Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/115625
Bits & Pieces Cloud Burst Films goes on-set with dailies K UALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA — Cloud Burst Films (www.facebook. com/cloudburstfilm) is a new feature, broadcast and commercials service company specializing in on-set color grading and data management. The service was launched by Anglo/French senior colorist Mark Wilenkin in July 2012. In its first few months of operation, Cloud Burst Films has provided dailies services for local and international commercials, as well as for longform television projects shooting in the country. Wilenkin says the main benefit of advanced dailies is that the cinematographer can fine-tune the image on-set using a fast, creative toolset. In this case, Assimilate Scratch. They also have the security of knowing the look they want will travel from the set on through to post. "It's not the final grade, but we get pretty darn close, and that's going to save time later in the final DI," he notes. Cloud Burst Films has provided advanced dailies services on spots for Citibank and PNC Bank, all lensed by cinematographer Paul Cameron, ASC.They have also contributed to a spot for the Malaysian Tourist Board (pictured) and to the German TV drama Fragrant Harbor (TeamWorx/ ARD), shot by cinematographer Jan Fehse. These productions were variously shot using Red Epic and Arri Alexa cameras, with Scratch being used to grade and manage native R3D and Arri Log-C footage. The first time Wilenkin encountered Cameron, the DP was shooting on-location in Malaysia on a commercial for Citibank. Cameron had already shot scenes in Prague and Panama for the spot, and wanted to review selected rushes from these different locations. He booked Wilenkin for a short grading session. "Paul had not used Scratch before, but could see how fast I could grade to give him the results he was looking for," explains Wilenkin. "We also got on really well together, and he extended the booking to a couple of days so that I could grade the remainder of the rushes. He then asked if I would come on-set with Scratch and grade the footage he was shooting." Cloud Burst Films runs Scratch V.7 on a 1Beyond Wrangler. It is fitted with an Nvidia Quadro 6000 graphics card supporting uncompressed 8-, 10- and 12-bit SDI, plus an interchangeable Red Rocket accelerator and Radeon PCIe 3.0 cards. It has RedMag and SxS readers built-in to respectively support the fast ingest of R3D and Arriraw files. Storage includes an internal 1.3TB SSD RAID-5, a hot-swappable eSATA external 1TB SSD drive, and LTO-5 tape archiving. For on-set grading and playback Wilenkin uses a TV Logic XVM 24-inch LCD monitor. Material destined for Avid or Final Cut editorial is transcoded to different flavors of DNx or ProRes using Scratch or Drastic Technologies' MediaReactor plug-in. 6 Post • March 2013 Post0313_004,6, 8-BitsRAV3.indd 6 Cutting Camryn's Now or Never L OS ANGELES — Freelance director and editor Ben Levine has completed work on a new music video for indie female artist Camryn. Levine was called on to direct, edit and finish the Now or Never video, which used video that was shot on different HD formats and at different frame rates. The video was posted using Avid Media Composer 6, a Create 3D Ultra video card from Bluefish444 and Avid Symphony 6. The rough cut was put together in Media Composer 6 and required multiple layers as well as some picture-in-picture effects and mosaics. Realtime playback became an issue at different points. Levine was able to have the Avid work in draft quality, which provided 1/4 resolution video frames to the Create 3D Ultra, which subsequently scaled the frames back to full HD. This was enough to allow the rough cut to be completed with little to no rendering, and the quality was surprisingly good. When the project was moved over for color correction in Symphony, rendering was not required, even when working with 12 layers of video, says Levine, who was working on an HP Z800 with an Nvidia Quadro FX4000 GPU. "Having been a user of Avid's software for almost two decades, I was skeptical of a single internal card's ability to deliver in place of a larger breakout box," he notes. "It also just so happened that this was my first project with the Bluefish444 card. Now or Never involved 10-plus tracks of effects involving various formats at various frame rates, which could cause serious problems with even the most expensive of video hardware. The Bluefish444 card delivered as promised and made me a truebeliever. It was able to handle the workload like gang busters, much of it in realtime without rendering." Audio Underground build at Warner Bros. now complete B URBANK — The basement of the former Technicolor film processing building at Warner Bros. (wbpostproduction.warnerbros.com) has now been fully converted from film storage to a sound editing facility called The Audio Underground. It features a Foley stage, seven edit rooms, three DVD suites and ADR space. The project was developed in four phases, over a period of time. Phase one included a Foley stage, the client lounge, pantry, a machine room and demolition and concrete block work for three future edit rooms. Phase two completed the three edit rooms, and phase three added a gaming voiceover room. In the last phase, four more edit rooms were constructed, in addition to a second machine room, client restrooms, and an elevator to the basement. Kim Waugh, senior VP of post services at Warner Bros., directed the project. The acoustic design and equipment selection was handled by director of engineering Kevin Collier and Bob Bud at Warner Bros. The project architect was Scott Profeta, AIA, partner at Profeta Royalty Architecture, LLP. www.postmagazine.com 3/1/13 2:28 PM