Gangs of New York is a masterpiece,… but tonight you’re just not in the mood for the film’s graphic gore, no matter how artistically director Martin Scorsese presents it. So you and the kids opt to see a frothy romantic comedy instead. The lights go down and, predictably, and the Gangs of New York trailer appears. No need to hid the kid’s eyes, however:
You won’t find so much as a spot of blood on Leonardo DiCaprio’s determined visage.
Thanks Outpost
When New York City-based Outpost Digital began its digital editing and
post-production operations in 1998, it determined the best way to serve
their clients, from videogame producers to Hollywood directors to television
advertisers, “was to make professional use of emerging desktop video technologies.”Says company founder and Principal, Evan Schechtman.
Desktop technologies, once widely dismissed, have proven equal to the post-production industry’s challenges. “We’ve participated in a broad democratization of digital video,” says Schechtman. “Our staff can even run work on Titanium PowerBook laptops when they’re away from the editing suite. So,” he concludes, “we love Apple Mac products and we love Discreet products, like combustion and cleaner. And so do our clients. Whether they know it or not.”
A typical Outpost Digital project starts in Apple’s Final Cut Pro, which captures and digitizes the QuickTime-compatible, uncompressed 10-bit or better video. From there it goes into a Rorke Data StudioNet shared access network (SAN) storage solution. Then combustion removes blood, adds 3D effects, stabilizes the image, etc., and drops it back onto the SAN. Final Cut Pro captures it again, typically so a colorist can use Pinnacle Systems’s CinéWave to
color correct the footage, before feeding the digital video to cleaner for distribution.
The company reaches for cleaner software on upwards of 90 percent of its jobs. “We say cleaner is our hardest working employee,” jokes Schechtman. “You can feed it tons of jobs at once. First cleaner preps files to feed the pipeline-it quickly compresses images and audio files and batch converts them-then we use it on the tail-end for fast delivery. cleaner is helping us shrink the world.”
The product’s versatility and transparency are also appreciated virtues. “cleaner supports all media formats, dual processors, and EventStream, plus whatever custom codecs are available. And its tools for leveraging QuickTime are beyond reproach,” declares Schechtman. “In fact, we use the QuickTime Streaming alternate function to deliver the appropriate streaming media to the web without forcing users to first select the quality they want. All it takes is a few clicks and we’re done.”
Outpost Digital is using cleaner software to grow its business. “We’re interested in the service bureau aspect of encoding,” remarks Schechtman. “This may sound grandiose, but we want to be the Kinko’s of the encoding world.” With a cleaner software-based encoding clientele
anchored by heavyweight Rockstar Games, makers of the Grand Theft Auto series and other videogame stalwarts, as well as various advertising agencies and production companies, Outpost Digital appears to be well on its way.
The company is no less reliant on combustion software. “It’s mandatory that every new Outpost Digital employee doing compositing work learn combustion,” states Schechtman. Schechtman acknowledges there are desktop-based alternatives, but believes “nothing can touch Discreet quality. We get a legendary toolset at a desktop price. That is just huge for us-and our clients, who we save money by doing most of the setup work in combustion.”
Schechtman credits combustion software with enabling Outpost Digital to take on heavy effects jobs involving blue screen work and the like. “It’s given us the opportunity to go after high-end work,” Schechtman says, “and it’s given our artists the capabilities and the confidence to pull it off.”
For even glitzier effects, Outpost Digital employs the Discreet flame system. The two programs go together like a hand in glove. “combustion contains more than a few of flame system’s tools, so we can mimic the flame experience at a fraction of the cost,” states Schechtman. “Next to every flame seat is a combustion seat, allowing projects to flow back
and forth. combustion, too, is a great upgrade path for designers who want to learn flame.”
Outpost Digital considers combustion, like cleaner, to be a versatile workhorse. Its 3D tools, especially useful for title design, can produce glamorous results. And the software’s tracking capabilities-“the finest available,” enthuses Schechtman-in conjunction with its paint tools greatly simplify the mundane but vital tasks of retouching or removing unwanted objects-such as the blood on Leonardo DiCaprio’s face in the Gangs of New York promo.
Another combustion forte, image stabilization, comes into play in the increasingly popular world of handheld digital video. “combustion completely adjusts the frame, keeping it centered, rock solid,” comments Schechtman. “It also lets us add a filmlike grain that gets rid of what I call ‘the birthday party look.’ We can make video look more expensive, less jaggy.”
Sometimes, ironically, desktop-based post-production tools can be almost too good. Director Stephen Soderbergh’s Full Frontal tells a story within a story; to contrast the two tales visually, Soderbergh shot one in mini-DVD format, the other using film. Outpost Digital’s
post-production workflow system was called on to handle the multiple formats and serve as a bridge between the digital and analog worlds.
“Soderbergh was impressed,” remembers Schechtman, “but he felt the result looked too good! He asked us to ‘Make it look more like video.’ Which we did. Fast. You know you’re using a superior video editing system when that happens.”
How effective is Outpost Digital’s strategy? Says Schechtman, “Despite shrinking margins in the industry and the failure of several competing companies, Outpost Digital had a good year [in 2002]. One reason why is the amazing quality we get out of desktop systems.”
Images courtesy of Mario Tursi c/o Miramax Films