Panavision: the Hollywood Mainstay Makes an Upgrade to Cobalt

Panavision: The Hollywood Mainstay Makes an Upgrade to Cobalt April 10, 2015

Application Summary

The Challenge: Panavision needed to upgrade its video-processing system to handle today's advanced digital production workflows. The system had to be able to pass embedded data and audio and process elements such as metadata and 3G video signals. It needed an expandable multiviewer to replace a quad-split setup. It all had to fit into the space constraints of a multicam sitcom production. And it had to be flexible enough to expand upon it well into the future.

The Solution: Panavision chose Cobalt Digital's openGear signal-processing and distribution equipment to handle HD video frame-rate conversion, multiviewing, and signal distribution and extension around the studio for its customers. Because the system is based on Cobalt's openGear high-density frame and card modules, the entire system is compact enough to fit into racks that roll onto the stage and get positioned in place.

The Challenge

Panavision, the entertainment industry's most respected designer, manufacturer, and rental provider of high-precision camera systems, has a reputation not only for supplying top-of-the-line production equipment and systems, but for continual innovation that adds value to its customers' production workflows. The company has a large following of top-tier production companies in the dynamic world of multicamera sitcom television production, and its customers have high expectations.

Panavision wanted a new system platform that could handle today's advanced production workflows - and easily adapt to tomorrow's. That meant the new system had to be flexible enough to expand well into the future in order to keep up with the rapidly evolving technological landscape. From a functional standpoint, the system had to be able to pass embedded data and audio and process elements such as metadata and 3G video signals. It needed an expandable multiviewer to replace its quad-split setup. And it all had to fit into the space constraints of a multicamera sitcom production.

Prime-time multicamera production is a fast-paced business that doesn't tolerate downtime or excuses, so equipment suppliers need to bring the best talent and hardware available, said Jesse Foster, western sales manager and product manager for Cobalt Digital. To meet their customers' high expectations, iconic companies like Panavision must be able to rely, in turn, on their own customer-service-oriented suppliers that not only bring top quality to the table, but take those expectations as seriously as they do.

The Solution

Conversations with Cobalt Digital confirmed for Panavision that not only would Cobalt provide the quality it needed, but Cobalt would also be the partner it needed from a customer service standpoint. From there, the conversation progressed to product specifications.

After conducting extensive and rigorous lab trials to prove that Cobalt Digital's engineering group was up to the task and could deliver the required functionality in the space available, Panavision chose Cobalt Digital's openGear -compatible signal-processing and distribution equipment. The new setup handles HD frame-rate conversion, multiviewing, and signal duplication and extension around the studio for Panavision's customers. Critically, the entire system fit into the available space in the racks that roll onto the stage and get positioned in tight places, such as under the audience bleachers.

Specifically, Panavision installed several of Cobalt Digital's 9902-UDX 3G Format Converter to process each camera's video output. In Panavision's application, the 9902-UDX receives 1080 23.98PsF camera signals and converts them to standard 1080i 59.94 for on-set monitoring purposes and the system can support additional formats as needed.

The 9902-UDX card ensures the lowest possible delay for 23.98 PsF-to-1080i 59.94 frame-rate conversion, which minimizes the amount of delay that directors, producers, audio engineers, and audiences see and hear in relation to real-time sound on the set. All embedded signals from the camera pass through the card for conversion, including embedded audio, timecode, and metadata (such as SDI Record Flag messages) that the camera inserts when in record mode.

Panavision also installed the Cobalt Digital 9970-QS 3G/HD/SD-SDI/CVBS Quint-Split Multi-Image Expandable Display Processor, a card that integrates five discrete 3G/HD/SD-SDI or CVBS inputs onto a single SDI and/or HDMI quint-split output, with each input image being flexibly inserted into the output image display. The 9970-QS gave Panavision the multiviewer capabilities it needed, with the lowest possible delay when directing images from multiple cameras to a single display so that the director can see shot composition. A single 9970-QS card can display up to five images and can be combined with additional 9970-QS cards to increase the amount of images on screen if needed. The 9970-QS will also detect the SDI Record Flag packet that the cameras insert into the video steam when they are rolling, which gives directors confidence that all camera operators are recording before they say action.

Both Cobalt cards fit into the Cobalt Digital HPF-9000 2-RU High-Density openGear-compatible Modular Frame. The HPF-9000 gives Panavision's customers 360 watts of available power in a high-capacity 20-slot format, with familiar openGear DashBoard remote control and support for all openGear cards and rear I/O modules. The high-power, high-density frame is perfect for the technically demanding, space-constrained work of Panavision specs requirements, and users can control and monitor the cards from an intuitive user interface.

Cobalt Digital packs a lot of functionality into one openGear card, and several cards into the high-pe

LINK:	http://www.cobaltdigital.com/news/panavision-hollywood-mainstay-makes-...
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