Chatsworth, CA, July 15, 2008—Globalstor Data Corporation, a premier OEM integrator of high performance RAID, SAN and storage/video servers, is pleased to announce that Dublin’s Optical Sandwich tapped its Globalstor ExtremeStor-DI Tower to support the post house’s first 2k digital intermediate (DI) project, the feature film Kisses. The studio relied on an ExtremeStor-DI workstation running SCRATCH® DI software from ASSIMILATE™ for conforming, color grading and finishing on the picture, resulting in a stunning end product.
For Kisses, colorist Bart Verraest and other core members of the Optical Sandwich team took S16mm negatives scanned at 3k, down-sampled them to 2k, conformed them in SCRATCH, and output shots for VFX and fixes to ASSIMILATE’s SHAKE compositing system. All the frames were then conformed back to SCRATCH to create a multi-layer color grade to output to 35mm as 2k DPX files. Working with such large amounts of high-resolution material required a hardware platform that could rapidly and seamlessly process such data, and Optical Sandwich found that Globalstor’s ExtremeStor-DI Tower was a perfect fit for the job.
“When grading uncompressed high-resolution 2k DPX data in a file-based workflow, it’s important that the hardware is capable of playing back those files in real time at 25fps, without any dropouts or other issues� explains Verraest. “You have to be able to look at the footage at that speed to get a sense of the film playing out in front of you. As for hardware, you don’t want a system that acts up because that forces you to take time away from the creative process. With Globalstor’s ExtremeStor-DI, this doesn’t happen. It does the job so well that you don’t even notice it. In my line of work, it’s a great feature.�
“With the increasing amount of post houses utilizing the DI process, Globalstor Data Corporation recognized the need for a highly functional workstation that rapidly processes the large amounts of high-resolution images associated with this type of workflow,� says Globalstor Data Corporation President Scott Leif. “Combined with the SCRATCH software from ASSIMILATE, our ExtremeStor-DI Tower gives post professionals the flexibility, speed and reliability to concentrate on the most important element of their jobs – performing the best possible grades on video and film projects.�
Speaking of grading, Kisses features an unusual color scheme: The film opens up in black and white and gradually dissolves to color as the plot unfolds, then back to black and white in the end. To achieve this, Verraest did a pass on picture correction and matching, and then a second layer of changing color saturation as the story progressed. With the Globalstor ExtremeStor-DI Tower processing everything in real time, he could monitor his progress and changes automatically, freeing him up to concentrate fully on the grading.
Optimum for uncompressed HD/2K capture and playback, the ExtremeStor-DI Tower is a dual-Quad Core tower-based workstation built for easy installation and equipped with 10 Fault tolerant hot swappable SATA drives that can support a wide range of RAID levels including RAID 5. Featuring capacities ranging from 2.5TB to 10TB, the ExtremeStor-DI Tower integrates Dual Intel® Xeon® or AMD Opteron™ Quad Core processors for maximized computing power that can deliver up to 600Mb/sec of sustained data throughput in RAID 5. For Kisses, Optical Sandwich used a pair of Xeon processors and the high performance NVIDIA Quadro FX 4600 SDI by PNY graphic board.
“By taking advantage of the extremely fast GPU acceleration of the NVIDIA Quadro FX 4600 SDI by PNY, Globalstor delivers real-time playback of uncompressed 2K files, ensuring their clients achieve a high performance workflow,� says Jeff Medeiros, Senior Business Development Manager, PNY Technologies.
ASSIMILATE’s SCRATCH DI software is a real-time, resolution-independent DI process solution. It delivers affordable, high-performance, cost-effective powerhouse post-production capabilities that include data management, review/playback, assemble/edit, primary and secondary color grading, finishing and mastering to any format. It is available as a standalone software product or integrated with the Globalstor ExtremeStor-DI Tower.
Optical Sandwich, a film post production house based in Dublin, Ireland, combines film development, production and post-production within the same facility, offering a highly innovative digital workflow. Headed by director and writer Lance Daly, it is known for its work on such acclaimed films as “The Halo Effect� (2004) and Attila Galambos’ “The Investigator,� winner of four awards at the 2008 Hungarian Film Week in Budapest (2008).
Globalstor Data Corporation is a leading distributor of high performance RAID, SAN and storage/video servers. Widely recognized for its value-added services, including systems integration and customer support, Globalstor is an OEM with a full spectrum of hardware and software support offering a broad spectrum of broadcast and video professional solutions including DVD-R Digital Video Dailies solutions, 2K and 4K Digital Intermediate solutions, and high-performance hi-definition video servers offering scaleable storage up to 36TB’s in a single server. Globalstor serves a worldwide customer base from its U.S. headquarters in Chatsworth, California and internationally through a strong foundation of over-seas authorized resellers. For more information regarding Globalstor Data Corporation, visit www.globalstor.com.
