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Taking 4K to the Streets seminar

“Taking 4K to the Streets” a creation of D. J. Woods Productions, Post DNA Productions, Ryerson University, and the Toronto Final Cut Pro Users Group, is an event crafted as an information session for members of Toronto’s Film and Television community. This is a two-day “4K Cameras and 4K Workflow” event on Friday February 8th and Saturday February 9th, 2008.

It has been designed to bring together both companies and individuals who are pioneering Digital Cinema 4K production. This two-day event will allow participants to view screenings of materials produced using 4K technology (Such as Levar Burton’s film “Tempting Hyenas” and Peter Jackson’s “Crossing the Line”) as well an opportunity to get up-close and personal with both the manufacturers of technology and individuals involved with its use. The focus will be on the workflow process that enables this new medium to output visually spectacular material.

Digital Cinematography is changing the movie production environment, and Canadian individuals and Companies play an unparalleled role. Ultra-High definition digital film production has been the Holy Grail of the general production community for the past 18 years or so. Only quite recently has HD (approx. 2K / 2 million pixel resolution) truly garnered general acceptance amongst the diehard film producer and cinematographer, as it approached the creative and technical familiarities, necessities, and quality of the professional motion picture production environment. The key word however is “approached”.

In the last few years HD production has become standard form, and more innovative technologies with far greater resolutions have now emerged in the production marketplace, and Canadian technology and ingenuity are emerging as key figures in this research and development.

Dalsa, a proudly Canadian company and world-renowned leader in digital imaging sensor technology, pioneered and unveiled a 4K camera rivaling film (4 times the resolution of 2K camera technology, and a much higher contrast range) to an audience of movie making visionaries (such as the Industrial Light and Magic folks) in 2003. Ever since then they have been leading the industry down the path of replacing 35mm motion picture film.

The cost and complexity of working with such technology and its massive digital files has however created a production medium beyond the reach of the general production community. To simplify the process and lessen the financial burden of this scenario, in 2005 Jim Jannard CEO of Oakley, announced the “RED” 4K camera for the masses with pricing and potential workflow making it within the means of the general film production community.

There are still a number of production and workflow issues to be managed, and Canadian companies (such as Sim Video in Toronto, who have placed one of the largest orders of RED cameras in the world) are taking a leading role in developing ways in which to shoot, process, and manipulate the visual material.

Event details:

Friday February 8th 2008. 12pm to 4pm @ Theatre D. Royal Cinema, 606 College Street

Please note Friday’s event has limited tickets. This session will feature both screenings of materials shot using 4K and technology presentations from companies providing 4K technologies. Presentations include;

• The Red One 4k Camera, with Marc-André Ferguson. Showing Peter Jackson’s Short Film: “Crossing the Line” shot with the Red camera.
• Assimilate – Scratch, with Lucas Wilson talks and shows the Scratch 4k workflow.
• DVS (Clipster 4k & Cine 4K), with Tony Fox talks and show their workflow and player.
• The Final Cut Pro Users group, with David Battistella talks about the FCP workflow with the R3D files and the wrappers.
• The 4k Dalsa Camera, with Lucian Ion, Clips from LeVar Burton,s new Film: “Tempting Hyenas”, shot with the Dalsa 4k camera.
• Ken Davis, Producer. (Shows samples of The Red camera and its capabilities for Commercial and Television applications)
• D. Gregor Hagey, Director of Photography, (Talks about shooting with the Red)
• Technicolor discusses transferring to the Ari 4k scanner to 35mm print.
• CineGrid, Paul Hearty, Assoc. Dean and Director Rogers Communication Center, investigator Digital Cinema Research Center, discusses the world wide 4k transfer network.
• Theatre D discusses sound mixing and a 4k finish.
• Technicolor, Brian Reid will be presenting 4k workflows and 35mm Arri 4k scanners for theatrical release prints.
• AJA Video Systems, Chris Chahley (Canadian representative) discusses AJA KONA3 2K workflow and IoHD on-set applications.

Saturday February 9th. 10:00am to 3:00pm @ Ryerson University, Rogers Communications Centre, 80 Gould St.

Admission for Saturday’s event is free and all may attend, however seating in the theatre is limited. This session will allow the participants to get a close look at the technologies presented at the Friday Theatre D Session and will feature a “Taking It To The Streets” panel discussion at 1:00 pm. hosted by David Battistella of F8 Films on behalf of the Toronto Final Cut Pro Users Group. It will as well be screening 4K originated material in Ryerson’s Eaton Theatre. Technologies presented at the event include;

• Assimilate (Scratch)
• CineGrid
• Dalsa
• DVS
• AJA Video Systems
• Quantel and RED Digital
• Production and rental companies involved in 4K research, post, and production
• And more

Please RSVP your contact information and seating requirements to: future4k@yahoo.com