Post Magazine

May 2015

Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/511209

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 45 of 51

www.postmagazine.com 44 POST MAY 2015 odern VideoFilm is a Burbank and Santa Monica, CA-based post pro- duction and content services facility that designs end-to-end workflows for clients in film, television and beyond. With a staff of more than 400, we work with a large client base, including film studios, TV production companies, corporations and more. At the onset of each project, our team conducts extensive R&D to build a robust workflow that ensures a seamless post process with high-quality results. To do this, we have to be creative and adaptable, which is where state-of- the-art technology is crucial. We rely on a combination of hardware and software, including Autodesk Flame Premium 2015 (www.autodesk.com) — a technology suite that includes Flame, Lustre, Flame Assist and Flare — and five standalone seats of Flame. As a subscription customer, we've been thrilled with the steady pace of new features being rolled out by Autodesk throughout the year. For example, we recently upgraded to Extension 3, which includes new features that have been fantastic for working in 4K and UltraHD. The Extension 2 release of Lustre at the end of 2014 also gave us client-friendly workflow enhancements, such as a new labeling and flagging system, as well as a second screen server. This allows clients to sit in the room with the current shot information displayed on a PC while I'm grading the shot, which makes for a more collaborative experience. It's invaluable during VFX reviews, and clients love it. Extension 2's added support for Apple ProRes encoding and decoding has also been great. Our senior editor Barry Goch can take his timeline out of Flame Premi- um and make a ProRes file with extremely high color fidelity; it's been a game chang- er. He can quickly create deliverables and continue on with other tasks, because the export happens in the background. TESTING THE WATERS: 4K AND HDR We already had several 4K projects underway in 2014, and you can expect to see more from us this year. For Down Dog, a Brad Silberling-directed pilot for Amazon, I used Flame Premium with an AJA Kona 4 card to output 4K to a UH- D/4K monitor. We also re-mastered The Black Stallion for Criterion using scans of the original negative — working in 4K and then delivering in HD for Blu-ray. As this was the final target resolution, Flame Premium allowed the image to be scaled in realtime to the HD monitor during inter- active color grading with the cinematog- rapher, Caleb Deschanel. For a truly-cin- ematic experience, we performed final reviews at full 4K resolution in the theatre using a Christie digital cinema projector. Our team is also actively creating work- flows to help clients establish High Dynam- ic Range (HDR) pipelines. From a creative standpoint, HDR has a ton of potential, but to maximize it, you need to play with the range to achieve the right balance, which we're pioneering here at Modern. KEEPING PACE WITH A DEMANDING PROJECT LOAD We're juggling multiple projects simulta- neously, and Flame Premium helps us stay on track. For the upcoming film No Es- cape, I used the software to help empha- size story points by subtly highlighting characters and locations, and to create an assortment of moods in color grading. No other color corrector has a shape system like Lustre. It's powerful, efficient and fast for manipulating images — allowing me to do what I need to and do it well. For The Book of Life, digital frames were delivered in OpenEXR. Using Lustre on this project, I was able to fine tune shapes, densities and VFX to bring a unique tonality to the film's scene pro- gression and achieve maximum color fidelity in 2D and 3D. ATTRACTING NEW BUSINESS AND RETURN CLIENTS For us, Flame Premium has also become a business development tool. We're able to quickly throw images up on screen, and conjure exactly what potential clients envision in a 15- to 20-minute session, and before we know it, we've won the job. Having the ability to immediately compare shots, restore and copy prior grades and draw shapes has also been useful for client review sessions. We can also write custom plug-ins to achieve looks and effects that can't be seen elsewhere. Flame Premium gives us the tools and speed we need to be extremely creative, but fast and efficient at the same time. If we're thrown a curveball, we never have to worry, because it gives us the confidence that we'll be able to solve problems every time. FLAME PREMIUM CATCHES FIRE AT MODERN VIDEOFILM THIS SUITE OF TOOLS INCLUDES FLAME, LUSTRE, FLAME ASSIST AND FLARE M FIELD TESTED Modern VideoFilm employed Lustre on the animated feature The Book of Life. BY DAVE COLE SUPERVISING SENIOR DIGITAL COLORIST MODERN VIDEOFILM BURBANK/SANTA MONICA WWW.MVF.COM

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Post Magazine - May 2015