This is the first in our Road To NAB series leading up to the National Association of Broadcasters convention next month.
While those focusing on cinematography at the upcoming NAB confab can expect to see the latest digital cameras from the likes of Sony, Panasonic, Thomson’s Grass Valley, Dalsa and Arri, leading DPs agree that this year’s show is all about workflow.
“It’s changing significantly and it’s going more datacentric,” explained feature and commercial DP Curtis Clark, ASC who chairs the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) Technology Committee. “I see these things happening in a way that creates flexibility– but it also brings more complex workflows.”
These new workflows, he said, may be less disruptive and less sequential. “That’s where 2006 is beginning to show maturity,” he said. “We are seeing this more as a workflow and less as separate components.”
Clark pointed out that 2006 will also see the release of features shot with some of the newer digital cameras and incorporating some of the digital workflows. “If the work is considered impressive, that will be a reinforcement of the use of those technologies,” he said.
Clark has already completed tests and actual productions with many of the new digital cinematography cameras, as has David Stump, ASC, who chairs the ASC Technology Committee’s camera subcommittee. At NAB, both are also looking forward to examining some of the smaller digital HD cameras that record to formats such as P2 or HDV. “There are a vast number of tiny cameras that provide great pictures,” Stump reported.
But Daryn Okada, ASC, added, “One thing I do not see advancing is [a full range of] ancillary equipment. Digital cinematography cameras need to build that accessory package.”
The main focus for these cinematographers, however, will be workflow. For Stump, that includes looking for advancements using wavelet compression technology. “This is the most promising development in the area of compression,” Stump explained. “Wavelet is a highly loss-less compression, which is important because storage is at a premium. If you can get good pictures from compressed files, you are more efficient.”
Data management is also a critical component, warned Daryn Okada, ASC. “The mishandling of data can compromise what is captured.”
This aspect affects all projects, whether they were lensed digitally or on film. “As digital postproduction processes such as digital intermediates and finishing become more economical, we open the playing field for capturing on film,” Okada said.
Along with data management, another high priority for cinematographers this year is color management.
ASC CDL
“What we need above all is a universally interoperable system of color management,” declared ASC president Richard Crudo, ASC. “This is a changeable period we are in. The ASC Technology Committee is leading us toward viable workflows and trying to establish standards in the workflow that will take us into the future.”
As part of that effort, the Digital Intermediate (DI) subcommittee of the ASC Technology committee is working on recommended specification for the implementation of what it calls a Color Decision List (CDL). The goal, said Joshua Pines, vice chair of the DI subcommittee, is that “the ASC would like basic color correction data to be interchangeable between color correction systems made by different manufacturers.”
Pines, VP of imaging at Burbank-based Technicolor Digital Intermediates, reported that a draft of this work has been distributed to color correction technology vendors in order to move this effort forward.
At press time, Paris-headquartered Thomson’s Grass Valley had already announced that its next version 2.5 of its Bones postproduction system–which includes color correction and workflow tools–would support the recommended ASC CDL specification. Pines suggested that there will be more news on the ASC CDL as NAB approaches.
Grass Valley also announced that its Viper Filmstream digital cinematography camera has been used to lens director/cinematographer David Fincher’s upcoming feature Zodiac. Fincher is repped for commercials by bicoastal Anonymous Content, and has previously used the Viper on commercial projects.
On to more product news, Park Ridge, N.J.-based Sony announced that it is improving on its Cine Alta HDW-F900 camera, perhaps best known in the commercial industry as the camera used for the Sony “Dreams” shorts project. At NAB, Sony plans to premiere its new HDW-F900R model, which is designed as a replacement for the original F900 model.
This new camcorder features a more compact and lighter chassis, HD-SDI outputs and new accessory boards for slow shutter, image inversion and down conversion with 3:2 pull-down. The F900R may also take advantage of the optional video cache feature of Sony’s HDW-730/750 camcorder series. The new HDW-F900R model also incorporates a completely lead-free solder design, making it more environmentally friendly.
“This camcorder was designed to work seamlessly with the previous generation of equipment,” said Rob Willox, director of content creation for Sony Electronics’ Broadcast and Production Systems Division. “The goal was to refine the camera, making it lighter while offering the modern HD interfaces that are now common to the production community but were not available at the inception of the CineAlta line” A July release is scheduled.
Munich-headquartered Arri reported that at NAB, it would feature the Arriflex D-20 digital cinematography camera with its new Arri FlashMag 112, a solid state recording device that can be mounted on the D-20 for cable free operation. The D-20, already used on numerous national commercial projects, has an optical viewfinder and accepts all 35 format lenses.
Arri also plans to showcase the Arrimax 18/12 HMI light; the Arri Automated Stirrup, which offers remote pan, tilt and focus for large daylight and tungsten lighting fixtures; and a new line of camera lenses and accessories such as 12 new Master Primes.
Meanwhile Secaucus, N.J.-based Panasonic noted that it would expand its P2 DVCPRO HD products, which offer Panasonic’s P2 solid-state memory recording without the moving parts of other tape, hard disk, and optical disc based systems. Panasonic reported that these new P2 products are designed to offer a reduction in maintenance costs, longer useful product life, and immediate access to recorded video (no need to digitize, ingest or create proxy video files) and metadata.
More specifically, Panasonic will display its new AG-HVX200, a hand-held P2 DVCPRO HD camcorder launched last December. The new members of the P2 DVCPRO HD product family will include the 2/3inch AJ-HPC2000 shoulder-mount camcorder, AJ-HPS1500 studio recorder, the AJ-HPM100 mobile recorder/player and the AJ-PCD20 P2 drive.
Cinematographers will also be examining developments such as Kodak’s Look Manager System version 2.0, which is designed to enable cinematographers to previsualize, create, communicate and manage subtle nuances in film looks from preproduction through postproduction. Rochester, N.Y.-headquartered Kodak’s version 2.0 enables cinematographers to import and organize images on a per scene or per date basis, assign metadata and basic looks that can then be further color-corrected, viewed and compared on calibrated monitors with other system users. This assists in the communication of the entire vision of a project with collaborators.
Additionally with version 2.0, 3-D look up tables (LUTs) may be applied to images and exported, giving post facilities a scientific reference and communication component to eliminate guesswork involved with recreating visuals as intended by the creator.
Another tool generating interest in this subject area is Hollywood-based Gamma & Density’s 3cP (Cinematographer’s Color Correction Program) on-set color correction system, which debuted in ’05. This system enables the DP to color correct, save and send images to a colorist during or after a shoot–improving communication and collaboration. An upgrade allows HD and other digital image sequences to be color corrected and played back on-set as uncompressed HD or SD video stream.
Burbank-based Band Pro Film & Digital plans to premiere the Carl Zeiss Telephoto DigiZoom 17-112mm T1.9. The company reported that this new precision telephoto lens “accurately color matches and seamlessly intercuts with images made with Zeiss DigiZoom 6-24mm T1.9 and the DigiPrime lenses.” It will be available in focal lengths from 3.9mm (T1.9) to 70mm (T1.6) CF. The new lens features a 95mm lens front to work with existing accessories.
Lastly, lighting developments will include Litepanels’ Litepanels 1×1, which is available in daylight flood or spot, and tungsten flood versions. Its modular design enables multi-panel configurations. Litepanels reported that the system produces no heat and mounts via standard TVMP receptacle.
SHOOT’s Annual “Road to NAB” series will run until the 2006 NAB Convention, which will be held April 22-27 in Las Vegas. To submit new technology announcements for the series, please contact Carolyn Giardina, SHOOT’s senior editor, technology and postproduction, at 310-822-0211 or at cgiardina@shootonline.com
