BARCO 6th BAFTA Digital Cinema event

Doremi (sponsors of the event)

Doremi have a staggering 90 per cent market share of JPEG2000 server market, having been "first to market" in July 2005 with player and mastering system. Herve goes into technical detail. He goes into details about Mastering and I realize that my presentation will be a breeze because I will only have to summarize what all the speakers before me have said. DMS-2000 specification (read it on their website).

Over 40 films have been mastered using the Doremi, including several European films. One is Norwegian - Uro, the first in Scandinavia - which will be screened here and was also be showing in the NORDIC project's partner cinemas in Norway. Details about Paris Je T'Aime. Standard Powerpoint.

UIP - David Kerr

"A man who can trace his roots back to the projection room," we are told. What do we need? Why do we need it? What if we don't get it? Those are his three Questions. Q1A - Conformed elements, complete elements, creastive elements. Talks about problems and costs with localizing title and insert sequences. Q2A - Release dates in over 50 countries, multiple versions and making/shipping 10,000 prints. What if they don't get it - the consequences are too horrible to recount here.

So what should UIP do for digital? Set up infrastructure, get post up to speed on what's required, educate film makers. "Final question - is the bar open yet? If so, mine's a pint." Short and straightforward presentation. Raises questions and provokes thought, rathen then lecturing the audience. Good.

Fraunhofer

Talks about specifications, standardization and interoperability. Background to DCI and FFA specifications provided. Gives detailed diagram of workflow. Animated diagram of an ideal distribution workflow - a little neater than my real world one. Tools and Standards. This presentation would have worked better as a handout. Testprocedures and Interoperability test for digital cinema. DCI / Fraunhofer Compliance Test Proceedure. EDCF test project with NORDIC and CST. Also lists their developments and software tools.

Ascent

Paul talks about DI and the workflow to digital cinema. Too much graphs and text to summarize. Again, would have worked better as a hand out.

Éclair

"Paul has just said everything we need to say," Gwendal jokes. He is much to humble. They started same time as EFILM in US and were the first to create DCPs of European films - corrects himself - "continental films." 'In JPEG2000', I'm guessing he should add, unless you discount XDC's MPEG efforts. Talks about their project in Denmark. Outlines their experience, closely linked to Doremi. Talks about the experience of working on Paris Je T'Aime, which he calls the first European film to play at the Entertainment Technology Centre (hang on, didn't March of the Penguins and Harry Potter both play at the DCL? Maybe I'm nitpicking the definition of "European". Let's agree it's the first foreign language title to do so.). Time for creating 4K DCP of Paris was 10 days, same as for Da Vinci Code at Deluxe, as Gwendal quotes Jim Whittlesey on.

Talks about the problem of the fragmented European market. Good speech from Gwendal but presentation very heavy on text. I'm tempted to tell him that he is too good to need it, but going cold turkey on Powerpoint has to be an individual's choise. (Yes, I've now fully signed up to Tufte's anti-PPT movement).

HDDC

Peter Wilson talks about the business model of digital cinema mastering. Goes into issues such as active picture selection. Too technical for me, I'm afraid, and I'm also mentally running through my presentation in my head at this stage to fully focus.

Deluxe

I do my presentation as a show-and-tell, as it is Friday and also because I'm the last thing standing between the audience and the Doremi sponsored beer and nibbles. I use just one PDF image illustrating the workflow at Deluxe and the industry in general.