Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/763341
www.postmagazine.com 20 POST DECEMBER 2016 COLLABORATION IS KEY BY DAN MAY PRESIDENT, AMERICAS BLACKMAGIC DESIGN FREMONT, CA BLACKMAGICDESIGN.COM ver the years, post professionals have been expected to do more in less time. New innovations and technologies have advanced the work being done, creating efficiencies and streamlining the overall process. However, the amount of content that needs to be processed and the number of deliverables for a single project con- tinues to increase. Consumption platforms have not only grown from film and television to streaming and mobile, increasing the number of projects traveling through the post pipeline, but the increase in platforms in turn creates an increase in delivery formats. Add to that new standards, such as the jump from SD to HD to 4K/Ultra HD and 4K DCI to 8K and more, along with new technology and systems, such as high frame rate, high dynamic range, ACES, etc., and the need to do more in less time has only increased. On top of that, deadlines are becoming shorter and shorter and not a moment is going to waste. This will only increase as we head into 2017. As such, siloed workflows are now a thing of the past and collaboration is key. Post professionals across disciplines are depending more and more on col- laborative workflows, allowing them to simultaneously work on the same proj- ect, timeline or even work in tandem to complete the same shot, whether they are in different suites in the same post studio or even different studios across the country, continent or hemisphere. For example, Brisbane, Australia's The Post Lounge (pictured, below) purpose-built a DaVinci Resolve Studio DI grading theater in its new Melbourne facility. A few years ago, the post studio identified the need from its clients for a second physical location in Melbourne. It began by cautiously testing the waters with a soft launch and very small facility of just two suites and minimal staff. Encouraged by the market's response and the level of demand, two years later, it then confidently moved forward and opened a full service boutique facility in Melbourne. The Melbourne facility features multiple offline and online edit suites together with a state-of-the-art DI theatre, which is used across television and Web series, feature films, documen- taries, short films, music promos, corpo- rate spots, commercials and more. As The Post Lounge's owner Steve Cooper explains: "Given that our phi- losophy is to provide effective, flexible and ultimately budget-friendly services to the film production community, it's essential to us that we invest only in equipment which is going to be effective and flexible for us — that is, it must work across as many stages of our workflows as possible, be low-cost, portable and extremely accessible to our operators. DaVinci Resolve Studio fits our business model perfectly, as we can utilize it for rushes transcoding, editing, online conforms, grading and even potentially creating final file- based deliverables. "Our team across both sites are able to share projects and re-link to local media via DaVinci Resolve Studio, for example, conforming a show which has been shot in Queensland, in the Brisbane facility, then just sending down the DaVinci Resolve Studio project for the final grade in the Melbourne studio, whether that's with our in-house colorist or a freelance operator. Or even commencing a grade in Brisbane and then completing it in Melbourne for the director or a client screening — there is no issue transferring a project to a dif- ferent site midway through completion, as everything is compatible and re-links successfully." Collaborative workflows mean time and space become less of a constraint as post professionals become more con- nected. In order to support this level of collaboration and connection, post pro- fessionals require a flexible and inclusive toolset, so the editor, colorist, VFX artist, etc., can seamlessly interface with one another without pause, eliminating the need for time-consuming roundtripping, for example. Interoperability is key and flexibility is paramount. Inclusive toolsets are also essential as post professionals combine skillsets, and the once definitive lines between job descriptions become more blurred. In order to save time, colorists will proac- tively solve a VFX issue in the grad- ing suite; editors will use VFX to help finesse the storyline; or VFX artists will color correct VFX plates. While many who have been in the post industry for some time have been acquiring these new skills over time, some post professionals have also grown up with a DIY, jack-of-all-trades mentality, learning to edit, grade and complete VFX work from the start. It has never been more important to empower post professionals and meet their creative needs by providing inclusive tools that span skillsets in an unhindered manner. O OUTLOOK WORKFLOWS O OUTLOOK O OUTLOOK