American Cinematographer - July 2010 - 78

-40°F to 176°F, making it possible to shoot in a variety of locations and climates. S3D has also introduced the S3D Calculator, an essential tool when shooting stereo 3-D. The Calculator software enables the exact configurations of stereoscopic parameters to be sourced based on the conditions of the set and its desired effects. For additional information, visit www.s3dtechnologies.com. Marvin Manages Digital Productions Marvin Technologies has introduced the Marvin on-set workflowmanagement system for digital cinematography. Marvin automates the creation of backups, LTO tape masters, QuickTime proxies for offline editing and DVD dailies in a single process, offering filmmakers and rental houses numerous time- and cost-saving advantages over current ad-hoc practices. Marvin is the brainchild of Dutch filmmaker Maarten Treurniet. After taking delivery of Red One camera body 49, Treurniet found managing the workflow between production and post was awkward and prone to costly mistakes. “The possibilities with digital acquisition are very exciting, but we saw a clear need for production protocols to streamline and standardize the process,” he explains. “Marvin does all of that and ensures that your data is kept safe.” Marvin is built around a Windows 7 computer with 6 or 12TB of RAID5 storage and a core i7 processor. The standard configuration includes one built-in LTO tape drive; a second drive can be added. When removable media from the camera is attached to the system, Marvin automatically creates verified copies of every shot to its own internal RAID5 storage array and ejects the media, ready for reuse. Marvin then generates multiple verified LTO copies of all of the shots from the day, along with DVD dailies and Quick78 July 2010

Time files for offline editing. After offline editorial, a companion application, Marvin InPost, assembles the shots specified in the edit decision list for post work and finishing. The Marvin system supports the Red One camera, Silicon Imaging’s SI-2K, Arri’s D-21 and Alexa, Panasonic’s P2 systems, and high-speed cameras such as the Vision Research Phantom and Weisscam HS-2. Anyone on the production team who has login privileges can browse through a project and view thumbnails or video. For additional information, visit www.marvintech.com. Rocket Fuel Powers Radius NextComputing, a manufacturer of high-performance portable computers, has announced support for the Assimilate Rocket Fuel bundle, which includes the necessary tools for real-time ingest, conform, delivery and output of Red One 4K digital material. NextComputing has integrated Rocket Fuel into its Radius portable workstation, providing an elegant, compact and easily transportable on-set data-management solution for any production using the Red One. Designed specifically for the R3D image format, Rocket Fuel combines Scratch Cine v5.0 software, an Nvidia Quadro FX 3800 SDI card and the Red Rocket hardware accelerator card. Leveraging the real-time de-Bayering capabilities of the Red Rocket card with Nvidia Cuda architecture, Scratch Cine v5.0 enables full-resolution playback of 4K Red files, direct creation of tape and filebased dailies without importing or conversion, one-light color grading, color and shot management, and initial R3D conform. NextComputing’s Radius portable workstation is a compact, briefcase-sized computer with an integrated HD display. Featuring a desktop-class Intel Core i7 processor and over 2TB of onboard storage, the Radius neatly integrates all the necessary hardware required to run Rocket Fuel to its fullest potential. Packaging all these features in the lightweight and portable Radius computer allows Red camera data to be efficiently managed
American Cinematographer

on-set, providing the smoothest possible transition to post. The ability to take this out to any location offers added flexibility to productions at any budget level. For additional information, visit www.nextcomputing.com and www.assimilateinc.com. Convergent Design Records 3-D Building on the success of its NanoFlash recorder/player, Convergent Design has unveiled the Nano3D, a professional 3-D-HD portable player. Nano3D combines two NanoFlash recorders/players for fully synchronized stereoscopic recording and playback. Nano3D can also be used for simultaneous off-line/online (high quality and proxy modes) or redundant (two identical masters) recording. The compact Nano3D measures only 3"x4.2"x3.8" and weighs only 2 pounds, making it an ideal choice for almost every 3-D camera rig. Nano3D utilizes the very-high-quality full-raster 4:2:2 Sony MPEG2 codec but extends the bit rate up to 280 Mbps for superb video quality. Compressed video and audio are stored on affordable Compact Flash media in QuickTime or MXF file format, providing universal NLE support. As a recorder, Nano3D features dual HD-SDI inputs as well as an LTC input for time code. Nano3D supports a wide range of video formats, including 1080i60/50, 1080p30/25/24 and 720p60/50/30/25/24. I-Frame-only recording (up to 280 Mbps) guarantees that both the left and right frames are processed identically for superior 3-D rendering. Up to eight channels of embedded audio per HD-SDI stream can be recorded in uncompressed 24-bit 48KHz format, enabling full HD 5.1 or 7.1 program creation. As a playback device, Nano3D offers standard dual-stream synchronized HD-SDI output. Nano3D also boasts a built-in combiner function, which merges

http://www.nextcomputing.com http://www.assimilateinc.com http://www.marvintech.com http://www.s3dtechnologies.com

American Cinematographer - July 2010

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