The Annual SMPTE Technical Conference and Exhibition taking place in Hollywood on October 22nd to 24th will feature a wide range of technologies supporting 4K and UHDTV workflows. In Booth #108, LumaForge will be featuring their cost-effective 4K data pipeline built around hardware and software from Apple Corp, AJA Video Systems, Blackmagic Design, SEIKI Digital, MAGMA and high-speed shared storage from Areca CineRAID.
As well as demonstrating an integrated 4K workflow, LumaForge will also be showing 6K footage from the recently announced DRAGON camera from the Red Digital Cinema Company. “We’ve been working with 4K footage for over seven years now,” says Neil Smith, CEO of LumaForge. “And over that period we’ve seen digital acquisition make tremendous strives in terms of resolution and image quality. Modern day 4K cameras are more than capable of delivering stunning images that are totally suitable for HD, 2K and 4K/UHDTV delivery but now the RED DRAGON is taking image capture up to the next level. The level of detail of the DRAGON 6K files is breathtaking and the latitude and image quality of the camera is quite outstanding.”
LumaForge has been keeping up with the pace of innovation shown by the camera vendors by leveraging the cost-effective solutions now available from companies like Apple and Blackmagic Design. “Seven years ago you needed heavy-iron computing platforms to deal with 4K footage,” continues Smith, “but nowadays with the tremendous gains in price-performance available on the new generation of Intel based systems and software like Apple‘s FCP X and Blackmagic‘s DaVinci Resolve10, content creators can shoot in 4K and easily and quickly deliver their projects in a cost-effective manner. 4K is the new HD!”
SMPTE this year has organized a special one day pre-conference symposium on ‘Next-Generation Imaging Formats: More, Faster, and Better Pixels,’ which will feature the largest collection of 4K/UHD equipment yet presented in a single room. The one-day symposium will take place on Monday, October 21st, with the complementary 4K/UHD demo area remaining open through October 23rd. LumaForge and its strategic partner, SEIKI Digital will be supplying 50 inch UHDTVs for display purposes. ‘The combination of cost-effective 4K workflows and UHD panels from companies like SEIKI Digital will allow consumers in the home to soon start enjoying the greater clarity and detail of the 3840×2160 resolution of UHDTV content.” says Bora Kim, Creative Director at LumaForge.
By combining digital workflow tools that are readily available, LumaForge has built a 4K ecosystem that moves content through editorial, VFX, color and audio at a fraction of what it used to cost with the traditional heavy-ir