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Globalstor Data Corporation, a premier OEM integrator of high-performance RAID, SAN and storage/video servers, is pleased to announce that the Irish feature film, Kisses, which utilized Globalstor’s ExtremeStor-DI Tower for real-time 2K DI playback, has won first place in the Irish Feature category at the prestigious Galway Film Fleadh.
Optical Sandwich, a film post facility located in Dublin, Ireland, used the ExtremeStor-DI workstation to run ASSIMILATE’s™ SCRATCH® DI software for conforming, color grading and finishing on Kisses. Staff members took S16mm negatives scanned at 3K, down-sampled them to 2K and conformed them in SCRATCH before output shots were made for VFX and fixes were made using Apple’s Shake. Afterward, the frames were then conformed back to SCRATCH to create a multi-layer color grade to output to 35mm as 2K DPX files.
Kisses, which follows the adventures of two Irish children who run away from home on Christmas and spend an exhilarating night on the streets of Dublin, was written and directed by Lance Daly of Optical Sandwich, and stars Stephen Rea, the acclaimed actor known for his work in The Crying Game, The End of the Affair, Michael Collins, and Daly’s 2004 feature The Halo Effect. Kisses is the first feature film on which Optical Sandwich used the 2K DI process.
Processing large amounts of high-resolution 2K DPX files required a particularly robust and speedy hardware platform, according to Bart Verraest, colorist for Optical Sandwich. “When grading uncompressed high-resolution 2K DPX data in a file-based workflow, it is important that the hardware is capable of playing back those files in real time at 25fps, without any dropouts or other issues” he says. “You have to be able to look at the footage at the real 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 takes time away from the creative process.”
GlobalStor’s ExtremeStor-DI tower fit the bill. Featuring a pair of Xeon processors and NVIDIA’s high-performance Quadro FX 4600 SDI by PNY graphic board in the Optical Sandwich configuration, the dual-Quad Core tower-based workstation, capable of 750MBps sustained writes and reads in RAID 5, was able to keep up with the processing demands of the Kisses project, freeing staff members to focus solely on the creative aspects of the project.
As for these creative elements, Kisses features an unusual color scheme. It opens up in black and white and gradually dissolves to color as the plot unfolds, then back to black and eventually white in the end. To achieve this, Verraest used SCRATCH to do 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 was able to monitor his progress and changes automatically, allowing him to fully concentrate on the grading.
“We are thrilled by the Kisses win at the Galway Film Fleadh,” says GlobalStor Data Corporation President Scott Leif. “It truly symbolizes what we envisioned for the ExtremeStor-DI Tower – a hardware platform powerful enough to handle such next-generation workflows as 2K without ever becoming a distraction or nuisance to the creative team. Combined with the SCRATCH software from ASSIMILATE, it 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.”
Optimum for uncompressed HD/2K capture and playback, the ExtremeStor-DI Tower is 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 750MBps of sustained data throughput in RAID 5.
“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 Last Days in Dublin and The Halo Effect. Optical sandwich, together with colorist Bart Verraest, also realized the digital intermediate for Attila Galambos’ The Investigator, winner of four awards at the 2008 Hungarian Film Week in Budapest (2008). A few more international productions are on their way for a DI at Optical Sandwich.
About Globalstor Data
Headquartered in Chatsworth, CA, 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 24TB’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.
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