American Cinematographer - July 2010 - 70

to run sophisticated digital intermediate and editing applications. When combined with optional hardware like the Red Rocket accelerator and a color-timing application, the DigiLab makes on-location ingesting and transcoding from any of today’s digital media formats a breeze. The DigiLab provides the ability to quickly capture files directly from the camera’s storage, monitor raw footage in real time, apply first-pass color-correction on location and even burn a Blu-ray disc for dailies with the viewing LUTs applied. Director of photography Michael Lohmann recently put the BlueStor DigiLab Video Server through its paces during production of the upcoming Disney Channel movie Sixteen Wishes. Lohmann successfully created his own on-set digital lab with the portable (3'x3') DigiLab system, equipped with 32TB of RAID storage. The system remained in the camera truck while Lohmann shot with the Red One digital camera. “When BlueStor DigiLab was combined with Assimiliate’s Scratch, we found we could color time, store, process footage and create dailies with viewing LUTs right on the set, and be fast enough to be practical,” enthuses Lohmann. “It’s also great that the BlueStor DigiLab allowed us to view those dailies within an hour of wrapping, when our creative intentions are still fresh in our minds.” The DigiLab also allows editors to begin editing scenes on location after the creation of dailies, saving additional time and money. Lohmann adds, “The DigiLab was rock solid in performance and everything was linked to the phenomenal storage capacity and power of the BlueStor RAID, which was more than we’d ever need.” For additional information, visit www.jmr.com. Arriscan Incorporates Nucoda Digital Vision and Arri recently announced an agreement to launch a jointly developed state-of-the-art digital dailies product tailored to the Arriscan digital film scanner. The new system incorporates such
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features and benefits of Digital Vision’s DI workflow as QC, grading, audio and metadata management combined with the best of Arri’s color and imaging science. Simon Cuff, Digital Vision’s COO, says, “We are delighted to announce this partnership with Arri … which will provide studios and facilities with a digital dailies process that improves today’s DI workflows. The Nucoda philosophy has been adopted by studios and facilities worldwide and the combination of Nucoda and Arriscan is a first-class proposition for the industry.” Stephen Schenk, Arri’s general manager of the Business Unit Camera & DI Systems, adds, “More than 100 Arriscans are currently in use worldwide for featurefilm scanning as well as in a wide range of commercials, film restoration and digitaldailies applications. Constant evolution since its introduction in 2004 has made the Arriscan the future-proof investment in film digitizing, and this latest technological development with Digital Vision’s Nucoda technology will redefine the digital-dailies process.” The new software is scheduled for release in the third quarter of this year. For more information, visit www.digitalvision.se and www.arri.com. Pixel Farm Stocks PFSilo The Pixel Farm has introduced PFSilo, a collaborative workflow-management system for the restoration market. Designed for use with The Pixel Farm’s comprehensive DI and restoration

toolset, PFClean, PFSilo enables teams of restoration artists to work on single or multiple feature-film projects simultaneously. Simple-to-administer project-management and asset-handling tools allow project managers and producers to organize and supervise the workloads of artists, helping to manage deadlines and deliverables and improve productivity. PFSilo is built on open, standard database technologies, and is extensible and flexible enough to be installed as a standalone solution or within established facility infrastructures. “PFSilo was developed in response to customers’ need to work in ever-more productive and efficient ways on restoration projects,” says Michael Lancaster, managing director of The Pixel Farm. “PFClean already excels in restoration, providing artists with a range of auto/manual tools. Now PFSilo optimizes the way that shots are distributed and managed between digital artists, so that even the most intensive projects can be delivered with speed and efficiency.” Alongside the release of PFSilo, The Pixel Farm announced PFClean 5.1 software, designed specifically to work with PFSilo and incorporating such new features as a timeline with reference movies for film assembly, updated primary grading tools, improved image stabilization, edge-blending on auto dirt correction and new effects for de-quantizing, de-blocking and chroma re-sampling. For additional information, visit www.thepixelfarm.co.uk. ●

American Cinematographer
http://www.digitalvision.se http://www.arri.com http://www.thepixelfarm.co.uk http://www.jmr.com
American Cinematographer - July 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - July 2010
