CineForm's Prospect HD Used as Online Digital Intermediate for Feature Film 'Dust to Glory'

CineForm's Prospect HD Used as Online Digital Intermediate for Feature Film 'Dust to Glory' A Compressed DI Format Running on Affordable Window XP-based PCs Revolutionizes Feature Filmmaking CARLSBAD, Calif., Jan. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- CineForm, Inc. today is announcing that its 10-bit visually lossless compressed Digital Intermediate software, Prospect HD, working seamlessly within Adobe(R) Premiere Pro(R), was used throughout the post-production process to finish the feature film "Dust to Glory." The "Dust to Glory" project represents the first time a feature film intended for broad theatrical release has taken the offline EDL and conformed using a compressed Digital Intermediate format throughout the online workflow, including real-time editing, color correction and final film out. "Dust to Glory" is being released by IFC Films, and will hit theatres beginning April 1, 2005. A film by BronWa Pictures, "Dust to Glory" chronicles the notorious and dangerous Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 race in Mexico. During 40 nonstop hours of filming, 250 hours of footage was captured using 55 cameras, including 35mm film, 16mm film, HDCam, and DVCam. The mixed formats were transferred by scanning film and digitizing video at Laser Pacific in Hollywood into CineForm Intermediate(TM), CineForm's Visually Perfect(TM) 10-bit compressed HD format that is part of Prospect HD. The CineForm Intermediate formatted content then became the online source used to finish all editing, color correction and titling. Real-time editing was performed on the BOXX Technologies' HD [pro] RT workstation in full-resolution HD using CineForm's Prospect HD working within Adobe Premiere Pro software. Edited sequences remained in CineForm Intermediate and were shared via LAN with a second workstation that performed color correction using Color Finesse (by Synthetic Aperture) with Adobe After Effects(R). Color corrected material was imported back into Adobe Premiere Pro for final editing including titling. At any point in the workflow CineForm Intermediate provided the creative team with digital screening capabilities vital for the review process. The digital intermediate master was used to create the Inter-negative that derived the film's release prints and also the various versions for video releases. (NOTE: After the color correction activities were completed last summer on "Dust to Glory," CineForm and Synthetic Aperture have recently finished 10-bit color correction support directly within Adobe Premiere Pro using the Color Finesse plug-in. This eliminates the need to use After Effects -- all editing and color correction can be performed directly in Adobe Premiere Pro with CineForm Intermediate.) Dana Brown, Director, Writer, Editor and narrator of "Dust to Glory," explained the team's initial cautious optimism, "When we began the D2G post work we were hopeful, yet not convinced, we could successfully use an online compressed DI format to complete all of our editing, effects, color corrections, and titling. After all, we didn't think anybody had ever done this before. But by the end of the project our whole team agreed -- the effort was an overwhelming success as measured by the superb visual quality of the film print." Jacob Rosenberg, Online Editor and Supervisor for "Dust to Glory" states, "When people see this movie in theatres they won't have any idea how many 'rules' were broken in delivering such a high-quality HD master for the film print. The CineForm Intermediate compressed format provided flawless reliability and stunning visual quality through multiple recompressions, holding true to the original source quality. My job benefited by having manageable file sizes, real-time editing performance, and a seamless integrated online workflow -- and running on a PC from start to finish!" "We're honored to have been selected for this project by Dana and his team," said David Taylor, CEO of CineForm. "Together we all learned a ton going through this rigorous process, and we believe the result proves our products are up to the challenge of professional theatrical work." About Prospect HD Prospect HD(TM) for Adobe(R) Premiere(R) Pro is the world's first software-based 10-bit real-time high-definition video engine. Prospect HD replaces the arithmetic engine in Adobe Premiere Pro to deliver its real-time performance and 10-bit precision without the need for specialized hardware. Prospect HD's remarkable real-time performance is achieved through its patent- pending CineForm Intermediate(TM) algorithms which access and process high- resolution video data on disk in an extraordinarily efficient manner. From the Adobe Premiere Pro capture interface, Prospect HD ingests 8-bit or 10-bit HD source material, including HD-SDI and HDV, and converts it in real time into the highly-efficient CineForm Intermediate format prior to writing the stream to disk. This workflow reduces the bandwidth normally required to process high-resolution content while simultaneously lowering the cost of associated storage. The result is a highly productive environment with virtually no need for rendering. CineForm developed Prospect HD to run efficiently on the Windows(R) XP desktop, offering unprecedented performance in software for professionals in film, broadcast, and corporate media at a fraction of the cost of alternative solutions. Its AVI file structure ensures compatibility across a broad range of Windows-based applications including Adobe After Effects and Windows Media Player. Pricing and Availability BOXX Technologies' HD [pro] RT real-time editing workstation is based on CineForm's Prospect HD. A fully-configured editing workstation including a dual-Opteron PC, Prospect HD, Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe Audition, Adobe Encode DVD, Adobe After Effects Professional, an AJA Xena HD-SDI I/O card, and 10 hours of storage is available immediately from BOXX Technologies for $14,999. Additional CineForm integrators will announce availability in the near future. About CineForm CineForm, Inc., located in Carlsbad, California, develops software technologies and products for use by media professionals in high-resolution post-production applications. CineForm's acclaimed products provide unmatched video quality and real-time performance within an editing environment while enabling an online Digital Intermediate workflow that runs on affordable Windows desktop PCs. CineForm uses the industry-standard AVI wrapper to guarantee file compatibility with dozens of video-related Windows applications. CineForm sells its products to end users through its reseller channel and from its website; CineForm also licenses its technologies to other video hardware and software manufacturers. For more information, contact CineForm at 760-804-5905 x306, or visit CineForm's website at www.cineform.com. For more information on the "Dust to Glory" theatrical release: Michelle Panzer IFC Films - 646.273.7207 Other product or service names mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners. Adobe, Adobe Premiere and After Effects are trademarks or registered trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. Source: CineForm, Inc. CONTACT: David Taylor, ext. 301, dtaylor@cineform.com, or Mary Reeves, ext. 306, mreeves@cineform.com, both of CineForm, Inc., +1-760-804-5905 Web site: http://www.cineform.com/ ------- Profile: International Entertainment