Prime-Time HD Finishing Accelerates with Avid DS Nitris

Top Los Angeles-based postproduction facilities Technicolor Creative Services, Modern VideoFilm, Matchframe Video, and two Ascent Media companies, Encore and Level 3, are using multiple Avid DS Nitris systems to finish the following shows in HD:

• Without a Trace,
• 24,
• Dr. Vegas,
• Jonny Zero,
• Las Vegas,
• The Office,
• Third Watch,
• The Benefactor,
• North Shore,
• Malcolm in the Middle,
• What I Like About You,
• Smallville,
• The OC,
• Desperate Housewives,
• Joey,
• LAX,

as well as episodes of

• Joan of Arcadia,
• Battlestar Galactica,
• Drawn Together,
• American Dreams,
• Eight Simple Rules,
• Still Standing,
• Crossing Jordan,
• Drake and Josh,
• Lost,
• Two and a Half Men,
• Zoey 101,
• and the upcoming mini-series Empire.

Marco Bario, Technicolor Creative Services vice president, stated, “As one of the first companies to use the Avid DS family of systems for long-form broadcast projects, we found that the online process integrated seamlessly into our editorial pipeline. The greatest advantage for our customers is that the DS Nitris protocol allows them (and our editors) to take full advantage of the metadata as part of the Avid offline capabilities, such as repos, speed changes, titles, and DVE moves. Finishing shows is now much easier with all guess work eliminated.”

Moshe Barkat, president of Modern VideoFilm in Los Angeles , said, “Last season, we finished only a third of our prime-time shows in HD. Now, we're up to near 95%. There's no question that HD has arrived in full force. For this type of work, Avid DS Nitris is an extremely important factor in the various solutions for HD editing.”

Ascent Media companies Encore and Level 3 use the Avid DS Nitris system for compositing, color correction, editing, and multi-format mastering. Bill Romeo, senior vice president, sales and marketing, Ascent Media Creative Services, said, “We've seen significant growth in the demand for HD services over the last three years. Today, over 70% of the projects in our facilities involve HD at some stage of the postproduction process.”

The 2004-2005 season also marks the arrival of new HD trends that are helping to drive the increased adoption of the Avid DS Nitris system. Both Casino and The Benefactor are the first two reality shows created with end-to-end HD workflows from capture to air. A number of veteran shows – 24 , Third Watch, Joan of Arcadia , and What I Like About You – have transitioned the capture and finishing process from SD to HD. Other shows that continue to be acquired on film, such as the long-running Malcolm in the Middle and Smallville, and the new shows Joey and North Shore, have moved from SD to HD finishing with the Avid DS Nitris system.

“Facilities need it all – fast conform, deep toolsets, and real-time performance,” said Barry Nulman, Avid's director of entertainment market development and western operations. “Avid DS Nitris delivers all those capabilities, and it supports all the popular HD formats and resolutions out there. And now with Avid DNxHD™, the system offers real-time, 10-bit HD collaboration over a shared-storage network and with broadcast-quality resolution, even over multiple generations.”

About Avid Technology, Inc.

Avid Technology, Inc. is the world leader in digital nonlinear media creation, management, and distribution solutions, enabling film, video, audio, animation, games, and broadcast professionals to work more efficiently, productively, and creatively. For more information about the company's Oscar®, Grammy®, and Emmy® award-winning products and services, please visit: www.avid.com.

© 2004 Avid Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. Product features, specifications, system requirements, and availability are subject to change without notice. Avid, Avid DNxHD, Digidesign, Film Composer, Pro Tools, and Nitris are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Avid received an Oscar statuette representing the 1998 Scientific and Technical Award for the concept, design, and engineering of the Avid Film Composer® system for motion picture editing. Digidesign, Avid's audio division, received an Oscar statuette representing the 2003 Scientific and Technical Award for the design, development, and implementation of its Pro Tools® digital audio workstation. Oscar is a trademark and service mark of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Emmy is a registered trademark of ATAS/NATAS. Grammy is a trademark of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, Inc. Believe it or not, all other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

[October 27, 2004]