Leading Japanese post-production facility launches hybrid editing establishment

Sony PCL is an industry-leading facility concentrating on high-end post-production processing for TV, CF, films, as well as content and events production.

With the appearance of HD media, digital broadcasting and the Blu-ray Disc, and with the HD-ization of image work accelerating, the further diversification of image work processes and the increase in the digital data processing in visual effects and animation work, Sony PCL felt the time had come to create “Hybrid editing room” which enables an optimal editing workflow for a material or a work process, and offers an efficient editing environment corresponding to a broad range of creative content work.

Sony PCL’s core system is a HD/SD multi-format digital switcher, the Sony MVS-8000ASF.By creating this system, which is able to handle both HD/SD and HD24p, Sony PCL can meet the needs of its high-end customers. Sony PCL has integrated this linear system with an HD NLE system. Sony PCL chose Windows and Macintosh systems for its NLE system to integrate with the MVS-8000ASF, as well as an exclusive RAID system. 

The real-time Windows system is a Bluefish444 HD|Lust turnkey system and the Macintosh system is its HD|Iridium, both of which were provided by Crescent Inc., the Bluefish444 distributor in Japan.  The Bluefish444 products supply a smooth in and out of multi HD/SD video signal in YUV, and HD RGB 4:4:4.

This integration of NLE system plus digital switcher is called “ Hybrid Editing”. This system is able to react to the increasing demand of processing CG or 2D animation sequential file data flexibly. Traditionally the customer would send or bring its data and Sony PCL would then copy to tape media and process it on a digital switcher. Now, the Bluefish444 can playback the data once it is brought into the PC without failing. It contributes to the smooth production of processing data conversion, inserting titles, or compositing. The flow now for digital data is to process the data immediately and playback without recapturing into tape media.

Bluefish444’s capability of handling RGB 4:4:4 files allows Sony PCL to produce high quality films or exhibition images as well as master sequences for high quality HD software contents.  The HD|Lust fits perfectly to the dual link of HDCAM-SR RGB 4:4:4, which is leading in the high-end market.  Bluefish444’s new 2K Catalyst card will be incorporated into the hybrid-editing environment when it is available, offering even more capabilities.

Software incorporated into “Hybrid editing room” includes Bluefish444’s Symmetry application, Drastic Technologies Quick Clip Pro, Autodesk Combustion, Apple’s Final Cut Pro and Adobe’s Premiere Pro, After Effects and Photoshop CS.

In addition, this room is capable of doing sound return work by equipping the 5.1 surround system using DA98 as voice materials.

Mr. Ogawa, Senior Manager and Mr. Susa, Chief HD Supervisor, Post-Production Dept. of Sony PCL, stated, “There are several key factors why Sony PCL chose Bluefish444 for its hybrid editing environment:

• Flexible Video Format Support: To satisfy the capability of digital switcher of MVS-8000ASF, the NLE system had to be also capable of supporting multi format. Bluefish444 ably met the need of SD-SDI, HD-SDI, and dual link RGB 4:4:4 with a stable performance.

• Convenience and Cost Performance: Instead of installing high-end equipment, Sony PCL chose to create a NLE, which provides a good cost performance and a convenient system as increasing number of creators choose to use Adobe Premiere Pro or Apple Final Cut Pro as a means of digital editing.

• High Quality Color Management:  The quality of video image also has to be well managed. There were many capturing boards sound similar to Bluefish444 but the quality of images from those boards was not the same. Bluefish444 could supply consistent color quality between the original data, in the digital switcher, and VTR or again into digital data.  Bluefish444 secures the YUV gamma curve among the process.”

Sony PCL has processed many films, television series and animation since it launched its “Hybrid editing room”. Sony PCL sees that HD processing will increase in the near future, especially as TV animation becomes more HD. These clients bring HD digital data into Sony PCL and copy the data into the RAID of Bluefish444, so that the client can immediately start post processing. The reliability of color management in the Bluefish444 HD|Lust contributes to the increased productivity of the system. 

About Bluefish444:

Bluefish444 is a division and brand name of Bluefish Technologies Pty Ltd based in S. Melbourne, Australia. It is a leading supplier of uncompressed video cards for the Windows operating systems. Its video cards are used by a number of OEMs specializing in broadcast solutions. By continuing to work with workstation vendors and resellers, Bluefish444 has made it easier for end-users to purchase off the shelf Windows based editing, animation and compositing solutions making sure that the hardware is optimized for SD and HD solutions. For more information on Bluefish444, please visit the Bluefish444 website www.bluefish444.com

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