I have three predictions that just might interest you:
1. Digital intermediate (DI), the process of scanning, digital color timing, and film recording/video translation, will soon take the commercial industry by storm.
2. The change will happen faster than many predict, as it did in the feature film industry (where fully half of major releases next year will go through the full DI process).
3. Some of you will be disappointed with the results of your first DI. Take it from a guy who worked in the commercial industry, and now works primarily on feature films: You don’t want to be in the "early failure" group. If you’re concerned, read on.
First, though, why bother going DI? The simple answer is that a good digital intermediate looks much better in theaters and in homes. And the cost is reasonable, especially as a percent of typical commercial budgets. What’s a little extra money, if every single DI-produced frame looks spectacular and helps capture the audience’s attention?
Perhaps, like me, you’ve noticed that many commercials in theaters look bad. They lack resolution and the colors somehow just don’t look right. In many cases, this is because they have been put through a traditional video workflow and then simply filmed out. This workflow can cause a loss of detail and poses color science challenges that some facilities are not equipped to tackle.
Perhaps also you have seen the Marines spot in your local cinema. Maybe you noticed that this spot looks much better than other theatrical commercials. That’s because in 2000, the Marines spot was the very first commercial to go through a full 2k digital intermediate process in a large digital color-timing theater. This commercial is still in cinemas. The next time you see it, pay close attention.
That said, be cautious when you enter the DI world. The process is complex and full of pitfalls. Those who don’t do their homework will not be pleased with the results. Instead, learn from those who have struggled to perfect the process over the past three years.
Here are my personal "Top Six Lessons Learned":
1. What you see isn’t always what you get. Unless you do your homework, don’t assume that the colors you select in your DI session will look the same on film. Right now, it seems that every post facility is planning to hang a DI services shingle. A common industry misconception is that DI merely involves buying a scanner, a recorder, a computer, two projectors and color timing software. Unfortunately, it’s not that easy. While these tools are necessary, they distract from the real DI challenge: Getting film colors to match colors selected in a digital color-timing session is a difficult process, involving complex color science and a close link between your post facility and its film laboratory.
What’s the solution? Make your post facility prove to you in a test that they can match your film-outs to your digitally color-timed images. Use actual footage from your spot, and select several of the most important cuts. Look closely at the test. Do the colors and densities really match? If they don’t, what’s the point of doing a DI?
2. If your spot is headed for theatrical release, insist on color timing in a theater with digital projection, not just on a monitor. Monitors cannot faithfully reproduce all film colors. Some colors are more problematic than others. By contrast, when properly calibrated, the new generation of 2k projectors from Barco and Christie can achieve a remarkable match with film.
Furthermore, it’s difficult to imagine how your spot will look in a large theater by looking at a small monitor. Trust me, your color decisions will be different and better in a digital theater than in front of a monitor because you are working in a projection environment and on a much larger scale.
3. Insist also on a monitor color timing session, and pay attention to color translations from film color space to video color space. If your spot will be shown in homes and at theaters, insist on a second color-timing session on a monitor. Final DI images are typically stored in log Cineon color space at 24 fps (with each frame taking up 12.7 MB of disk space). These images must be translated to video color space using complex color translation programs. The best of these programs provide a very good match between the film version and the monitor version, but at the end of the day, monitors cannot reproduce all film colors (and vice versa), so insist on a separate (but much shorter) monitor color timing session so you know exactly how your spot will look to consumers. And ask your post facility about their color translation software: Who wrote it? What spots have used it? Has it been proven in real-world translations?
4. Film laboratory chemicals change every day, and those who don’t take this into account will have poor or inconsistent image quality. Film processing is a tricky business, involving keeping huge vats of fluid at exactly the right temperature and chemical composition. Even at the best film laboratory, a negative sent on one day may or may not look the same if it is sent a few days later. Lab chemicals drift from day to day. And sometimes the color variation can be extreme, resulting in an overall color bias that can ruin the look of your spot. What’s the solution? Refer to the first lesson: Make your digital laboratory prove to you that your colors and densities can match your digitally timed images. Don’t settle for film that doesn’t match.
5. Pin-registered scanners produce better, steadier images. Two factors are critical in scanning for DIs. First, the image must be scanned at 4k, and then down-sampled to 2k. Scanning at 2k is just plain not good enough. Don’t accept it. (For the mathematically talented color science folks out there, refer to the Nyquist Theory, which states that for true color accuracy, images must be sampled at twice the target storage resolution.)
Second, insist on a pin-registered scanner. Non pin-registered scanners can introduce perceptible movement ("weave") into your spot. The difference is subtle, but noticeable. By contrast, pin-registered scanners from manufacturers like Imagica and Northlight have finely tuned film handling mechanisms that produce steady scans.
The difference becomes even more noticeable if your spot will be projected digitally in theaters, a trend that is expected to accelerate quickly over the next few years. For sheer image impact, there’s nothing more amazing than seeing a rock-steady, digitally color-timed, pin-registered spot projected from a 2k digital projector.
6. 2k projectors are better than 1k projectors. Post facilities are now converting to a new generation of 2k projectors. These projectors are capable of displaying 2k images, resulting in much finer detail. But just as important, they achieve heretofore unheard of contrast ratios of 2500:1 and above. Visually, that means much deeper blacks and a more accurate picture. By comparison, 1k projectors can look washed out, especially in dark scenes when the light leaking out from the projector in black areas hits the screen. Insist on 2k projection.
And there you have it: the accumulated wisdom from three years of doing DIs for feature films from a guy who started in the commercial world. Follow these rules and maybe you’ll avoid going gray like I did. I really look forward to seeing great-looking DI spots in theaters and on my HD television over the next few years!
