Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/910366
www.postmagazine.com 5 POST NOVEMBER 2017 NEW YORK CITY — The PBS series This Old House has been the go-to place for all things DIY for more than four decades — the number one multi-plat- form home enthusiast brand, serving over 62 million consumers each month with trusted information and expert advice through award-winning televi- sion shows, a highly-regarded magazine and inspiration/information-driven digital properties. As an innovator of home improvement and renovation instruction, what happens when this expert brick-and-mortar restorer needs its own restoration? The brand turned to New York's Broadway Video to help bring the series into the digital age. With hundreds of hours of analog content and the onset of digital programming, improved quality and wider audience reach, This Old House was in the prime position to capitalize on this treasure trove of DIY infor- mation and entertainment. Addressing TV viewing innovations and providing its viewers with more control of program content ensured the This Old House franchise could continue to reach its current audience while also recruiting new viewers by updating the way its programming was delivered to, and accessed by, its target audience. The conversion of analog video and audio into a digitized streaming for- mat for on-demand access addresses this evolution through a multi-faceted solution. Broadway Video was chosen for the job, along with its Digital Content Delivery solution, which facilitates preparation, aggregation and delivery of dig- ital content across multiple platforms in a single, seamless process. It consists of: Advanced encoding and transcoding solutions, rich metadata management, cloud-based file storage, format conversion, quality control and closed caption- ing capabilities. Once Broadway Video got started, the process was seamless. In two weeks, Broadway Video implemented a system to host and manage all program con- tent. The digital restoration and asset management solution included: Digitizing 650 analog episodes in a two-week timeframe; audio & color balance enhance- ment from analog quality to HD quality, and adding closed captioning; encod- ing and transcoding digitized files to required specs for delivery to content delivery networks; and metadata extraction for delivery & archiving to be used as needed to create a custom user experience. Thanks to the restoration and digitization of the show, This Old House can now successfully compete in the digital programming landscape through the implemention of new offerings and rapid response to a modern generation of viewers. In fact, it can now deliver critical benefits that simplify technical processes that create a greater business value and provides unlimited opportu- nities for consumer engagement during programming for This Old House. BROADWAY VIDEO RESTORES THIS OLD HOUSE SERIES "To help visualize and conceptual- ize the bridge scene, we first created a mockup of the sequence in an 8-bit animation," Justison remarks. "The 11 hero characters and hundreds of extras were represented with sim- ple icons that could be repositioned easily and used to rapidly describe entire beats." Other notable scenes visualized in previs by The Third Floor included the Stronghold, Hela's Arrival and Thor's landing on the planet Sakaar. After principal photography wrapped, it was straight into postvis and, for a film with over 2,400 visual effects shots, there was plenty to go around. Almost every scene required postvis — from the Bridge Battle to the Hulk vs Thor fight to adding Hela's iconic, all-digital headdress. Thor's "Pure Imagination" arrival into Sakaar was an especially creative exercise that pushed postvis artists far beyond the regular postvis parameters of set extensions and digital charac- ters. Previs still played a role well into post production, with the direc- tor frequently contributing sketch- es to inform new, all-CG shots for establishers or key moments. "In postvis, we worked on almost every sequence, with the biggest and most challenging including Muspelheim, Bifrost Escape, Hela Arrives, Sakaar Chase, Hulk vs Thor, Fenris Throne Room and the Final Battle," Justison says. "During post, we were sometimes working on 12 sequences at once, animating ev- erything from spaceships to giants, on planets all across the galaxy. We loved the collaboration on this movie and seeing the scenes brought to life with Taika's unique style and all of the creatives at Marvel. Working on this film was an honor and also just plain fun." (For more on Thor: Ragnarok, turn to Director's Chair on page 9 and our cover VFX feature on page 14.) The Hulk vs Thor sequence (above and right) required postvis by The Third Floor.