Category Archives: Post

Post Production is post and prior—a lot of work taking other people’s material from dozens of sources and fitting it all into some other group’s needs. Very technical.

Audio Processing

Art of Mixing Motion Pictures

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‘Our primary rerecording format remains 5.1-channel soundtracks,’ considers ‘Doc’ Goldstein, VP of post-production engineering at Universal Studios Sound. ‘But we can accommodate other multichannel formats and always have our eye on the future requirements of filmmakers.’ The ubiquitous 5.1-channel format involves three screen channels (left, centre, right) plus separate surround channels beside and behind the audience (labelled left-surround and right-surround) in addition to a low-frequency extension/LFE channel that carries reduced-bandwidth material (hence the ‘0.1’ label).

Read the rest of this fine Mel Lambert/ProAudio Asia article at:
The art of mixing motion pictures – Pro Audio Central

Part 2 of article, speaks about the Iosono Sound Audio System: 
Iosono Surround Sound – a perfect companion to 3D releases?

Such material is carried to audiences on analogue film using one of three data-compressed formats: Dolby Digital, which optically prints the digitised audio between the sprocket holes; DTS, which uses a time code track on the film to synchronise a companion CD-ROM that carries the multichannel audio; and SDDS – Sony Dynamic Digital Sound – which uses a similar technique to Dolby but, as we shall see, can accommodate additional screen channels.

Dolby Digital premiered in 1992 with Batman Returns, while DTS launched a year later with Jurassic Park …

Meanwhile, reacting to a need for a more immersive soundtrack experience and to provide additional panning options …

The first Digital Surround EX release, in May 1999, was for Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. Earlier this year Dolby unveiled …

There is however another 7.1-channel format that offers extra behind-the-screen loudspeakers. …

According to Gary Johns, SVP of Sony’s Digital Cinema Solutions, there are roughly 7,000 screens worldwide equipped for SDDS 5.1 playback, with fewer than 1,000 screens outfitted for SDDS 7.1. ‘…

‘Of the formats beyond 5.1, we have seen some 7.1-channel mixes,’ Universal’s Mr Goldstein offers. …

All current analogue film releases also carry a two-channel optical Dolby Pro Logic soundtrack that contains…

In addition to the IMAX presentation format that uses a 70mm film or digital file…

Tomlinson Holman, formerly with Lucasfilm’s Skywalker Ranch and now president of TMH Corporation, has been advocating several playback formats, including a 10.2 configuration. Co-developed with Chris Kyriakakis of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, and first demonstrated …

‘The difference is not the placement of the speakers,’ Mr Holman stresses, ‘but rather the type of speakers and the information sent to them. 12.2 would use both surround-diffuse and surround-direct channels.’ …

Multichannel Mixes for digital cinema

The advent of digital projection with playback from hard-disk servers rather than analogue film …

‘Beginning in April 2011,’ points out Charles Flynn from the DCinemaCompliance Group, …

The ability to carry uncompressed audio to audiences at enhanced bit rates and sample rates will extend filmmakers’ creative options, …

Sony Pictures Studios’ postproduction complex features five state-of-the art dubbing stages that are ‘capable …

Storage and Networks

Disaster Recovery Plans: Top 10 Forgotten Items

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1. Failing to identify everything that could potentially jeopardize the infrastructure and data that run your business. In addition to the obvious threats – viruses, Trojans, worms, etc. – you need to identify any forces that are unique to your geography. Do you live on an earthquake fault or in a flood zone? Does your region experience frequent power interruptions from storms or rolling blackouts? Make sure all of these possibilities are considered when creating your plan or choosing a location for a new DR facility.

2. Creating a plan that depends on too few qualified personnel. It is not uncommon for businesses to create a DR plan that depends on just one IT person with a pager. What if that person is unavailable for some reason? You need to identify and cross-train a pool of employees that are capable of responding in an emergency. It also helps if this pool of resources is geographically dispersed in case of a large environmental disaster that affects all local employees.

3. Relying on manual processes to notify staff during a disaster. If the power goes out in your facility and no one is there to report it, will your DR staff be informed? You need to create an automated system that will notify your IT staff of any disaster or disruption to service. You can also establish an arrangement with a third-party service provider to monitor your facility and notify a pre-defined set of individuals that are trained to execute your DR plan.

4. Failing to procure adequate backup power. If your facility is affected by a wide-spread environmental disruption, you many find yourself without power for an extended period of time. Be sure to purchase the longestlife, most uninterruptible power supply available. Then obtain additional battery back-up for continued power.

5. Forgetting to prioritize what resources need to be restored first. Which of your IT applications need to be accessed first? Are there some that can wait a day or two without affecting your business? You need to be selective about the order in which applications and services are brought back online first after a disaster. For example, you might choose to reactivate your company’s email application before you restore departmental file servers. There may be politics involved in this decision, so make sure you get buy-in beforehand, to avoid the “me firsts!”

6. Failing to create adequate documentation of your DR plan. After creating a plan, be sure that you create detailed step- by-step instructions on how to execute the recovery plan. Ensure that every process is well documented. Describe the location of all system resources needed to accomplish the recovery. Be sure to store the documentation at multiple locations and verify that all key personnel have easy access to the manuals.

7. Relying on back ups. It doesn’t matter how good your DR plan is if your data is out of date, is in a location also affected by the disaster, or has become corrupted. Perform backups at rigidly enforced, regular intervals to protect information integrity. Or, use a technology like VMware virtualization to implement a remote site with replicated virtual machines to speed recovery.

8. Forgetting to test your disaster recovery plan. You need to make sure your recovery plan actually works in an emergency! While this seems obvious, many enterprises neglect to adequately test their plans. You should regularly conduct data fire-drills to test every possible scenario, from basic power failures to catastrophic events that could result in multiple months of devastation. Again, technology like VMware virtualization, and the ability to provision any server with the virtual machines needed, in minutes, make testing your DR plan fast and effective.

9. Making passwords too hard to find. Though password protection is a key goal for data security, you need to store your system passwords in at least two geographically separate, secure locations. Make sure that more than one IT staff person has access to all passwords and codes. And be sure to change these passwords promptly if key personnel leave the company.

10. Failing to keep your recovery plan up to date. You should never stop updating your DR plan. Once you’ve created your plan, revisit it at least on a quarterly basis. Determine a list of trigger points that should invoke changes to the plan, like personnel, equipment, location or application changes, to name a few. This will not only keep your IT staff’s skills fresh, it will also provide the opportunity to improve procedures as you uncover vulnerabilities in your plan or ways to streamline your procedures.

Video Processing

DCPC – Digital Cinema Package Creator

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Functions:

– SMPTE / MXF Interop DCPs
– 2D + 3D DCPs
– 2k BW/Scope, 4k BW/Scope and HD resolutions
– 6 Channel Sound, 24bit/48kHz
– Film and still image creation
– MPEG2 DCPs for E-Cinema Server
– DCP “re”wraping of MXF files
– Source image formats: bmp, tif, dpx, MPEG2 ES (MPEG2 DCP)
– Source Sound format: PCM 24bit
– Framerates: 24, 25

Utility archive: This archive contains the required Imagemagick, and a helpful
Program to e.g. avi video files to split into individual images in order to create aDCP.

3D channel separation test DCP: The DCP contains two test images for you to consider the quality of the channel separation. The left image contains the test images, the right image is black.

Video Processing

Ideas for mastering DCPs

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Taken from an article at Knut Erik Evensen’s site: 
Some ideas for best common practices when mastering DCPs

For the very brave, he also has instructions on making your own DCP using free or Open Sourced programs (EasyDCP, for example), but he also has a very reasonably priced service.

If a movie uses a workflow like the movie Inception where there is no Digital Intermediate (DI) and the film is color timed photochemically in a film lab, the color timed print has to be scanned and fine tuned for 2.6 gamma 12 bit linear to make the DCP. Otherwise the 35 mm print has to be screened. In no way can the offline edit or a SD video tape be used to make a DCP for theatrical distribution.

A DCP should be made from the DCDM with correct XYZ colorspace and 2.6 gamma made from the Digital Intermediate (DI) that has been graded on a P3 color space projector with 14 footlambert of light. The DCP is normally made from the emulation of how the 35 mm print will look on a digital projector. This emulation is baked into the DCDM and the DCP is fined tuned for 12 bit linear. The resolution should be 2048×858 or 1998×1080.

Continued at: Some ideas for best common practices when mastering DCPs

Video Processing

Effect Lessons

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Tutorials

After Effects Basic Training – 10 Free Lessons

VIDEO COPILOT | Professional After Effects Tutorials, Plug-ins & Pre-Keyed Stock Footage
            Free Stock-Pack Appreciation Day

From Forum Post: Effects availible for Lightworks

Revisionfx primere effects
Pete warden after effects 
Top Video Editing Effects According to About.com
144 After Effects Plug-Ins
New Blue Cartoonr effect
Free Frame effects
The Plugin Site – might be very out dated
StevenGotz Plugins
Tool farm<-pretty much a big list of links to plugins for effects

White Papers Post

Post Site Links

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  • Amatuer Media (Typography Specialist – including video tutorials)
  • Art of the Title Squence (See A Brief History of Title Design)
  • Cinema 5D (DSLR Filmmakers Forum – Ideas and Videos)
  • Clay Asbury’s Post Tips (FCP and AE Training Tips and Videos)
  • Digital Films (Oliver Peters – Tips and Video Examples, including RED, FCP, AVID)
  • FCP.co (Aiming to be the #1 FCP resource)
  • Filmmaker Magazine
  • Grayscale Gorilla
  • Lester Banks
  • Little Frog in High Def
  • motionographer
  • Pro Video Coalition
  • ProLost
  • Studio Daily
  • Tao of Color
    • Video Processing

    EditShare, Lightworks Open Source Proceeding

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    Avoid the PR link: Lightworks

    Early release loading errors are being shaken out, and it looks like a bit of a community is being formed.

    The store isn’t opened yet, so pricing on additional codecs isn’t openly available.

    Here is a nice list of free plug-ins to go with the open source software: Effects availible for Lightworks

    Boston, MA – November 30, 2010 — EditShare®, the technology leader in cross platform collaborative editing and shared media storage, is pleased to announce the first step in the roll out of Lightworks Open Source. Today, the free Lightworks 2010 Public Beta download will be available to all interested participants. Now anyone can familiarize themselves with the Lightworks editing system and view the new features and enhancements that have transformed Lightworks into the industry’s most advanced editing solution. “Since our initial announcement at this year’s NAB Show, we’ve had over 25,000 editors and 1,700 developers sign up to become a part of the Lightworks Open Source community. The unified support and constructive feedback has driven the initiative and helped bring our developers one step closer to finalizing the most creative editor on the market,” says James Richings, Managing Director of EditShare EMEA. “We look forward to the phase two release of Lightworks Open Source in the new year.”

    Academy® and Emmy® award-winning Lightworks was introduced in 1989 as the first and most advanced professional editing system on the market. Its intuitive controls, real-time synchronization, and editing features remain unmatched by top industry alternatives. “Lightworks has been a far superior editing tool since its inception, and I am very happy to see EditShare’s aggressive development of the new Open Source platform. I look forward to Lightworks’ continued growth and seeing it take center stage in the post-production community,” says Tariq Anwar, Editor, “The King’s Speech.”

    Lightworks 2010 Public Beta – Free Download Features 
    Since EditShare’s acquisition of Lightworks in August 2009, developers have been working around the clock to perfect new and improved software and hardware features to bring a higher quality product to the end user. 

    Capture and Playback
    • Edit While Capture, Firewire, SD (analogue and digital), HD-SDI with optional I/O cards
    • Full-screen, real-time SD, HD, and 2K preview playback on desktop display, Dual HD-SDI and DVI for Stereoscopic playback

    Editing
    • Resolution, format and codec independent edits
    • Edit at 23.976, true 24, 25, 29.97, 30, 50, or 60 
    • Advanced multi-cam editing with unlimited sources

    Effects
    • Real-time effects in SD, HD and 2K
    • Field or Frame based varispeed
    • Key frame graphs 
    • Effects Layers with node-based layering tool
    • Multiple real-time Primary and Secondary color correctors

    Tools
    • Multi-track Audio Mixer with full bus routing and multiple mixes
    • Customization templates for Avid® and Final Cut Pro® shortcuts
    • Voice Over tool for adding narration directly to edit
    • Shot Sync – sync two sources for playback comparison 
    • Customizable BITC timecode and film footage overlays

    Film
    • Support for 35mm 3-perf, 35mm 4-perf, and 16mm-20 and mixed film formats 
    • View feet and frames in edit
    • View keycode and ink number
    • 24-fps EDL import, export and conversion to and from 29.97 fps 
    • Import ALE, FLX, and CSV files
    • Cut list, Change list, Optical list, Pull list, Dupe list

    3rd-Party Support
    • Inscriber Titlemotion®, Boris, Combustion®, After Effects®, Premiere® Plug-ins, Sapphire™, Digital Fusion
    • Support for any application that can exchange AVI, MXF and QuickTime® files 

    Collaboration
    • Advanced Shared Projects with real-time review*

    I/O Support
    • Avid DNxHD*, Apple® ProRes®*, RED® R3D*, AVC-Intra*, AVCHD*, H.264, XDCAM HD*, XDCAM EX* DPX*, DV, DV50, DV100, P2, Uncompressed, OMF, AAF
    • QuickTime, MXF Op-Atom, MXF Op1a, AVI
    • Telecine 29.97i to 24p pull down removal 
    • 30fps and 25fps import to 24fps project
    • Stereoscopic support for independent Left and Right files*

    New Features
    • New and intuitive User Interface
    • Avid and Final Cut Pro keyboard shortcut preferences
    • New Style ‘Bins’
    • On screen console controls
    • Full screen video on single or secondary displays
    • Advanced Project Sharing*
    • Native support for ProRes, Avid DNxHD and AVC-Intra*
    • Native support for RED R3D files and RED ROCKET™ cards*
    • 10-bit and 16-bit DPX support*
    • H.264 and AVCHD support for DSLR cameras*
    • Stereoscopic import and editorial support*
    • Stereoscopic output through SDI and DVI (dual stream, side by side, anaglyph)**
    • Native 2K resolution support
    • Output through DVI in different resolutions up to 2K
    • New project browser
    • Windows® Vista® (32-bit), Windows 7® (32-bit and 64-bit) and Windows XP® SP2 (32-bit) support

    *Options available through the Lightworks Store
    ** SDI Output requires optional I/O hardware

    For further information on the Lightworks Open Source project, please visit: www.editshare.com/lightworks

    About EditShare LLC
    EditShare LLC is the pioneer of a new category of collaborative editing solutions designed for digital media workgroups and production companies. The EditShare system fuels the collaborative creative process for digital media artists by delivering high-quality, high-performance, and cost-effective networked collaborative editing solutions. For more information, please visit: http://www.editshare.com.  

    ©2010 EditShare LLC. All rights reserved. EditShare is a registered trademark of EditShare LLC. All other trademarks mentioned herein belong to their respective owners.

    Storage and Networks

    Deluxe On Ascent [Updated]

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    This weeks press release brings them not only the digital library services of Ascent Media, but many boutique post sites as well. If they can give each enough rein to do what they are good at, support them with assets that make each different, and not force corporate overheads that buy Jaguars for the VPs but inhibit innovations, they might get out of this transition in good shape.

    Brief Update: On 31 December, Deluxe issued a press release announcing that they have completed the transaction.

    Hollywood, CA November 24, 2010 — Deluxe Entertainment Services Group Inc. announced today that it has signed an agreement with Ascent Media Corporation (NASDAQ: ASCMA) to acquire Ascent’s Creative Services and Media Services businesses, including the well-known brands of Company 3, Beast, Method, Rushes, Encore Hollywood and Level 3 Post. 

    The acquisition will also enhance Deluxe’s services for clients that include life-cycle library management and digital asset management. Digital services include file based mastering, archiving, digital distribution, DVD and Blu-ray authoring. 

    Deluxe is the world’s largest processor of film for the motion picture industry and the industry’s largest provider of Blu-ray authoring services. Over the last few years Deluxe has significantly increased its service offerings in digital services and content delivery. The company’s pipeline includes 2D and 3D post production services from film or digital capture to digital intermediates with the proprietary EFILM® workflow, theatrical release (35mm and digital cinema), and home entertainment services for every digital media platform. 

    “Deluxe is well positioned to take our company into the future as technologies continue to transform how customers create and distribute content for films and television programs,” said Cyril Drabinsky, President and CEO of Deluxe. “We look forward to this talented group of people joining the Deluxe team,” adds Drabinsky. 

    The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close by the end of the year.

    Video Processing

    In-Three Finds Digital Domain

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    Perhaps larger than the movies that In-Three has been a part of (Alice but importantly, not Clash), was the major news of a year ago that In-Three was working with the Indian firm Reliance Media to form a partnership to establish a 1.000 person group in Mumbai: Reliance of India in 3-D Movie Partnership With In-Three Inc. of U.S. – WSJ.com

    The formula press release explains the details known thus far:

    Digital Domain Holdings Acquires In-Three

    –Florida based media group expands digital services and technology portfolio–

    Port St. Lucie, Fla. — November 18, 2010 — Digital Domain Holdings, parent company of Academy Award®-winning digital studio Digital Domain, announced today that it has reached an agreement to acquire 3D stereo studio In-Three, Inc., developer of the Dimensionalization® process that converts 2D films into high quality, 3D stereo imagery.

    Digital Domain Holdings CEO John Textor said, “In-Three has been a pioneer in the research and development of stereoscopic technology. This partnership adds large scale production to In-Three’s world class technology, while creating new jobs in the state of Florida.”

    Digital Domain studios in California and Vancouver recently completed production on Walt Disney Studios’ TRON: Legacy, which was generated and produced in stereoscopic 3D. In-Three completed 3D stereo work on Tim Burton’s visionary blockbuster Alice in Wonderland, which grossed over $1 billion at the worldwide box office.

    “For over 10 years we have been intensely focused on bringing rich and immersive 3D images to the screen,” said Neil Feldman, In-Three CEO. “We are excited to work with Digital Domain to deliver quality 3D stereo entertainment experiences for today’s audiences.”

    “3D stereo movies exploded on the market this year,” added Digital Domain CEO Cliff Plumer. “Alice in Wonderland was a visually amazing 3D immersive experience, and TRON: Legacy will end the year with another dazzling 3D entertainment event. I have known Neil and the talented artists and technologists at In-Three for a long time. We will collaborate to provide the highest quality 3D stereo solutions to filmmakers.”

    The In-Three team will be based out of Digital Domain Holdings’ headquarters in Port St. Lucie, Florida.

    About Digital Domain Holdings

    Digital Domain Holdings is the parent company of California-based Digital Domain, the Academy Award®-winning digital production studio. In 2009 Digital Domain Holdings began developing a large- scale digital production studio in the city of Port St. Lucie, Florida. Due to the growth and success of Digital Domain in California and Vancouver, Digital Domain Holdings has accelerated its hiring plans in Florida to provide additional capacity for both traditional and stereoscopic 3D visual effects. The company has also recently announced plans to build the Digital Domain Institute in West Palm Beach, Florida, a four-year program in advanced digital media supported by the College of Motion Picture Arts at Florida State University.

    Founded in 1993 by film industry icons, Digital Domain is an Academy Award®-winning digital production studio focused on visual effects for feature film and advertising production. Among its 80+ film credits are three features that were awarded the Oscar for visual effects, including Titanic, What Dreams May Come and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. A creative giant in advertising, Digital Domain has earned scores of Clio, AICP and Cannes Lion awards for some of the world’s most memorable spots. The studio works with top directors and has become renowned for its technical innovation, claiming four Scientific &Technical Achievement Awards from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Digital Domain is charging forward with its pioneering work in photo-real digital characters as well as projects that cross traditional media boundaries. The company is based in Venice, California and recently opened a studio in Vancouver, British Columbia. www.digitaldomain.com

    About In-Three, Inc.

    Organized in 1999 to pioneer research and development in stereoscopic reconstruction of two dimensional images, In-Three, Inc. developed and patented a process called Dimensionalization® that makes it practical to convert 2D films into high quality, artifact-free 3D films.

    In-Three is unique in offering a director the ability to select the dramatic impact appropriate to each scene. It does this by providing a range of style and degree choices. This capacity to incorporate artistic intent in 2D to 3D reconstruction is an inherent and distinguishing feature of Dimensionalization.

    In addition to developing and continuing to refine Dimensionalization, In-Three has created the staff and systems that make “Dimensionalization by In-Three” an appropriate choice for directors and studios.

    Contact:

    Stan Szymanski Digital Domain Holdings | 772.345.8000

    Storage and Networks

    IRIDAS Certifies Facilis Technology’s TerraBlock for Complete Range of Stereoscopic Review and Real

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    “IRIDAS has always taken great strides to eliminate obstacles from our customers’ workflow. We know they don’t have a minute to spare wondering if the components of their workflow will perform well together, so we’ve designed a certification process that eliminates the guesswork,” said Patrick Palmer, chief operating officer, IRIDAS. “Our qualification virtually guarantees not only will TerraBlock work every time, it will deliver the levels of performance customers require in complex production workflow environments.”

    Editor note: Compliance, 64 bits, 3D, 4K – Who could ask for more? Certainly worth looking into.

    “Facilis has earned a reputation in the content creation marketplace for delivering high performance shared media storage solutions optimized for the digital media artist,” added James McKenna, vice president, Facilis Technology. “But as we’ve also witnessed, the advent of new stereoscopic 3D technologies and multi-format environments raises important questions among content creators about what tools work best together. IRIDAS’ certification for TerraBlock sends a strong message that our newest 64-bit platform is perfectly optimized for the IRIDAS workflow.”

    In September, Facilis announced a new 64-bit operating system as well as new high-performance SAS controllers to add to the available bandwidth for multi-stream uncompressed and 2K/4K DI workflows.

    About Facilis Technology

    Facilis Technology, Inc. designs and builds high-capacity, turnkey shared storage networks for television, film and all other aspects of post-production. Facilis Technology delivers cost-effective, high-bandwidth storage solutions that enable a more efficient workflow for content creators. For more information, visit www.facilis.com or contact [email protected].

    About IRIDAS

    For over a decade, IRIDAS has become world renowned for its innovations in the digital filmmaking industry, redefining the way artists view, manipulate, enhance and produce their digital creations. As the industry’s earliest pioneers of stereoscopic review solutions and real-time color grading and manipulation techniques, IRIDAS taps its legacy of engineering expertise to streamline production and post production workflows, from onset to finishing, and is making stereoscopic moviemaking an everyday reality. For more information, please visit www.iridas.com.

    Edge Storage and Archiving

    LTO-5 Basics

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    LTO 5 Evolution Chart

    Questions remain about usability for small and medium sized businesses who wish to maintain their own back-up systems. Maintaining a library of tapes doesn’t have the same drag and drop ease as hard-disks. It is absolutely mandatory, for example, that the tapes must not be allowed to just sit on the shelf for long lengths of time, but rather must be run through the hardware on a regular basis (which also has the advantage of finding repairable errors.) On the other hand, 1 x 1017 error rates are enticing.

    Researchers are developing systems to assist with making tape an easy part of the workflow: The Linear Tape File System (LTFS). LTFS is available to LTO-5 because if its new method of streaming data to the tape in a manner that allows partitioning. This is an evolving issue that should be monitored, or better yet, brought up in industry association meetings to share experiences and problems. See: LTO-5 and LTFS: Shaking the Pillars of Heaven

    This is a good place to also mention the Pergamum project, which attempts to build an archive system from low-cost drives. They have exhibited at the last 2 NAB conventions. UCSC computer scientists develop solutions for long-term storage of digital data – UC Santa Cruz

    Previous articles on the subject of Archiving:

    IEEE (MSST2010) Symposium on Massive Storage Systems Papers Available

    IVC/Point.360 Archive Development

    Editshare Storage At IBC

    Attached are some basic white papers and datasheets.

    Video Processing

    Open Source DCP Mastering

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    There are two threads on the RED User forum:

    Digital cinema package – how i, a computer neophyte, made an open source dcp on my ma – REDUSER.net

    This one has excellent data on preparing your audio and video materials: Digital Cinema Package – REDUSER.net

    Film maker Chris Perry writes the A-Z on his site as well, which he recently updated: crumbs: Making a DCP entirely with open source tools (update)

    Clyde has other articles on the site, one that explains Doremi’s CineAssist version 
    Doremi’s CineAssist allows for in-house 3D DCP mastering

    For a myriad of other DCinema best practices, especially focused on Stereoscopic 3D, see his blog:
    http://www.realvision.ae/blog 

    There are many restrictions in the open source model at this point. Alternative frame rates (anything other than 24 frames) is not easy…or perhaps not even possible if you don’t have a means of creating a JPEG 2000 version of your output…which is a requirement of the DCP. 

    Knut Erik Evensen‘s site promotes his DCP mastering services and he also has an article on the open source capabilities, DCPC, a frontend to open source DCP tools.

    Lars Reichel has a front end for DCP creation: Digital Cinema Package Creator

    No matter how much reading you do, these techniques are not simple or for those without excellent computer skills. 

    Still free, but possibly not open sourced, one cannot neglect the excellent work from the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany, centering a suite of products around easyDCP, easyDCP Creator, easyDCP Player and easyDCP Workflow Plug-Ins.

    The sister company of the  Aussie integrators Digital Cinema Network is the developerment group digitAll, who have introduced the dcpPlayer for the desktop computer and are soon to release dcpEncoder. (digitAll is also a sister group to Cine Tech Geek, a great place to get practical demonstrations of digital cinema equipment and concepts.)

    Edge Storage and Archiving

    IVC/Point.360 Archive Development

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    FilmLight announced at IBC 2010 that they will serve as the distributor of the process (given their relationship with Aaton) outside the US.

    The next public presentation will be at the ACVL (Association of Cinema & Video Laboratories) of the Library of Congress on 8 October 2010, and at the SMPTE Annual Technical Conference and Expro on 26 October 2010.

     

    See the White Paper (attached) and a few of the sample .jpeg and .dpx files. More are available by writing the author.

    Two .dpx files can be downloaded at:

    4K_Visionary_ColorCorrected.dpx

    4K_Visionary_noColorCorrection.dpx

    You will also notice a zip file of JPEG shots can be downloaded in addition to the White Paper.

    Edge Storage and Archiving

    Editshare Storage At IBC

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    “Ark 2.0’s tight integration with Flow creates a unique and powerful media asset protection environment at your fingertips. As you backup or archive clips, they are added automatically to the Flow database and proxy files are generated during backup if they don’t already exist. Now searching for and previewing archived or backed-up clips through the Flow Browse front end is as simple as ever. When you find what you’re looking for based on proxy files, you can start organizing clips into a sequence and then just drag them into a Restore Job. Within minutes, the full-resolution clips appear in the designated EditShare Media Space,” says Andy Liebman, Founder and CEO, EditShare. “Ark 2.0 has the intelligence to grow and expand as customers’ storage and workflow needs change. If your main storage system fails, you can activate Ark Disk 2.0, which then becomes a temporary, full-blown EditShare storage system. We are thrilled to ship Ark 2.0 at IBC 2010 and to present this remarkable asset protection system to the European market.”  

     

    When combined with EditShare’s ingest, playout, storage, and asset-management products, Ark 2.0 provides the backup and archiving component of a seamless set of workflow tools that can meet the needs of virtually any broadcast, entertainment, or post-production environment. 

    NEW Highlights of Ark 2.0 – Protecting Your Media Assets

    • Integration with Flow for Complete Backup – Integration between Ark and Flow ensures that all archived clips now have a record in the Flow database prior to being copied to Ark. Flow scans all clips to ensure that proxy files have been created. Ark updates the Flow database to keep a record of exactly where each archived clip is located. Flow users then can search and browse all clips stored on Ark. 

    • Integration with Flow for Complete Restoration of Files – Having a record in the Flow database of all archived or backed-up clips makes restoring files from Ark easier than ever. It is now possible to search or browse for clips even though high‐resolution versions are “offline” and stored only on Ark. Through Flow Browse, users can play low‐resolution proxy versions, incorporate them into sequences, and then restore the desired high‐resolution versions to any EditShare Media Space. From within Flow Browse, authorized editors can set up Restore jobs to occur instantly or at a later, scheduled time. 

    • Support for Multi‐Drive Tape Libraries – Ark 2.0 supports a wide range of tape autoloaders and tape libraries that use standard LTO-4 and LTO-5 tapes. Autoloaders and libraries with multiple tape drives now can be used. 

    • Activation Feature for Ark Disk – A new activation feature allows customers to utilize their Ark Disk system as a rapid failover if one of their main storage systems fails. An Ark Disk system can be used as a substitute EditShare storage system until the main system is back up and running again.  

    • Improved Tape Management – The new Ark user interface graphically shows which tapes currently are loaded into a Tape Library and in exactly which slot they can be found. 

    Core EditShare Ark Benefits:

    • Media Asset Tracking – Archive media, bins, and sequences with metadata intact, ensuring quick searches for online and near‐line archives.

    • Multi‐format Support – Backup or archive P2, XDCAM, and other file‐based media.

    • Automated and Manual Backups – Schedule backups to occur in the background or during off‐peak times.

    • Turn into EditShare – In the event of a main storage system failure, Ark Disk can be activated into a high‐functioning EditShare Storage Series system.

    • Selected File Restore – Browse backed-up and archived clips in Flow Browse, preview their proxy files, and then restore only the high‐resolution clips you need.

    EditShare will be exhibiting the new Ark solutions at the 2010 IBC Exhibition on stand 7.E20. A press briefing will be held at the booth on Sunday, September 12th, from 16:00 to 16:30.