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5 0 D i g i t a l I n t e r m e d i a t e S y s t e m s Fotokem Purchases ARRI Relativity Software FotoKem, a leading full-service motion picture post production house, has recently added the powerful Relativity software suite to their arsenal of existing ARRI Digital Intermediate Systems products including the ARRILASER and ARRISCAN systems. The Relativity suite offers innovative tools for fast, efficient and interactive control of image texture caused by film grain and electronic noise, as well as video standards conversion and content re-timing, all using sophisticated motion estimation techniques. Explains Paul Chapman, FotoKem’s Senior VP of Technology, “FotoKem and ARRI have had a long history and this is part of the reason why we are here together with Relativity. ARRI has a great reputation, not just as a product manufacturer but also with technology. We wanted to partner with ARRI for this exciting new tool.” The collaboration between the companies around Relativity began earlier this year when FotoKem hosted the product’s launch event for the American Society of Cinematographers at their Burbank facility. ARRI Relativity software is powered by Pixel Strings, the first engine to harness the potential of GPU-based parallel processing for motion estimation and spatial-temporal image filtering. In its most comprehensive version, the entire Relativity software bundle is currently comprised of four different applications: Texture Control, Clean, Film Simulation and SpaceTime Converter. Following a rigorous testing process, FotoKem configured the Relativity software for their particular needs to include Texture Control, Clean, Film Simulation and SpaceTime Converter. With Texture Control, one can manipulate the level of film grain and electronic noise, mixing and matching the textures of 16mm, 35mm and digitally acquired images for a particular effect or visual continuity, and (if desired) even generate synthetic grain with Film Simulation. Clean provides an efficient single pass removal of both white and black randomly located dust, fibres, and small scratches for material transferred from film. The SpaceTime Converter allows time resampling for creative tempo changes, slow motion and speed ramp effects. It also allows the conversion of any TV or motion picture format into another, with crop/zoom, spatial resampling, frame rate conversion, de-interlacing and addition or removal of 3:2 pulldown through an easy-to-use interface. Chapman notes, “Here at FotoKem we are implementing the frame conversion and grain reduction tools. We ran the software through a significant period of evaluations. Our team felt the tool was user friendly and effectively did the job in such a way that it increased productivity. FotoKem was established in 1963 and today the post facility offers a full menu of services for features and commercials including film processing, timing and printing, telecine, restoration, in addition to filed-based workflows, digital intermediate pipelines and services for new camera technologies including the ARRIFLEX D-21. An Tran Company 3 is a high-power grading and digital intermediate facility in the industry for feature films, commercials and music videos. To deliver the quality of work its clients demand, in 2007, Company 3 acquired what it believes to be the best scanning technology available – ARRISCANs. After putting four machines into place, Colorist and Co-Founder Stefan Sonnenfeld and VP of Engineering, Mike Chiado, found they could efficiently utilize the ARRISCANs not only for theater-bound DI work, but also replacing many telecine services with true scanning for all filmoriginated material, including commercials and music videos. We spoke with Sonnenfeld and Chiado about their decision to use ARRISCANs for film-originated work, even in cases where the final delivery spec is an HD master. Why use a full-fledged scanner for commercials and music videos, rather than a telecine system if the final product isn't destined to be seen at a resolution higher than HD? Sonnenfeld: When it comes to feature DI work, the scanners enable us to bring more of the original image information from the negative to our colorists' bays. We want to bring the same level of quality to every film project we work on – whether it's features, commercials or music promos. Do you find that the quality difference between using a scanner, compared with telecine, holds up even if the final product is viewed at a lower-resolution HD format?
Focus on Company 3 File-based Workflow Achieved with the ARRISCAN Sonnenfeld: With a good 2K scan, a colorist gets to work with more of the information that the cinematographer captured on the original negative. It's always better to have more information than less – it gives you a more robust image to start with and lets the colorist have more room to finesse the look. Chiado: Also, with a scanner, you're starting out with full-resolution red, green and blue channels. You aren't losing information in order to work with a particular HD codec. Why did you choose the ARRISCAN? Chiado: We compared the images from a number of scanners. In terms of stability, noise, resolution, and overall image quality, ARRISCAN was the best. It lets us work at higher than 2K resolution if the project requires it. Generally, for feature work, we use the option that scans at 3K and then down-rezzes to 2K. The scanner offers a number of options – we can scan at 6K and down-res to 4K. I like the double flash option, which lets you hit the film with twice as much light; it reduces the noise and pulls a more dynamic range from the original, especially if you start out with a particularly dense negative. Were there other features specific to the ARRISCANs that sold you on them as opposed to the other scanners you considered? Chiado: The pin registration was a factor. Producers can send our scans to any visual effects house with the knowledge they have optimal quality, pin-registered images to work with. They don't need to transfer certain material differently because it's part of a visual effect. They don't have to retransfer a series of shots additional visual effects elements are added in later. Are there other advantages to going the scanning, rather than the telecine, route? Chiado: With an all-data workflow, we don't need to worry about physically moving tape elements around. The media sits on our SAN (storage area network). All of our bays are networked so if a project is moved to another suite, it's just a question of accessing data – the DPX files, the color corrector session file, an EDL (edit decision list) – and the colorist is ready to go. Of course, you have all the advantages that go with random access to media: Nobody has to waste a client's time queuing up tapes or changing film rolls; the colorist isn't forced to access shots in the order they were captured. Also, it’s great when changes are made to the cut and a new EDL is sent from editorial. In a tape-based system, changes can turn into a complex procedure involving additional dubs and often a loss in quality. We don’t experience those issues working this way. D i g i t a l I n t e r m e d i a t e S y s t e m s How have your commercial and music video clients reacted since you started scanning all their film material this way? Chiado: The reaction has been very positive from our commercial clients. In addition to the increase in quality, they are happy with the nonlinear workflow and the ability to grade shots in context. Sonnenfeld: What I hear has more to do with the quality and how much of the visual information from the negative we're able to work with during the grading process. The more picture information the colorist starts with, the better the results can be. Isn't everything migrating to digital cinematography? Looking to the future, do you still feel the investment in four film scanners was a good one from a business standpoint? Sonnenfeld: The majority of commercials are still shot on 35mm film and many people prefer the look and quality you get when you shoot film. But that is changing slowly and we’ve developed a DCC (Digital Camera Capture) division to address projects shot digitally. Chiado: We have the infrastructure to work with material shot on any of the major digital cameras – many of which are great for certain applications. But film continues to be the best choice for a lot of projects. Many of our clients see film as the best medium for their needs, and we expect that to be true for some time. An Tran 51
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