TOWER OF BABEL?

TOWER OF BABEL?

File-based camera systems bring equal parts creativity and chaos, as Guild camera teams decipher how to keep the many different workflows on track

by Chris Wolski for ICG Magazine - April 2011

Dean Semler, ACS, ASC

Photo by Andrew Cooper

File-based camera systems have been a staple of television production for a number of years now, and thanks to systems like the Genesis, RED, and the ALEXA, feature-film productions are also benefiting from the technological boom.

But as with any evolutionary (some would say revolutionary) change, there have been unintended consequences. Like creating a veritable Tower of Babel of mixed digital codecs in the world of postproductions, not to mention the challenge for Guild cinematographers on the set trying to safeguard the image down through the pipeline.

With each new and unique file-based language have come secret sauces, developed by post vendors to cope with the plethora of formats. Whatever the technical outcomes may be, the key to working in today's file-based world is flexibility and creativity; cinematographers now have a host of decisions to make when choosing a camera, always knowing in the back of their minds that they may be opening the door to an unfamiliar workflow and new headaches somewhere down the line.

Guild cinematographer James Mathers was an early adopter of RED, and knows all too well the consequences of picking a radically new camera system. While Mathers says he loved the filmic results of the first REDs, the results were hardly without tradeoffs.

Only a few places in town knew what they were doing, Mathers recounts. RED didn't fit into the same post-production workflow as other cameras, although now a lot more places are up to speed and can handle it.

Other new file-based systems on the scene include ARRI's ALEXA, celebrated for its huge dynamic range and ultra-low light sensitivity. Hitting the market just last June, the camera has been eagerly embraced by Local 600 camera crews. A big reason why was ARRI's commitment to designing a file-based system that looked and felt like a traditional film camera and imitated a film workflow, describes ARRI president and CEO Glenn Kennel. Likewise for Panavision , which has been trying (reps say) to ease the chaos of an all-file based set with products like its Digital Transfer Station (DTS), designed to help manage the transition of images to post-production more easily and smoothly. The DTS is a complimentary product to Panavision's Solid State Recorder (SSR) and provides consistency throughout the production workflow. The DTS takes uncompressed content from the SSR and outputs DPX or QuickTime files while offering production the option to simultaneously generate a backup tape. The system also helps to accelerate the delivery of off-line files for the editorial process, and, because it generates a DPX file, makes handling visual effects much easier.

All the cinematographers polled for this article say that if there is one single lesson to be gleaned from working in a file-based world, it's that there is no one single approach that will work for everyone. Patrick Cady, a Guild shooter who has worked in both features (Lottery Ticket, Girl Fight) and television (In Treatment, Uncle Nigel) says planning and patience were the virtues that got him through a show packed with an array of file formats.

It is so important when using blended digital formats like the Canon 7D and 5Ds we alternated with the Sony F35 on my last show to get post-production involved early and completely, Cady explains. I was already familiar with mixing the formats and a post chain that took the Canon footage and allowed it to be used in a final DaVinci-based color correct. The 7D and [1080P] GoPro footage was imported off the memory cards into the Clipster and converted into a DPX file. This takes roughly twice as long as the footage's run time. It was then output onto an HDCam SR tape, at real time, so all told it took three hours for an hour of footage on the 7D to get ready for color.

Nancy Schreiber, ASC has worked on plenty of studio and independent productions (Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2, Fugly) using a variety of formats and systems, including the Panavision GENESIS, the Sony F35, RED One, the Panasonic 3700, The Sony PVW 800, ALEXA, and the Canon 5D and 7D.

It is important for me to have a DIT to help ensure that my LUTs or looks are getting translated into post for dailies, as well as onto video village monitors to ensure everyone knows the intention of the show's look, Schreiber says. On low budget films, having a DIT is a non-existent luxury so I do it myself, but I make sure the data downloader is a qualified technician. The files are, after all, our negatives.

Another digital capture veteran, Dean Semler, ACS, ASC, describes file-based systems as having allowed him to sleep more soundly during complex location shoots like Apocalypto or last year's Secretariat. Semler has famously embraced Panavision's Genesis system, having used it on his last seven movies and counting. Semler says he relied on Panavision cameras in his celluloid days and that loyalty has paid off with troublefree shoots in the more challenging file-based landscape.

The Genesis has been the best of both worlds for me, Semler states. Ergonomically, it's like a traditional film camera, and delivers images matching the best 35mm film stocks,

yet it gives me the many advantages of high-end digital image capture, such as high ISO speeds, long running time and instant dailies.

Semler's smooth workflow results are a testament to his long-standing relationship with one post-house, EFILM. The company has created a workflow - in conjunction with Panavision's DTS - that gives the cinematographer complete trust in his images.

They

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