Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1516067
www.postmagazine.com 18 POST JAN/FEB 2024 PRODUCTION BY BRIAN MAHAR SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT & GENERAL MANAGER CANON USA WWW.USA.CANON.COM ybrid, flexible, adaptable — these words come up more and more in conversations with filmmakers, broad- casters and other video professionals. And in an industry and macro-economic environment that has shifted rapidly in recent years, these needs make com- plete sense. It seems that everywhere we look, convergence is happening. Whether it's the increasing product crossover between professional and consumer markets, the leveraging of cinema-grade equipment by broadcasters and others outside the film/TV market, or the desire for outstanding still and video hybrid products that reflect the needs of mod- ern creation and capture, fluidity is the force driving multiple industry trends. In 2024 and beyond, we expect to see more emphasis on products and solutions that blur the line and bridge necessary gaps so that new technical and creative peaks are made possible. The cinema market continues to set the tone for aesthetic quality and creative experimentation. We're increas- ingly seeing broadcasters, live-events producers and other customers leverag- ing cinema lenses to make their content stand out. And in Hollywood (and various other locations where film/TV is made), we're seeing that directors and DPs increasing- ly want more options when it comes to camera bodies and lenses, and to com- bine manufacturers with greater ease. It is this trend that helped motivate the creation of the RF-mount cinema prime lenses that are ideally suited for full- frame RF-mount cameras. These lenses will pair beautifully with both Canon and Red RF-mount cameras. The flexibility and adaptability provided by the RF lens mount empowers filmmakers with a pro- liferation of choices and combinations for creative expression. For a wide range of shooters, the ability to capture photo and video interchangeably, and without sacrificing quality, is a growing need. This kind of fluidity necessitates equipment that can achieve beautiful results for both still and video, and is one of the reasons why Canon launched the EOS R5 C in 2022. Lastly, in 2024 and beyond, there is no area that provides more opportuni- ties for creative flexibility than virtual production. We're only at the cusp of what can be made possible across commercials, live events, TV/ films and other uses. Canon's display technologies and solutions for volumetric capture (our Free Viewpoint System) are only a couple of examples of the advance- ments made in our industry in the past few years. Achievements in lenses, cameras, LED walls and other solutions tailor made to this exciting growth area will be a top point of focus for us and others in the next decade. THE MERGING OF CINEMA AND BROADCAST H OUTLOOK WORKFLOW ooking at your Netflix home screen or the "What's Showing" list for a local theater, it's readily appar- ent that the visual bar for films, episodic series and video games continues to rise, alongside consumer appetite for amaz- ing new content. As a result, productions have rapidly scaled in size and complex- ity, introducing collaboration challenges and massive amounts of data to wrangle. A typical project often involves thou- sands of artists from multiple vendors working on hundreds of VFX shots, CG assets and scenes. With the continued evolution of remote production, more of these artists are working on visu- als from di¢erent locales, using their respective studio's preferred toolsets and data storage. What does this lead to? More fragmentation and less creativity. However, more open ways of working are emerging, along with new opportunities for innovation. Technologies connecting every aspect of production are helping to unify people, data and workflows. At Autodesk, we're working to enable innovation, starting with creating a more connected, creative and resilient future with Autodesk Flow. It's our new industry cloud for media & entertainment that puts data, not files, at the center of col- laboration. We want to ensure produc- tions can capture, re-use and track data e¤ciently, with Flow acting as the single source of truth for all assets, versions and feedback. The goal is for individual artists, entire departments and studios to be able to work on tasks simultaneous- ly, rather than waiting for one group to wrap before another can begin. Open standards are integral to the foundation of Flow, which will be an open ecosystem. Content creation tools, like Maya, and third-party solutions, will be able to plug into Flow and move data easily across applications. The aim is to make everything, from storyboards to concept art to shot metadata captured on set, accessible in everyday tools to increase productivity and avoid wasting time chasing down files. While open standards are making this new future possible, so are rapid ad- vancements in artificial intelligence (AI). Leveraging data in a connected environ- ment better prepares the industry to use AI responsibly to enhance automation and productivity. Generative scheduling is one area where AI can help automate processes, reducing the time it takes to update a schedule when changes are inevitably made on a production. What used to take hours, can now be done in minutes. With the ability to predict, plan and right-size resources using AI capabilities on Flow, it becomes easier to accommodate last-minute changes and understand how any adjustments will im- pact the production schedule and bud- get, and ultimately, a studio's business. It's clear that connecting data, workflows, teams and studios across the production pipeline is key to a brighter M&E future. Streamlining collaboration is a major step forward in easing some of the pressure felt today so that artists can focus on what matters: their art. We're excited for the next phase of innovation and look forward to working with the industry to e¢ect meaningful change in 2024 and beyond. THE FUTURE FOR CREATING CONTENT IS CONNECTED BY DIANA COLELLA EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT FOR MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT AUTODESK WWW.AUTODESK.COM L