Although it has traditionally been considered a video-centric show, NAB attracts a large film contingent as well.With the DI process becoming the norm, Kodak is talking about hybrid film and digital technologies. “The convergence of advances in film and hybrid postproduction technologies is giving the creative community the flexibility they want to create visually compelling content,” says Kim Snyder, general manager of worldwide origination products for Kodak’s Entertainment Imaging Division.The company is showcasing a new hardware platform for the Kodak Vision2 HD System with new film looks and effects. It enables cinematographers to use one film emulsion, which can be manipulated in postproduction to emulate the tone and color imaging characteristics of another (including some discontinued stocks). The system relies on a specially designed, scan-only film that features an extended dynamic range and latitude, coupled with a digital processor that handles the colorspace conversions.The new hardware platform is also used to support the latest version of the Kodak Telecine Calibration System (TCS), which is designed to ensure that subtle details in highlights, shadows, contrast and colors are retained when the negative is scanned and converted to digital video during post. Additional demos will include the latest software versions of the Kodak Look Manager System (KLMS) and Kodak Display Manager System (KDMS).The company will also exhibit a postproduction system jointly developed with Barco. The two companies have collaborated on a Barco digital cinema projector using Kodak’s proprietary color filters.“The human eye is capable of distinguishing a greater range of colors than today’s digital projection devices are capable of showing,” says Bob Mayson, general manager, Kodak Digital Motion Imaging. “Kodak has developed a series of filters that can be used to more fully record those colors in the master and accurately emulate those colors within the capabilities of today’s digital projection technology. As future advances in projection chip technology are made, our technology will make it possible to more accurately display the subtleties on the screen.”Fujifilm is showing its Eterna500 Color Negative Film, the company’s new tungsten-balanced color negative motion picture film. It offers ultra-fine grain through Super Nano-structured Sigma Grain Technology, consistent gray balance over a broad range from underexposure to overexposure, and stable reproduction of skin tones. The company will also be showing a prototype 200 GB Holographic Versatile Disc, HVD).With a family of products from film scanning through to film recording, Imagica is rolling out new systems that bookend the DI pipeline, including its new HSR film recorder, which can record 3 frames of 2K formatted files per second, and the Imager HSX film scanner, which can scan 4K media at 1 fps, or 3 frames per second at 2K. The system, displayed publicly for the first time at NAB, uses a newly developed CMOS area sensor/camera and LED illumination light source.FilmLight is giving the first demonstrations of the Northlight 2 scanner. With new sensor technology, optics and electronics, Northlight 2 will provide a 4X increase in scanning speed—running faster than 2 fps at 2K and 1 fps at 4K. The new scanner also features infra-red scanning and support for third-party dustbust applications.Celco is showing the newest digital film recorder in its product line, the Firestorm 2X, capable of outputting a high-resolution frame of film in 1.4 seconds—15 percent faster than its predecessor, the Firestorm 2, launched at IBC last fall.The 2X also incorporates Celco’s FilmOut Pro Advanced Digital Film Recording Software—control software for its latest generation FURY and Firestorm digital motion picture film recorders.NAB is the North American launch of Cintel’s diTTo, first seen as a prototype last year. Since it came to market late last year, the company has already sold six of its “Super 2K & 4K” auto-calibrated data scanning systems. diTTo uses a three-color light source, pin registration and solid-state low noise detection device.The company will also be launching Steady, a real-time image stabilizer application that runs on Cintel’s image processing platform imageMill.Steady allows real-time SD and HD sub-pixel image stabilization of either film or video images. 2K and 4K data can be stabilized at up to 15 fps via HSDL.
Written by Scott Lehane
