News Stories

4K Plus Project

The Consumer Electronics industry is heavily marketing higher resolution displays to consumers for their next large-screen home TV purchase. Often called Ultra High Definition TV, UHD TV, or 4K TV, these displays have four times the resolution of HDTVs.

Producing content at this higher resolution will require changes throughout the content production workflow. Before those changes are made, the ETC’s content-industry member companies would like data on consumer response to the higher resolution image, as well as consumer response to other technical variables. The ETC is the ideal forum for conducting this study because it is a neutral, unaligned organization.

The objective of the ‘4K Plus’ project is to determine, using technically- and statistically-rigorous methodologies, which technical parameters of next generation audio/visual experiences consumers value. We plan to use USC students and faculty, as well as other volunteers, for A/B tests of various resolutions, white-to-black dynamic ranges, color gamut, and frame rates. Future studies may also include bit depth, vertical audio, and other technical elements of the audio/visual experience.

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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