American Cinematographer - May 2004 - 16

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State-of-the-Art Facilities

Improvements Continue at
Rapid Pace

by Debra Kaufman
The

ability to scan film footage into the

I digital realm at high resolution is a
I crucial portion of the digital-intermedi¬
(Dl) process. Though there have been
impressive improvements over the
years, scanners have continued to be
hobbled by, among other factors, serious
trade-offs between speed and resolution
and, overall, limits to the highest resolu¬
ate

some

tion available. In recent months, incre¬

ACAD EM Yo/ART

UNIVERSITY
FOUNDED IN SAN FRANCISCO 1929

improvements have acquired
enough weight to tip the balance. The
fact that many Los Angeles post and
visual-effects facilities are investing in
these new scanners appears to be proof
of the upgrades' success.
London-based FilmLight Ltd.
showcased

new

versions, hardware and

capabilities at NAB 2004. Dl tools shown
included Truelight, a color-management
system for previsualizing film images on
electronic display devices, with the addi¬
print emulation on an HD display or via
digital projection. Also shown was a new
release of the BaseLight system, a penand-tablet film-grading device. But FilmLight also introduced new features for its
pin-registered Northlight scanner, which
now
supports 16mm/Super 16mm
formats in addition to 35mm.

"We

1.800.544.ARTS

www.academyart.edu
79 New

Montgomery Street

San Francisco,

CA 94105
Nationally Accredited by ACICS,
NASAD S. FIDER (bfa-iad)

just acquired two
Northlight scanners, along with an Arri
scanner, to offer a complete range of
services for DIs. According to Pat Repola,
vice president of Feature Post Production
at Modern VideoFilm, the purchase of
the Northlight scanners will allow the
full bandwidth of the film to be captured
in order to manipulate, color correct and
edit at high resolution.
Another

mental

tion of real-time calibration for accurate

Modern VideoFilm

also

aiming for signifi¬
improvements in the current speeds
of 35mm at 2.5 seconds per frame for 2K
and 4.5 seconds per frame for 4K," says
FilmLight product manager David Stroud.
The new Northlight also introduced a
Linux-host GUI incorporating EDL scan¬
ning capability. According to Stroud, 19
U.S. post facilities and labs now have a
Northlight scanner. In Los Angeles, in
are

cant

addition to Cinesite, DKP/IMAX, Techni¬
color Creative Services and Pacific Title,

scanner

manufacturer,

Imagica Corp. of America, introduced its
Imager XE Advanced scanner at NAB
2004. The biggest advantage, says assis¬
tant manager of marketing Noriyuki
Mibuchi, is that the speed is twice as
fast

the former module. There is also

interchangeable 10K CCD option that
July 1. With the Imager
XE Advanced scanner, scan speed to
remote disk at true bit-depth of Cineon
10-bit with a full RGB color space (14-bit
A/D) is four seconds per frame at 4K and
two seconds per frame at 2K. The inter¬
changeable 10K CCD option will offer 12
seconds at 4K, down-sampled from
an

will be available

8Kx3K, and 24 seconds at 4K, down-

sampled from 8Kx6K. The film gate
exclusively for Dl use includes 35/4p
Academy format, 35/4p CinemaScope
format, and 35/4p full aperture, as well
as VistaVision 35mm 8-perf, 35mm 3p
and 16mm and Super 16mm.
The most recent sale of Imagica's
Imager XE scanner was to Lowry Digital
Images in Burbank, which does 4K
mastering of studio library titles. Lowry
Digital Images has completed digital
restorations of

than 80 films for

DVD, including Sunset Boulevard (see AC
March '03), North by Northwest anti The
Adventures of Indiana Jones. "The

Imager XE showed the performance to

American Cinematographer - May 2004

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - May 2004