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Company 3 proves RED Epic 5K 3D stereo workflow with SCRATCH on "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides"
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Company 3 proves RED Epic 5K 3D stereo workflow with SCRATCH On "Pirates of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides"
SCRATCH reinforces its cutting-edge leadership for RED camera workflows
April 7th 2011, Santa Clara, CA, USA - SCRATCH, the end-to-end digital cinema and broadcast imaging tool for post production workflows from ASSIMILATE, is at the forefront of the latest innovations from RED Digital Cinema, with the news that leading post house Company 3 successfully deployed SCRATCH to process 3D stereo RED Epic 5K footage for Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. The breakthrough news reinforces SCRATCH’s reputation for continual cutting-edge leadership in supporting set-to-post workflows for RED Digital Cinema camera systems.
Company 3 has relied on SCRATCH since 2007 to handle Red-originated feature productions, including the first, full-length Red feature Gamer, and the more recent Fright Night 3D.
Harnessing SCRATCH at the heart of the pipeline for Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Company 3 established a set-to-post workflow that travelled with the production as it moved between locations in Hawaii, Los Angeles, Puerto Rico and the stages at Pinewood Studios, UK. 3D stereo footage and metadata passed continually back-and-forth between near-set SCRATCH systems at the different locations and systems at Company 3’s facility in Santa Monica and Deluxe 142 in London.
During the main production, shot using RED MX cameras, Scratch was the hub for 4K technical reviews, convergence adjustments, and primary dailies grading of RED R3D footage, and later for the review and 2K digital projection of graded dailies. The production also deployed a separate SCRATCH, which was used by the digital imaging technician on-set. This stand-alone SCRATCH was used in combination with 1 Beyond’s Wrangler Pro, for instant full-resolution, realtime checking of stereo R3D material. All SCRATCH systems were fitted with dual RED Rocket accelerator cards.
SCRATCH already supports native RED 4K, RED MX and RED MX-3D workflows, and ASSIMILATE worked with a pre-release Epic SDK to optimize SCRATCH for full 5K workflow support.
When the crew of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides needed to shoot some pick-up work, and decided to use the new Red Epic 5K cameras, Company 3 simply installed a new build of SCRATCH and updated the firmware on the dual RED Rocket cards. After that, their Globastor SCRATCH was ready to handle 5K Epic in real time.
"We got a new build of SCRATCH from ASSIMILATE, dropped the Epic 5K 3D stereo footage in, and it just worked," said Dylan Carter, director of non-linear workflow at Company 3, responsible for the overall design, build and management of the 3D stereo workflow on the feature. "Although this is a big story, there's no story. The message is that SCRATCH already works perfectly with Epic 5k, and on 3D stereo too, just as easily as it does with RED ONE and RED MX cameras."
Jeff Edson, CEO of Assimilate, said, "This is another milestone for SCRATCH, and the RED user community. With the global release of RED’s new Epic camera imminent, we’ve been working closely with Company 3, and other post vendors, to optimize the workflow for DPs, VFX, editorial and colorists, and are ready to ship SCRATCH with full Epic support now that RED has made the final SDK available."
About Company 3: Company 3 is a comprehensive post-production facility for features, commercials and music videos. Known for its creative color artistry, pioneering technology and global reach, Company 3 is trusted to deliver a quality product every time. Company 3's incredible talent roster includes John Bonta, Sean Coleman, Siggy Ferstl, Billy Gabor, Dave Hussey, Tim Masick, Victor Mulholland, Stephen Nakamura, Mike Pethel, Tom Poole, Rob Sciarratta, Stefan Sonnenfeld and Matt Turner. Recent commercial projects are campaigns for Audi, BMW, Heineken, Nike, and others. Recent feature film credits include "Alice in Wonderland," "Robin Hood," "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time," "The Hurt Locker," "A Single Man," "Public Enemies," and "Star Trek." Visit Company 3 (www.company3.com) for more information. Company 3 is a wholly owned subsidiary of Deluxe Entertainment Services Group Inc., which is a wholly owned subsidiary of MacAndrews & Forbes Inc.
About SCRATCH for 3D Stereo: From U2-3D and Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D, to Piranha 3D, Charnobyl 2012, Fright Night 3D and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides 3D, SCRATCH is used on a global scale for a variety of 3D tasks that include conform, color grading, finishing, compositing, viewing dailies, quality control, real-time remote 3D reviews, and more. SCRATCH enables post artists to work at their speed of thought, in real-time stereo throughout the full DI process.