i3 - September/October 2017 - 47

By Cindy Loffler Stevens

Business

the same way that it gets transmitted to your
house. Every step in that ecosystem can be
demonstrated or tested at Canon Burbank.

Q How does this facility encourage
innovation in the industry?

A Creating films, TV shows or documenta-

Canon Burbank: Ready for
Tomorrow's Technology
n July, Canon opened its sophisticated Professional
Technology & Support Center in Burbank, CA. The facility
provides professional filmmakers and still imaging customers
with an enhanced technical environment that includes product
evaluation, testing, product and workflow training, industry events
and repairs. Eliott Peck, executive vice president and general
manager of the Imaging Technologies & Communications Group,
Canon U.S.A. Inc., who also sits on CTA's Executive Board,
explained the concept behind Canon Burbank to i3.

Courtesy of Canon

Q Why did you create Canon Burbank?
A Canon's outreach to the film industry was

homegrown in the U.S. because of the unique
nature of Hollywood and film production and
our expertise in image capture in both still
and video. Six years ago we launched our
Cinema EOS line of cameras and lenses and
offered a facility in Hollywood to service and
support these high-end professional products. When we saw how quickly Cinema EOS
was embraced by the filmmaking community,
it became apparent we needed a bigger boat,
as they say in Jaws. We learned that real handson experience is critical. The directors, the
director of photography (DP) and the camera
operators rely on an environment where everything connects and works - from the prepping
of equipment to being able to screen films -
so we approached Burbank with a fresh slate
and listened to the experts. We started from
scratch and built the facility to their specifications. The building is a real working evaluation
and testing studio that meets clients' needs.
It is a direct result of spending years listening
to our clients and then demonstrating our
commitment to them in a very visible way.
C TA . t e c h / i 3

ries is an art. Every DP has a vision for their
story. It could be as simple as somebody
who has an SLR camera and wants to create
a documentary all the way to the big budget
films where they spend upwards of $100 million. No matter how big or small, we want to
inspire and shape their vision and bring it to
life. Canon Burbank is a tool to help us do that.
When clients come in, we can demonstrate
and test under different shooting conditions,
we can see what the resolution looks like or
how our products look under different lighting
conditions. We can support their editing, test
material, allow them to color grade it, and
finally screen it in a state-of-the-art 4K screening room. We also want to educate and inspire
young students interested in filmmaking.

Q What don't we know about Canon?
A We are one of the most innovative compa-

nies on the planet. Canon Inc. has been ranked
among the top five U.S. patent holders for the
last 31 years. In 2016, we ranked third, ahead of
Apple and Google. We are best known for our
cameras and office machines,
but we are involved in everything
from health care technologies
to the life sciences to semiconQ What is the ecosystem?
ductor equipment. Last year, we
A It takes a village to create
acquired Toshiba Medical. If you
a film but it takes a city to
look at CES, the medical side of
deliver the content to users
the technology business is one
in a changing environment.
of the fastest growing innovation
Many of the content creators
areas. Another area that is growand parts of that ecosystem
ing quickly is network security
are members of CTA. We live
cameras that produce highin a world of streaming and
quality images in difficult condi4K content delivered directly
tions, including low light. Our
to users but changes in the
technology does this exceptiontechnology will eventually
ally well. We recently acquired
move us into 8K and beyond.
Axis Communications, a global
How do you demonstrate or
leader in network video soluservice that? We created this
tions, and Milestone Systems,
environment to demonstrate
the leader in video management
-
Eliot
Peck
this technology in a way that
software. Adding these two outhelps professionals share their
standing companies to Canon's
vision when they create a film,
expertise creates a powerful
TV show or documentary.
combination.
We want to find partners to creWe built the infrastructure and cabling to
ate new kinds of businesses. We see no limits
make it future proof and ready for tomorrow's
to what we can do.
technology - that means more data stor-

We want to
find partners
to create new
kinds of
businesses.

age and bandwidth. In this facility, to move
data from our DI suite or editing bays to our
screening room, you transmit the information

GO ONLINE: Visit CTA.tech/i3
for the full interview.
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017

http://www.usa.canon.com http://CTA.tech/i3 http://www.cta.tech.com

i3 - September/October 2017

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