Archive notice: This article was originally published on July 26, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Current broadcast and post-production systems were the focus of the Quantel roadshow held May 20 and 21 at ZDF’s conference center in Mainz. Quantel also presented its real-time 3D post-production environment for HD and 2K, making 3D a realistic option for cinema and television productions. Thomas Birner, Director of Sales, Central Europe, looks ahead at trends and prospects.
What were the key areas at Quantel’s ZDF roadshow?
We presented ZDF employees, freelance operators and colorists from other broadcasters including WDR and NDR with our eQ and Pablo post-production equipment for color grading, which can also be used as complete systems. Networked teamwork workflows involving different workstations for editing, effects, color correction and mastering can be organized very efficiently with our Genetic Engineering infrastructure solution. Its open system architecture also allows third-party systems to be integrated. A second area is news and sports production with our sQ production system and Mission data-management software. All broadcasters are planning broad HD launches by 2010. The sQ production solution offers an identical workflow for SD and HD and handles simultaneous HD and SD broadcasting fully automatically.
What do customers value most—tapeless operation and complete broadcast automation?
Those are important aspects of news production. Above all, today’s fast-paced news production requires every file format to be ingested without difficulty, since images and content delivered by mobile communications or internet streams are also used. Any content stored in an sQ system can likewise be output in real time at any desired resolution. Our Mission data-management software plays an important role in this automated ingest and output, enabling unlimited multicasting in SD, HD, web or mobile formats. News-production content must feed automatically into every distribution channel without additional work. Internet and mobile delivery in particular have grown greatly in importance as news searches increasingly shift toward those channels.
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Integrated post-production systems combined with powerful hardware are among Quantel’s strengths. Why should colorists move toward nonlinear color correction for grading and effects?
Post-production used to be highly price-sensitive. Wider HD market penetration will change that. Because data and processing volumes are larger, system speed and efficiency will matter above all in future. Quantel offers very strong performance in this area because we use hardware acceleration. Our competitors cannot provide this level of speed for HD and 2K. The final obstacle to reaching colorists in Germany was a panel that reflected their working habits.
With the new Neo color-grading panel, we now provide an effective control surface for color correction in post-production and broadcasting. Colorists who grade on Da Vinci or Pandora panels are accustomed to comprehensive consoles. Neo now gives us a panel that meets precisely those requirements.
3D is currently the leading topic in the United States. How is the German industry responding to Quantel’s real-time 3D post-production environment?
The response is very positive because the quality we can demonstrate exceeds everything previously seen in 3D. Unlike earlier generations, today we have a complete digital chain from capture through cinema projection or television display. Post-production was previously a particular bottleneck in 3D production. Our 3D stereoscopy system for eQ or Pablo provides a real-time 3D post environment for HD and 2K. Comparing Disney’s concert film “Hannah Montana 3D” with U2’s likewise stereoscopic “U2 3D,” the U2 film, premiered last year, required 18 months of post-production, whereas Disney’s film needed only ten weeks. DI work was completed entirely with Quantel’s stereoscopic 3D tools on Pablo at FotoKem in Burbank. At this speed, 3D productions are now becoming commercially viable.
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