News Stories

HPA: Year in Review, Green Initiatives

2.18.2009

Welcome to the 23rd annual “This is the year of HDTV,” quipped Mark Schubin as he opened Tuesday’s HPA Tech Retreat program.

He reported that HD set penetration in US household has reached 23.2%, up from 12.8% a year ago. He added that an estimated 1/3 of HDTV users don’t watch HD.

According to Nielsen, most U.S. HD viewing is sports, followed by political content, awards show and sitcoms. Schubin noted that drama was not in the top four.

He posed the question: “Is this the year of 3D TV?”

One of the morning speakers was industry vet Matt Peterson, who started Vertatique (vertatique.com) to share information and spur action to advance sustainability in the creation and use of computing, media, and e-devices.

He said: “As technologists, we have an obligation to think about the social implications of what we do.”

Having polled HPA attendees, he reported that about 1/3 had a green ICT initiative (but not all participated.)

Peterson said energy costs are driving 2-30% of facilities’ ICT budgets, and about 50% of ICT energy goes to heat removal.

He suggested green media production practices, such as: Digital deployment, stage and set practices, and location practices.

For more: http://vertatique.com/vertatiques-green-production-practices

HPA Supersession: Audience Answers

2.17.2009

Dubbed the “Pierce Silverman Show,” Jerry Pierce and Leon Silverman closed the HPA Tech Retreat Supersession with an interactive look at the future. They asked questions about the industry, as the audience held up red or green index cards to respond yes or no.

Among the questions/answers/findings:

–Will digital acquisition dominate filmmaking within five years? A lot said yes, but response was quite mixed.

–Will Blu-Ray replace DVD? Most said no.

–Hardly anyone said they currently use BD Live.

–Most believe that  in 10 years they will not be buying packaged media anymore.

–Do you want 3D sports? Most said yes.

–Do you want 3D at home? Most said yes

–Will the industry solve the piracy problem in 10 years? Most said no. A lot think the volume of piracy will go up.

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Specification for Naming VFX Image Sequences Released

ETC’s VFX Working Group has published a specification for best practices naming image sequences such as plates and comps. File naming is an essential tool for organizing the multitude of frames that are inputs and outputs from the VFX process. Prior to the publication of this specification, each organization had its own naming scheme, requiring custom processes for each partner, which often resulted in confusion and miscommunication.

The new ETC@USC specification focuses primarily on sequences of individual images. The initial use case was VFX plates, typically delivered as OpenEXR or DPX files. However, the team soon realized that the same naming conventions can apply to virtually any image sequence. Consequently, the specification was written to handle a wide array of assets and use cases.

To ensure all requirements are represented, the working group included over 2 dozen participants representing studios, VFX houses, tool creators, creatives and others.  The ETC@USC also worked closely with MovieLabs to ensure that the specification could be integrated as part of their 2030 Vision.

A key design criteria for this specification is compatibility with existing practices.  Chair of the VFX working group, Horst Sarubin of Universal Pictures, said: “Our studio is committed to being at the forefront of designing best industry practices to modernize and simplify workflows, and we believe this white paper succeeded in building a new foundation for tools to transfer files in the most efficient manner.”

This specification is compatible with other initiatives such as the Visual Effects Society (VES) Transfer Specifications. “We wanted to make it as seamless as possible for everyone to adopt this specification,” said working group co-chair and ETC@USC’s Erik Weaver. “To ensure all perspectives were represented we created a team of industry experts familiar with the handling of these materials and collaborated with a number of industry groups.”

“Collaboration between MovieLabs and important industry groups like the ETC is critical to implementing the 2030 Vision,” said Craig Seidel, SVP of MovieLabs. “This specification is a key step in defining the foundations for better software-defined workflows. We look forward to continued partnership with the ETC on implementing other critical elements of the 2030 Vision.”

The specification is available online for anyone to use.

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