The Latest in HD News including Derek Grover’s HD PRODUCTION VOL. 5 ISSUE 3 $5.95 HD GOES TO WAR An Interview with SEAN FAIRBURN “SCENE SMOKING” BLESSING IN DISGUISE THE SUPER 16 award winning commentary on “The Sunday REVOLUTION documentary by Morning Stripper” an article by Terry Moloney by William Conner Bob Fisher 50403_SONY ad 11/21/02 4:12 PM Page 1 DIGITAL MOTION PICTURES what the movies are moving to. Sony has sparked a digital revolution. Our CineAlta™ 24P High Definition system is setting the pace for image quality in cinematic storytelling – and has won a technical HDW-F900 MSW-900P Emmy® Award. Sony’s MPEG IMX™ 25P system steals the show in indie films and docu- mentaries. For mobile, handheld and cinema verité shooting, our DVCAM® camcorders are best-sellers. And which tape stock is co-engineered with the hardware to elicit the best DSR-PD150 from each system? Sony HDCAM®, MPEG IMX and DVCAM Master series tape. 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Emmy is a registered trademark of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS/NATAS). KodakAd_HighDef 3/26/03 4:56 PM Page 1 After a century of developing the world’s best film, this is no time to be silent. INTRODUCING KODAK VISION2 COLOR NEGATIVE FILM 5218/7218. THE NEXT GENERATION OF THE WORLD’S BEST MOTION PICTURE FILM DEBUTS WITH THE LOWEST GRAIN 500T AVAILABLE FOR CLEAN, CRISP IMAGES. AND MORE FLEXIBILITY IN BOTH FILM AND DIGITAL POSTPRODUCTION. FILM HAS NEVER HAD MORE TO SAY. TELL STORIES. SPEAK VOLUMES. TO LEARN MORE, VISIT WWW.KODAK.COM/GO/VISION2. odak and Vision are trademarks of Eastman Kodak Company. Kodak of Eastman trademarks odak and Vision are ©Eastman Kodak Company, 2003. Company, 2003. Kodak ©Eastman K Foundation. of Mary Pickford PICKFORD courtesy MARY Introducing KODAK VISION2 Film. What’s next. 4 contents NEWS 5 FEATURE HD Goes to War interview with Sean Fairburn 6 6 Practical, Affordable High Definition Soluctions 12 by Lawrence Librach “We’ve Come a Long Way Baby” by Derek Grover 14 Coloring “Juan Jose” 16 16 by John Bourbonais “American Yearbook” 24P DV to HD by Brian Ging 18 “Scene Smoking” by William Wheeler 20 HD’s New Secret Weapon by Bryan Firehawk 20 21 “Back Up, Please” Riding in Cars with Cameras by Davis Kraft 22 The Finals by Brian Cali 23 “Saving Worms” by Chris Prouty 21 24 “This Girl’s Life”, an HD Feature by Deanna Esmaeel 25 Highdef in the Gulag by Chris Wyatt 26 The Super 16 Revolution by Bob Fisher 27 27 Blessing in Disguise by William Conner 28 Vol. 5, Issue 3, HighDef Magazine is published by American Press Services, 2247 15th Avenue West, Seattle, WA 98119. PUBLISHER: Conrad W. Denke EDITOR: David W. Thompson CREATIVE DIRECTOR: David Willardson/Willardson & Associates DESIGN DIRECTOR: Roger Carpenter PRODUCTION: Gina Griffin Hanzsek. DISPLAY ADVERTISING: Call David Thompson at 1-888-282-1776 or e-mail David@ VictoryStudios.com. Deadline for advertising confirmation and mechanicals is fifteen (15) days prior to 28 publication date. HighDef Magazine is distributed to professionals in all areas of video and film production nationally and is also available on the web site: www.HighDef.com. HighDef Magazine is printed by Olympus Press, Seattle, WA. For information call 206-242-2700 or visit www.olypress.com. NEWS FOX JOINS THE HDTV sports, and general entertainment. The downconversions and file transfers along REVOLUTION network has already delivered a live with full color correction capabilities. Fox Broadcasting has decided to adopt Highdef broadcast of the 2003 NBA the 720P format in at least half of its All-Star Game and several HD Video PS TECHNIK PROVIDES PRO primetime programming by fall 2004. on Demand movies are scheduled for 35 ADAPTER FOR MOTION ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, and the WB as the upcoming months. iN Demand will PICTURE LENSES well as several national and regional have 12 hours of programming each Nashville production company, Big cable networks and many local broad- day repeated twice. The content will be Puddle Films, was the first to use PS casters have already adopted 720P 1080i, wide screen with Dolby Digital Technik’s new Pro 35 adapter on a or 1080i formats. Fox had originally 5.1 audio when available. narrative HD project in the US. The decided to broadcast 480P, a wide- adapter allows filmmakers to use screen standard definition format. Also EUROPE BEGINS THE HD motion picture lenses on some HD Fox Sports Net recently announced JOURNEY Digital cameras. it would provide HDTV programming Although Europe has adopted the on six of its 12 regional networks. 16x9 format, it has been slow to AJA SHIPPING FIREWIRE embrace Highdef. It appears that this CAPTURE DEVICE FOR FINAL HDTV TO BECOME is now changing. Euro1080, the first CUT PRO 4 AVAILABLE IN HOTELS European HDTV channel, which is sup- AJA Video Systems Inc. is now shipping Some high-end hotels will be offer- posed to go on air in January of 2004, the first uncompressed audio/video ing HDTV in their rooms soon. did its first official test with Alfacm, a FireWire capture device for Final Cut Zenith and LodgeNet Entertainment Belgian HDTV facilities company. Along Pro 4 to select dealers and distribu- Corp. demonstrated a system at with EVS Broadcast Equipment and tors. The device allows a user to con- the Hospitality Industry Technology DTH satellite application provider SES nect professional analog or digital Exposition and Conference (HITEC) ASTRA, teamed up with VIASAT-TV3, a audio/video to an Apple PowerPC G4 in Orlando this June. The system will Norwegian broadcaster, they produced or PowerBook G4 through a simple deliver HDTV programming over a and transmitted the European Football FireWire interface. Named “Io”, the unit hotel’s existing coaxial cable network. Championship in HD to electronic cin- was developed in close cooperation LodgeNet’s system uses a Zenith emas in Denmark and Norway. with Apple to take advantage of the transcoder to convert broadcast digital many new features of Final Cut Pro 4. television signals for delivery through DIRECTV LAUNCHES NEW the hotel’s cable network to a Zenith HD PACKAGE THOMAS HORTON AND set-top box in the guest room. The As of July 1 this year, DIRECTV is ASSOCIATES COMPLETES set-top box integrates ATSC digital now providing a new package for HD DOC ON MOTORCYCLES HDTV and traditional analog NTSC programming, giving increased access Jean Horton Garner just completed programming signals along with the for subscribers to Highdef imagery. production of an extensive documen- interactive functionality of LodgeNet’s The new package includes ESPN HD, tary on the history of motorcycles. video-on-demand system card. Discovery HD Theater, HDNet and The program was completed for HDNet Movies. the Discovery Channel and includes CELINE DION CAPTURED motorcycling around the world. Shot in WITH FUJINON LENSES DISH NETWORK TO ADD 24P HD, the series includes historical Celine Dion’s captivating return to HDNET, HDNET MOVIES footage and interviews with the world’s live performance at the new $95 mil- With its announcement of their new experts on the subject. lion, 4,100 seat Coliseum at Caesars SuperDish available to consumers, The Palace is being captured each night DISH Network announced that it will NCTC ADDS HDNET with Fujinon’s new HDTV ENG- be making HDNet and HDNet Movies The National Cable Television style 42x zoom lens, and a pair of available to its subscribers. DISH Cooperative will be launching HDNet HA22x7.8BERM/BERD telephoto already provides Discovery Theater HD and HDNet Movies to cable television lenses, that are providing unique up- HBO, Showtime, CBS and pay-per-view companies participating in the NCTC close-and-personal views of the singer movies in Highdef. member network. NCTC represents displayed on the largest indoor LCD more than 1000 independent cable screen in North America. Rich Stout, SUNSET DIGITAL AND operators with more than 14 million video director for CDA Productions POST SOLUTIONS ADD HD subscribers nationwide. The new ser- says: “The Fujinon lenses help create CAPABILITIES vice will give subscribers access to a an artistic reaslism that allows Celine With the uptick in HD post production Highdef service tier. to connect with her audience and at needs, more facilities are adding HD he same time take her live perfor- capabilities. Sunset Digital in Glendale HD REPLACES FILM FOR “THIS mance to another level.” has added Discreet Smoke which WEEK IN BASEBALL” handles 720P and 1080P/24. They also In its 26th year, “This Week in Baseball” IN DEMAND BEGINS 24-HOUR added a third DaVinci 2K for HD tape will be acquiring all segments previously HDTV CHANNEL THIS FALL to tape color correction.