American Cinematographer - June 2011 - 84

intuitive and tactile manner. Additionally, Blackboard 2 incorporates four high-resolution screens, providing the user with live, incontext feedback about complex grading functions. “Blackboard 2 represents a huge ergonomic shift that will result in increased productivity and transform grading into a more dynamic and exciting process for both the colorist and the client,” says Wolfgang Lempp, co-founder of FilmLight. “For postDFT Offers Flexxity Suite Digital Film Technology has introduced the Flexxity software suite, which offers specialized applications for dailies, archive and restoration; video playout and file mastering; and ingest, transfer and transcoding tasks. The Flexxity Archive application allows users to access archived image/audio files from disk storage as well as ingest material from film scanners. It helps perform quality-control measures on archive material, image/audio synchronization, timeline editing, color correction and image scaling. Processed files can be output in many file or video formats. The Archive app also has built-in scratch and dirt removal as well as retouching capabilities. The Flexxity Playout application converts DPX, QuickTime and raw clips and generates a master for playout as video, DPX and encoded file formats. It performs image and audio synchronization, timeline editing, EDL on-line conforming and optional image processing such as color

service providers, Blackboard 2 offers a way to empower artists and differentiate a facility from its competitors by providing a premium, creative service.” During NAB, Bangkok post facility Spice Shop became the first facility in the world to purchase a Blackboard 2. “When we saw Blackboard 2, we understood immediately the impact it would have on our business and our facility, and we knew we had to have it,” says Matthew Szabo, correction and image scaling. The Playout app also handles DPX, R3D, ArriRaw and QuickTime clips natively. Stereoscopic 3-D support includes stereo color matching and parallax adjustments. The Flexxity Dailies app provides a solution for digital and film dailies. It provides native support for DPX, R3D, ArriRaw, QuickTime and single frame file formats. It performs image and audio synchronization of dailies material, timeline editing, color correction and image scaling, and supports parallel workflows for higher throughput and efficiency. Stereoscopic 3-D support includes stereo color matching and parallax processing. Flexxity Playout and Flexxity Dailies also provide optional scratch/dirt removal and retouching. Grain reduction and image contouring are optional for all three modules. DFT plans to continuously add further applications and functionalities to the Flexxity suite. For additional information, visit www.dft-film.com.

Spice Shop’s director of operations. “We were amazed by the possibilities that this new grading panel offers.” For additional information, visit www.filmlight.ltd.uk. Cintel Introduces Origin, Updates Ditto Cintel International has introduced the ImageMill2 Origin data image restoration tool, which processes 2K and HD DPX files faster than real time. Origin can fix dust, scratches and other image defects, and can run simultaneously with Grace, Cintel’s noise- and grain-management tool, and Steady, the company’s real-time imagestabilization application. Simon Carter, Cintel’s sales director, notes, “ImageMill2 already addresses the industry’s need for fast and simple noiseand grain-management tools for both data-centric DI applications and restoration projects. Origin can now fix a lot of image defects in real time, which is amazing considering many software-only systems can take up to a minute per frame. With speeds in excess of 31 fps for 2K and HD files, the performance of ImageMill2 is unequalled. We are currently processing 4K files at 10 fps and can also deal with SD files at twice real time.” Cintel has also introduced a faster version of its Ditto Evolution film scanner, with 2K speeds at up to 11 fps and 4K at up to 7.5 fps. Ditto Evolution is instantly switchable from pin registration to non-pin registration, and also includes film-grain management and image-stabilization tools. For additional information, visit www.cintel.co.uk. JMR Highlights SilverStor JMR Electronics, Inc. has launched SilverStor, a direct-attached, high-performance storage solution that features a SAS/SATA backplane, PCIe 2.0 connectivity to the host and PCIe expansion within the unit itself. Drives are hot-swappable, SES monitoring and reporting is included and the system can be configured in a variety of ways. SilverStor systems can quickly and easily be expanded up to hundreds of terabytes, all in one desktop unit. “As the bandwidth and processing requirements of new digital media have

June 2011

American Cinematographer

http://www.filmlight.ltd.uk http://www.dft-film.com http://www.cintel.co.uk

American Cinematographer - June 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - June 2011