TECHNICOLOR USES EDIFIS SCRATCHBOX FOR FILM RETOUCHING

Technicolor Film & Imaging, Europe's largest film and post production facility, has purchased an Edifis Scratchbox to be used at the company's Heathrow production centre. The newly supplied system incorporates eight hours of uncompressed video storage plus two independent AES/EBU pairs of uncompressed digital audio.

Scratchbox enables film retouchers to remove sparkle and scratches from film or video at the stroke of a stylus. A logically-arranged graphic user interface and intuitive control panel allow repairs to be made faster and more cost-effectively than any other system currently available. Being disk-based, Scratchbox eliminates time-consuming video tape pre-rolls and incurs no degradation of image quality.

Simon Wilkinson, General Manager at Technicolor Imaging, explains how the Scratchbox is being used.

"The unit is employed in our combined Film & Imaging Restoration Group to record colour-corrected uncompressed images of archive/library footage from two ITK Millennium telecines. It is then used in a retouching/restoration session to run alongside our CEDAR/SADiE audio restoration service. The restored sound and images are conformed on Scratchbox before being laid onto a physical delivery format such as D1 or Digital Betacam. This way we provide our clients with a top-quality uncompressed image with restored sound. Scratchbox' ease of use and immediacy impressed clients within the first week. Working with the Laboratory Restoration Group, we can supply restored masters directly to our DVD Compression & Authoring department upstairs, giving the client a complete package when required."

Structurally, Scratchbox comprises a compositor, mask layer and paint tools in a single unit. It operates on four layers of image data: foreground video, mask layer and matte. The mask layer can control the composite of mix of two sources, typically foreground and background or foreground and matte. On-screen menus coupled with a control panel, jog wheel and transport buttons, permit a speed of operation limited only by the skill of the operator. A soft-edged matte or key is painted over a damaged frame using a tablet and pen interface. The operator composites or mixes within Scratchbox between the damaged foreground and undamaged background layers using this key. Scratches, blemishes and sparkle are painted away and replaced by good material. The resulting repaired frame is re-recorded at the press of a single button.

Technicolor Film & Imaging London (www.technicolor.com) is a division of Paris-based Thomson multimedia and has participated actively in the development of cinematography and film imaging techniques for many years.

Edifis (www.edifis.com) was formed in July 1997 and is located at the centre of Britain's Silicon Valley. The company has achieved a high reputation for large-capacity uncompressed digital video and audio systems meeting film, post-production and broadcast requirements worldwide. Edifis hardware and software are independent of third-party computer manufacturers or operating systems, allowing highly reliable products to be produced at cost-effective prices to meet the rigours of outside broadcasting and for on-air transmission.

Contacts for further information:

Richard Lilley, Edifis Ltd
Tel +44 1189 712 279
Email richard@edifis.com