Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/130212
E C O - F R I E N D LY [ Cont.from 21 ] including one that makes sure everyday materials in the kitchen are as eco-friendly as possible," explains Chesler. "For example, we have corn cups, biodegradable cutlery and recycled plates and bowls. We have recycling bins and signage all over the agency reminding people of good practices." When new RPA employees are hired, they get an RPA-branded package intended to help them make the right environmental choices. It includes a reusable grocery bag and a pint glass, both branded with the RPA logo. "While biodegradable corn cups are a good choice, an even better choice is to reuse glass," explains Chesler. "They are trying to keep you away from using all disposable items, even if they are more Earthfriendly than most things. It's about getting you to think about a long-term solution that's non-disposable. So that is built into the DNA of RPA." Why is the agency so involved in promoting green practices? According to Gary Paticoff, senior executive VP/executive producer at RPA, "We work in such a temporary timeframe. It's important to have the social responsibility to minimize any negative impact that we might create during this process. With all that we are capable of doing, being environmentally conscious about how we operate doesn't seem like a difficult philosophy to embrace." Chesler came on board sharing a similar philosophy. Before joining RPA, she helped Mishawn Williams and her GLASS.org initiative (Union's Raimondi mentioned this earlier), spreading the word about people's dependence on plastic water bottles. "Mishawn was on the vendor side and I was on the agency side, but we both shared an awareness about what was going on at the time, which was single-use plastic World-Cycler by ModusEarth (www.modusearth.com) is a reusable gifting set made to reduce waste and add value to every gift it contains. World-Cycler is for all occasions and includes a gift bag with front pocket, a full greeting card plus an extra card insert. Each set is ready to use for two separate gifting occasions, but it goes on from there. WorldCycler can be used several times over by making a fresh card insert with any 8.5x11 paper and a simple fold. It costs $10.99 per set. 46 Post • May 2013 Post0513_046-Jump.indd 46 water bottles popping up as a regular thing on sets, in post houses and in agencies." Williams asked Chesler to help her set up the program, gather production companies and elicit a push from the client side. "We realized the power came from the client, and if me as the agency client asked production and post companies to take those things off of sets, that we'll pay for non-disposable water canisters and have a water station, they would do it. Other agencies and then post houses would contact me and ask me how they could do it too." Then, slowly over the years, success. "There was a shift, and it became a permanent solution where companies like Method completely changed thanks to gentle prodding from us," she explains. "It's not only environmentally safe, but it's a huge cost savings to have a filtered water system and not rely on these plastic bottles." GLASS was so successful in its mission as catalyst, they were able to step back and let others run with their philosophy. Companies started to pop up based on the practices GLASS set forth. One of those was EcoSet (www.ecosetconsulting.com), run by Kris Barber, which is often called on for RPA shoots. "They come with a team, in relation to how large your crew is, who set up water stations and provide reusable water bottles, and composting, landfill trash and recycling bins everywhere — by camera, the video village, by craft services. Everyone sorts their own trash, and now landfill trash is a small bag where the composting and recycling bins are the normal-sized trash cans." EcoSet also takes set materials, the wardrobe, props and donates them to film schools and charities; food banks get the food. "They move those items for you; R E V I E W [ Cont.from 43 ] wanted using a combination of insert and overwrite edits, lifts and ripple trims with drag-and-drop edits automatically adding layers to the timeline. I figured out how to change audio levels by adding edits and using the gain effect to boost the volume of the VO. With the edit locked, I moved forward to the main dish, compositing the greenscreens. I really wanted to push the software to see why I would want to use Smoke rather than another NLE. In fact, I found I got great results using the AVC-HD footage in FCP X and Premiere running a key, color corrector and a resize on the background and this played in realtime in Premiere but dropped frames in FCP X. How did Smoke do? Smoke doesn't have a realtime effects engine so as you add effects, you have to render as you go. The keyers in the other apps picked up on the high compression in the source footage right away and pulled a decent key with little trouble. Smoke's Master Keyer, a very deep but older tool, took a bit to deal with the compression artifacts but was able to keep up. Where Smoke really shines is in the ability to add a deep node-based composite to any clip in the timeline. For the first time, ConnectFX allows many more folks to experience what Flame artists have been using you don't have to do anything, and at the end they give you a report about where things have gone," she says. "On a Honda shoot last year, one of the set pieces was a huge semi with carrots on it and there were thousands and thousands of carrots. If we didn't have EcoSet, all carrots would go into a trash bin, but instead they went to an animal rescue place and were fed to the animals. They make sure everything will be used and appreciated and have another life instead of heading to a trash bin because it's easier for the crew while breaking down. So it's evolved way past water bottles." Back at RPA, they encourage ride sharing by offering a huge discount on parking.They also tell employees to shut down computers, turn off the lights at night, and as much as possible, print double-sided. "Those things add up over time," advises Chesler. The agency also transitioned to digital prepro books. "We don't provide the binder anymore, even to clients," she says. GREEN TIP "My green tip for everyday life is reuse! Recycling is important but reusing whenever possible takes recycling to the next level. — Gary Paticoff, Senior VP/Executive Producer, RPA, LA S M O K E for years, the node-based compositing environment (called Batch in Flame), which was recently upgraded to function in full 16-bit float. For example, I didn't have a very stable rig for the overhead shots so there was a bit of a camera wobble. Using the ConnectFX pipeline, I was able to stabilize, key, correct layers for lens distortion, color correct the foreground and background plates, add a light wrap and a vignette inside of one ConnectFX pipeline. Even better, once I got the look I wanted, I was able to drag and drop this set-up to all the shots from the same camera angle in the sequence. FINAL THOUGHTS Autodesk has done a great job of building many avenues to get started with the software, foremost among them is the Smoke Learning Channel on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/SmokeHowTos). There is also AREA, where you can post your questions (http://area.autodesk.com/smoke). It really takes a lot of courage to take a successful product and rethink it from the ground up. Autodesk has rewrapped most of the old tools, while adding new functionality at a lower price point. What's not to like? www.postmagazine.com 5/3/13 11:47 AM