Before sailing back into theaters, newly and spectacularly rendered in 3D, “Titanic” went through final inspection via leading edge digital mastering and stereoscopic technology from DVS. Director James Cameron and his team from Lightstorm Entertainment used DVS‘s CLIPSTER® and FUZE systems to review scenes from the movie in stereo as it was undergoing the 3D conversion process. CLIPSTER and FUZE facilitated the playback of uncompressed (2K) media in stereo allowing Cameron to view the film on a big screen in precisely the same form as audiences will see it in cinemas.
CLIPSTER is a digital intermediate workstation, combining editorial, color correction, restoration and stereoscopy tools. FUZE is a companion technology used in digital cinema mastering and accommodating material up to 2K, including 3D.
As “Titanic” was undergoing conversion to 3D, Cameron, “Titanic” producer Jon Landau and stereo supervisor Geoff Burdick used CLIPSTER and FUZE systems at Fox Studios in Los Angeles, at a Lightstorm Entertainment facility in Malibu and at a Fox facility in Australia, to review the conversion work being performed by a variety of third party facilities. In each instance, CLIPSTER and FUZE were set up in theater-style environments where stereo media could be viewed either on a projection screen or 3D monitor.
The CLIPSTER FUZE combination made it possible to review uncompressed stereo media in a color-calibrated environment while performing a variety of editorial and grading functions. “It allowed them to create and edit DCPs on the fly with no rendering or pre-rendering,” explained Dan Germain, who heads market development for DVS in the Americas. “They could also connect to any display or work in any raster instantly.”
“Jim, Jon and Geoff were able to review the project in exactly the same format as cinema-goers will see it on the big screen, and in the Blu-ray format that consumers will see at home. They could switch between those modes instantly or look at them side by side.”
Lightstorm had originally used CLIPSTER in 2009 to review media for “Avatar” and was impressed with its ability to reliably manage data-intensive media. “Due to the stereo conversion, every shot in ‘Titanic’ became an effects shot,” noted Burdick. “We needed a system that was seamless, reliable and allowed us to do everything we needed to do. We used the system for all of our reviews. It looked beautiful, it handled material from all of our vendors and it performed flawlessly.”
Germain added that the CLIPSTER and FUZE will continue to meet Lightstorm’s needs well into the future. He noted that tests conducted with Lightstorm showed that the systems support stereoscopic 5K workflows and frames rates of 48p and 60p or 96Hz and 120 Hz in 3D while displaying the highest bit depth of any system on the market.
About DVS
DVS, a Rohde & Schwarz company, is a leading manufacturer of high-quality hardware and software for broadcast, digital film and video post production, presentation and event markets. DVS applications cover the production of popular TV series and Hollywood blockbusters, and enable 4K films for Digital Cinema. With over 25 years of experience in the professional video industry, DVS has cultivated a “passion for perfection,” and continues to develop revolutionary systems for customized, flexible, high-performance workflows. With CLIPSTER®, DVS was the first company in the world to make real-time 4K processing possible. Its future-proof broadcast server VENICE offers a flexible solution for modern, file-based workflows in broadcast environments. Headquartered in Hanover (Germany) and Los Angeles (USA), DVS also has branch offices in New York (USA), Miami (USA), Paris (France), and Singapore. www.dvs.de
