• Tuesday, Sep. 1, 2015
Canon developing 4K projector
Canon is developing an LCOS projector with definition surpassing 4K digital cinema.
MELVILLE, NY -- 

Canon U.S.A., Inc. announced that its parent company, Canon Inc., is developing an LCOS projector capable of displaying video and still images at a resolution up to 4,096 x 2,400 pixels with 5,000 lumens of brightness*.  This level of definition surpasses the 4,096 x 2,160 pixel-resolution of 4K digital cinema.

Tracing its beginnings to the movie industry, 4K-resolution content has been gaining traction in various market segments. Amid ongoing advances in image quality and definition made possible by the introduction of a growing number of 4K production tools, Canon is leveraging its proprietary optical technologies to make its entry into the 4K projector market in 2016.

In addition to a growing demand for high-resolution, high-quality imaging performance, there is an increased need for projectors that enable projection from close-range installation locations to facilitate use in settings/applications with limited available space such as in museums, and in driving and flight simulators. In response to these needs, Canon is developing the 4K projector as a new model within its REALiS series that not only achieves high brightness and ultra high-resolution, but also has a compact and lightweight body.

Equipped with three ultra high-definition 4,096 x 2,400 pixel LCOS panels, the Canon 4K projector under development is being designed to support the projection of bright, high-definition content that exceeds the resolution offered by 4K digital cinema. While increases in brightness performance for projectors commonly require larger lamps and cooling systems, resulting in increases in projector body size, Canon’s proprietary AISYS optical system delivers bright 5,000 lumens performance while making significant reductions in body size and weight. Additionally, the projector will feature a newly developed 4K wide-zoom lens capable of projecting large images from a short distance, as well as an optical focusing function that enables the projection of images on curved-surface screens.

  • Tuesday, Sep. 1, 2015
Mexico’s Oxido adds on-set grading capabilities with FilmLight
A Baselight suite at Oxido.
LONDON -- 

Oxido, a post house in Mexico, has invested in new Daylight on-set grading systems from FilmLight. The Daylight systems have been fitted into two data management vehicles that can be driven to studios or locations to provide digital dailies and start the grading process.

Daylight is designed to provide a one-stop dailies service. It accepts raw data from all the leading camera manufacturers, automatically handling all the color science and de-Bayering to create a viewing copy. It also allows the director and DP to add color decisions up front, so when the first files reach the editorial and VFX stages every day, they already start to look like the final version.

Oxido has two Baselight suites in its OxidoFilms operation, supervised by colorist Fernando Medellin, expert in films and advertising. Color grading files created in FilmLight’s Baselight Linked Grade (BLG) format in Daylight can be transferred alongside the media, so colorists see the decisions made on set immediately. Daylight also synchronizes audio--essential for the editorial outputs--and allows the director and DP to attach notes to each shot, providing helpful guidance for the editor.

“Our aim is to make the workflow as seamless as possible, and Daylight has played a large role in achieving this,” said Eduardo Sanchez, executive producer of Oxido. “It has been an incredible addition to our growing collection of FilmLight products due to its versatility on set, from quick and flexible grading to audio synchronization and transcoding.

“Being able to export BLG files directly from Daylight and into Baselight relieves us of having to worry about changing color spaces or re-doing client-specific calibrations designed on set,” he added. “The rapid render times also mean we can deliver high quality material to the editor at the end of each filming day.”

Marco Rodriguez, CEO of Oxido, added, “Since the installation of Daylight, the feedback has been remarkable. Most of the comments are about how quickly we can get the job done--without compromising quality in anyway. By offering diversified and fast production-to-post services we stay ahead of our competition, which helps us keep our existing customers happy and reach new clients.”

Daylight and the rest of the FilmLight range will be demonstrated at IBC2015 (Amsterdam, September 11-15) on stand 7.F31.

  • Sunday, Aug. 30, 2015
Cambridge Imaging Systems rebrands as Imagen Ltd.
Imagen CEO Tom Blake
CAMBRIDGE, UK -- 

Cambridge Imaging Systems Ltd, developers of the Imagen Enterprise Video Platform, has announced a rebrand of the company to align with its award winning product, becoming Imagen Ltd.

The company has also appointed Jonathan Hebbes as VP of sales, a role in which he will be responsible for attracting new enterprise customers globally.

In  the last few months alone, Imagen has opened a new, larger headquarters on its campus to the north of Cambridge; appointed John Pearson--formerly Virgin Radio co-founder, and chairman of the highly successful music app technology “Shazam”--as independent chairman; and appointed Monisha Shah, the former head of sales at BBC Worldwide and a trustee at the Tate, as non-executive director.

Tom Blake, CEO of Imagen Ltd, said: “We are immensely proud of the Cambridge Imaging story to date and are hugely excited by the prospects ahead. We feel that aligning the company name to that of our leading product gives confidence to our customers and the global market that we are committed to further enhancing our core offering and their video could not be in safer hands. Online video is the fastest growing medium in history. Businesses of every size are waking up to the imminent crisis that faces them in managing this explosion of content. Imagen Enterprise Video Platform is the solution; it is the Platform for Enterprises to store and access their video.”

Imagen has recently had multiple corporate successes, including being named Frost & Sullivan’s Global Digital Asset Management Entrepreneurial Company of the Year for 2015, recognizing technology that aids success in the digital asset management market.  In April 2015, Imagen (under the Cambridge Imaging name) was selected by the London Stock Exchange to join its ELITE program, which is designed to support ambitious high growth businesses and facilitate direct contact with Europe’s financial and advisory community through their unique online portal.

  • Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2015
Milk Visual Effects deploys Thinkbox’s Deadline
Milk Visual Effects studio
LONDON -- 

For BAFTA Award-winning boutique studio Milk Visual Effects, a regular day at the office can entail anything from blowing up buildings to giving life to the supernatural. Founded in 2013, the London-based visual effects company recently added a second studio in Cardiff, Wales. Known for its work across feature films and television, Milk credits include “Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell,” “Doctor Who,” “Thunderbirds Are Go,” “The Divergent Series: Insurgent” and “Poltergeist” (2015). With a capacity of 120 artist seats and a nearly 200 node render farm between its two facilities, Milk relies on Thinkbox Software’s Deadline for scalable high-volume compute management across projects and locations.

“Choosing the right tool to manage our render farm was a key decision in forming Milk, so we looked at all our options and ultimately found that Deadline best suited our needs,” explained Milk head of systems Dave Goodbourn. “We’d all used the software before and loved it; Thinkbox takes its development very seriously and they’ve created a really amazing product that you can trust. We essentially formed our studio pipeline around Deadline.”

Whether creating massive crowds or complex simulations, every Milk artist uses Deadline on a daily basis, even if they might not realize it. “We process a ton of data through Deadline across a lot of different applications like Nuke and Maya, and we’re always looking for more to add. From caching animation to creating slap comps, converting frames and transcoding, we pass it all through Deadline so our artists don’t have to spend time waiting for commands to execute,” shared Milk head of pipeline Benoit Leveau.

Deadline also helps Milk bridge its two locations and be ready to spool up additional resources in the cloud at a moment’s notice. With machines in London and Cardiff, Deadline not only links the local farms to form a single, unified workflow but can also extend to cloud platforms for added processing power, with all components seamlessly integrated. This flexibility enables Milk to leverage any combination of physical resources, both on and off-site, and cloud resources as one cohesive farm that can easily grow to meet production demands.

“We’re continually evolving and taking on new jobs with specific needs, so it is important that we have a solution that scales. Deadline accommodates more than enough nodes; we never have to worry about overtaxing our pipeline,” Goodbourn said.

Concluded Leveau, “Deadline allows our teams to work fast and efficiently across locations. And, if we run into any issues, Thinkbox’s support is awesome. They’re available when you need them.”

  • Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2015
Canon introduces 4K UHD wide-angle broadcast lens
MELVILLE, NY -- 

Canon U.S.A., Inc., announced the CJ12ex4.3B portable 4K 2/3-inch broadcast lens, billed as the world’s first 4K wide-angle lens for use with 4K broadcast cameras featuring 2/3-inch sensors. This will be the first in a new line of 4K broadcast lenses intended to support a range of 4K ultra-high-definition (UHD) productions.  Designed as a portable wide-angle 12x zoom lens, the CJ12ex4.3B is ideal for Electronic Field Production (EFP) and Electronic News Gathering (ENG) broadcast applications covering news, sports, live events and filmmakers creating documentary projects desiring 4K quality.  Canon is also developing a portable, longer-zoom 4K lens that will further extend 4K UHD production capabilities.

“Through rigorous research and development, Canon has developed these portable 4K lenses to provide producers and broadcasters with outstanding optical performance to support newly emerging 4K broadcast productions while also offering superb optical performance when used on existing HDTV cameras,” said Yuichi Ishizuka, president and COO, Canon U.S.A., Inc. “With a 96.3 degree angle of view, our best-in-class wide-angle lens will allow broadcasters to capture more of the scene in stunning 4K quality.”

This portable wide-angle lens provides the optical excellence needed for 4K broadcast production. It has a 4.3mm wide angle (96.3 degree horizontal angle of view) and minimum object distance of 30 cm. A built-in 2x extender allows more telephoto operation without sacrificing 4K image quality.

This wide angle lens supports framing of scenes containing large amounts of image detail--for example, a wide end zone-to-end zone shot.  Editors can then select a 1920 x 1080 crop from within the 3840 x 2160 camera original with full HDTV image quality.  Alternatively, the 4K UHD camera video can be downsampled to HDTV offering enhanced resolution by virtue of that supersampled original.

The form factor for production shooters will be very similar to shooting with Canon’s HD lenses in size, weight and controls.  Its light weight of 4lbs, 10oz. and compact size make it ideal for shoulder-mounted ENG applications.

Three 20-pin connectors, capable of reading out the high-precision position information of the zoom, focus and iris are provided as a standard feature. Virtual operations are also available in the full servo mode, and use of a 16-bit absolute value encoder in the digital drive unit helps eliminate the need for any initialization, meaning users can simply turn on the camera and begin shooting. The lens is also compatible with standard HD zoom and focus demand controls.

Canon is also developing a new longer-zoom 4K portable lens as an important addition to the new 4K 2/3-inch broadcast lens lineup.  Like the new CJ12ex4.3B wide angle zoom lens, this new 4K portable lens, under development, will realize a high level of imaging performance while also featuring a weight and body size that achieve the same level of mobility as conventional portable HDTV zoom lenses. Supporting both indoor and outdoor use for a variety of applications, including sporting events, live telecasts, serial dramas and television commercials, the new 4K portable zoom lens will enable shooting across a range of focal lengths, from the wide-angle capture of entire sets to close-ups of distant subjects, in either 4K or HD resolution.

The CJ12ex4.3B portable broadcast lens is scheduled to be available in December 2015 while the longer-zoom 4K lens is scheduled to be added to the lineup in the first half of 2016.

  • Monday, Aug. 24, 2015
Sci & Tech Committee Considering 20 Achievements For Academy Awards
LOS ANGELES -- 

The Scientific and Technical Awards Committee of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today that 20 scientific and technical achievements, involving 11 distinct investigations, have been selected for further consideration for 2015 Academy Awards.

The list is made public to allow individuals and companies with similar devices or claims of prior art the opportunity to submit achievements for review.

The deadline to submit additional entries is Tuesday, September 1, at 5 p.m. PT.

The committee has selected the following technologies for further consideration:

A remote-controlled lens attachment that enables highly adjustable in-camera  distortion effects. Prompted by Squishy Lens (Clairmont Camera)

A remote-controlled lens attachment that allows viewable, easily manipulated, real-time image movement without displacing the camera. Prompted by Image Shaker (Clairmont Camera)

Portable, inflatable panels for on-location motion picture production. Prompted by Inflatable Airwall (Aircover Inflatables)

Displays that provide P3 color space for image review in motion picture workflows. Prompted by Dolby Laboratories model PRM-4200 Professional Reference Color Monitor (Dolby Laboratories)

Tools that are used for the creation and quality control of DCI compliant digital cinema packages for the motion picture industry. Prompted by easyDCP Software Suite (Fraunhofer IIS)

Rig-based solvers for tracking and animating deforming objects from image sequences. Prompted by Geometry Tracker (ILM) and FACETS - Directable Facial Motion Capture (Weta Digital)

Integrated computer solutions for collaborative, iterative review of cinema resolution shots and sequences within the visual effects and animation studio environment. Prompted by RV Media Player (Tweak Software), Clip - A Comprehensive Playback, Editing and Review Suite (Double Negative), DreamWorks Animation Media Review Ecosystem (DreamWorks Animation), FrameCycler (IRIDAS), Global DDR (Rhythm & Hues), HiDef - Media Review System (Weta Digital), Itview Collaborative Review System (Sony Pictures Imageworks), WDAS Collaborative Enhanceable Image Playback and Review Systems (Walt Disney Animation Studios)

Large-scale, massively parallel, distributed, multi-physics simulation systems. Prompted by Odin: A massively parallel simulation environment (Weta Digital)

Image compression coding and parameters that adhere to the specifications for the theatrical release of motion pictures. Prompted by JPEG 2000 Digital Cinema and IMF Profiles (Fraunhofer IIS)

3D texture paint systems capable of dealing with large texture sets for production assets. Prompted by MARI (The Foundry)

Rule-based frameworks for the art-directable creation of computer-generated structures and urban environments. Prompted by CityEngine (Esri R&D Center Zurich)

After thorough investigations are conducted in each of the technology categories, the committee will meet in early December to vote on recommendations to the Academy’s Board of Governors, which will make the final awards decisions.

The 2015 Scientific and Technical Awards will be presented on Saturday, February 13, 2016.

Claims of prior art or similar technology must be submitted on the Academy’s website.

The 88th Oscars® will be held on Sunday, February 28, 2016, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live by the ABC Television Network at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.  The Oscar® presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

  • Monday, Aug. 24, 2015
TV Bahia selects Grass Valley solutions to increase news operations efficiencies
Grass Valley STRATUS cover flow view.
MONTREAL -- 

TV Bahia, a regional broadcaster in Brazil, has partnered with Grass Valley, a Belden Brand, to bring greater efficiency to its news workflow, effectively reducing the total cost of operations for its newsroom environment. A TV Globo affiliate, TV Bahia has invested in GV STRATUS and K2 Summit 3G Transmission clients to gain a collaborative, evolvable and agile platform with a common user experience across all media production applications.

“When evaluating news production solutions, we focused on three areas: efficiency, scalability, and business agility, and GV STRATUS and K2 Summit aligned perfectly with the technical requirements in our existing workflow,” said Romildo Fausto, engineering & tech director, TV Bahia. “Our team is eager to improve processes to reduce costs, but also do more with our existing resources to create higher production value broadcasts. We’ve invested in Grass Valley’s products in the past and once again, we’re pleased with our decision.”

A full set of production tools in one application, GV STRATUS is designed for simplicity and speed and provides customers better management of on-air operations and news production media workflows in their increasingly competitive business. Its task-driven tools operate in a variety of environments and can be specifically tailored for each user’s function—an important feature for TV Bahia’s varying levels of demanding workflows and operations.

GV STRATUS will accompany two K2 Summit 3G Transmission clients, built for broadcast and distribution services with mission critical, 24/7/365 reliability. The K2 platform offers a unified infrastructure to acquire, manage, package, and deliver content across a diverse range of broadcast media requirements and applications with ease. Not only will this enable more efficient operational models, but it will help TV Bahia break news much faster to the public.

“As broadcasters continue to explore new ways to increase the efficiency of their news operations, it’s important for Grass Valley to offer solutions to help customers reach their goals,” said Leonel da Luz, VP of sales, Latin America, Grass Valley. “This solution was thoughtfully engineered and well positioned to help TV Bahia become more efficient today, with the ability to expand in the future.”

  • Monday, Aug. 24, 2015
LEADER Instruments introduces Spanish and Portuguese websites
A page from LEADER Instruments' Spanish language website.
SAO PAULO, Brazil -- 

LEADER Instruments Corporation has created two websites to support new and existing customers in Latin America. These are in Spanish and Portuguese.

Each site contains key product specifications, including the latest additions to the Leader range of waveform monitors, rasterizers, audio monitors, video and sync generators, RF level meters and accessories.

Supporting information such as product manuals, application notes, product comparison charts, video demonstrations and product warranty details can also be accessed. Software updates may be downloaded direct from each website.

Customers can also submit a repair or calibration request. Return goods authorization for product repairs or calibration are generated automatically.

“The two websites have a similar look and feel to the company’s US and European websites,” said Armando Ishimaru, Brazil country manager, LEADER. “They also include information on upcoming events within the Latin American markets such as the SET Expo 2015 show in São Paulo where LEADER will be exhibiting on stand 94C.”

  • Thursday, Aug. 20, 2015
California bill aims to warn consumers about recording TVs
In this photo taken Aug. 14, 2015, file photo a Samsung Smart TV is for sale in Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- 

Readers who scanned the user manual for a new Samsung smart TV may have been surprised to learn their household conversations could be recorded without their knowledge.

State Assemblyman Mike Gatto certainly was.

"The passage was almost word-for-word comparable to a passage of the book '1984,'" Gatto, D-Glendale, said, referring to a line in the privacy policy that said conversations, including personal or sensitive information, could be captured and transmitted to a third party if users turned on wireless voice recognition.

After taking a lashing in the media and online, the company changed its user manuals in February to make it clear that its smart TVs do not record or store conversations. Samsung says it will only record voice commands if a user clicks an activation button and talks into the remote or a microphone.

Still, Orwellian anxieties have already taken hold, and Gatto's Committee on Privacy and Consumer Protection is pushing a bill to rein in spying TVs before the problem becomes worse.

His AB1116 is the first legislation of its kind in the United States, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. After unanimous passage in the Assembly, the bill now goes before the full Senate before the Legislature finishes on Sept. 11.

It would require that users be explicitly informed when their smart TVs are installed that the devices could start collecting conversations.

It also forbids TV manufacturers and related third parties from using or selling stored conversations for advertising purposes, and would allow manufacturers to reject law enforcement efforts to use the feature to monitor conversations.

Samsung declined to answer questions from The Associated Press and has not taken a public position on Gatto's legislation but said in a statement that it supports consumer privacy.

"Protecting our consumers' privacy is one of our top priorities. Our TVs are designed with privacy in mind," the company said in a written statement.

Despite the bill's limited scope - it requires prominent notification but allows manufacturers to decide what is sufficiently explicit - Gatto said he has struggled to garner support from the technology manufacturing industry and said it was "news to us" that Samsung now supports it.

Privacy experts say the changes, while important, may not go far enough to protect consumers.

Potential uses for the information could go "way above and beyond advertising," said Jim Dempsey, director of the University of California, Berkeley's Center for Law and Technology.

The information collected could still be used to make psychological or cultural assessments of people for insurance or customer relations companies, he said, noting that human resources companies already use automated systems to profile callers based on their voices.

"It could determine what kind of offers you get made," Dempsey said.

The legislation is also technology-specific - a potential issue as voice control spreads to other technologies such as cars, Dempsey noted. He said the bill also makes no mention of how long conversations or transcripts may be stored by the third party.

Storage is so practically impossible that it isn't necessary to make it illegal right now, Gatto said.

The bill does a lot of things right, said Lee Tien, a lawyer for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a group that advocates for the protection of civil liberties online. The legislation notably acknowledges the risk of spying by law enforcement but may place too much faith in consent policies, he said.

"Notice is not consent," Tien said.

Dempsey agreed.

"It's not like you're going to change your behavior in your house just because there's a little icon on the screen," he said.

  • Thursday, Aug. 20, 2015
LightWave 3D Group releases LightWave 2015 Update 3
Importance Sampling is reflected in this shot of an Audi automobile.
BURBANK, Calif. -- 

The LightWave 3D Group, a division of NewTek, Inc., has released LightWave 2015 Update 3, which offers numerous fixes and improvements, system updates for Python, support for NVIDIA Optimus technology and more.

Pipeline updates for LightWave 2015 Update 3 include improved ZBrush, GoZ and After Effects support; workflow enhancements to the VPR (Viewport Preview Renderer), viewport, and restore options. Interchange enhancements include support for AE CC2015, improved FBX rigging import from Maya, additional support for UV interchange with Unity and other game engines, improved SubD mesh interchange for Alembic, and additional GoZ interchange support for ZBrush 4R7. Hefty scripting improvements have also been made to the LScript Scene Object Agent, with 22 new data members and supporting environment constants, as well as updated Python control over LightWave Custom Object access.

New customers of LightWave 2015 will automatically receive the Update 3 version at purchase. Registered LightWave users can get the LightWave 2015 Update 3 by logging into their account on the LightWave 3D website.

LightWave 3D is intuitive software that offers an end-to-end production pipeline for artists and designers to model, animate, capture, retarget, render, and input and output to 3D, including 3D printing.

With the various features of LightWave 2015, artists can take control of dynamic simulations with new Bullet constraint types such as Point-to-Point, Hinge, Slider, Cone Twist, Spring and six degrees of freedom (DOF) constraint types. Use Importance Sampling to greatly improve the quality of scenes lit by GI and HDR images or background lighting. Match plates, simply place, or sync objects in photographs with the Match Perspective tool. Take advantage of the Genoma 2 Character Rigging System, a rapid modular rigging system that at its base level is a complete rigging development kit (RDK) that can be used to quickly rig characters for animation without the need to set up complex rigs from scratch. It also supports the use of Math Expressions and Scripts and includes new and improved human, feline, and arthropod preset rigs.

LightWave 2015 includes Edge Rendering, Patch Border Rendering, Edge Buffering, 64-bit QuickTime Support, as well as new enhancements to the Viewport Preview Renderer (VPR). It also introduces many new features and improvements such as Interactive Dynamic Parenting, Textured Falloffs in Modeler, Fiber FX, GoZ Multi-tool and Unity 5 support. It also supports the latest interchange formats such as Alembic 1.5 and FBX 2015.

LightWave 2015 is now shipping and is priced at $995 USD (full license); $495 USD (upgrade). Educational pricing is also available. 

MySHOOT Company Profiles