CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. -- July 24, 2007 -- da Vinci Systems today announced that sto.pp, a full-service creative facility based in Stockholm, Sweden, is deploying the da Vinci Resolve RT® digital mastering suite for real-time image processing and video finishing on a score of popular commercials for major corporations, including Honda, Carlsberg, AMF, Volvo, and Tele2.
"Resolve is a very good system and easy to get up and running, as anyone can see from our productivity since acquiring the Resolve in November of last year," said Carl Skaff, colorist at sto.pp. "The Resolve panel and the GUI make it very quick to create a grade and to drag-and-drop nodes between shots, which is important since commercial work is accompanied by very tight deadlines. Resolve's flexibility has an additional benefit specific to Sweden, which is shifting from 4:3 to 16:9 broadcast standards in all commercial work."
For the Tele2 commercial, the increased flexibility and efficiency of non-linear workflow and file-based color correction afforded by the Resolve RT allowed sto.pp to perform all post-production work in-house on multiple versions of two 30-second spots. Skaff spent an hour with the client setting the look for the two Tele2 commercials. When the client returned later that afternoon, Skaff was able to show the graded content with the audio assigned and then incorporated additional changes -- all in less than 15 minutes. The following day, Tele2 had additional editorial changes, including a few new shots to include in the commercial. Skaff ingested the new material and reconformed it using the new EDLs. Thanks to ColorTrace™ technology on Resolve RT, he was able to automatically update the new session with the exact same color grades, saving hours of manual copying and list manipulation.
The Tele2 ads were shot on 35-mm film and transferred to HDCAM SR in RGB 4:4:4. For initial airing on SD television, sto.pp worked in PAL 16/9 and recorded to Digital Betacam. Subsequently, sto.pp created a version for cinema in HD. In a traditional telecine suite, this would have required nearly three hours of recording from the negative, but with the Resolve, Skaff was able to re-render the project in HD and record it to tape, all in less than one hour, a much faster and simpler process.
Skaff added that Resolve's versioning feature, specifically designed for commercial work, proved to be a particular timesaver. Like many commercials, each Tele2 ad was produced with multiple versions, including cut-downs and a 45-second agency cut. With versioning, it's not necessary for a colorist to make multiple passes in order to render out a second version of a clip. Instead, the Resolve can differentiate among versions using graded handles and an automatically generated user-defined offset to the source timecode. Another advantage of Resolve is the node view, which makes it easy for colorists to distinguish in which layer different grades were performed.
"sto.pp is working with some of the best-known international directors, directors of photography and clients, and these customers demand the highest-quality work, often under very strict timelines," said Bill Robertson, general manager of da Vinci Systems. "We designed the Resolve system to deliver top quality in a high-pressure environment, and sto.pp's well-known commercial work speaks to our combined success."
For more information about the Resolve RT and other da Vinci products, visit www.davsys.com.
# # #
About sto.pp
sto.pp is Sweden's only full-service creative facility that can offer first-class end-to-end service. From inception in the CGI department, through a state-of-the-art front-end negative film lab, to a leading digital post-production suite, sto.pp prides itself on its creativity and commitment to being at the forefront of technology. To support this, the facility has built up a team of highly experienced and internationally renowned operators to create high-end effects for its clients in the advertising, television, feature film, and music industries. More information is available at www.stopp.se.
About da Vinci Systems®, LLC
da Vinci Systems, a JDSU company, is the leading provider of color enhancement and image restoration products used in post-production facilities worldwide. Incorporating the company's Emmy® Award-winning technology, da Vinci's products support SDTV, HDTV, data, and digital film. Since the introduction of the company's first color corrector in 1984, da Vinci has been a front-runner in the field of image enhancement, shaping color enhancement into the vital role it holds in post-production today. The company is headquartered in Coral Springs, Fla., with offices in Los Angeles, New York, London, France, Germany, and Singapore.
