XDT redefines point-to-point frame data transfers and
uncompressed film review at Efilm Australia
Efilm Sydney is the first facility in the world to integrate Catapult®, slingshot and flipstream into their E-Cinema and digital film workflows.
When processing projects for their E-Cinema system, Efilm's previous workflow included moving rendered frames using NFS to their dedicated processing server to encode the final clip. After encoding, the content was reviewed and checked.
Through the integration of flipstream™, uncompressed
full resolution rendered frames can now
be streamed directly from Catapult® to any standard
workstation using Gigabit Ethernet or Infiniband
(depending on resolution) without the need to
copy the frames to a dedicated high-end review
workstation.
"Being able to review uncompressed rendered frames directly off the server using flipstream has added a powerful QA step to our E-Cinema processing pipeline." says Rob Sandeman.
"2K uncompressed film review is reporting sustained speeds of 24 fps over only 3 Gigabit Ethernet connections from a Catapult® system."
Efilm Australia is a boutique design-led digital postproduction facility that combines client-centred services with the advanced technologies of the world's leading Digital Intermediate facility - Efilm in Hollywood and Australia's world-class film laboratory - Atlab. Efilm provides end-to-end care for their clients' images.
Efilm's film resolution Digital Intermediate services - at 2K or 4K - include colour correction, digital optical and effects, titles and design. Efilm's digital video services start with the Spirit datacine - with transfers to HD, SD or directly to data files. They use first class technology and personnel to deliver the finest possible quality to film makers and studios. Efilm can also handle electronically captured product, offering editorial, colour correction and master duplication services.
Efilm's experienced people are used to working closely and creatively with some of the world's greatest filmmakers to put their vision on the screen.
Efilm is fully integrated with Atlab's full range of laboratory
services, including negative and positive
processing, film scanning & laser film recording,
sound mixing and release printing, as well as E-cinema
mastering and distribution.
Rob Sandeman says "We enjoy a close relationship with XDT which allows us to access the very latest technology. We have even worked with them during the development phase - both parties benefit from this exchange of expertise and thinking. The nature of our business demands high performance from hardware and software. XDT are experienced at delivering high-bandwidth systems integration in environments like ours where it is critical."
"Efilm has also leapfrogged point-to-point transfer
speeds using slingshot™ over Gigabit networking
infrastructure. We are dealing with very large frame
data workflows, often up to 6K, and slingshot has
significantly accelerated our frame management.
The effect of Catapult® on our productivity has been
dramatic, especially for previews and quality control,
which then has a flow on effect to production in
general".
"We have been working very closely with Efilm to ensure that our technology accelerates their film pipelines." adds Erik Otto, Managing Director XDT Pty Ltd. "Efilm have been a model partner for us, focusing on highest resolution digital intermediate workflows utilising Linux as a preferred platform. The initial demo was showing 720p uncompressed at 85MB/s over a single Gigabit Ethernet to a stockstandard $2,000 workstation. This certainly made an impact since the highest point-to-point throughput available using CIFS or NFS is only around 40MB/s."
XDT's products have been deployed across facilities in both Sydney and Melbourne, and XDT continues to work with Efilm to further accelerate digital film pipelines.