DI technology takes flight in asia-pacific

Jeffrey Chow

Regional Executive Producer

Fame Post-Production Thailand

Years back, DI was an expensive and high technology workflow for filmmakers. Now, there are many choices of DI workflow by variety of equipment and resolution. The line up now is more complete including cameras like RED which are selling at a low price to offer filmmakers a chance to work in DI. Good post facilities and third party programmes allow filmmakers to work in DI in any kind of budget.

At the moment, 2k DI pipeline and RED DI pipeline are the most welcomed advancements for filmmakers.

The major advantage digital intermediate offers is that colour correction is done only once, and the resulting file is then used to produce film and all video versions. Directors, cinematographers and editors can control and approve in one place the timing of all versions of their show and take care of other tasks, such as pan and scan and letterboxing, at the same time.

Not only can a project be colour corrected in ways not previously possible, but the fact that the entire show can be digitally manipulated extends the creative palette and gives production the freedom to use more visual effects. As a result, it allows productions to be shot faster and, for better or worse, with less discipline. Price is always the issue nowadays (although the quality is still demanding). In addition, I hope file formats can be converted easily and is compatible to different equipment as this is very important for post-production.

Pete Jimenez

COO

Optima Digital

The last ground-breaking innovation was the stereoscopic in the DI workflow. Since then, we’ve seen DI improve mostly on technologies that enable us to work on higher resolutions supported by stronger and faster hardware.

The newest ones are faster and higher resolution scanners, higher bandwidth and faster storage systems, and also supporting software for RED.

Everything is non-linear now. In our case, we work on various TV commercials and films through a fibre-connected Bright Drive system accessible to our three grading suites, five online suites and CGi group so it allows faster collaboration and greater flexibility among these different groups.

We continue to monitor stereoscopy and higher resolution formats (2K, 4K, 8K). These are all happening now

and leading us to new and exciting possibilities. Moving forward, we’ve maintained discipline in the way we incorporate technologies to our systems, listening to our client’s needs first and crafting a workflow to meet them. We’ve been in business for 19 years now and we’ve been quite successful so far.

Rachel Knowles Head of Post Production Digital Pictures DI has come a long way over the last few years. It has adapted itself to work cohesively with new digital acquisition formats and techniques (such as 3D stereoscopy). The creative tools have seen many great improvements allowing members of the DI team greater freedom to deliver a singular vision. This vast improvements in technology mean speed and flexibility have gone far beyond what we’ve ever seen before. Of course improvements in tool sets allow us to increase the rate at which an artist can work and also the control they have over the project. With more and more varying toolsets being included into the DI suite, it really means that clients can have a more defined point of creative contact. DI was really the beginning of the kind of end to end solutions that filmmakers have available to them today. These days it is common (especially with digital acquisition) for filmmakers to be able to view their rushes immediately after shooting and even begin editing a scene of pre-vis for VFX. The advent of DI technology showed people what digital was capable of, the most important benefit of which is immediate results. In comparison with 8-10 years ago when DI was more of a niche and had not morphed into the industry standard, we now have the capability to show clients real-time colour correction, the ability to almost immediately show VFX versions, changes in editorial, new titles, etc. and all of this with audio completing the experience. The new filmmaking and post-production techniques involved in stereoscopy are truly incredible. Coupled with 3D comes Digital Cinema, and this is an exciting new business that’s really beginning to take off for us. Digital Cinema rollout has been slowed down a little by the financial crisis and right now we’re mostly seeing 3D content on digital screens in Australia, but watch this space as we’re getting more and more interest from 2D filmmakers in being able to go straight to a digital display for their content. Michael Wick Sales Manager APAC Digital Film Technology The equipment in various stages of a DI workflow has improved a lot over the past few years. In particular, processing power and the way images are manipulated and stored, as well as the creative control of the images. Storage technology such as SAN’s manage the immense amounts of data required for the digital intermediate process of content, and provide access to the content by multiple users at the same time. This scalable storage model, improvements in data management, shared file systems and the price/performance of storage deliver significant workflow improvements and cost savings. With 2K in real-time, and the trend toward 4K, as well as the fact that the DI process can handle mixed formats, a fast, efficient and flexible DI workflow that offers real-time functionality is a key to providing competitive solutions and services. Off-the-shelf IT technology is helping to aid the expansion of DI workflows and the continuous shift from hardware centric to software centric solutions and workflows is also further impacting the business. The supply and demand for resolution-independent DI tools, as well as storage and network solutions that support file-based formats is playing a large role in the DI workflow. General purpose computer platforms have gained wider applicability, which has eroded the need for proprietary and dedicated hardware solutions. Faster and more cost-effective film scanners are aiding the DI process. The new SCANITY film scanner is helping drive this process, in particular with its ‘scan-once’ model, whereby dailies and the final DI can be made from one set of scans. SCANITY provides 4K scanning at 15fps, and includes innovative new advancements such as TDI Sensor Technology, a new roller gate design with touch-free optical pin registration, ensuring image stability and steadiness. Bones Dailies, a non-linear software also supports the scan-one approach, and opens up new ways of handling digital dailies. It is a turnkey, scalable solution that manages the entire dailies production process.