HD For Indies

Hey all -

another year, another Digital Cinema Summit. As usual, here are all my raw notes, as I took'em, high speed typos and all:

NAB DIGITAL CINEMA SUMMIT:


Overview of day:
-Symes is moderating today instead of Hobson

-New Projector Technology

Keynote:

11am - Post Production side of Digital Cinema - distro package etc.

1:30 - 3D

3:30 D-Cinema in practice

5pm it's over

Pete Lude - heads up Solutions Engineering for Sony

-their job to find solutions, software integration, etc.
-he works on DCI implementation stuff
-first commercially viable cinema projector was about 100 years ago
-pivotal year for 2006 - over 300 US auditoriums equipped with digital projection up and running
-he toured a bunch of SF projection facilities
-variety of infrastructures and environments that this stuff is deployed in, 16-24 screens/theater facility, fiber of high speed copper, Metro on Union in SF, art deco theater had a 45 year old Phillips projector that is still up and working
-will the projectors that go in today work as well in 45 years? (I sooooo doubt it)
-starting off w/overview with industry experts

-Pete Putnam - president of Roam (Rome?) Consulting (Pennsylvania), tests/consults for all kinds of display tech, HDTVexpert.com is his site, (I should check that out), has written extensively for a ton of magazines, etc.

Cinema Projector is easier to define now - main projector for screenign feature films, compliant with DCI 1.0, secure system, automated operation

-can also be sued for ads, promos, etc.
-not technology specific, but standards specific

Image quality:
2048x1080 or 4096x2160 res
coner to corner uniformity of 85%
14 ft-L brightness
-white pot .414x,.351y
-2000:1 minimum contrast (on/off)
-150:1 intra-frame contrast
-gamma of 2.6

brightness/contrast/grayscale

-you want smooth gradation from black to white, but is the hardest part (the grey)

-a flashlight has a 4000:1 contrast,

-30K lumus in DLP
-average contrast 400:1 DLP, 250:1 LCD/LCoS
-12 bits at LEAST is necessary
--
DCI requires 14 ft. lamberts
-lux
foot lamberts x 3.42=nits

how to figure if there's enough light on the screen?
crunching the math to calculate a 7.6 foot screen, need 230 lumens, for twice as back needs 890 lumens, 384 sq. ft needs 3600 lumens (in a dark room)
-60 foot diagonal screen needs 14,600 lumens from the projector

-"the brightness requirements pile up in a hurry as the screen gets bigger"

-light bouncing off the stuff in the room and bouncing back also

-iinstantaneous contrast in your eyeball is about 100:1. Get older, low 60s

-we need more than 100:1 since our eyes adjust on the fly
-wide field of view is important in a darkened room, to avoid eyestrain from seeing that bright screen against a dark background
-ambient light degrades contrast in a big hurry

We need so much horsepower in order to:
-best grayscale performane not usually at max brightness - usually lower, need room to avoid crushing steps
-headroom needed for top/bottom
-lens apertures affect light outputs

-is easy to crush top or bottom

-if you get a projector bright enough and it's not powerful enough, likely you're blowing out the highlights

-should be able to get bright enough, contrtasty enough, AND be able to get all shades of grey too without crushing or blowing out

-color and white balance:

DCI gamut is MUCH bigger than 709 (HDTV)
-LOTS more green in DCI
-blue is about the same
-DCI has more red

CRT displays "pure" RGB color since we can balance the phosphors
-LCD/LCoS/DLP projectors are dependent on light source, and that has a color temperature
UHP/UHE lamps are cheaper, but are tougher to balance
-Xenon is much more costly, purer color, doesn't live as long either

-35mm projector w/Xenon has a spike in it
(See pic 1)

-lamps have 1000-3000 hours, 50% of lamps will last to 6000 hours, no guarantee, some lamps can burn out after 500 hours, poor consistency
-Xenon doesn't last as long, a bit more predictable
-
Lasers - coherent light source, high light at low wattage, blanaced spectral energy, long life, but has problems with speckle, has safety issue

-lasers have been problematic - have to diffuse the light, and blend'em together to get color.

Stuff to consider:
DLP
LCoS
high temp polysilicon (HTPS)
other (lasers, etc.)
-1st 3 can do 2K, and 10K lumens or more

DLP uses little mirrors - digital micromirror device - can be cycled super fast using pulse width modulation. They can make grayscale images, so need 3 for R, G & B. Smaller systems use a color wheel, bigger use 3. Can do different aspect ratios and can be anamorphic
-Pulse width modulation - two positions, on and off. Value of grayscale is determined by how many cycles it is on in a given instant. More ons is brighter, fewer ons is darker.
DMDs in many sizes and aspect ratios, 2048x1080 is highest in use, is a pure digital light modulator, pure monochrome, no color capabilities
-Christie CP-2000 can do 16 ft lamberts for 82' screen

Barco DP 100
-66 ft screeen
NEC 2500S, 23,000 ANSI lumens, 2000:1 sequential contrast, up 82'
Christie DW-6K - 7000 lumens, 1280x720 res, secondary projector
Panasonic PT-DW7000, 16 bits, 200:12< 1366x768, secondary projector

LCOS- Liquid Crystal on Semiconductor
-reflective imaging system
-light goes through liquid crystal and gets bounced back out,
-has a high fill factor (fewer lines between)
-easier to achieve pixel density than with HTPS
-light has to be polarized
-LCOS optical engine tends to be more complicated than DLP
-reflact light into RGB,
-HVC 2K D-ILA panel has'em up to 4K, doing an 8K demo privately shown
-fill factor is over 90%, can be used in front and rear projection. 48" rear projection is worth checking out, for post production color critical apps
-Sony makes LCoS, they call it SXRD, they have 2K and 4K panels, cinema projector is a 4K, 90% fill factor again

Sony SRX-R110 is top of line 10K lumens, 2000:1, 4096x2160, only good for up to 40 foot screens (not 60 or 80), Sony is probably working
SRX-R105 is good for 25' screen

JVC DLA-QX1 - 7K lumens, 1000:1 sequential contrast, for up to 25' screens

JVC DLA-HD10KU, 600 lumens, 2500:1 sequential contrast, 2048x1080 res, for post facilities and screening rooms, good for like a 10 footish screen. (good for post houses)

Transmissive High Temp Polysilicon - is not taken very seriously, the tech is getting better. Portables were shown in 1993, come a long way since then. Have 2K res systems now for front projection, 1920x1080, always uses three panels, using a prism, dichroic filters, precisely mounted to sync up RGB paths. Can fit in a tabletop

-Seiko Epson has a 1080p LCD panel, announced earlier this year, good for front and rear projection tech, first product is the Sanyo PLV-HD2000N, 10K lumens, 1000:1 sequential contrast, 25' screeens valid, a 2ndary projector

-any of these can be used for DCI IF they meet specs, all are suitable for secondary projection

-biggest hurdles: intra-frame contrast ratios, replicating DCI color camut and white point, dooing smooth greyscales wiht no color shading - no tints anywhere across the image, modulator efficiency vs. lamp power. Reflective systems have an advantage since it doesn't get filtered down through the process.

What about temporal stuff to to 48 fps? DLP is fast enough, LCoS has a lag as they twist, it is a combo of sample and hold and a motion blur artifact. Large, low temp LCD monitors have the issue, LCoS SHOULD be OK, but he's not sure. They can all refresh at 72Hz, if you're blanking inbetween that'll "clear the pallete" (my phrase/understanding). He hasn't noticed any bad temporal or motion blur artifacts with these technologies.

NEXT PART:

Brian Claypool - senior something at Christie Digital, snr. product manager, is on the SMPTE DC28 standards committe (the DCI spec committee)
-first stuff was 1.3MPixel (no longer made) (since they didn't sell the 8000 units they'd hoped for)
-CP2000 - 2048x1080, the "X" model has a split head design to put parts in different places
-15 bits/channel
-encrypted dual link HD-SDI interface
-approx. 23,000 lumens with the yellow notch filter
-14 ft. lamberts on 80 ft screens roughly

-2006 are doing 100-115/month
-nearly 1000 2K projectors installed
-extensive monitoring and troubleshooting stuff in the projector as part of the Christie/AIX deployment, they can forecast problems, keep datalogging of critical component info (power draw, lamp performance, temp of fans, etc.) - helps'em predict component failures.

What's Next?
-bandwidth and signal processing
-illumination - Xenon bubble lamp is best cost/performance now
-consolidation and integration to lower price and increase reliability

Bandwidth - projector embedded watermark technology - that the server will do that work, but eventually you'll need that in the projector or want it
-3D technologies - takes more horsepower to do it, 48 fps, triple flashed up to 144 Hz
-4K and 8K source intgerfaces
-advanced optical input interfaces

ILLUMINATION:
-advanced gallium nitride "pure white" aren't bright enough, maybe in 10 years
-Xenon arc light is the way for the next several years
-laser has safety and speckle problems
-now, there are tons of parts to integrate and keep it working. Be nice if there were more going on in the projector - does it need a remote server, or do it itself?
-brian.claypool@christiedigital.com
-
JVC is NOT presenting today, nor is Seiko/Epson

==============

Gary Mandle of Sony - he's worked on SXRD, he's focusing on digital cinema -

sony - Next Steps in 4K - Full Systems and More Light

-shipping a 4K DCI spec projector, LCoS tech they call SXRD
-have'em in several theaters, starting to roll out
-to meet DCI spec and address security, gone a different direction.

-they've designed an enclosure that the FIPS 140/2 spec required in DCI.
-entire system sits inside the enclosure. ALL of it.
-one touch - projectionist hits one button to power it up and it'll run it's schedule or can be programmed.
-eliminates link encryption, can play with other vendors and use a non-link encrypted connection to give theater owners more choice on integration
-inside the enclosure, there's a media block (Sony made), using a generic fiber channel RAID, a proxy server - it manages what is happening in the device, as you monitor for service, there is one reporting system
-a computer that drives the screen management system, loading clips, turning on/off, handles the general operations of the projector.
-below that is the securty watchdog hardware - sensors on doors that keep track of open/closed, storage in flash RAM that can't be erased so that if you unplug it it is aware of beingopened up, meets FIPS 140 reporting requirements.
-QuVIs is a partner, QuVis removes their RAID and media block and SMS and puts it into the system and can run the QuVis stuff instead of Sony.
-has tons of physical security stuff
-reports out of the box for remote monitoring, control for running lights, draperies, etc. Even for fire alarm.
-as FIPS requires, you can't access any equipment, if you have to run a cable into it there's a trough on the bottom
-inside, to keep it one button push, there's apower management system that goes to each piece of equipment. Internally, it powers up in proper sequence, the operator doesn't need to get involved in any of that. A single button on top to fire it up.
-SRX R220 system coming up - need brighter projectors. Current models are 10K lumens, OK for 40' screens, for bigger the SRX R200 is 18K lumens (hope for more later). SXRD device, similar optical stuff, also single enclosure solution, physical packaging is along the same lines of the other model.
-prototypes showed this summer, shipping thereaftrer
-first 4K units out, 130 units in October, still have a production capacity higher than that, 18K lumen 4K res product shipping late rthis year, after that they get into the 3D stuff

NEXT UP - Dan Huerta - director tech & implementation for AMC theater chain. He participated in 1999 first digital cinema projections. Member of SMPTE & NATO, blah blah, theater owner/operator viewpoint

-milestones - in trying to give best out of home moviegoing experience, until about 1995, had sloped floor auditoriums, analog sound, status quo for along time. in 95 started doing changes - the megaplex vs. multiplex - stadium seating, more comfortable seating, better projection and sound, digital audio came into play in Jurassic Park,

The Past - sloped floor
Present - 35mm presentationa and digtital sound, better screens, stadium seating
Future - 2006 and forward - true start of digital cinema from a deployment perspective in the industry

in 85, analog automation, console or pedestal,, platter, audio rack - 6ch, light dimmer, cost was $

2005 - 35mm projector, CPU automation, console or pedestal, platter for film, 8 ch audio, light dimmer, cost is $$

2006 and beyond - digital projector, CPU automation, console or pedestal, SERVER, audio rack 8+ channels, light dimmer, cache server, audio D to A conv, cost is $$$

cost per screen for 2005 level tech as shown above, $70K to $100K/screen for 35mm projector, automation CPU, console or pedestal, platter, audio rack, speakers, screen & masking (8 channel audio)

current digital systems have digital 2K or 4K projector, console or pedestal, CPU based automation, Server/s, Dto A converter, audio rack 8 channel, speakers, screening and masking - cost per screen $120K to $150K. Projector and server are the only differences in the equipment. About $50K/screen higher.

will need more power in the booth for those side by side gear, will need sufficient heat exhaust (can limp by 400-700 CFM), with larger digital projectors, will need to upgrade exhaust systems, esp. in older buildings, conditioned space requirements will increase, might need
-need more networking LAN for data/content transmission paths
-fiber infrastructure from cache server to screen servers (cache server, I'm guessing, is where THIS screen's contents sits, not on central server)
-pre-show systems are beefy and complex, but currently based on 100 megabit netowrking, gotta go to 1000 megabit to handle feature content distribution

-How to improve the experience:
-comprehensive theater/screen surveys will eilinate many integration and deployment problems
-maintain screen and masking quality to ensure sharp image borders and light uniformity - clean, plumb, level masking edges, uniform lighting is needed, but if the screen isn't maintained/cleaned will not be as good
-adjust existing moveable masking to meet SMPTE masking stuff. Currently stuck based on lens design because they can't fix it. With digital zoom capabilities, will be able to get precise image sizes
-ensure audio systems recieve equal attention during routine service and QA audits
-cross train existing tech staff on digital networks and projection/server hardware to ensure consistent content/product delivery - no dark screens! Current staff in the field aren't up to snuff to support all this new gear
-carefully review all Service Level agreements from Dig. Cinema manufacturers or service organizations - need to make sure it is all properly maintained, and make sure they know what's going on
-happy to be seeing deployments and progress as it is going today.

3D rollout - unlikely Sony will be retrofittable, or it would be prohibitive in expense. going to work with InThree or others, not a Sony product (or Real D, their competitor), since using a polarized system, have to be careful, have to be aware using linear vs. circular technology, getting mixed answers when addressing contrast between left eye/right eye. Which one's better? What would client want? Then issues of cost and making it work. They are waiting an seeing hwo the theaters react, want to get the 18K out the door to see how it all works.

-My question - are costs holding back deployment? AMC is still in fact finding mode and has joined up with others to form National Cine Media (NCM) that is evaluating all of the possible solutions. Long answer saying they are cautiously proceeding.

END OF SESSION


--------


KEYNOTE ADDRESS:

Fithian, head of NATO (National Association of Theater Owners), invented the phrase "ODS", has done tons of work in the field, etc.

-the size of this meeting is a good sign that this thing is working

NATO is trade group for motion picture theaters, represent top ten chains, hundreds of indies, members in 40 countries and all 50 states, coordinate with other groups in 25 other countries

-the letter he sent several years ago was about whether digital cinema was a a working thing.

-those in motion picture venue industry said they'd need interoperability standards, since then NATO has issued several other documents
-Nov 2004 adoped resolution w/priorities for tech, rollout
-NATOonline.org has'em all up there
-tech group put out tech requirements doc that fills in some gaps in the DCI implementation specs

-ODS = Other Digital Stuff (odious)

-he's going to give the broad overview
-Digital Cinema is biggest change since the advent of sound
-have been using same basic equipment for about 100 years
-given that broad of an industry to make that big of a change is a very complicated process
-two different tracks in new tech in cinemas: high end digital cinema projection, the other is everything else that happens electronically - pre-show, alternative content, etc.
-these two tracks are merging now
-4 different categories of players:
1.) Movie studios that make the product that is the driving force of the business
2.) movie theater operators
3.) techology companies that make this equipment
4.) other content generators that can be shown on big screen, not necessarily the studios

Understanding their needs paints the picture

1.) movie studios want a better looking product, a portion of money goes to theater owners, and part to the studios. In everyone's bbest interst to have better results on screen.

Studios want lower production costs - making prints, shiping prints in cans is very expensive. In fully digital model, 80-90% of those costs can be saved.

Studios could save nearly $1B/yr to make and ship film prints if they can pull it off

2.) Theater owners get a better product on screen. No reason to do it without that. Flexibility of programming is a good benefit for them, they have trouble with Tues/Wed/Thurs, not Fri/SAt night. Being able to program differently, with sports, rock concerts, church groups, whatever, to be shown up on the big screen. Bill Gates likes to hire the cinemas to be seen by all his employees. The potential for digital cinema are large. Film is great, but it is limiting. Great image, not very facile, tough to mix up programming schedule. RISKS - COSTS!!!! Once transition is made, this is the technology for decades to come, theater owners need to think about costs over the long term.

3.) Integration, upgrades, life expectancy, etc. Projectors are STABLE tech that lasts decades. Replace bulbs and a light assembly every once in a while. Theater owners are concerned about how often they'll have to change out their digital cinema equipment. TEchnology is moving fast - projector, servers, sattelite companies, etc. are all moving fast. Their goals were to start selling, and start selling fast. NATO wanted to make sure the equipment worked right before they started buuying it.

4.) other folks making contenet - within the movie sector, indies! gotta get money to make movie, distro, and marketing costs. Print costs are a major hurdle. In digital era, can shoot a movie, do the indie thing, and it can be put up on the screen. It'll become a much more democratic platform (UNLESS THERE ARE DIGITAL PRINT FEES!).

Nothing will ever replace major motion pictures as source of revenue. They just want to fill up the rest of the week.

2006 is big year for digital cinema, actually happenign as opposed to about to. 4 reasons:

1.) tech specs work has moved to a point tha tthere are interoperable products with high standards. Digital sound transition did NOT go smooothly. The 3-4 standards that came out didn't work together. DCI was open to their comments, even after fighting for a couple of years. That groundwork made it all possible. The supplemental specs they came out with will help it all work.
Transition is starting now.

2.) The quality levels "are there". A few years ago, wasn't as good or better than film. Today, with all the ways of judging quality, digital will make a better experience to allow you to sell more tickets and/or charge more (otherwise why bother?). Film prints are so fragile, that by week 3 the digital loooks as good as it ever was. Film is fragile. Digtal projection looks as good on the 100th screening as the first.

3.) Biz models are finally there - in the long run it is more than twice as expensive as a film projector - it wasn't possible for theater owners to make it work - couldn't sell enough tickets or charge enough. There are now several 3rd parrties (AIX, Technicolor) which is a 3rd party negotiates with studios individually, and deals with theaters individually to install stuff in theaters. Deals going both ways for 3rd parties. Virtual Print Fees is the studios paying the savings of a film print. $$ goes to cover the cost of what the studios are de facto paying for. Theater agrees to contribute in some ways to get digtal cinema into their theates.

4.) reason why now is because theater bidness needs it - had a bad 2005 at the box office. Mostly, movies weren't as good in previous years, but substantial home environment options. Internet, game platforms, HDTV, iPods, etc. Multiplicity of other entertainment options are out there. Theaters have to evolve to keep up. "Dgital is way cool for that generation" of kids/people that go to movies that are into all the tech. This year, 2006 is up 5% or so, May is expected to be best May EVER. Digital cinema will help them keep up that growth.

HOW FAST WILL THIS HAPPEN?
a little over 400 digital cinema screens in teh US today, he predicts between 1200 and 1500 by end of 2006, 2007 will be a big takeoff year. 150,000 screens areound workld, around 30,000 in US now. Be like a bell curve rate of adoption. How long will it take? Nobody knows. He's guessing domestically the vast majority will be digital in about 10 years. When Europe and overseas adopts, there won't be film anymore.

couple things have to happen first - need beta market testing data this year. Some 3rd parties have announced they'll be doing that testing, and that's good. But need real world experience. Little beta screeenings for years, need DCI spec, integrated facilities, have never been installed int he field. Need a coupla hundred screens running and getting beat up for 6 months. Are time stamps right? Are compression streams working? Did the keys arrive since they were sent separately?

Worst thing would be that they fail and there's a dark screen up in front of audience. They need a beautiful transition. Right now, it is beautiful chaos.

This year is beta testing. If those are sucessful, next year it'll take off.

Will the conversion be universal? Will small town theaters survive? Big concern for NATO. Did NOT get assurance out of their stuff with a single third party. Competing 3rd parties to do a certain # of screens. Smaller theaters are combining to get purchasing and marketing clout, a buying cooperative, 4000 screens are ganging up for this.

Waht aboout international space? in the US, these models are relatively simple financially, since most prodcut from US studios. In Europe, 65% US product showing tgheir.

Here, is easy to to VPF (virtual print fees) since US studios making movies ffor US based theaters. More complicated overseas where that isn't so close to 1:1.

John Fithian's opinion: lot of debate about 2K/4K issues. This debate is overblown - resolution is important but not only component. Contrast, color, light, etc. are all crucial too. Don't get into a 2K/4K divide as a marketing issue. He wants to market digital is better than film and better than the home experience, if we get into a "mine's bigger than yours w/4K" is not a helpful thing. Gotta be in the front 5 or 6 rows to tell the difference if you are the "golden eyeballs" that are sitting out in this group here today. Beyond 4K, nobody can tell the difference. We need to tell'em digital cinema is better than film, better than home. He's psyched about 3D as an experience, is troubling from a cost perspective. It'll be in enough screens (NOT ALL!) to make it worth it for folks like Jim Cameron. 3D screens grossed 2 to 3 times as much as the 2D screens. 3D is really hard to do in film, digital makes it much easier. It is a very nice value add, but not the driver for digital. Cost is a significant issue. Cameron will be keynoting tomorrow evening.

In short, 2K/4K is NOT helpful for the industry in his opinion.

=======================

NEXT UP: Equipping Post Facilities for D-Cinema, Wendy Aylsworth, Chair - DC-28 (the DCI spec group)

Post production for digital cinema

Wendy Aylsworth has degreees in comp sci and management planning, she used to do animation tech and theme park stuff, she's does a lot of standards work, chair of DC28 for the last few years, head of Warner or Disney something

What Processes should I (post faiclity) do?
-DCDM only?
-compression?
-encrypt it?
wrap it?

what all should they do?

-should I always do the same master each time?
-how will square pixels affect my scanning and processing? (from usual 2K/4K work)
-possible to do work at 2K level when master is 4K?
-what tools are available?
What knowledge does my staff need?
...for interacting with other facilities?
....for doing QA?

Terry Brown - Technicolor Content Services
Jim Whittlesey - eFilm/Deluxe Digital Media - packaging expert
Dave Schnuelle - Dolby Labs - talk about QC and 3D proceses
Stuart Monksfield - Thomson/Grass Valley - talk about post workflow process (I should get his card!) talk about tools and changes

Terry Brown - Technicolor, talking about worklow and post production for digital cinema

talk about areas of concern, some things are easier, some things are troubling issues that are unresolved

(see picture 2)

-working on amodle of scanning 4K, using high res proxy (2K or HD pixel res)
-(classic Mac/PC issue here - slide not right, made on Mac, played on PC)

can use the high res proxy for making masters for other deliverables
-10 bit log workflow
-how to archive all this? 16TB for 2 hour project (originals and final)
-studios want color seps

-9TB for DCDM - 16 bit file format

-what archived, how archived, how validate that the archive is there?

-gotta lotta storage - if one project, 20TB storage needed. For a big facility, how fast can we get the bits out of the big bucket. Need efficient archiving solutions - will it be something other than tape (hopefully so, w/better shelf life)
-talk about how DCDM is made
-at end of DI process, have a 10 bit log master. gotta pass it through a transform to get a 12 bit, linearized signal, convert that to XYZ color space, gamma 2.6, take it to 2048 or 4096 and wrap in MXF container.

LUT Mashter 2000 (does everything but resizing and MXF)

the resizing issue - one of the former fathers of DCI spec, was about to do his first DCI delivery package, and realized he had a problem - got this scan done at 2048, and a projection aperture that is slightly smaller, gotta resize it and we don't want to do that.

W/in Technicolor, they talked about a possible solution:

(Pic 3 here)

There are S35 Cam Aperture, .98
S35 prjection is S35 .945

had various things that just didn't all line up, is a problem since don't want to resize

-Back In The Day, trying to figure out how to scan film for doing VFX, gave'em the #s for scanner stuff. Asked for 2K and 4K res, should pick round base 2 numbers, and picked 2048 and 4096, gave those #s to the machinist, who dealt with metric not inches, converted to metric, came up with 2 #s for pitch for scanners - 12 or 6 micrometers for scanners. In use, get .968 vs. .98- another mismatch based on standards conversion. In digital cinema and apply that aperture and apply the ratio gets 2117 samples per inch.

.945 *2117 equals 2000 pixels. If 2048 is the projection standard, can crop 24 pixels off of each side to make no resizing have to happen.

For anamorphic, scan at 4K does a slight reduction, taking anamorphic sizing into Super35 space. Everything we do ends up will fit into 2000 pixels of projection aperture. A uniform system that there will be a projection aperture for 2000 pixels wide.
(and no, I didn't follow all that either)

What aabout 1920x1080???? (probably just pad it out I guess)

Jim Whittlesey from deluxe - for making a digital cinema package
(picture 4)

DSM - digital source masteer gets converted to DCDM
DI master to goes DCDM TIFF files, JPEG 2000 compression, then MXF packaging

Equipping a faclity for D-
Cienma

JPEG 2K compression:
DCDM image to .j2c
need 2K and 4K support (deluxe has done 2 4K projects, starting a third)
need SPEED for JP2K compression.
-4K solution runs about 2 frames/secd
-laid out a schedule, 10 TB of data, 8 reels of film, suddenly had 16 reels and 20TB since they were going to burn in the text and not use the features
-of course, worry about time image quality
-variable bitrate that can vary the image quality for the size of the file you want to generate
-afterwards, wrap'em into MXF track files and encrypt them
-both of the packages they are looking at will do it too, third party tools are coming along to do it, and of course all has to be DCI spec compliant
-when encrypt files, have to make key files that are stored securely, and transport them securely. Using Key Delivery Message as a way to do it

digital cinema audio -
wave file, one channel per file
24 bit
48,000 freq
24.0000 fps
192 frame leader w/ 2 pop (8 seconds)

over HALF the files they get are wrong when they get'em

-gotta have a workstation to verify the incoming files, since these specs are outside the specs of what is being done out there in the world

-need a D-Cinema theater for QC
-need a screen height of at least 10 feet to see the artifacts
-need a projector
-need one or more servers to test on different vendors
-need good audio B-chain is OFTEN OVERLOOKED

it is more than a theater....gotta be able to QC against original DCDM or for files used for filmout
-playback in realtime the uncompressed source (both the DSM and DCDM)

-what to do for 4K? there's not realtime playback!

-a client was concerned about noise, had to go back and check against source
-need to QC against a check print or relase print
-studios think something is wrong with audio, and the complaint studios had was in the check print - so therefore needed a film projector as well!

-EDL - need reels start and in and out, need 192 fps header, 88 frames at end for leader and trailer. They'd always hand a little spreadsheet


-since done 2 others from other post houses, and never gave the info on headers and tails, slows things down

-tech requirements to adhere to:
1.) the DCI spec, and the sooon to be released Fraunhofer Test Plan/Procedures
2) ALL relevant SMPTE specs

interpretation of these specs is variable - so need to test the packages, and test the KDMs, and figure out thoose which are interoperable and those that are not.

-need to be gentlemanly about it when there are problems rather than yelling at each other. Don't be trying to establish a competitive advantage

-Digial Cinema Mastering is data centric - need very fast network, very fast storage, large stoarge system,s probably JPEG2000 will become a Big Render Farm task

Practical Guide:
-don't buy anything without a lengthy real world evaluation, it's all bleeding edge beta type stuff. hardware and software.
-be prepared to develop in house tools to supplement it all


Dave Schnuelle, Director, Image Technology, Dolby, talking about 3D

stereoscopic/3D in post

-concerns - low light levels, polarizer green shift
-3D exhibition systems use some kind of polarized system that filters light down, since each eye is only on one at a time, 1/2 the light level. There's a big shift in gamma, need to raise the lower levels for 3D presentation to look acceptable compared to a similar 2D projection. 3-5 foot lamberts showing on screen during Chicken Little. In your brain, it worked out more OK, is more acceptable than anyone thought it would be. In color correction, there is a green shift, so gotta remove some of the green (color correction operators wearing Chicken Little glasses). Crosstalk between eyes - with polarizers it is never perfect. Silver screen and passive glasses will always happen. RealD has a process they call "ghost busting" that helps that. With active glasses you don't need to do that. Ghostbusting makes it not suitable for 2D projection, FYI.

-double flash or triple flash - typically, pattern of left-right-left-right, each eye gets two exposures. An animated movie with no motion blur in frame, 3D sites ran triple flash - 144 Hz. When watching dailies with a white screen and can't use RealD, active glasses can't run triple flash, so you're looking at it in double flash mode. Active glasses are sync'd by an emitter behind the screen. They don't go fast enough to go triple flash. If shot on film and have in camera motion blur. If want to screen it gotta use Z-Screen for triple flash.

the issues are related to QC and the display process

-can't use screening rooms for every step in the post process, there's lots of steps to be done before you tie up union operators etc. CRTs are going away and not acceptable for this kind of thing. They've been experimenting with other kinds of displays. His own experience - using an Apple 1920 x1080 with an eCinema Systems box. Pixel for pixel master. the box runs at 24Hz. The DCM 23 is a better product from same guys. Dolby has been using it for QC. Can see 1 or 2 bits more on this than they can on CRT, depending on content. Much higher MTF, and much better look at detail. When first started doing compression, did a 24p HD-SDI plasma for screening. First time he sat down to QC on it on a real project. Started writing down about artifacts. They'd look in a screening room and it was OK. Plasma displays in their dither or whatever generate artifacts that look like compression artifacts. Is more of a "presence indicator" than an actual QC device. Is good to see if you tape broke up or your server stopped working. Bad for QC!!!! Conventional telecines are are WRONG for theaters - sharpness, color, etc. don't work.

In 1999 they built a theater with a 10x24 foot screen. (THX standards for mastering room). Audio system is REALLY IMPORTANT for QC!

Film print to cinema is close, but film is the threshold that you have to be able to compare. gotta have film side by side in order to do the work these days.

question of white point - there is a standard now, but more research is needed on the subject, and we need some meausrement tools.

(Pic 5) is from $7,000 out to $30,000 for light measurement. None measure black levels, gotta use LS-100 in bottom row. CL-200 is used for x & y color for film, is a good device for broadband light source, it'll give WRONG readings with digital projectors

Suart Monksfield of Grass Valley

post production workflow before

dailies - audio ingest (storage - 10 bi log)

DAT audio or DVD - audio ingest, isolate takes

-get the files in, break up by tapes, ptu some log & metadata in to save time later
-audio shows up 6 or 8 hours before
-film shows up, ingest images, no color grade, full range, run it fast as possible, transfer 30fps for either 10 bit log HD or 2K 10 bit log, with keycode coming in with it as metadata
-while that data is coming in, take the audio and image, viewing through a print LUT simulator, can apply the dailies grade using an ASC CDL, 3D LUT print emulation, check sync, skip ahead.

So is done digitally, syncing audio on a SAN while capturing images

-after a few takes have been taken, a separate system can start playing them out through an emulation LUT. Media files - DNxHD, QT, whatever
Production metadata - FTL< ALE, etc.

months later, when doing second scans, get the scans select list, put the film up a second time, scan at 2K or 4K version depending on requirements, speed takes a hit of a max of 7.5 fps for a 10 bit RGB
-storage in the dailies process may or may not be the same, might be going to an LTO archive
-one images into storage from second scan, create some proxies as a background task from the 4K stuff for 2K or HD res (still CPD 10 bit log, DPX files)
-do a preview conform (popular option), viewable at HD res
-do a preview grading on a DI grading solution, pulling in that ASC CDL that was created earlier during dailies, do a DI grade and loading up proxy versions, use a LUTher or other 3D LUT and lay it down to HD tape or a server to screen to the audience

days/weeks later, the decisions are made for final stuff, call up EDL from previous stuff, going back to 4K data, making any new versions as needed, rendering those out as needed, final DI grade will work using either HD or 2K res, once grade is set it pulls in the 4K res, applies same corrections, and renders that final high res to storage.

Can do frame by frame QC process, can fix dust, scratches, etc. while that slow process is done, they can take it into system as 4K master to do scale and crop , do RGB to XYZ space, gamma 2.6 correction, burn in a print emulation LUT (since they want it to loook to match the film), then send it to DCDM mastering house.

dumped out as #'d TIFFs to a FireWire drive

key points:

1.) practicality of scanning once only at 2K or 4K is not possible for the whole workflow, since time to turn around dailies, is not goign to work in terms of cost and data sizes (7.5 fps vs 30fps)
2.) exchange of ASC CDL from dailies to preview conform, speeds up craetive of the final look (can be done on set with Viper or Genesis done on set)
3.) final grading decsions can only be made using the final scans. Creating those HD res proxies made from scan selects means not the 2nd scans; gotta keep it an exacdt match
4.) storing and working with raw log images means avoiding costly mistakes from post and VFX. Keepingit log allows holding metadata and 3D LUTs
5.) color manangement and previs with a 3DE LUT is critical to each deliverable for matching the film look
6.) per to perf 2K/4K scans will always need an amout of scaling when creating the Image DCDM (projecitoj is full paerpture 2048 and 4096, means that's a good chunk of slight scaling that takes a lot of time)

All of this is just one part of making the DCDMs - this doesn't include audio, multiple audio languages, text, all the other stuff

(next picture)

So who can do all this? Who's going to develop these products? A new breed of digital cinema post production houses? Post for digital cinema is not the same as traditional film post production

DPX vs TIFF? all are supported (OpenEXR, TIFF, Cineon, etc.)

Why can't scan once? Can't sit on it for 8 months until they come back (I guess they are dumping it in the meantime?), too much to hold all that data in the meantime. Plus, can't scan fast enough - but even on a Spirit 4K, even if the pipe were fast enough, you'd burn up the film. Also a signal to noise problem if they tried to run it through the system that fast.

grain is sharper when 4K scanning. 2K scanning is often sufficient - scanning at 4K and dropping to 2K on the scan (oversampling)

So, in my usual Indie-Centric mindview, dailies are tough. Telecine dailies, do real scans later? gotta think about all this before I can vouch for it as solid - gotta think about viable film centric workflows (or just shoot on Viper/D20/Red!)

=======

LUNCH BREAK, I went to go fetch by badge from Red, and saw the booth - as you enter South Hall Upper, walk down the left edge of thw show (starting at the Sony booth), and after you pass the escalators to go down (with the big blue banner overhead), shortly thereafter start looking to your right for a big Red logo hanging from the ceiling (big red button with a silver surround), over a red and white tent. Things were getting set up. It's going to be busy, it's going to be cool, it's going to be really, really crowded in that booth I predict.

================

AFTER LUNCH -

tomorrow morning, 8:15am breakfast, 9am stuff starts

-we've got 3 pairs of glasses for various 3D display technologies

-digital is a highly enabling technology for 3D

-presos from two organizations (with a 15 minute break to use a different screen - the two technologies use two different screen techologies)

-Matt Cowan, Chief Scientific Officer, RealD

-Stereoscopic Vision Cues:
-3D cues
-Conflict of Cues
-Demo using single projector, and passive glasses


How we decode depth:
-monocular cues (to tell it's in front or behind)
-stereo cues (using our two eyes)
-physiological cues (?)

Light and shade - gives us cues in depth
-relative size cues - all soccer balls are same size, for instance - bigger must be closer.
-interposition cues - things that are on top or in front in the image, the stack depth and occlusion gives us a clue as to where something should be

textural gradient - in a field of wheat, big stuff is closer and small stuff is further - as the texture gets finer, that must be further away

perspective - depth cues from perspective - lines that get converge, etc.

-shading cues - things far away are hazy in the distance

these were all monaural cues - you could close one eye and it still works

Stereo Cues Parallax
-eyes toe in or out
-braing references angle of eyes
positions interpreted relative to angle
-limits on amount of toe for comfort
-a dominant cue

our brains measure the angle we angle our eyes in to guess at distance, and if it is closer our eyes are pointed more towards each other.

over the age of six you can't focus on your finger an inch from your eyeballs

-stereoscopic is a DOMINANT cue, and a strong driver for us to see 3D

-Focus distance
-eye knows ehre it is focuesed by the contraction of the focus muscles
-cue stronger in younger people
-cue non existent in those of us who wear bifocals

Cue Conflicts:
when all cues line up, stereo is excellent - our 3D perception is 1st class
-when cues conflict, stereo breaks down
-not all cues have to be "perfect" but it helps - if most are in place, can have quite acceptable stereo
-

Size Cue - things at bottom at screen are usually closer

Breaking the frame:
-projection screen represents window
-window truncates objects - normal for objects behind window, objects inside window must stay inside frame
-action in front of screen that breaks frame degrades stereo image

-the screen itself is felt to be the window we're looking into.

PICTURE - two Viper shot - can't break the edge as this does, next picture shows the two cars again - can't show it inside the room, since gotta live inside the frame, inside the room of the window

-Motion -

Simultaneous motion - left and right eyes want motion to appear at the same tmie, sequential frame 3D naturally offsets motion timing, parallax changes frame to frame

-double or triple flash required to improve motion - more flashes = better simultaneity=better paralllax

Double flash is 96 fps - L1, R1, L1, R1, L2, R2, L2, R2, etc.

Triple Flash - L1, R1, L1, R1, L1, R1, then L2, R2, L2, ETC.

flicker fusion rate - around 120 fps - get smoother motion - the brain integrates it into one thing

timing offset - the time between left and right eye image display. If it sees a difference between left and right eye frames, if it is 120 or more fps it is perceived as occurring simultaneously, otherwise there is a confusion as to where the object is in space - because if the left eye thinks it is happening at one instant, and the rigtht

Ghosting - the amount of light that leaks into the wrong eye
-caused by imperfections in the system
-gives confusion in visual system - it isn't sure where that part of the image belongs
-can be fixed somewhat by pre-procesign to equalize the leakage
-the ghost is the remnant from one eye going into the other eye
-to get rid of it is to subtract some of the ghost from the image

Symmetry - image brightness and color - euqal brightnes and color in each eye is the normal you expect. It is possible to have some systems that introduce a color tint into one eye and that's confusing (such as the anaglyph, red/blue 3D old style 3D)

Parallax and screen size - image at screen plane is converged, image at infinity appears with 2 1/2" offset
-offset in master means that 2 1/2 inch offset for 30' screens becomes 5" offset on 60' screen (2 1/2" is the distance between your eyes, more for supermodels : ) )
-need to adjust parallax offset according to screen size - so that you could ideally adjust that on a per screen basis, AT THE THEATER

Vertical parallax - eyes not designatede to accomodate vertical parallax - if there's any vertical disparity between left and right eyes, your brain doesn't know how to deal with it

-there's a demo from Polar Express - we'll be watching ReadD Z Screen - there's a rectangular screen in front of the projector - it alternates left circular to rigth circular for polarization
-MDI next generation screen we're projecting on
-RealD eyewear to watch it
-this'll run through a QuVis server wtih a ghosting mitigation box plugged in also
-you can tilt your head and it will still "work" unlike some other systems

watched several minutes of RealD converter Polar Express - that was good - sharp and clear and the 3D worked quite well, except for very fast motion across the screen (in terms of crossing a large percentage of the screen over a frame or two)

-anaglyph has been used for finishing Imax stuff for stereoscopic proofing of the images

www.ray3dzone.com is the presenter's website for this portion

-audiences love 3D when it's done properly

-used to require two projectors to do some kinds of 3D

-the point is to get different pictures to each eyeball.

-if you want something to look infinitely far away, need it to be 2 1/2" apart on screen.

-if you want it on the screen, there is zero split

-if you want image halfway between screen and viewer, you need R & L 2 1/2" apart, but L & R are on opposite sides as the infinite

-3D filmmakers want to be able to cpature images where everything built such that you have 2 1/2" interocular (between eyeballs) distance.

-in CG, it is no problem to do - just need to know scale

-stereo base, interpupilarry distance, interocular are all the same thing

-in the past, it was impossible to put'em side by side since they cameras were so bulky. Used to use a 45 degree mirror between two cameras aimed at each other.

-Ramsdell configuration was two cameras at a 90 degree angle, one camera shooting through a half silvered mirror, the other shooting straight through it.

-underwater scenes in Creature from the Black Lagoon shot this way

-with the lens to lens (first model shown) would allow you to control convergence, so not parallel shooting, but could set up convergence. If you don't limit the background, the cues may make your eyeball want to diverge, not converge (and hurts your eyes) - if background wasn't limited,

Today, digital capture techniques - Rodriguez used the Sony HD 24p model for Shark Boy and Lava Girl, Spy Kids 3D, also fro Aliens from teh Abyss, Fujinon lenses used (smaller than Sony lenses, got 2.75 interocular

-two JVC HD-10s (ugh! Sucky cameras!) used for an HDV based film, interocular of 3.75 inches. The fix if interocular is too big, use longer focal length lenses, and some kind of formula to keep from getting too close to your subject, if too close get Pinochio thing - people's faces look too long and stretched.

-they shoot 720p, shooting 30p, HDV format (I know all about), he transcoded using Cineform,


-top down L configuration - Night of the Living Dead 3D using two Sony cameras, can get interocular down to zero - keeping interocular changing helps keep it fresh. (ummm...OK)

Dynamic Interocular - Cobalt Entertainment used two F950's in an L configuration - while rolling, interocular can be changed in sports footage.

-this rig can do 6 inch to 0 interocular in 1.4 seconds. It is Steadicam-able, but boy, it looks awfully big and heavy!

Stereo Perception:
1.) Hyperstereo-Increased Interocular - if you overdo it (20 or 30 foot interocular - makes for striking 3D to make it pop, but it does make it look like a miniature because the cues are so odd)

2.) Hypostereo (reduced interocular) - 0.25", makes things look and feel bigger

3.) Spatial ambiguity -

Digital Advances - CGI is inherently volumetric, so very capable of doing neat stuff
Cyberworld 3D - was 3D rendred, stereoscopic was done 100 ft to 0 - when doing 3D, very easy to change interocular

-Polar Express 3D

Stereo Conversion - DI=CG - there's all kinds of possibilities, for manipulating stuff shot on 2D

-3D metadata - Rodriguez has done cool stuff with it ot do live action filming with the RCS camera with green/blue screen, that metadata is sent to the CG studio for doing conformed stereoscopic space for composites

-

online resources:
3dtv@yahogroups.com

www.stereoview.org

ray3dzone.com

NEXT UP -

the other model of 3D projection - has 96 fps the DCI spec

the glasses are active, battery and stuff brains and stuff. Glasses can do 200 Hz. The limits are in the projectors, not the glasses.

-InThree is using a straightforward white screen. Both use d-cinema projectors, the screen is a matte white screen. They have two infra-red emitters that sends a signal that bounces off the screen and bounces off the screen. Disadvantage is cost - cost is 1/10th of anything on the market. The purpose of the glasses is to separate the left from right eye, so left lens is clear during left eye display, right eye during right eye, and the "wrong" eye is closed at the right time. Theater owners do have to learn a new skill - to manage the glasses

-we'll see some of the orginal Star Wars dimensionalized.

-the left eye is EXACTLY the same as the source material. The right eye view has been dimensionalized.

-exhibitors were not excited about digital, since they couldn't charge more, and there wasn't anything in it for them.

This kind of dimensionalization, and the 3D makes digital appealing. The economic model works for digital. You can't do 3D more efficiently analog. D-Cinema let's em do it for 1/10th the cost. More gets pulled in over time.

-theatrical exhibition will let theater owners make more money

-watched a few minutes of dimensionalzed Star Wars Episode 4 - WOW - it works! digitally projected from film source, it LOOKS GREAT. Only snag - at 96 Hz double buffered per eye, fast motion is confusing - maybe triple flash rather than double would help? Nothing is keeping that from working here - or maybe it is my hyper critical eye - won't the X-Box generation have the same kind of critical eye?

-dimensionalization - the way to do it is to provide a library or recognizable material and convert it over, as in non-choice material. Wanna see some little indie, or choice material like Star Wars, Matrix, etc.?

-It is a seriously non-real time process - takes a lot of help to do it. George Lucas and Rick MacCallum helped'em put this together (obviously) - when George first came in to see dimensionalized material, George said "I'm sold, I'm sold, I'm sold" over and over again.

-always on the vapor trails of all the other failed attempts. It is an uphill battle to do it, they'd seen all the other previously attempts to do it. They've done hours of dimensionalized material. It's not a gimmick. 3D doesn't have to be 2 inches in front of their face to get it. It needs to be realistic, pleasing experience, the next step in motion picture imaging (and maybe for home video some day). So they studied up on good vs. bad 3D. Bad 3D to them is hard to look at for very long, getting eyestrain or visual confusions.

-wanted to educate self of what works, so they got their own 3D shooting rig to understand it. They take something totally flat and do a "depth restoration process" - you don't want cutouts, you don't want other problems. Analyzing 3D captures, in order to understand that you have to understand the images and what causes eyestrain and stress and confusion. Now that there's an outlet, there are quantifiable reasons that eye fatigue is caused - just gotta know what they all are.
-anything that deviates away from what normal vision would do will cause confusion, and confusion can cause fatigue can cause a headache

-wanted everything they produce to be free of eyestrain

-with non-choice content it was very hard to watch - he calls that bad 3D. Not that it didn't have a neat effect, just that you couldn't watch it.

-how to make it through a 90-180 minute movie if eyestrain fits in from 15-60 minutes?

-this is all their software that they've done from the ground up. Software developers are all PhD's at their shop - they understand the elements that cause bad 3D viewing. It isn't a copy of something off the shelf, it is their ever evolving tool. Went from 10 up to 200 employees in 13 or so months.

have been at the mercy of the glasses - it is perceived that they are competitors to RealD - but when they started out 6 years ago, there was no RealD or any others out there. If they'd done in that year, the studios would have said "where are you going to show it?" since studios needed more than the Imax screens to show it. Teamed up with New Vision Technologies, they needed an active glasses solution since they didn't think that 10s of thousands of screens would convert back to silver screens. Active gives best solution, 200:1 separation, but to say how that came about, needed something where cost was no biggie. The glasses we watched on were about $25/pair. In time, it'll be cheaper. There's been no reason to do it in the past is all.

-were at the mercy of the skepticism over digital cinema

-an exhibitor got up and said at '96 ShoWest and asked about digital - "Why should I spend $150K/screen to do what I'm already doing?" - exhibitors make their money for folks to come in and see product. Folks aren't going to go just because it says digital. Exhibitors were suffering because movie product comes out so soon after the movie, folks wait until it is on video.

-Lucas will redo all six Star Wars, starting with the 30th anniversary (so 2007) to be dimensionalized by InThree. It gives them reason to re-release. Is there a reason to re-release The Godfather? Not really. In 3D? "Of course." he says, I say maybe.


HEY - BY THE WAY - AND YOU CAN'T SHOOT IT OFF THE SCREEN WITHOUT GETTING A MESSED UP COPY - UNLESS YOU FILTERED TO GET JUST THE LEFT EYE, IN SYNC, WHICH WOULD BE A HUGE PAIN

-dimensionalization Q&A:

1.) Is it realtime?
No.

2.) Is it frame by frame?
Yes and no - is akin to VFX work. Lucas and Jackson etc. say it is like where they were when they started out. He's saying they've only scratched the surface to make it better, faster, and advance to the point of no limit to how many they can do per year.

3.) Every movie need to be dimensionalized?
No need - but they hope that good 3d/bad 3d is taken seriously.

-they don't even deal with interocular - they don't care about it.

For them, every scene, they think of things in and out of the screen. They have active workstations where they can judge it on the screen and change it on the fly. VFX you see, 3D you FEEL IT - it works or it doesn't, you have a gut sense of it. It makes sense or it doesn't. Vertical disparity, where is infinity, what is too far? Every shot has got multiple keyframes where they establish something that changes - camera moves, something comes into frame, etc. Judged by how long something is up on the screen, etc., and it's looked at by at least 6 people that eyeball it and see how it works. When he started doing it, he was concerned that he was adapting to something. But with a half a dozen folks eyeballing it, makes it consistent. Content can go anywhere. Screen size is a factor. Less light coming through the active glasses. You wouldn't want to watch a 2D movie through those glasses, but the 3D is more compelling. Passive systems with polarizer, half the light is filtered and never hits the screen. NOTE - PROJECTION LIGHT LEVELS ARE LOW IN 3D, HE SAYS THE GLASSES WILL GET BETTER - WHAT ABOUT GETTING BETTER/BRIGHTER PROJECTORS?

-=--------------------------

MOVING ON -

How is the rollout going?

Dave Schnuelle - was very involved in Chicken Little

Chicken Little -

-had a very short timeline
-opening date doesn't move
-84 stereoscopic installs, vast majority in last 2 weeks, install locations all over the US
-some install sites required an airplane ride

-gear didn't always show up on time, so required more than one trip.

-D-Cinema was running on 84 screens on opening day, 3000 screens on film prints

-3D screens did far more business per screen than film screens

-people forgot they were wearing the 3D glasses - obviously not a problem

-in order to do the movie -

-the basic system was a 2K projector, a pair a dolby show players to decode left and right eyes, with a syncronizer between'em. Done for time - no time to do anything else. In the future with JPEG 2000 units, the single unit can do 3D as a standard feature.

-MA10 unit to run automated curtains and lighting

-preassembled short racks and shipped to theaters as a unit to save time

-encrypted files sent as MXF interop format while DC28 work progressed

-MPEG-2 used as compression codec for this, still using same frozen version of packaging standard, for now using an interim solution, at some point you'll see the industry have to make a massive, simultaneous switch to JPEG2000 based stuff.

-Z-Screen can be rotated in and out as needed for 3D or 2D usage

-the switching rate of the projector helps make it better - did 144 Hz, triple flash. That flash rate the strobing effect isn't apparent to the human eye

-why 84 screens? That was every projector they could get their hands on. They ran out of parts, they all ran late, logistics and a really good shipping manager is essential. Even then, gotta plan for interruption for the schedules. Customs held projectors for several days for food and drug inspections. Hurricane was going through Florida the week they setting up. Had warehouses with no power, had theaters with no power and had to be installed with no regular power (brought in gennies), had to coordinate installation of RealD and silver screen stuff

-for three weeks kept in close touch with Dolby and RealD
-best way to get these things done is get everyone in one room loooking at the same charts
-gotta have a bulldog attitude, you can't walk away and deal with it later, there is no later. You have to have a plan every time you hang up the phone. A local shipping specialist, tracking and controlling independently of the manufacturers shortened the time tables for shipping by as much as a week
-don't trust anyone, check and recheck
-better to be annoying than miss something
-comfirm and confirm, get every field guys' cell #
-people in the field are the key - if they aren't concientious, if they aren't competent and dilligent
-had to not just install but also train their on site staff
-put 50 people in the field towwards the end of the project.


==========================

chuck Goldwater, in charge of DCI when it was going, is now president and CEO of Christie/AIX joint venture that is putting in projectors, one of the two main organizations that is making D-Cinema happen.

-DCI spec published last July, stopped the moving target from moving so much, gave a foundation to start building digital cinema

-just under 300 screens in under 30 locations, 550 screens in 70 locations by end of June, by end of year 1500 installs (all JPEG based, presumably JP2K based)

-heading into big summer season, excited to see so many JPEG digital versions. Signed deals for close to 2500 digital screens in 38 states, including all of Carmike, Ultrastar, Galaxy, cinetopia, plus a 9 screener in NYC as a beta site.

All these folks did heavy research before signing up.

-Christie/AIX is ready to go on this stuff.

....and with that, I'm tired, I'm done, I have lots to do and write, so I'm bailing a bit early. I don't think I'm missing too much that's too important.

more tomorrow.