Cinerama Restores Films with Boris Continuum Completes Flicker Fixer BCC Flicker Fixer Removes Flicker, Emulsion Blotching, Artifacting, and Image Weaving Boston, MA - February 26, 2013 - Boris FX, the leading developer of integrated VFX and workflow technology for video and film, today announced that David Strohmaier, Restoration Producer for Cinerama, Inc., is using Boris Continuum Completes Flicker Fixer in Adobe After Effects to remove flicker, emulsion blotching, and artifacting during the film restoration process.Cinerama was the first of a number of novel processes introduced during the 1950s, when the movie industry was reacting to competition from television. Cinerama was presented to the public as a theatrical event, with reserved seating and printed programs, and audience members often dressed in best attire for the evening.
Much of the original negative material was poorly stored, often in warehouses and vaults that were not temperature or humidity controlled. Strohmaier inspects the reels by hand and often finds that they are faded and damaged. The films are then sent off for scanning on a Scanmaster 4000 at Image Trends in Austin, Texas. At Image Trends, as the scanning is happening, a special process called Digital Ice is applied to remove the surface dirt from each frame. The scans for each portion of the triptych are composited as one complete widescreen image and the files are then turned over to Philip Hodgetts, the project?s post production consultant. Hodgetts converts the files to a 2K QuickTime for Final Cut Pro. Strohmaier then reconstructs the film, supervising final clean up and color work as well as the syncing of the 7 channel 26 fps soundtrack.
Strohmaier has found that some of the individual panels have a flicker between them - a result of the way old negatives fade over the years. In the past, Strohmaier manually corrected the flickers which entailed hours of painstaking keyframing. It was after doing three such restorations that David discovered Boris Continuum Completes Flicker Fixer. He downloaded the trial version and gave it a try in Adobe After Effects.
I was very much surprised by the results, commented Strohmaier. BCC Flicker Fixer was quite fast and did more than just cure the flicker. The filter also succeeded in removing the emulsion blotching that occurred due to the age of the film - as well as the artifacting in the scanned negative.
By setting the Temporal Smoothing value to 1, BCC Flicker Fixer removed all of the flicker as well as the emulsion blotching that appeared in different panels of the three way scan, continued Strohmaier. The process was so successful that I have gone back into two productions that were finished and applied BCC Flicker Fixer to several previously un-fixable shots.
Strohmaier also noted, Another benefit of BCC Flicker Fixer is that it appears to have removed perceived image weaving that was a result of the poor negative. Before using the filter, I had never been able to fix this weaving.
Moving forward, BCC Flicker Fixer will play an integral role in Strohmaiers restoration work. He regularly speaks at film festivals and other events about the film restoration process and how BCC Flicker Fixer can help.
Before and after clips are available for viewing on the Boris FX website at http://www.borisfx.com/userstory/Cinerama-Flicker-Fixer.php
About Cinerama Cinerama is the trademarked name for a widescreen process which works by simultaneously projecting images from three synchronized 35 mm projectors onto a huge, deeply-curved screen, subtending 146 of arc. It is also the trademarked name for Cinerama, Inc., the corporation which was formed to market the process.
About Boris Continuum Complete Boris Continuum Complete delivers the most comprehensive VFX plug-in suite ever created for Adobe After Effects, Adobe Premiere Pro, Apple Final Cut Pro, Apple Motion, Avid Media Composer, Avid Symphony, Avid NewsCutter, Avid DS, and Sony Vegas Pro. Over 200 filters across 16 comprehensive categories of effects include 3D particles, image restoration tools such as Noise Reduction and Flicker Fixer, lens flares and lights, chroma keys and mattes, color correction tools, blurs, glows, and film effects.
About Boris FX Founded in 1995, Boris FX is a leading developer of VFX, compositing, titling, and workflow tools for broadcast, post-production, and film professionals. Boris FX products have grown to serve over a million artists worldwide, with a customer base encompassing network and broadcast television clients such as ABC, BBC, CBS, Discovery, ESPN, and Turner, post-production facilities such as The Ant Farm, Digital Kitchen, and Troika Design Group, and educational and government institutions such as Video Symphony, Columbia College, the U.S. Army, and the U.S. Air Force. The companys success lies in its ability to tightly integrate and leverage technologies through strong partnerships with industry-leading developers of video editing software and hardware including Adobe, Apple, Avid, Corel, Grass Valley, Nexidia, and Sony.
Boris FX Press Contact Rich DAngelo
+1 (617) 266-2471
richd@borisfx.com
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