into working 3D images, camera and 3D rig selection, genlock issues, rig calibration, re-light for 3D, filming ratios demystified, gauging depth and pop, applying effective convergence, perfect image alignment, easy 3D post workflows, and all the other details you need to know to create superior quality 3D entertainment, that ultimately serves the story.

All classes are taught by expert stereographers with years of 3D filming and production experience. The goal is to teach participants as much as feasibly possible within the2-days, and therefore keep the focus on the students and their implicit 3D educational needs.

3D Training Workshops are held on an ongoing bi-monthly basis at our facility in San Diego, California. 3DFF supplies everything, including cameras, 3D rigs, 3D monitors, lighting and even lunch – all for a very affordable price. For scheduling and registration information call 619.384.4014 or visit at www.3DFilmFactory.com

About the 3D Film Factory
The 3D Film Factory is the leader in professional, affordable 3D camera systems and real-time 3D viewing solutions. In addition we provide a host of 3D production services for hire, including 3D camera rigs, 3D viewing systems, stereographers, and 3D post, as well as, monthly comprehensive 3D training workshops. Former clients include ESPN, NASA, DISNEY, HD CINEMA, PINEWOOD STUDIOS, and DISCOVERY. For more information visit www.3DFilmFactory.com

SAN DIEGO, California – Leading the transition for IEEE 802.1 Audio Video Bridging (AVB) networking in the professional audio space, President of Lab X Technologies and Marketing Work Chair of the AVnu Alliance, Lee Minich, is slated to discuss the latest in AVB and its importance in the recording and audio engineering industry during AES’s 44th Conference on Audio Networking. As a networking solution design resource for audio manufacturers, Minich will discuss network protocol, the design of AVB hardware and the future of AVB in the industry.

“AVB has emerged as one of the most important technologies in the professional audio industry, from recording studios to live sound applications, among many others,” stated Minich. “Working with my colleagues and peers at the AES conference, we will discuss the state of the art of networked audio, including the standards of AVB and how manufacturers are integrating the technology into products across the globe. AVB forms the cornerstone of converged networks, which leverage the benefits of the IT world with the manageability and simplicity that only intelligent media aware infrastructure provides.”

AVnu Alliance is a sponsor of the conference.

Friday, November 18, 4PM:
Demonstration and Panel Discussion: Network Control Protocols
Minich will introduce Lab X’s core concepts and demonstrate a setup of Lab X technology.

Saturday, November 19, 1:30PM:
Panel Discussion: Audio Network Product Design
Minich will present Lab X’s network and network interface with target systems. Full coverage of basic information of Lab X AVB, operating principles and advantages will be presented, as well as intellectual property considerations and the process of integrating Lab X hardware into audio projects and products around the globe. A brief Q&A session will take place after Minich’s presentation.

Sunday, November 20, 2:30PM:
Panel Discussion: Future Directions for Audio Networking
Minich, representing the AVnu Alliance, will discuss the future of AVB integration and its impact on the industry, the AVnu Alliance standards of AVB and the overall power and capabilities of the technology.

For more information and a complete list of events / presentations at the AES 44th Conference on Audio Networking, visit http://www.aes.org/conferences/44/.

For more information on Lab X Technologies and AVB, please visit http://www.labxtechnologies.com. For the AVnu alliance, visit http://www.avnu.org.

About Lab X Technologies

Founded in 1996, Lab X Technologies, LLC is a Rochester, New York-based engineering design firm and platform provider recognized as a global leader in digital A/V transport and network connectivity, with extensive experience in applying AVB (Audio Video Bridging).

Lab X partners with leading manufacturers to accelerate product development cycles and enable digital network interoperability by augmenting internal design teams, licensing IP platforms, providing pre-engineered connectivity modules, developing innovative product concepts, and producing complete turnkey custom solutions. Please visit http://www.labxtechnologies.com for more information.

About AVnu Alliance
AVnu Alliance is an industry forum dedicated to the advancement of professional-quality audio video by promoting the adoption of the IEEE 802.1 Audio Video Bridging (AVB), and the related IEEE 1722 and IEEE 1733, standards over various networking link-layers. The organization will is creating compliance test procedures and processes that ensure AVB interoperability of networked A/V devices, helping to provide the highest quality streaming A/V experience. The Alliance promotes awareness of the benefits of AVB technologies and collaborates with other organizations to provide a better end-user A/V experience.

For preferred Christie® dealer Digital Media Systems, Christie digital cinema projectors were the real “heroes” at the recent New York Comic Con convention and for a special preview of Martin Scorsese’s highly anticipated “Hugo” at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall. The company provided powerful Christie DLP Cinema® projectors exclusively to screen the latest films for some of the world’s most demanding moviegoers.
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The Jacob Javits Center hosted this year’s New York Comic Con, a convention dedicated to the die-hard fans of science fiction and super heroes. Attracting nearly 100,000 people every year, it is the second largest annual event held in the city. With so many sci-fi blockbuster films awaiting release, directors and movie companies are eager to screen their latest trailers and film clips to whet the appetites of thousands of enthusiastic fans. Digital Media Systems installed a Christie projector in the Javits event hall to light up the huge main screen located on stage, which dominated the room.
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“In such a large venue, with so many discerning fans in the audience, it’s important to use the best projector available to satisfy the speakers’ and audience’s demand for the sharpest and highest quality images,” said Gregg Paliotta, president and owner of Digital Media Systems. “I use Christie projectors exclusively because they are the brightest, most reliable in the industry.”
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On the other side of town that week, actors and directors flooded the city for the 2011 New York Film Festival. Digital Media Systems again “saved the day” with a Christie projector, transforming Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall from an opera hall to a cinema house in less than 48 hours. In addition to the Christie digital projector, they supplied a silver screen for optimal 3D images, draped the entire theater to improve acoustics, and built a special projection booth from scratch. Paramount Pictures financed the work in order to host a surprise preview of Academy-Award winning Director Martin Scorsese’s new film, “Hugo.” Although not yet completed, “Hugo” is Scorsese’s first 3D feature film.
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The success of the screening was crucial for Paramount Pictures and Scorsese because, “There is a big push this time of year to get lots of new movies screened and checked before the holiday season,” explained Paliotta. Paramount Pictures needed the brightest projector possible to ensure that the screening would meet client and audience needs. According to Paliotta, the Christie projector “blew everyone away,” by generating the sharpest, highest quality images ever seen for 3D – pleasing its sponsors and surpassing all expectations. The audience presented Scorsese with a standing ovation.
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“I have a long existing relationship with Paramount, which is distributing the film, and they asked me to set up the projection system for the movie preview. I know what Paramount likes, and I am always confident that Christie projectors will come through to satisfy my clients’ demands and even exceed their expectations. That’s why I choose Christie,” said Paliotta. “I trust Christie’s products and I believe they are the best in the industry.”
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Digital Media Systems provides complete equipment and engineering support for world premiere and preview screenings. It also provides multiplex and screening room installation service and maintenance.

Cinedeck EX supports challenging production, using Sony’s F3 camcorder, streamlines editorial & VFX pipeline, and heralds IIF-ACES color workflow development

Cinedeck LLC (www.cinedeck.com) today revealed details of how its Cinedeck EX, multi-format, HD-SDI recording, monitoring and playback system, was combined with high-performance Sony F3 cameras, and played a pivotal role in the camera-to-post workflow, of VFX-laden horror feature film The Ghost Of Goodnight Lane, directed by Alin Bijan (www.GhostofGoodnightlane.com).

The combination of Cinedeck EX with Sony F3 cameras enabled the production to solve budget, performance and space constraints during the shoot, with Cinedeck EX also delivering a fast uncompressed, file-based camera-to-post workflow for the editorial and VFX teams.

The experience of working the Sony F3’s with uncompressed S-Log footage, and desire to optimize theatrical picture quality, has led the filmmakers to work on the Academy Of Motion Pictures Arts And Sciences’ IIF-ACES color-encoding specification, and the development of a new Input Device Transform for the F3.

The Ghost Of Goodnight Lane was written and directed by Alin Bijan, and produced by award-winning Dallas, Texas, production company Media World Studios, in association with FTG Media (www.MakingFilms.com). The production, featuring an angry ghost with evil intentions, is a comedy horror about a movie being made in a haunted film studio, and was inspired by paranormal events that occurred at Media World Studios. It stars Billy Zane (Titanic), Lacey Chabert (Mean Girls), Danielle Harris (Halloween), Matt Dallas (Kyle XY) and Richard Tyson (Black Hawk Down).

Principal photography took place over 22 days, with two Cinedeck EX systems capturing from A and B Sony F3 cameras. All footage was recorded from the F3s as 10-bit, uncompressed, RGB 4:4:4, S-Log gamma-encoded imagery. Live action was output from Cinedeck EX in Apple ProRes 4444 for Final Cut editorial, and green-screen elements output as uncompressed 4:4:4 for VFX work and compositing. Over a quarter of the movie, 25 scenes, was shot for VFX treatment. Multiple SSD cards were used to transfer the uncompressed footage to the editorial and VFX teams.

In addition to rigorous schedule and the tight budget, typical of an independent production, the production crew also faced restricted shooting environments, as many of the sequences were to shot in cramped spaces.

In preparation for the shoot, Bijan and his crew carefully investigated how innovations in camera, recorder and monitor technologies could solve these issues, while delivering the highest possible quality file-based workflow to streamline the camera-to-post workflow.

Considering all of these elements, the crew decided to shoot the entire movie using new Sony F3 cameras, with dual Cinedeck EXs at the heart of the camera-to-post pipeline.

“We knew we’d be facing a mountain of challenges in production, so we decided to let leading-edge technology lead us to the best pipeline,” said Bijan. “In the Sony F3 I found a camera that I could move around quickly and shoot sequences fast, but with extremely high quality. I also needed a recorder that did much more than just record. Assessing all the different kinds of recorders, we discovered Cinedeck EX offered more in one little device than anything else out there. It matched our physical space requirements, and more importantly, it enabled us to record S-Log uncompressed RGB 4:4:4 from the Sony F3 and deliver those files directly, and quickly, to post for editing and compositing.”

Jonny Revolt, editor The Ghost Of Goodnight Lane, commented, “When you’re shooting a film with so many VFX scenes, Cinedeck EX’s ability deliver ready-to-composite, uncompressed content, without the need to convert file formats, is a huge time and money saver. The post crew could begin working in the full S-Log color space immediately, and this gave us the comfort of being able to test VFX keys live on set.”

Summing up his experience shooting with the Sony F3 and Cinedeck EX, Bijan said, “I need the right tools to help me tell my story, and Cinedeck EX makes filmmaking so much easier. We took full advantage of its advanced capabilities to shorten the distance between production and post – that’s the wonder of file-based workflows. Cinedeck EX helped me to tell a better story and make a better film, because I didn’t have to worry about my workflow, and that’s half the battle in indie film-making.”

Peter Crithary, production marketing manager for Sony Electronics, said, “Given the F3′s extremely quiet signal and exceptional picture quality, using S-Log Gamma encoding, with 10-bit uncompressed RGB output, Cinedeck EX is the perfect companion to record and preserve the superb image quality of the camcorder.”

The desire of the filmmakers to maintain the cinema-grade quality of the Sony F3 footage for theatrical release, afforded by Cinedeck EX, has led to a collaboration with the American Society Of Cinematographer’s Curtis Clark ASC, chair of the ASC’s Technology Committee, to develop an Input Device Transform for the Sony F3. This will conform to the Academy Of Motion Pictures Arts And Sciences’ Image Interchange Framework (IIF) ACES color-encoding specification, and streamline an ACES workflow – from camera to grading to finished output.

The Cinedeck EX & Sony F3 Advantage
The Sony F3 with S-Log has rapidly emerged as a sought-after, high-end digital camera for productions seeking file-based workflows across a wide range of production environments. These include 10-bit uncompressed, RGB 4:4:4 baseband output, with S-Log Gamma encoding for external recording, an important feature for customers requiring an HDCAM-SR™ workflow.

Along with a powerful, but simple, file-based workflow, Cinedeck EX delivers a number of unique benefits to filmmakers and cinematographers using the Sony F3 with S-Log, including:

· Cinema-grade S-Log recording

· Simple RGB 4:4:4

· 3G single link BNC

· Dual-link HDSDI BNC

· Live output of Cinedeck EXTREME feeds EVF

· Support for the widest variety of codecs

· Flexible arm mounting

· Provides perfect alternative to RAW TIFF files

Cinedeck EX starts at $8495 and features unparalleled flexibility with the widest range of edit-ready formats available on a single device. The following formats come standard and are supported natively on Cinedeck EX:

· Avid DNxHD (MXF wrapped or .mov)

· Apple ProRes (including 4444)

· CineForm Digital Intermediate

· Uncompressed 4:2:2 (.mov)

· Uncompressed 4:4:4 (.mov)

For more information on Cinedeck EX v2.1, please visit www.cinedeck.com.

For more information on the Sony F3 please visit www.sony.com/F3

Founded by cinematographers, and headquartered in the heart of New York City, USA, Cinedeck manufactures innovative, touchscreen recording systems for use with all popular digital cinematography cameras. Along with on-set monitoring, playback and quality control capabilities, these recorders also unify camera-to-post workflows by offering the industry’s most comprehensive range of edit-ready output formats. Cinedeck EX, the industry’s first camera-mountable device, has proven essential to the workflow on hundreds of TV and cinema productions, and has won TV Technology’s “2010 STAR Award”, the “2010 Vidy Award,” and DV Magazine’s “Award of Excellence”. Continuing this pioneering spirit, Cinedeck LLC is also addressing the challenges of the mobile and outdoor broadcaster with Cinedeck RX, its new, rack-mounted, multi-format recorder, monitor and playback system. Cinedeck RX was awarded the prestigious “2011 Pick Hit Award at IBC 2011” from Broadcast Engineering Magazine. For more information, visit www.cinedeck.com.

Our certified 2-day workshops are designed to demystify and simplify the entire 3D filmmaking & editing process, from development thru post production. In doing so, our veteran stereographers (3D experts) will teach you everything you need to know to create brilliant, eye-catching 3D images, that maintain viewer comfort — and ultimately serve the story.

TOPICS
– Determining the 3D needs of the participants & their upcoming 3D projects
– A tour-de-force “the principles of stereoscopic 3D filmmaking”
– Translating your 2D ideas into working 3D images
– Selecting the correct 3D Rig that integrates with your cameras – or visa-versa
– Solving gen-lock issues and how it works
– When to use a beam-splitter vs. side-by-side vs. 3D camcorders (dual fixed lens)
– You too can calibrate & prep a 3D rig (with a little practice)
– “Hands-On” — majority of the class is spent shooting with 3D Rigs – beam-splitter & side- by-side
– New 3D camcorders (dual fixed lens) – uses, limitations & what “they” don’t tell you
– Top 3D shooting secrets & ratios exposed !
– Depth vs. pop vs. parallax
– Achieving nirvana – perfect picture alignment
– Balancing convergence, parallax & io to achieve comfortable 3D images
– How to tell professional 3D vs. amateur 3D (hint: amateur 3D = headaches)
– Shooting beautiful, balanced 3D images that serve the story
– Re-lighting for 3D
– How to use and calibrate a real-time 3D monitor
– The 3D post-production workflow & you
– 3D editing = FCP vs Cineform vs Avid
– How to “Fix it in 3D Post” for Dummies
– 3D exhibition formats & how they affect your production (hint: start here & work backwards)
– AND– all the other nitty-gritty details you need to know to create superior looking, professional 3D — because at the end of the day (workshop) we understand that these training sessions are all about you and your upcoming 3D project. So really — our goal is to teach you everything we know about 3D, while addressing your individual needs and issues — and in the end, make you look good. Or at least – your 3D look good.

DETAILS
This is an INTENSIVE, FUN, “HANDS-ON” workshop where participants learn how to prep, align, light, shoot, edit and output professional style 3D, under the direction of a veteran stereographer. Unlike most other 3D training programs, teaching only 3D theory – our workshops allocate the majority of the day to filming on stereoscopic 3D systems – beam-splitter rigs, side-by-side rigs & real-time, stereoscopic 3D monitors.

Our courses are designed to accommodate both the complete novice, and the professionals with previous 3D filmmaking experience looking to learn more or fine tune their existing skills. The teaching stereographers understand that many participants may have pending 3D projects, therefore they welcome all questions, individual concerns and unique situations. Furthermore, attendees should keep in mind that 3D filmmaking is not an exact science, but rather an evolutionary process, with fluid rules and varying outcomes. The 3D camera rigs, cameras, real-time 3D monitors, editing equipment and lunch will be provided by 3DFF.

Our veteran 3D instructors (stereographers) are World-Class experts, with years of 3D filming and production experience on almost every contintent. Along the way they’ve shot for a wide variety of high-profile clients and fortune 500 companies to produce 3D documentaries, features, commercials and museum documentaries.

Our 3D workshops are held on an ongoing monthly basis at our studios in sunny, San Diego, California. See Program Dates / Locations for a current listing. Information or registration call 619.384.4014 or email info@3DFilmFactory.com

STEREOSCOPIC CERTIFICATION
Upon completion of the 2-day workshop participants will receive our official Stereoscopic Certification Diploma. The 3D Film Factory Certification serves as a means to verify to other industry professionals that recipients have received detailed, in-depth instruction in the art and science of stereography. Specifically, it signifies that recipients posses a comprehensive understanding of stereoscopic theory, as well as, a strong knowledge of practical, hands-on 3D filmmaking and editing.