News Stories

Thales Becomes Gold Sponsor at the University of Southern California’s Entertainment Technology Center

9.1.2009

LOS ANGELES (September 1, 2009) – The Entertainment Technology Center at University of Southern California (ETC@USC), a non-profit consortium that brings together top entertainment and consumer electronics companies to listen to and evaluate consumer mindshare towards future technologies, announced today that Thales has joined ETC@USC as a Gold Sponsor. Thales is a global technology leader for the Aerospace, Space, Defence, Security and Transportation markets and has a business line focused on digital on-demand in-flight entertainment systems for world airlines.

“We are excited by the perspective of in-flight entertainment and mobile delivery of content that Thales will bring as a member of the Entertainment Technology Center @ USC,” said KC Blake, Director of Business Development at ETC@USC. “We are looking forward to discussing how new technology is affecting media consumption while traveling, as we know this area is growing, and changing, rapidly.”

As a Gold Sponsor, Thales will participate in the Center’s Technical Advisory Board and project working groups. ETC@USC sponsors are able to participate in industry-shaping discussions and focus groups based on consumer and student research and to network with sponsors and board members, including the major Hollywood studios and large entertainment technology companies.

“Our relationship with ETC and its prestigious member companies is one way that will help Thales think ahead for future generation in-flight entertainment system platforms. Our goal is to both leverage and contribute to the collective ideas emerging from the ETC in the areas of media distribution, applications, and advanced video technologies,” says Alan Pellegrini, Vice President and General Manager of Thales’ In-flight Entertainment business.

About Thales
Thales is a global technology leader for the Aerospace, Space, Defence, Security and Transportation markets. In 2008, the company generated revenues of 12.7 billion euros with 68,000 employees in 50 countries. With its 25,000 engineers and researchers, Thales has a unique capability to design, develop and deploy equipment, systems and services that meet the most complex security requirements. Thales has an exceptional international footprint, with operations around the world working with customers as local partners. www.thalesgroup.com

About the Entertainment Technology Center @ USC The Entertainment Technology Center @ USC, founded in 1993 with the help of George Lucas, is a non-profit organization within USC’s School of Cinematic Arts. The ETC brings together the top entertainment, technology and consumer electronic companies to evaluate what consumers really want, which is then translated to the companies that make technology products. The ETC strives to show how technology impacts the next generation consumer, which will improve the consumer experience and will uncover new revenue streams for entertainment-related products. Along with USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, current ETC sponsors include: The Walt Disney Company, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. Entertainment, Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, Deluxe Entertainment Services Group, Inc., Lucasfilm Ltd, TATA Consultancy Services, and Thomson, also LG Electronics, Dolby, Singapore IDA, and Volkswagen of America. www.etcenter.org

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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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