American Cinematographer - January 2009 - (Page 84)

New Products & Services Codex Unveils Digital Lab Codex Digital, a specialist in high-resolution media-recording and workflow systems, has extended its product family with the Codex Lab, a digital film lab in a box that forms the hub of fast, efficient tapeless workflows. The Lab is modular, offers enormous recording capacity and provides all deliverables needed for production, post and archiving. The Lab can ingest digital production material from Codex recorders, tape, telecine or other digital systems. It can be expanded to store more than 500 hours of digital cinema footage or 1,000 hours of high-end broadcast material, plus audio. When used in standard-definition applications, the Lab can hold 3,600 hours of recordings. All material stored in the Lab is immediately available for on-demand daily deliverables and reprints. When an offline edit is complete, the Lab automatically generates the required finishing files from the EDL in a matter of minutes or hours. It will also play out to multiple channels of video (HD or SD), with automatic processing of shot lists or EDLs. The Lab converts formats ranging from standard-def to 4K into editing files for Avid, Apple or Adobe, or into finishing or archive tapes or viewing files. Output file formats include DPX, MXF, DNxHD, QuickTime, AVI, JPEG, BMP and BWF, with full metadata, resizing, color-space conversion and LUTs for look management. Additionally, the Lab offloads HD footage up to 10 times faster than real time, with SD over 20 times faster, and it can produce multiple deliverables in parallel. Codex has designed the Lab so it can be configured and upgraded according to the changing needs of users. It can be ordered with one or two dual bays for Codex Portable diskpacks and a dual bay for Codex Recorder diskpacks. The Lab will 84 January 2009 also hold up to four internal LTO4 tape drives and control external LTO4 robots. Additionally, high-speed RAID6 storage is expandable to over 100TB in removable blocks of 12 or 24TB. The Lab can manage a range of broadcast productions or digital motion pictures; multiple productions can also be handled on one unit. It is designed for easy integration into the MCR of an editing or visual-effects facility, and it can also be directly connected on set or on location. For more information, visit www.codexdigital.com. One-Touch Backup Nexto DI now offers the Nexto ND2725 Video Storage, a portable batterypowered device that backs up footage at the touch of a single button. Compatible with such camcorders as Sony’s PMWEX1 and EX3 and Panasonic’s HVX200, the Video Storage can connect directly to the camcorder via USB cable. It checks the integrity of the footage as it records, and it can also detect faults and potential future hard-drive errors. A browse function enables users to verify when backup is complete, and the ND-2725 features an ESata interface that increases the data-transfer speed to and from a computer by three times compared to a USB 2.0. The Nexto Video Storage is available in 160GB, 250GB, 320GB and 500GB, and it is forward-compatible up to 2TB. Compatible with PC, Mac and Unix platforms, the device can store video, photos, data, music and games. Available through International Supplies, the 320 GB ND-2725 Video Storage has a suggested retail price of $799. It comes with a one-year warranty, a carrying case, long and short USB cords, a USB extension cord and an AC adapter. Auxil- iary batteries and car chargers are also available. For more information, visit www.nextodiusa.com. Alacrity Media Intros Van, Ninjas Alacrity Media has introduced its customized Road Grader van, a mobile implementation of the company’s databased production and post pipeline. As a complete digital-intermediate suite on wheels, the Road Grader is designed to meet the 4K camera and real-time post needs of filmmakers using data acquisition to create their projects on location. The key components of this new data methodology are the Red One camera and Assimilate Scratch, which supports RedCode native files, enabling a real-time Scratch/Red data workflow. “Traditional methods of creating motion media have been undergoing fundamental changes, with 4K data acquisition quickly moving into the limelight as the means to make cost-effective, quality product,” says Blair Paulsen, founder and owner of Alacrity Media. “While these changes are occurring in large and small studios around the globe, we’re taking this new 4K data technology a step further by going on the road and on location to give clients immediate feedback and results.” Key features of Road Grader include primary color grading of 4K footage in real time with full-quality debayering at 2K or 1080p, using a proper control surface for lift, gamma and gain; a complete Final Cut Studio editorial system for creating EDLs for conforming in Scratch; an ECinema color-evaluation monitor in a proper viewing environment with color correction applied in real time; an HP DreamColor monitor for viewing images in full 10-bit space; and real time layoff to tape via uncompressed HD-SDI http://www.nextodiusa.com http://www.codexdigital.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - January 2008

American Cinematographer - January 2009 Contents Editor’s Note Short Takes: Triangle of Need Production Slate: Frost/Nixon, The Wrestler Close Focus An Old Soul Brothers in Arms A Cut Above Post Focus: HPA Awards, Still Me New Products & Services International Marketplace Classified Ads Ad Index In Memoriam: Robert C. Jessup, ASC Clubhouse News ASC Close-Up: Gabriel Beristain

American Cinematographer - January 2008

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