Toolbox

Foundry, a software developer for media and entertainment, has released Mari 6.0. Mari is Foundry’s cutting-edge 3D painting and texturing tool that combines power and performance to handle the most complex assets. This release focuses on enhancements to improve artists’ workflows and efficiency, with two new USD Exports, a new Roller Brush paint mode, Python snippets as Shelf items and a teleport node.

The two new USD improvements are designed to ensure that texturing pipelines are USD-ready. With the USD Look Exporter, artists can export a single USD Look file that contains all of the relevant shader information, reducing duplication of work in setting up USD Looks for use in Katana or other DCCs and bringing Look Development and Lighting together earlier on in the pipeline. Artists will also now have the ability to use Mari’s selection tools to assign materials to the correct USD face set-based location. 

Building on the already extensive painting toolset in Mari, the Roller Brush is a new painting mode that enables artists to paint a tileable image whilst following the curves and directions of a brush stroke. This allows artists to perfect the finer details without having to manually paint each individual stitch by hand, saving valuable time without losing creative control. This makes repetitive painting tasks such as creating seams and decals on characters’ clothing easier than ever.

Mari 6.0 also introduces a simpler way to execute Python Script actions using Python Snippets as Shelf items, so artists aren’t required to install Python Scripts into the Scripts path before launching Mari. This encourages collaboration between artists as they can more easily share scripts amongst themselves and across studios, meaning tasks can be completed more efficiently. 

Finally, the teleport node: a node of two parts—Broadcaster and Receiver—that creates hidden connections in the nodegraph lands in this release. Allowing artists to easily organize the nodegraph, clean up networks and reduce excess clicks, the teleport workflow saves valuable time and reduces the risk of strain from manual navigation. Artists can jump quickly between Broadcast and Receiver to quickly navigate the nodegraph without needing to manually find nodes.

The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) has announced details for the main conference program of the upcoming 2023 HPA Tech Retreat, now in its 28th year. Taking place February 20-23, the event will return to the Westin Mission Hills Golf Resort & Spa in Rancho Mirage, Calif. Registration for the event is now open. 

A bellwether gathering of the most prominent creatives, technologists and executives leading the future of entertainment technology and content creation, the HPA Tech Retreat is composed of TR-X (Monday), the Supersession (Tuesday), and the main conference program (Wednesday and Thursday), which anchors the four-day conference with a curated series of presentations focused on the most exciting, pressing, and fascinating issues confronting the industry today. 

Mark Schubin, who has steered the Tech Retreat Conference program for two and a half decades, said, “We received a true abundance of riches this year.  Not only were there more proposals than ever, but they were of exceptionally high quality. Look for presentations from four major studios talking about some of the most important projects. You will see presentations on immersive entertainment like MSG Dome, as well as virtual production, security, and cloud technologies.” 

Sessions for the 2023 HPA Tech Retreat main conference sessions will include:
 
Wednesday, February 22:

Technology Year in Review
Mark Schubin

What CES 2023 Means for the Media Industry
Mark Harrison, DPP

The Future of Localization
Rowan de Pomerai, DPP

It Is Time We Had a Conversation About Security in Our Industry
Chuck Parker, Sohonet (Moderator); Terri Davies, Trusted Partner Network, Motion Picture Association; Ted Harrington, ISE

Why Being Green is Not Black and White
Mark Harrison, DPP (Moderator); Barbara Lange, Kibo121; Cedric Lejeune, Workflowers

Audience Preferences for the Style of Digital Twins
Marvel Studios

MovieLabs 2030 Vision Update

The Truth About Overhauling the DMSC
Dan Germain, Sony Pictures Entertainment (Moderator); Bill Baggelaar, Sony Pictures Entertainment; Greg Geier, Sony Pictures Entertainment; Hai Dao, Sony Pictures Entertainment; Adam Miller, Nomad; John Hurst, CineCert

Web3 Movie Experience
Michelle Munson, Eluvio

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
Ron Ames, Producer; Jesse Kobayashi, visual effects

Remote, Mobile, and Live Workflow Innovation Updates
Mark Chiolis, Mobile TV Group (Moderator)

Transforming Broadcasters to Media Companies with Advanced Technologies
Hans Hoffman, European Broadcasting Union

SMPTE Update
David Grindle, Executive Director, SMPTE

Thursday, February 23:

MovieLabs Showcase

 
Does Everything Really Belong in the Cloud?
Chris Lennon, Ross Video (Moderator); Thomas Burns, Dell; Renard Jenkins, Warner Bros. Discovery; Jamie Duemo, Amazon Web Services

Considerations for Creative in the Cloud
Bastien Minniti, Amazon Studios

Real-World Production Tips for Implementing Virtual Production
Addy Ghani, disguise

MSG Sphere Studios: Capture, Edit, Deliver in 16K Resolution
Jeff Sengpiehl, Key Code Media

Restoration and Preservation
Anthony Magliocco, EMTM

Year in Review of New AI/ML Developments for Media Production with a Concentration on Semantic Search
Rob Gonsalves, Avid

What About Legacy SDR Content in the New HDR World?
Bill Feightner, Colorfront; Tom Graham, Dolby

LiDAR and Digital Twin Technologies
Ryan Metcalfe, Preevue

Textures feature of the Alexa 35
Tamara Seybold, ARRI

Post-Retreat Treat: The Origins of Subscription Home Entertainment
Mark Schubin
 

Changes to the program and speakers may occur and will be noted on the HPA website.

The Innovation Zone, a highlight of the Tech Retreat and an evolution of the famous HPA Tech Retreat demo room, has grown significantly and will include groundbreaking presentations and demos beyond the walls of the traditional Innovation Zone space.  Three of the four days of the Tech Retreat also feature dynamic breakfast roundtables with industry leading companies and experts speaking and leading discussions on a broad variety of topics of interest. 

Intentionally set in the desert, out of reach of the day-to-day demands of working life, the Tech Retreat fosters convivial and challenging conversations and desirable circumstances for professional networking. 

The Tech Retreat is a limited attendance event and is expected to sell out once again, as it does every year. Details for the Supersession and TR-X will be announced shortly. 

Seth Hallen, president of HPA, said, “There’s always great anticipation leading up to the reveal of each year’s main program lineup, and this year’s sessions deserve all the hype. I personally can’t wait to hear about these important topics, and meet the panelists and our attendees. Members of the HPA community constantly remind us how much they look forward to the Tech Retreat which many call the most informative and collaborative event in our industry.  February has become the heart of the technology calendar and I look forward to seeing our community in Palm Springs.” 

Registration is now open for the 2023 HPA Tech Retreat, which takes place thanks to the generosity of diamond title sponsor Adobe; platinum sponsors AMD, AWS, and Berkeley Communications; after party sponsor Ateliere; connectivity sponsor Sohonet; silver sponsors 6P Color, Epic Games, and Key Code Media; event sponsors Arri, Dell Technologies, Panavision, and Signiant; and star sponsor Avid.

Amazon Studios has announced the opening of Stage 15, its new virtual production stage, and formation of the new Amazon Studios Virtual Production (ASVP) department.  The stage on Amazon’s Culver City lot combines two former stages to accommodate an LED wall that is 80 feet in diameter and 26 feet tall. The first feature film to shoot on the new Stage 15 will be family holiday comedy Candy Cane Lane, directed by Reginald “Reggie” Hudlin and starring Eddie Murphy.

The ASVP department will shepherd each project on Stage 15, transferring institutional knowledge along with an optimized workflow developed in partnership with--and powered by--Amazon Web Services (AWS). The division has a full-time executive, engineering, and creative team of 20 that has been operating in stealth mode since 2020 on the design, pipeline, and build-out of Stage 15. Working with the volume wall, production creatives can interact with digital assets and processes in a manner that mirrors live-action to enable digital world capture, visualization, performance capture, simulcam, and in-camera visual effects.

Stage 15 is fully connected into the AWS cloud, and is an integrated part of the production-in-the-cloud ecosystem. The facility provides a camera-to-cloud workflow, with direct connection from Stage 15 to AWS S3 storage to make dailies instantly available to creative teams from any location. Every shot taken on Stage 15 ends up in the AWS cloud in real time, with the ability to safely and securely distribute assets around the globe.

The ASVP team is also developing a VFX and virtual production asset management system that lives on the AWS cloud, allowing production teams to catalogue, search, preview and repurpose production assets. This powerful backend system will reduce the lag time that productions typically experience when transferring files and assets from set to editorial, VFX, and postproduction vendors and facilities.

“With the combination of AWS and Amazon Studios innovation is inevitable,” said Chris del Conte, global head of VFX, Amazon Studios. “When you mix the worlds of entertainment and technology, it allows us to take everything to the next level.”

“The ASVP team are terrific collaborators and I am delighted to utilize this new technology for Candy Cane Lane. Advances in production and our industry continue to astound me and the volume wall is an impressive innovation for our business. For a production like this, with such a large scope, it’s an invaluable storytelling tool,” said Candy Cane Lane director Hudlin.

Here are some related specs, facts and features:

• Stage 15 is a 34,000-square-foot structure including the LED volume, a “Sandbox” lab, and 17,000 square feet of space dedicated to set construction and production support.
• The ASVP LED volume contains 130,700 cubic feet of interactive space.
• Amazon filmmakers may access ASVP as a consultation resource for all phases of a production, from concept planning through post.
• The ASVP volume wall is composed of over 3,000 LED panels and 100 motion capture cameras.
• The volume includes a full LED ceiling with drop-out panels, so that productions can rig up to 350,000 pounds of lights and production gear to its truss.
• Stage 15 was originally built in 1940 and was home to productions that included It’s a Wonderful Life, Star Trek (TV show), Batman (TV show), RoboCop, Airplane, The Three Amigos, and Armageddon.
• In addition to the LED volume wall, the massive new stage will include a 2-story building within its walls, dubbed “The Sandbox at Stage 15.” This structure will include a virtual location-scouting volume, a performance-capture volume, a tech-scouting volume, a green screen simulcam stage, and a client-facing VIP viewing area for visiting executives, filmmakers, and guests. This space will also feature a second, smaller LED stage, with a completely mobile LED wall, camera-tracking system, and control cart, along with an engineering workshop, scanning, 3D-printing, production workspace, and equipment storage.

Cooke Optics has made a major investment in two facilities. Crest Rise, a nearly 6,500 square foot production facility located near the existing factory in Leicester, U.K., was specifically commissioned to facilitate a fast introduction of the new S8/i FF T1.4 range, with the aim of achieving annual outputs significantly in excess of any previous Cooke product range. The S8/i FF spherical lenses, at T1.4, are among the fastest lenses available for full frame capture, providing cinematographers with excellent low light performance as well as great control over depth of field for full frame production. In response to customer feedback, they are also smaller and lighter than contemporary Cooke lenses, while producing optimal image quality and pleasing images that convey the sought-after Cooke Look.

This product range requires a different methodology to produce than other Cooke lenses, as it has been specially designed for the digital camera environment. The facility has adopted a three-tier level approach to environmental control, with all areas positively pressured to minimize contamination during the assembly processes. It features specific modulation transfer function, projection and camera tests, all employed to ensure that the lenses are finely tuned to exact parameters, but without losing hand-built craftsmanship. The facility has been designed with expansion in mind, ready for the implementation of the remaining focal lengths that will make up the complete S8/i FF range of 16 lenses, and Cooke has recruited an additional 12 staff into the assembly process, with a further six staff into the glass production group.

Cooke is also opening a new Creative Centre located at Chaowai SOHO, in the Chaoyang district of Beijing, headed by technical sales manager Anson Gil Mercado. It incorporates an in-house studio where customers can test a wide variety of Cooke lenses, as well as meeting rooms and a lounge area for events. This is the second regional Cooke facility to open in recent months, following the launch of the Burbank, Calif. facility in July.

Cooke Optics CEO Tim Pugh said, “Facilities that improve production and regional outreach are the cornerstone to better supporting our customers worldwide. The S8/i FF production facility will allow us to get premium lenses into the hands of our customers far quicker than has been achieved previously, while our new Creative Centre in Beijing allows local filmmakers to try out our different lens ranges in a relaxed environment, with experts on hand.”