News Stories

CinemaCon 2012: Warners, Universal, DCIP Roll Out Satellite Delivery Effort

[Hollywood Reporter]

Digital Cinema Distribution Coalition—a consortium whose members are Warner Bros. Entertainment, Universal Pictures and Digital Cinema Implementation Partners (jointly owned by AMC, Cinemark and Regal)—is beginning to build its planned not-for-profit, satellite delivery network for digital cinema in North America.

The network will be available to all content owners and theaters, and could be completed within the year,  Darcy Antonellis, president of Warner Bros. Technical Operations and a DCDC board member, reported.

Since DCDC will be run as a not-for-profit entity, once all the monies invested by the partners are returned through operations of the system, 95 percent of the money that would otherwise be considered profit, will be paid or credited on a pro-rata basis to the users of the system in proportion to the amount they use it. The goal is to drive down the cost of delivering content for both content providers and exhibitors, while providing a highly reliable, state-of-the-art platform for the high-speed distribution of content of all types.

….

Per the plan, DCDC will own the network, and has selected Deluxe/Echostar as its service provider.

See the full story here: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/cinemacon-2012-warners-universal-dcip-316660

LG INTRODUCES THE FIRST REAL STREAMING MULTIMEDIA CLOUD FOR ALL THREE SCREENS

[Press Release]

Unique Cloud Service Offers Content Consumption and Seamless Connectivity via TVs, Mobile Devices and PC

SEOUL, APR. 30, 2012 — LG Electronics (LG) announced the beta opening of LG Cloud service on May 1 with the aim of providing seamless connectivity and streaming access to all digital content across various electronic devices. Although cloud is today’s hottest IT buzzwords, LG Cloud is the first that allows users to manage and consume all types of content on “three screens” which includes Android smartphones, PCs and smart TVs (including but not limited to CINEMA 3D models) without a separate set-top box.

To use the service, users need to download the LG Cloud app from Google Play or LG SmartWorld app store from their Android smartphones, LG SmartWorld store from their LG Smart TVs or the LG Cloud website (www.lgecloud.com) from their PCs or laptops. LG’s Cloud service automatically synchronizes smartphone content with the cloud server and the user’s PC and TV. Photos and videos taken with the smartphone can be viewed and streamed to the PC or TV almost instantaneously. Videos edited on a PC can be uploaded to LG Cloud for viewing seconds later on a smartphone. Unlike other cloud services, there’s very little waiting or lag time since the content is streamed to the TV, PC or smartphone, not downloaded first.

The difference is in LG’s Real-time Streaming Transcoding technology. The conversion happens on the server in realtime, not on the device. There is no need to worry about installing codecs or converters, everything happens seamlessly and in the background with no involvement from the user. No other cloud service can make this same claim.

The service also works perfectly with 3D content. Vacation videos taken with an LG 3D smartphone can be uploaded via 3G or Wi-Fi to the LG Cloud service. Back home in the comforts of the living room, the family can watch the vacation footage as it streams from LG Cloud to their LG CINEMA 3D Smart TV in superb three dimensions.

To better develop cloud services that prioritize convergence, LG created a new division called Smart Business Center to focus specifically on content and services. Havis Kwon, President and CEO of LG’s Home Entertainment Company, is also responsible for the new Smart Business Center.

“Most companies today only see the cloud as a storage device or in the case of YouTube or Flickr, only for one type of content,” said LG’s Mr. Kwon. “LG makes the devices that millions of people watch content on so we can set a new yardstick for ease of use by setting up our own cloud service. Tomorrow’s consumers don’t want to go to one cloud for music, another cloud for video, another location for photos and yet another cloud for their office files. In the end, our solution is about making life more convenient.”

LG Cloud will be offered as both a free and paid service. Free storage space and pricing will differ market to market and will be announced separately as the service becomes available in that country.

See the original post here: http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/30/lg-cloud/

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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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