Archive notice: This article was originally published on August 11, 2011. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
The ninth edition of the renowned industry event “Hands on HD” from 01.08.–06.08.2011 was unique in many respects.
A total of 150 workshop participants experienced 40 high-end camera systems with European and world premieres from Sony, Panasonic and Ikegami. The postproduction area included, among other things, 30 editing stations and several color-grading systems. The unique networking of the workflow was implemented by Hanover-based world market leader DVS. Almost 30 speakers and a production staff of 50 team members ensured optimal support for participants and technology.
Organized by nordmedia, the media company of the states of Lower Saxony and Bremen, in cooperation with Band Pro Munich GmbH and the Fernseh- und Kinotechnische Gesellschaft e. V. (FKTG), the industry event with an integrated conference and numerous workshops once again offered participants exceptional technical equipment and a large number of leading experts, manufacturers, sponsors and partners this year.
For the first time this year, workshop participants learned how to handle digital technology in the workflow in application-category classes and modules in the areas of camera and postproduction. After a theoretical introduction, the participants filmed under real production conditions on a total of ten very elaborately designed film sets.
At the same time, the postproduction participants prepared for delivery of the material shot in the camera workshops.
For both areas, the digital workflow was the focus. All systems were connected to one another via, among other things, Clipster. This network was operated by DVS. This unique workflow environment was capable of responding to and handling all supplied codecs and formats.
This process also represents the greatest difficulty in real production environments. “Next year, in addition to camera and postproduction, there will accordingly be a third area, workflow management!
This will become the interface between acquisition and postproduction and, with the associated infrastructure, will in future form the ‘heart’ of the Hands on HD Workshop & Network,” emphasized Sebastian Wolters of organizer nordmedia. “This also brings us to the realization that we no longer want to use the name Hands on HD for the event and network, since the industry and technology have meanwhile developed further. Here we will consider a name that takes this development into account.”
This unique offering of different technologies and systems at “Hands on HD” enables workshop participants to conduct an extensive practical test as well as realistic comparisons and trains them for real production conditions. Class leaders and lecturers were leading specialists such as Michael Radeck, Thomas Bresinsky, Philipp Ros, Prof. Uli Plank, Florian Rettich and Geoff Boyle.
A highlight of this year’s Hands on HD event was the presentation of genuine 4K film material. In cooperation with Sony Professional, all conference and workshop participants were shown the first footage from the Sony F65 CineAlta camera in a European premiere at the CinemaxX cinema in Hanover.
Richard Lewis, Product Specialist Cinematography at Sony Professional, explained technical specifications and answered questions about the camera and workflow.
The two-day Hands on HD conference integrated into the Workshop & Network event from 04.08.–05.08.2011 was more in demand than ever this year! High-profile speakers such as Florian Maier (stereotec), Martin Ludwig (Ludwig Kameraverleih GmbH), Prof. Dietrich Sauter, Heiko Sparenberg (Fraunhofer IIS) and Michael Bauer (DVS) imparted knowledge to around 130 participants from production, sales, purchasing and media professionals from all areas on creative, technical and economic questions in digital productions.
For the first time, the conference was organized in cooperation with FKTG Fernseh- und Kinotechnische Gesellschaft e. V.
Its long-standing board member Jürgen Burghardt (Broadcast Consultancy & Training) moderated the conference and guided the lively discussions.
Florian Maier (stereotec) delighted participants with his talk on the special features of stereo 3D productions, which he illustrated with two current international 3D film projects, “Wickie auf großer Fahrt” (Constantin Film) and “Hansel & Gretel, Witch Hunters” (Paramount Pictures).
In addition to imparting practical and specialist knowledge, one focus of the industry event was targeted networking.
All those involved were connected into a knowledge cluster. Participants, lecturers and industry representatives had a week to get to know and appreciate one another.
Throughout the year, the network exchanges information via the website http://www.handsonhd.de and various communities such as Facebook and Xing. nordmedia and everyone involved look forward to the next industry “class reunion” in Hanover in 2012!
(sha)
Further links:
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