Sony Announces Major Commitment to 4K All Digital Workflow

Posted on: October 4, 2008
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Major announcement for anyone working in the motion picture and television industries.

CULVER CITY, Calif., Oct. 2, 2008 – Sony Pictures Entertainment will use 4K digital technology in the making of most of its filmed productions, it was announced by Sony Electronics.

“With the industry moving rapidly to embrace the improvement in quality that digital cinema can offer, we believe that 4K resolution gives audiences the best seat in the house,” said Gary Martin, president of Production Administration and Studio Operations for Sony Pictures Entertainment.  “That’s why we will be making more of our filmed productions at full 4K resolution, scanning at 4K, using a 4K workflow process, and releasing a 4K DCP to theaters.  The crisp and vibrant images provided by 4K are the only way to ensure that audiences both today and in the future will really be able to see the full range of what we can capture on film.”

Sony Pictures has already released the summer blockbuster “Hancock” in 4K, with the motion picture grossing more than $600 million at the worldwide box office to date.  Movies released in 4K can play in theaters with either 4K or 2K projectors.  Among the next motion pictures to be digitally imaged in 4K by Sony Pictures, and available for 4K distribution, are expected to be “2012,” “Salt,” and “The Green Hornet,” with more titles to be announced.

“This commitment from Sony Pictures continues the momentum that is building behind 4K,” said Gary Johns, vice president, Digital Cinema Systems Division at Sony Electronics. “Exhibitors are realizing that 4K is a reality now, for enhancing their customers’ experiences, and studio support is a critical element to take advantage of the superior resolution of Sony’s 4K projection system. The growing number of 4K-equipped theaters will now have even more 4K content potentially available to offer their customers.”

More information about SXRD™ 4K digital cinema systems is available online at www.sony.com/digitalcinema.

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QuVis Wraptor: Digital Cinema Mastering for The Rest of Us…

Posted on: September 18, 2008
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The Complex and often arcane world of digital cinema mastering just became a bit more accessible as QuVis Corp. of Topeka, Kansas has announced the availability of a $699 digital cinema mastering plug-in for Final Cut Studio. The QuVis “Wraptor” enables FCS users to create professional-quality DCP’s or Digital Cinema Packages, the digital equivalent of a traditional film based “release print”, directly from a Final Cut Pro project. The plug-in uses the same QPJ™ encoding technology available in the company’s high-end, real-time mastering servers. QuVis developed the product in conjunction with Apple, who strongly supports the product.

Wraptor is actually a plug-in for Final Cut Studio’s Compressor. Considering Compressor’s distributed rendering capabilities, producers looking to take advantage of the plug-in’s low cost, will be able to do so without having to deal with endless render times.

The significance of this product should not be underestimated. To this point digital cinema mastering was one of the few areas of the digital filmmaking process that was not only difficult to decipher, but it was also very expensive. The cost of mastering a feature length film to a DCP typically runs in the 20K range, a stretch for the majority of aspiring and independent filmmakers. The Wraptor plug-in from QuVis seems like it has the ability to change all that and be another paradigm shifting tool that will help usher in a new era of digital cinema.

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