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MillimeterLow Key IBC
Oct 1, 2006 11:00 AM, By Cynthia Wisehart
IBC had the usual pleasures — the relaxed show floor with its hangover-friendly lighting, the river beach bar packed at noon, the good food everywhere, and the time and low dB level to actually talk to people.
What it didn't have this year was a whole lot of flash. Last year, quite a few companies planned key launches to hit the IBC timeframe (or maybe that's just the way it happened). This year, in production and postproduction, most of what was news to the Europeans was presented first at NAB.
Some companies indicated that may change again next year, bringing more product debuts back to IBC. In the meantime, IBC was still the place for serious shoppers to go deep.
One of the most interesting products at the show ties into an announcement that was made post-IBC. Blackmagic Design's $300 Intensity card, which taps the pre-HDV-processed HDMI output of HDV cameras (essentially a poor man's HD-SDI), seems an even better idea with the recent announcement of the Sony V1. On page 50 of this issue D.W. Leitner recounts his first look at the new camera, which provides yet another volley in what has been a pretty stunning run of competitive innovation from the big camera manufacturers.
At the other end of the price and resolution spectrum, companies that support DI continue to improve the technical options available to filmmakers. At the show, Celco introduced the new Fury 4K digital film recorder. MTI Film announced sale of its CONTROL Dailies product to Deluxe/Postproduction in Toronto, while Da Vinci announced that Ascent had gone with multiple Resolve digital mastering suites.
Another of the show's more interesting presentations concerned DI technology you don't buy. Technicolor has correctly concluded that the service part of DI can and should extend onto the set; they now offer the LUTher (LUT for look-up table), which gives cinematographers an onset tool that synchronizes with Technicolor's inhouse DI systems. (For an alternative, see page 60 of this issue for Geoff Boyle's experience with Iridas' SpeedGrade OnSet product).
Both these products — and I don't have space here to compare them since they are not really apples and apples — speak to the more general need to make the DP part of DI and to continue to solve the digital printer lights issues that the ASC is grappling with.
Finally, and speaking of DI, see our exclusive with Martin Scorsese starting on page 14 of this issue.
