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In the loop |
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Hello and welcome to the first edition of "In the loop", dft’s new quarterly bulletin for friends and colleagues worldwide.
In each edition we would not only like to include a round-up of news and developments from digital film technology (dft), but also to give our customers the opportunity to share their news and projects too.
If you have something to share, please contact us and we’ll be delighted to include it!
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So what has been happening at dft? |
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It has been a busy few months for the dft team – with new developments and product launches to get ready for NAB, the launch of our new ‘look’, and also the delivery of new technology to customers worldwide – including India, America, Australia, Canada and Slovakia to name but a few! |
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Scanity HDR |
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We launched our latest Scanity in Las Vegas at NAB in April. Scanity HDR uses a unique ‘triple-exposure’ process designed to get the most from difficult, dense black and white materials, at real time 2K speeds. |
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Phantom II |
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Also launched at NAB, this updated data transfer engine gives Spirit 2K and 4K users control and flexibility during image data capturing, facilitating a future proof ingest solution. |
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dft - new look |
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We were very pleased to launch our new look at NAB. Not only do we have a new logo (which we think has echoes of Bauhaus to reflect our stylish and technical German roots), but also the accompanying words ‘standing the test of time’, which is relevant for many of our customers and the work they are doing with the world’s film heritage. ‘Standing the test of time’ also aptly applies to dft – acknowledging our long and colourful heritage. |
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Alongside the new logo and strapline, you will see that we have been working hard on improving all of our marketing materials – from the website, to brochures and regular communications (like this newsletter). This was something that you asked us to look at in the customer survey that was sent out in December, so we hope that we have made a good start – we know there is still plenty left to do! |
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Latest installations |
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Over the past few months we’ve delivered new technology to customers worldwide, including India, America, Australia, Canada and Slovakia. We’d like welcome them all into the dft community, and extend a warm ‘thank you’ to the Library and Archives Canada, and the Slovak Film Institute for allowing us to share their stories with you here. |
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Library & Archives of Canada |
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Library and Archives Canada (LAC), have recently installed a Scanity, as part of an ambitious plan to transfer thousands of film titles and broadcasts to standard computer formats. The new film scanner will enable LAC to capture high quality images from their archive materials in real time, an important feature given the large volumes of film that they have. |
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Slovak Film Institute |
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Slovak Film Institute (Slovenský filmový ústav, SFÚ) has also recently installed a Scanity, for film preservation and archive at its facility in Bratislavia, Slovak Republic. This was following an extensive review of all currently available technology, so we are absolutely delighted that Scanity was chosen. |
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Latest news on HDR scanning |
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Motion picture scanning is different to normal stills image scanning. Image resolution and dynamic range are of equal importance as stills, but scanning speed is also a critical factor. A 90-minute feature has approximately 130,000 images to scan, and with hundreds of thousands of hours of material in the world, image scanning speed is a key consideration.
Image resolution, dynamic range and speed are usually competing forces in the film scanning world – whereby the increase in one has an impact on one or both of the other factors.
Traditional methods of high dynamic range film scanning is done using a multiple exposure method, during which the scanner ‘stops the film’ to capture images at different exposure levels, and then subsequently recombines them into a single ‘HDR’ image.
See how dft’s patented technology manages to achieve improvements in all areas – without compromising any of them.
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Customer spotlight |
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We sent a request out last month to all of our customers to ask if they would like to showcase any of their material in our first newsletter. We had a great response – thank you everyone! Here is a selection of four of the projects you have sent in – please them coming! |
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- dft’s Spirit restores ‘The True Glory’ |
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To commemorate the 70th anniversary of D-Day, the US National Archives’ Motion Picture Preservation Lab undertook a full digital restoration of The True Glory, which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 1945.
The first challenge was with the quality of the film reels held at the National Archives. The original cut negative is held at the Imperial War Museum in England while NARA’s reels consist of preservation prints and negatives several generations removed from the original negative. Further, even the original cut negative was made up of film with printed-in defects.
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- dft’s Scanity for ITV Studios |
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Thirty years after it was first broadcast on British television, BBC Studios and Post Production’s award-winning Digital Media Services team has digitally restored and remastered over 30 hours of film to bring The Jewel in the Crown back to its former glory for ITV Studios Global Entertainment. Produced by Granada Television, and based on the Raj Quartet novels by Paul Scott, the stunning 13-part award-winning drama series stars Art Malik, Charles Dance and Peggy Ashcroft, and charts the final days of the British Raj in India during World War II.
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- 'The Professionals' using dft scanity |
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BBC Studios and Post Production’s award-winning Digital Media Services team has restored the complete first series of the cult classic British crime-drama, The Professionals, for leading indie distributor Network, with the other series to follow. The High Definition version was released worldwide on Blu-ray on 31 March 2014.
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- 'The Sweeney' using dft scanner |
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Following the release of The Sweeny film, which saw Ray Winstone taking on John Thaw’s Regan role, home entertainment label Network Distributing decided it was time to bring the original into the 21st century. They called on BBC Studios and Post Production’s award-winning Digital Media Services who painstaking restored the content frame-by-frame to create a new HD version.
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Take part in our survey |
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We would like to gather your thoughts on topics of interest in a short and simple poll, and share the results with you in future editions. Please could you spare 30 seconds to answer two short questions?
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If you would like to contribute to future editions of the newsletter in the ‘Customer spotlight’, or if you have an idea for a future quick survey, then please contact us and we’ll be delighted to include it!
As ever, if you need to speak to someone about purchasing new technology,
contact Simon Carter.
If you have a technical issue contact Robert Duguid our Global Support Manager,
and for SLA sales contact Paul Giles.
For any marketing enquiries, email our Marketing team. |
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dft is proud to support AMIA and FIAF |
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