Setup

[Anonymous]

As a producer I am thinking about the possibility of setting up a suite to do post on featurefilm via Combustion and an playback system.

Once edited, the 1 hour 30min – 35mm film – 1:1,85 – will be scanned to 2K 10bit resolution via a spirit to Harddisk. The scan will be a rough but soft scan that copy all material on the negative and makes no burnouts and no crushed blacks.

This material is what we will do composite, effects and colorgrading on in Combustion. After we have done our work we will send it to be recorded elsewhere (probably via arri laser).

What kind of hardware and software will we need to make a suite to reach this need??

Windows
Combustion 2.1
Which computer??
Which grafik card ??
SDI card ??
Which Monitors ??
Which TV-monitor (sony “24 cinealta HD) ??
Still-store program (to compare different frames)??
Renderfarm

I know that the combustion will be the wrong machine to playback my material since it has no timeline with edits. Therefore I will probably need a program that gives me the oppertunity to see my edits and to play on the monitor. Which program is good?? Would it be better to leave this program on a seperate machine, but with the same Sony HD monitor??

How much Diskspace will it take??
Which Harddisk will be proper??
How much ram ??

Thanks / Stefan

[Anonymous]

Hi Stefan,

Please read my comments below:

>What kind of hardware and software will we need to make a suite to reach >this need??

>Windows
>Combustion 2.1
>Which computer??

Boxx Technologies has excellent PC workstations
I’ve used and sold these workstations while working at 5D selling Cyborgs.
Very fast, reliable and great support.

>Which grafik card ??
I’d go for the Wildcat graphics board.
That’s what we used for Cyborg but it was due to the fact that Cyborg used all of the OpenGL graphics on the Wildcat. I’ve tested Combustion on a Wildcat and the performance was amazing. Although it was a fast test and I didn’t really tested on a Effects intensive job.

But ATI and Nvidia also have great boards.

>SDI card ??
HD|Iridium from Bluefish444 in case you’ll be outputting an HD master or the Deepblue I|O also from from Bluefish444.
I haven’t tested these but they are 10bit uncompressed and are based on the Digital Voodoo technology which is being used on Macs.

http://www.bluefish444.com

In case you output to HDTV (1920x1080_24p) remember to also purchase a 24fps tri-level sync.

>Which Monitors ??

Sony 24″ GDM-FW 900 Widescreen
With the Wildcat graphics board you can configure it up to 2k rez at 72hz.
We also used these monitors on Cyborg and these are the ones that come with Flame – Octane2 / Inferno Onyx2/Onyx3200 but they come with the SGI logo.

>Which TV-monitor (sony “24 cinealta HD) ??
Yes. You can also ask for the SD board so you can switch between SD and HD using the same monitor. Of course this means more $$.
In order to monitor 24fps using a Sony Cinealta you’ll have to configure the monitor at 48hz in order to see the 24fps. This will still flicker a little.

But there’s a new model that support up to 72hz which will show you a perfect 24fps (23.98fps) image without any flicker. But I heard this option is alot more $$$$$.

You’ll only need this monitor if you output to HD.
If your output is directly to film then you don’t need a video monitor.
Just use your RGB Sony monitor and be sure it’s calibrated properly so what you see on the screen is what you’ll get on film.

>Still-store program (to compare different frames)??
You can do this using Combustion or using the 2k player.

>Renderfarm

Boxx Technologies.

>I know that the combustion will be the wrong machine to playback my >material since it has no timeline with edits. Therefore I will probably need >a program that gives me the oppertunity to see my edits and to play on >the monitor. Which program is good?? Would it be better to leave this >program on a seperate machine, but with the same Sony HD monitor??

You’re right about purchasing a 2k player.
e-mail Clint at Boxx Technologies.
He will be able to help you on that.

There’s also Nucoda which just released a 2k Review station.

http://www.nucoda.com/

There’s an article of Nucoda in fxguide.com. Here’s the link:
http://www.fxguide.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=106

> How much Diskspace will it take??

Each scanned 2k frame at 10bit log will probably have around 10-12MBs.
You’ll be running at 24 fps.

>Which Harddisk will be proper??

5D Solutions certified the Medea drives for the Commander (2K Record and Review Station), Cyborg (visual effects) and Colossus (Colour grading) and they did offer great speed and made it possible to playback 2k files in realtime.

>How much ram ??

At least 2Gig.

Contact Clint Welden at Boxx Tech
[email protected]

He’ll be able to help you:
– configure the best workstation for your needs,
– configure the Renderfarm.
– suggest the graphics card,
– suggest the Video I/O board,
– and also with the 2k Review Station.

Tell him I said hi!

> Thanks / Stefan

Hope this helps.
Please feel free to e-mail me in case you have any other questions. 😉

[Anonymous]

Thanks for a very good answer.

Since I questioned my needs last week I have had a budget cutdown on this matter. This makes my needs impossible to buy. If I where to do it the way that you suggest, with Boxx tecnologies and Nucuda software, it will be too big a investment right now.

I am thinking about what you wrote :

Quote:

“If your output is directly to film then you don’t need a video monitor. Just use your RGB Sony monitor and be sure it’s calibrated properly so what you see on the screen is what you’ll get on film. “

Hey.. that is just what I am doing. I will not be outputting to HD, only to Film. Will this mean that I actually doesent need a 24″Cinealta monitor that would be topping the budget? If I doesent need the HDmonitor I will not need the expensive Bluefish and the Wildcat card!!

In that case it could be possible for me to setup a suite to do post on a feature. The reason for me to think this way is to get twice or third the amount of post time compared to the time I would get if I where to composite and grade via a big respected posthouse. I want more time for more creativity to the effectguys.

So.. what do I need If I where to make it as cheap as possible, but with good quality??

1 Dual Pentium 4 – workstation.
1 Sony PVM20L5/1- 20″ Professional Multiformat Monitor
1 Monitor SD card – Bluefish/wildcat ??
Renderfarm ??
2 x Sony 24″ GDM-FW 900 Widescreen (is that the 16:9 monitors???)
Harddisks could be 10 x SCSI Cheeta Ultra320 73,4GB
SCSI Interface
Combustion 2.1
Windows 2000 Proff

I still have some diffuculties in playing back and arranging my material since the cumbustion has no timeline. The Nucoda software is so expensive, 10K, that it would be topping my system. Is there really no other playback software that is resolution-independent??

Will this system be good enough and fast enough for an operator to make colorgrading on??

I hope for good viewpoints on this setup.

– Stefan –

[Anonymous]

autorecall2003 wrote:

Thanks for a very good answer.

FL>My pleasure.

Since I questioned my needs last week I have had a budget cutdown on this matter. This makes my needs impossible to buy. If I where to do it the way that you suggest, with Boxx tecnologies and Nucuda software, it will be too big a investment right now.

I am thinking about what you wrote :

Quote:

“If your output is directly to film then you don’t need a video monitor. Just use your RGB Sony monitor and be sure it’s calibrated properly so what you see on the screen is what you’ll get on film. “

Hey.. that is just what I am doing. I will not be outputting to HD, only to Film. Will this mean that I actually doesent need a 24″Cinealta monitor that would be topping the budget? If I doesent need the HDmonitor I will not need the expensive Bluefish and the Wildcat card!!

FL> You’re right. You don’t need an Sony 24″ Cinealta Monitor and you don’t need a Bluefish HD I/O board. And you can always use an Nvidia or ATI board in case you feel the Wildcast graphics board is too expensive.
I don’t know about the Nvidia and ATI boards but with the Wildcat graphics board you’re able to configure your monitor to 2K at 72hz which is perfect for working with Film.

In that case it could be possible for me to setup a suite to do post on a feature. The reason for me to think this way is to get twice or third the amount of post time compared to the time I would get if I where to composite and grade via a big respected posthouse. I want more time for more creativity to the effectguys.

So.. what do I need If I where to make it as cheap as possible, but with good quality??

1 Dual Pentium 4 – workstation.

FL> Yes! Get the fastes processor you can get since working at 2k will require alot of speed, specially if you decide to work higher than 8 bit mode in Combustion.

1 Sony PVM20L5/1- 20″ Professional Multiformat Monitor

FL> No, this one you don’t need. You only need an RGB monitor.

1 Monitor SD card – Bluefish/wildcat ??

FL> No, you don’t need the SD board or the Sony PVM monitor to make the effects for the film, unless you’re planning on using this system for SD work later on.

Renderfarm ??

FL> This would definintely be a Plus since you’ll need as much processing power as possible. Plus you can continue working on the effects and color grading while the Renderfarm is processing the effects.

FL> You need to connect everyone Renderfarm and Compositing Stations using Gigabit Ethernet so you can have one central server feeding the Compositing Stations and the Renderfarm.

2 x Sony 24″ GDM-FW 900 Widescreen (is that the 16:9 monitors???)

FL> Yes, this is a 16:9 monitor and you could only use 1 since it has alot of working Area. But you could also go for 2 x 21″ monitor and split the Combustion Interface between both monitors. It’s really up to you.

Harddisks could be 10 x SCSI Cheeta Ultra320 73,4GB
SCSI Interface

FL> Yes!

Combustion 2.1

FL> The software it’s up to you my friend but Combustion is a excellent software.

Windows 2000 Proff

FL> Yep!

I still have some diffuculties in playing back and arranging my material since the cumbustion has no timeline. The Nucoda software is so expensive, 10K, that it would be topping my system. Is there really no other playback software that is resolution-independent??

FL> Personally I think Nucoda has a great price for what it offers. But you can also go for: IRIDAS Framcycler which can also playback Film rez in realtime and seems to cost less. It also seems to have less tools than Nucoda so that’s probably the pricing difference.

FL> Here’s a link to the release:

http://www.vfxtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?s=0a6904be1d4143d630e9e088e3e82aa5&threadid=292

and to their website:

http://www.iridas.com/

Will this system be good enough and fast enough for an operator to make colorgrading on??

FL> That’s hard for me to answer. It really depends on how much time you have to finish the job and if you’ll be able to purchase a Renderfarm. Processing 2k images is really tough but it can be done on a well configured PC with the right tools. Now to colour grade the whole movie this could be tougher since it’s alot of material you’ll have to process in 2k. This will require alot of Storage…….

FL> Like I mentioned before it would be nice if you contacted Clint at Boxx technologies since he’ll be able to answer your questions regarding processing power, renderfarm. They sell Powerful PC workstations with AMD or Intel, Wildcat or Nvidia or ATI graphics cards, and their PCs already have an internal slots for your array in case you don’t plan on purchasing a Medea array.

I hope for good viewpoints on this setup.

FL> I hope these are good viewpoint for this setup…..

– Stefan –

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