Azimuth invests in Nucoda HD

March 18, 2009 (Stockholm, Sweden) Digital Vision, the premier supplier of picture enhancement systems for film and television post-production, is pleased to announce the latest sale of its Nucoda HD tapeless grading and mastering system to the newly-established Azimuth Post Production in the heart of Soho.”We needed to be able to supply a HD grading solution to our clients,” comments Neil Hatton, Director of Post Production. “I was familiar with Nucoda from past organizations and like the way it renders in the background, utilizing every spare clock cycle you’re not actually using to manipulate the picture on screen. You finish the session and it’s as good as rendered, which is exactly what clients want as they don’t want to sit there waiting and watching a ‘lack of progress’ bar.”

Hatton was also very interested in the workflow advantages possible following Digital Vision’s qualification of its products on Avid systems last year, and the company makes the most of the interoperability between the Nucoda HD and its Avid Unity shared storage.

“The flexibility to reflect offline changes into the conform and grade is a great advantage,” Hatton says. “Decision making is being made later and later in the post process, and to be able to cope with that by simply importing a new AAF file into the Nucoda and to have all the grades link up with the new EDL immediately is superb.”

Azimuth is part of a well-established Middle Eastern-owned media group that includes London-based production company ORTV International. It has been set-up as a standalone facility with the high standards of customer service necessary to attract clients in the competitive Soho area. Part of a £275,000 ($384,490) investment in the facility, the Nucoda HD has already been used on Faisal for Al-Arabiya and is lined up for Classroom Killers for Discovery US.

“We are delighted to see Azimuth set-up with the Nucoda HD,” comments Simon Cuff, Digital Vision President and COO. “In UK broadcast we are fast becoming the de facto standard for grading. The interface with Avid is what differentiates our offering as we are the only supplier able to offer metadata, media, platform and storage compatibility and allow grading, editorial and finishing work to overlap. Deep-level interoperability and integration is crucial to provide the parallel workflows and quick turnarounds required by our customers.”

About Digital Vision
Digital Vision provides innovative image restoration, enhancement, colour correction and data conforming systems that major movie studios, television networks and post-production facilities use to master and deliver feature films, TV programs and commercials. The company’s Nucoda product line provides a strong suite of products for tapeless and non linear grading for HD broadcast and 2k/4k digital intermediate productions. The company’s award-winning products are a standard of the media and entertainment industry and are deployed at top facilities and broadcasters around the world.

Digital Vision AB was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, with three wholly owned subsidiaries, Digital Vision (US) in Los Angeles, California; Digital Vision UK in London, England; and Digital Vision in Hong Kong, China. The company maintains its global presence through a network of qualified distributors. Digital Vision is listed on the Stockholm stock exchange. For further information, go to www.digitalvision.se.

All trademarks used herein, whether recognized or not, are the properties of their respective companies.

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Media Contacts:
US – Chris Purse, Ignite, e: chris@ignite.bz, t: 818.508.0450, m: 323.806.9696

Europe & APAC – Sadie Groom, Bubble & Squeak, e: sadie@bubblesqueak.co.uk,
t: +44 (0)20 7287 4262, m: 44 (0)771 542 2414

Cooke Optics Extends /i Support at NAB 2009

NAB 2009
Booth SU 9924G (P+S Technik booth, Bavarian Pavilion)

March 10, 2009 (Leicester, UK) Cooke Optics Ltd., a premier manufacturer of precision lenses for the motion picture industry, will be showcasing its S4/i lenses which have recently been used on award-winning films and television shows including Milk, Frost/Nixon and 30 Rock. The lenses incorporate Cooke’s /i Intelligent Technology, which improves efficiency and quality across the entire workflow.

Cooke’s /i technology is now supported by many leading camera and content creation companies including ARRI, RED, Aaton, Avid and Pixel Farm, and another major manufacturer will announce its integration of /i Technology during the show.

Cooke’s S4/i Lenses will also be in the Canon, JVC, Sony and BandPro stands.

Spokespeople available at the show include Les Zellan, chairman & owner, Cooke Optics.

About Cooke Optics, LTD.
Cooke is a storied name in both cinematographic and the ultra-high-end professional photography markets. Known worldwide for their precision, exacting tolerances and superior quality, Cooke lenses are specified by many of the world’s most respected cinematographers. Cooke is also the developer behind /i Technology, the protocol enabling vital lens and camera information to be captured and passed digitally to post-production teams. Features in production or recently shot with Cooke lenses include Hamlet 2, Frost/Nixon, Milk, Zack and Miri Make A Porno, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and Angels and Demons.

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Media contacts:
US – Chris Purse, Bubble & Squeak, e: chris@ignite.bz,

t: +1 818.508.0450, m: +1 323.806.9696
Europe & APAC – Wendy Mattock, Bubble & Squeak

e: wendy@bubblesqueak.co.uk t: +44 (0)7912 300231

The New Avid RED Workflow

After several months of development an all new Avid RED workflow has been released on March 5th 2009.

The new RED workflow for Avid takes a radical departure from what has been available until now.

The RED post production options can be daunting for a producer but there is good news if you are considering the Avid platform for your next RED job.

Avid RED Workflow

The new Avid RED workflow consists of two segments:

  1. Offline editing
  2. HD, 2k, 3k, 4k picture finishing

The offline part of the process involves the newly released Avid MetaFuze v1.2 and Media Composer. MetaFuze 1.3 video tutorial.

Avid DS V10.1.1 with direct RED import is the centerpiece of the finishing part of the RED post process. For a full discussion of native and SDK based non-native RED import please read “RED Native vs. Non-native Support.”

Avid RED Dailies and Offline Editing

RED RAW (R3D) media is an unsuitable format for offline editing. These large files are typically shot at 4k resolution. The processing complexity of R3D files can overwhelm an average offline editing system.

Until now the process of loading RED material into Media Composer consisted of employing a third party application like RedRushes or RedCine to debayer R3D files and encode them into Quicktime files.

The newly released Avid MetaFuze v1.2 can do all this and more. MetaFuze is a free application used to facilitate file based workflows in Avid environments. The new MetaFuze can read RED R3D clips while properly interpreting the RED color intent RLX files and processing 1D or 3D LUTs.

MetaFuze is used to transfer R3D files to Avid DNxHD media for use in Media Composer. Once the clips are loaded into Media Composer the offline editing process does not differ from any typical non-RED project.

The new version of MetaFuze can also create RED dailies with window timecode and aspect ratio conversion. Timely RED dailies delivery has been a challenge for many productions and MetaFuze promises to address this issue.

Avid RED Finishing

Avid DS is a picture finishing system with an extensive set of effects and digital intermediate tools.

The newly released Avid DS v10.1.1 has a significant new feature. RED files can now be directly captured or linked from within the DS. There is no need for an intermediate file format such as DPX. Preliminary tests show that the speed of R3D import in Avid DS is competitively fast.

HD, 2k, 3k of 4k conforming is straightforward and uses standard Avid AFE files to transfer sequences from Media Composer to DS. Most effects including AVX plugins transfer between Media Composer and Avid DS.

Complex sequences with many FluidMotion speed changes, video tracks and third party plugin effects transfer from Media Composer to DS via AFE file format. This ensures that Media Composer sequences are conformed and reconstructed in Avid DS to the most possible extent.

The Benefits of Avid RED Workflow

Media Composer is a favorite platform of many film and TV editors. The offline-to-finishing link between Media Composer and Avid DS has always been strong. The addition of full RED support in Avid DS now allows editors and facilities to utilize this connectivity when working on RED projects.

The streamlined RED to Media Composer project preparation with MetaFuze ensures speed and ease of use that were previously unattainable.

The role of MetaFuze in generation of RED dailies with timecode may help many productions address this essential need.

The Conclusion

All this sounds complicated? Not really. Many of the RED processes are very similar to 35mm film post production workflows.

Shooting on 35mm negative, transferring film to tape with one lite color correction, converting flex files to ALE, batch capturing the clips in Media Composer and so forth, that’s how the front end of film editing looks like.

In spite of the fact RED workflow with MetaFuze and Media Composer looks complex, it is actually simpler than these older film based processes.

If you are a producer with an investment in Avid infrastructure or your pool of editors consists of talent who prefer the tools Media Composer has to offer, the new Avid RED Workflow may be the right answer.

If your company is brand agnostic you may want to consider the offline-to-finishing benefits of a vertically integrated Avid RED workflow.

The future will undoubtedly bring changes and refinements to Avid and other RED workflows. It is a good idea to research your entire post production process before starting your project.

Igor Ridanovic is a co-founder or RED Los Angeles User Group.