D-Cinema Korea (“DCK”), Seoul, Korea based company, established in 2008 by two major Korean exhibition chains to help accelerate the transition of Korean theatres to digital cinema, has reached non-exclusive Digital Cinema Deployment Agreements with Twentieth Century Fox (“Fox”), Paramount Pictures International (“Paramount”), Universal Pictures International (“Universal”).
GDC and RealD Partner to Deliver 3D Cinema to Asia
GDC Technology (“GDC”) and RealD announced today that they have entered into an agreement whereby GDC will become a distributor for RealD’s 3D systems in Asia. Under the non-exclusive agreement, GDC will work with RealD in territories such as China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, and Singapore.
Sony Announces New Exhibitor Agreements as Conversion to 4K Digital Cinema Technology Continues
Sony Electronics is announcing digital cinema agreements and deployments with five exhibitors across the United States, at the ShoWest trade show here this week. The new agreements range from outfitting facilities with Sony’s 4K digital projection technology to providing complete turn-key solutions for converting to digital technology.
Where to get 8mm & Super8 film transferred?
Where is a good place to get some 8mm & Super8 footage transferred?
Smaller, More Powerful Computers.
As computing becomes ever more powerful, and “Netbooks” offer mobile computing power on the road with low-power chips, diminutive boxes with powerhouse capabilities are not only inevitable- they’re already here. While home theatre machines may be a “hobby” to some electronics companies, others are taking it seriously and offering some horsepower under the hood…
Battle Brews Over 3D Glasses In Europe
Late last week I picked up on a rumor that was circulating about European exhibitors. Apparently, they are rejecting digital 3D versions of DreamWorks Animation’s “Monsters vs. Aliens” in lieu of 2D digital and 35mm prints as a response to being told that distributors will not pick up the tab for 3D glasses. The film […]
Read the full post at CelluloidJunkie.com
AMC Set To Deploy Sony 4K Digital Projectors
On the eve of ShoWest, the largest trade show for the motion picture exhibition and distribution industry, AMC Entertainment is set to announce that it will install Sony’s 4K digital projectors on all of their screens. According to Variety and the New York Times, the world’s second largest cinema chain will begin installing the equipment […]
Read the full post at CelluloidJunkie.com
DTS Digital Cinema Back From The Not-Quite-Dead With Qube Deal
DTS Digital Cinema has been going through a bumpy ride in the past year, but appears to be seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. One year ago DTS Inc. spun off its two non-licence division. DTS Digital Images reverted to being Lowry Digital under the new ownership of Reliance/Adlabs. DTS Digital […]
Read the full post at CelluloidJunkie.com
Celluloid Junkie-Monday 11 May
• Digital Cinema integrator Cinedigm (formerly AccessIT) has been thrown a financial life line by its largest creditor GE Commercial Finance. From the press release,…
• Of the 53 films screening at the Cannes Film Festival 50 will be screening in digital, but the press release from Christie frustratingly doesn’t tell us which three won’t. …
• Things are going from bad to worse in India, where the stand-off between the Distributors and the Exhibitors is turning into a WWI-style war of attrition. Now the single screens …
– The Bollywood stand-off is having repercussions abroad, with Hollywood soaking up audiences left high and dry in the Middle East, according to United Arab Emirate’s The National. …
– Up-and-coming London area of Bermondsey Square is getting a 50-seat ‘uniplex’ (pictured on CJunkie site) called Shortwave Cinema, described by the owner as “the first cinema…
– Australia is set to get its first all-digital multiplex as Greater Union unveils its latest multiplex at at Robina town centre on the Gold Coast. From Perth Now, …
– The booming North American box office has dragged Canada’s Cineplex Galaxy back in black, according to THR.com. “Toronto-based Cineplex Galaxy, which operates 130 multiplexes …
The Commoditization of VPFs, or, Why Having a Deal With Hollywood Studios Isn’t The Big Deal It Used To Be
Scrabble Entertainment has announced virtual print fee (VPF) deals with five Hollywood studios (”Hello Scott from SPE, in the back.”) to roll out digital cinema in India. This may be the last notable VPF deal for some time, if not for ever.
Scrabble has signed up Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox, plus Paramount […]
Read the full post at CelluloidJunkie.com
Heavyweights Debate Self-Financing Of Digital Rollout At ShoWest
Las Vegas is a city known for its many spectacles; bright lights, showgirls, casinos, fancy restaurants and prize fights are all just some of the attractions. So, it should come as no surprise that ShoWest, the annual gathering of motion picture exhibitors and distributors in Las Vegas, decided to add to the city’s attractions with […]
Read the full post at CelluloidJunkie.com
Cinnafilm, Digital Film Central unveil new image-processing technology
This software platform offers format conversion, restoration, optimization, enhancement, film simulation and retiming on a single workstation.
For more information, see the original article at Broadcast Engineering Online
Palace Cinemas Add 12 3D Screens
The press release reads as follows:
Palace Cinemas Adds Twelve 3D Digital Screens Across Central Europe for Monsters vs. Aliens in 3D Premiere
20 March 2009 – Palace Cinemas announces the addition of twelve (12) 3D-capable digital screens at its sites in Central Europe in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. Three will be in Prague, two in Brno, two in Bratislava and five in Budapest in addition to the one in operation since December 2007. Eleven of the sites will use the Masterimage 3D technology while Palace West End in Budapest will add an additional Real D system. The Barco projectors and XDC servers were provided through XDC and installed by Film-Ton-Technik (FTT). Palace Cinemas’ first wide 3D premiere will be Monsters vs. Aliens, a DreamWorks Animation production. There will be a special sneak-preview on 25 March at Palace Cinemas in the Czech Republic followed by a general release in the Czech Republic and Slovakia on 26 March and Hungary on 2 April.
“We are extremely excited to bring to our customers the very best in entertainment and 3D technology. It’s a revolutionary technology that will radically change the business,” says V.J Maury, CEO of Palace Cinemas. He adds “Palace Cinemas was the first to introduce digital projection to its markets in 2002. Our experience as an early-adopter of digital has given us invaluable experience. Our current expansion ensures that filmgoers in all our markets now have the opportunity to experience the many great new films being released in 3D this year.”
Country Manager for Czech Republic David Horacek says, “We are eager to build on our earlier experience and expand into both Prague and Brno.” “We see an audience eager to experience 3D at both of our sites in Bratislava,” notes Slovakia Country Manager Andrea Baisova. “We believe Palace will have the best digital 3D offer in Hungary now with six screens in Budapest,” comments Andrea Lovasz, Hungary Country Manager.
Palace Cinemas Central Europe is the leading cinema company in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary with 20 sites and 170 screens, with plans for further expansion. Palace Cinemas includes Palacemedia for cinema ad sales and Palace Pictures for distribution. The company consistently leads the market in new technologies including digital projectors, 3D, e-tickets, full web services and its own management software End 2 End (E2E). Palace Cinemas is dedicated to giving its customers a great night at the movies with its commitment to People, Entertainment and Fun.
Palace Cinemas was founded in 1999 by Arthur Goldblatt and V.J Maury. It is majority owned by funds managed by ARGUS Capital Group Limited (“ARGUS”), a private equity fund manager focusing on Central and Eastern Europe. ARGUS was established in 1998 and is supported by leading institutional investors from Europe, North America, the Middle East, and Japan. With total commitments of approx. €400 million in its two funds, ARGUS has invested in thirteen companies in the CEE region over the past ten years.
For additional information on Palace Cinemas, see www.palacecinemas.net Country Managers : Palace Cinemas Czech Republic : David Horacek [email protected] Palace Cinemas Slovakia : Andrea Baisova [email protected], Palace Cinemas Hungary : Andrea Lovasz, andrealovasz/@palacecinemas.hu, Corporate: CEO: V.J Maury, [email protected], GSM : +36203408676 CFO : David Jelinek, [email protected] Tech Manager : Mark Waldman, [email protected] E2E/IT Manager : Greg Bridle, [email protected]
SMPTE’s DCinema Summit at NAB
The event is titled: 3D Cinema & Beyond: Lens to Living Room. The NAB website for the event gives an easy registration link. It further says:
This year’s Summit will educate and inform on all aspects of 3D, allowing you to decide if the current explosion of stereoscopic content is a fad – or the future.
Digital Cinema exhibition is now well established in theatres worldwide. One of the prime business drivers has been stereoscopic 3D movies, which have proven able to pump up box office draw per screen. With more than 30 stereoscopic productions in the pipeline, 2009 and 2010 are expected to continue the trend of explosive growth in 3D cinema. Some audiences are asking: when can I have 3D at home? Some industry veterans believe that the answer is “soon.”
Leading producers, cinematographers and technologists will review the entire 3D path from acquisition, through post production, distribution and display. Panelists will review lessons learned in producing stereoscopic motion pictures and live events, and debate future trends in stereo image capture. You will see demonstrations illustrating the on-screen result of camera positioning, which can create either an immersive depth effect or painful eyestrain.
Leading engineers will explain and demonstrate the various techniques used for packaging and distributing compressed 3D images for satellite, over-the-air, IP download and packaged media, such as BluRay Disc. A comprehensive review of display technologies will reveal the benefits and shortcomings of today’s stereoscopic displays, and provide a glimpse into the R&D labs now inventing the future of stereoscopic display.
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Purpose and Contact
There are many tangential groups who create and capture and manipulate the bits, from one lens at the capture point to the other at the exhibition point. There are a lot of specialty magazines and blogs and a lot of distractions in one’s own field to keep focused upon.
We feel that there is a blank spot for people who want to get the highlights of the many various and closely aligned segments that are just outside their daily purview.
Thus, Industry Online.
Our goal is to focus more on tech news and white papers than on commercial press and sales press releases. We won’t have advertising, but we will allow vendors to post special sales (when that directory and page is set up.)
The idea for this tool was formed when Marvin Hall gave a seminal SMPTE presentation at NAB 2007 which spoke to the issues that Modern Video/Film had to go through on each piece that they take in, massage and kick out. Clearly, among the pages of standards and constant deadlines, among the headlong-rush of technology in every particular sub-category, there seems to be a need for cross communication.
Since we are all forced to be computer experts and help protect copyright interests, we’ll also attempt to keep an eye out for important security information.
And, of course, training—the field is not only fast moving, but we are requiring IT and digital expertise in places where mechanical skill was more important. The long hours of creating standards, and the benefits derived, will be for nought if they and best practices aren’t passed along.
So, we thank you for this opportunity. Your editor began in the pro-audio world in the 70’s. Since then he has sold, installed and trained people on entertainment technology equipment in film and TV studios around the world. He remembers how complicated and expensive motion tracking and 16 gig RAIDs were in the 90’s. In 2002 he was part of the installation groups who installed the first hundred digital cinema systems for the Star Wars II release. Since then, hundreds of HD-SDI cables and projectionist training hours later, he presents this journal.
If you see something interesting, pass it along. If you want to cut out a space to broadcast a message, please feel free to use this forum. Also, we take advice well. Please make any comments, requests or complaints to:
Charles ‘C J’ Flynn
OpsCenter Technologies, Inc. | Cheyenne, WY
Internet Marine, SARL | Sophia Antipolis, FR
cjflynn @ ops center tech .com <remove spaces, of course>
This news magazine is part of the OpsCenterTechnologies online publishing empire (sic – in many ways).
DCinemaTools was introduced in June of 2009, but not live until mid-January 2010.