Nonlinear HDTV - State of the Art

Turnkey Systems

Leitch-DPS: Introduced at NAB 2001 and slated for Q3 delivery is the DPS Reality HD with one stream of real time HD, capable of capturing at the native compression of HDCam. Other HD codecs are in development and will be announced by Siggraph 2001. DPS cannot at this time disclose the formats that will be available. Reality HD, based on the popular, standard definition (SD) DPS Reality, offers a vast array of editorial effects, including wipes, dissolves, title superimpositions, but all effects must be rendered. The system will bundle with Eyeon Digital Fusion HD for advanced warp, DVE and compositing effects.

The software supports two tracks of video and four audio tracks within the Reality HD software itself, and unlimited video layers when ported through Digital Fusion HD. Up to two stereo (48 kHz) tracks of audio can play back without pre-rendering. All effects may be easily customized and combined to satisfy any editor's imagination.

Leitch-DPS makes all the boards in the system, offers quick replacement, a rock-solid 2 year parts and labor warrantee and free 800-number technical support on a "normal work week" schedule.

The DPS Reality HD system is so intuititive and the documentation so complete that training is rarely necessary. Most experienced editors can teach themselves Reality HD in a matter of hours. DPS-Leitch, with a long history in both studio and desktop engineering, has traditionally kept a low marketing profile. Consequently, their name is not well recognized and their dealer network, while growing, is still thinly stretched.

The base system comes either as a hardware and software bundle which may integrated by a VAR or end user on at least a single processor Pentium 833 MHz (dual processor recommended) with 512 Mb RAM and a 2 GB system drive, or as a turnkey package from DPS built on a optimum hardware platform such as an IBM IntelliStation. The price of the boardset and software (including Sony HDCam codec and additional codecs available as options) for $19,995. Estimated price of the turnkey system will be under $40,000 with significant storage capacity.

Avid: Introduced in March 2001 for immediate delivery, the Avid|DS HD features a single stream of uncompressed HD and multiple real time streams of uncompressed SD. The system also supports the unique ability to support realtime HD offline editing by providing a quarter resolutions HD in proper aspect ratio. Suported formats are 720p, 1080i, 1080p, as well as standard definition PAL and NTSC formats at 24, 25, 29.97 and 30 fps. All formats and resolutions can reside on the system simultaneously without the need to reformat drives or remove material. Avid|DS HD is based on the Avid|DS interface requiring little or no learning time for experienced Avid|DS editors.

The software supports unlimited video and unlimited audio tracks. Up to four pairs of stereo audio tracks can play back without pre-rendering.

Video effects include all SMPTE DVEs as well as true 3-D DVE effects with spacial world coordinate capabilities. All effects may be easily customized and combined to satisfy any editor's imagination.

In order to maximize the editor's time during rendering, Avid|DS HD comes with Avid|DS Remote Processing (RP) capability, which allows the system to process effects, composites and graphics in the background while the editor continues to work elsewhere on the timeline. In addition to integrating to the Avid|DS system, Avid|DS HD can be used in conjunction with Symphony, Media Composer, Avid Xpress, SOFTIMAGE|XSI, ProTools and Avid Unity products as part of a networked post-production environment.

Avid designed and built the video subsystem (called the "Equinox") for the Avid D|S HD and offers the usual overnight "cross ship" replacement of defective boards and a 90 day parts and labor warrantee. Standard technical support is 90 days free on an 800 number, after which the customer may choose between "standard" technical support on an 800 number during local business hours (worldwide) or "24/7" technical support on an 800-number 365 days a year. Web and email support is also included via the Internet, including a vast array of chat, tutorials and helpful tips.

The base system comes installed on a IBM IntelliStation Z Pro dual 1 GHz Pentium III PC equipped with two 21" monitors, 1.5 GB of RAM and 288 GB of media storage (equivalent to about 40 minutes of uncompressed 1080i/30 HD storage) for $300,000. Additional Avid certified hard drive storage is available up to 1.75 TB for 6 hours of uncompressed 1080i/60 HD). The base system also comes with a coupon for one person to take up to five days of training at an authorized training center anywhere in the world.

Interactive Effects: One of the earlier HD solutions on the market, Interactive Effects's Piranha HD was introduced originally as a film compositing solution in March, followed by the HD nonlinear Piranha HD in 1999. Piranha HD Edit, introduced in 2000 is a Unix software product whose base system is turnkey supplied on an SGI Octane 2 equipped with two R12000 processors, 768 MB of RAM and the user's choice of hard drives. Pricing for the base system ranges from $130,000 to $185,000.

Piranha HD Edit supports one live uncompressed video stream and the ability to render unlimited video streams from its user friendly timeline. One of the key features of the system is that it supports all resolutions of HD and SD on the same timeline. Piranha HD Edit includes a full 2-D and 3-D paint system, based on the popular Amazon Paint System used by many broadcasters in their weather applications. The system also supports color correction and 2-D tracking. Special effects, which may be customized by the operator, include all 3-D effects and particle generation. All compositing and effects include "revision history," which allows the operator to easily go back and revise effects. Multiple projects may be opened at once.

All of the hardware is based on off-the-shelf technology, allowing the user to take the option of building his own platform and installing the Piranha software.

In addition to all HD formats, NTSC and PAL, Piranha accepts 26 industry standard file formats for the easy incorporation of animation sequences. Piranha offers full upgrades to the software for a year after purchase and thereafter according to a yearly support contract. Piranha's turn key warrantee is for one year parts and labor. Users can access a free 800-number technical support on a 24/7/365 schedule. Training is provided in Los Angeles for free or by special arrangement elsewhere.

Discreet: Announced at NAB 2001, for delivery in summer 2001, Fire and Smoke (my capitilizations, for clarity, throughout) are now supporting the latest high-performance HD platforms from SGI: Fire employs the ONYX 3000 and Smoke supports Octane 2 with the latest real-time HD I/O card, SGI's Dmedia Pro. Top of the line Fire features a single real time stream of HD and film in virtually all formats and resolutions, as well as standard definition PAL and NTSC formats. Smoke features non-real time streams of HD and dual real time streams of SD video.

Both Fire and Smoke offer a wide range of advanced visual effectd, integrate with Discreet's effects products,
Flame and Inferno, and are resolution-independent, supporting all current forms of HD and SD.

Discreet optimizes its editing and effects software applications with direct integrated coding to the graphics and video subsystems with SGI's Onyx and Octane family of workstations. Discreet offers on-site systems installation and training, a one year warranty for parts, a spares program, and free 800-number technical support on a 7/24/365
schedule. Regional and on-site training is provided in many locations
around the world.

A significant amount of third party vendors offer "sparks" plug-in software for Discreet products. Discreet also partners with many software vendors, incorporating their software extensions within the Discreet user interface, as is the case with RealViz' 3D tracking module found in Inferno.

Smoke comes installed on an SGI Octane2 Visual Workstation with a
DmediaPro DM2 video card, which enables both noncompressed SD and full
HD capture and playback. A base Smoke HD system with 90 minutes of storage will be priced at under $260,000. Many post production firms combine Fire and Inferno. Both operate on the new Onyx3000 Series with the DmediaPro DM3 card, offering real-time film and HD I/O with price ranges under $700,000.

Other Alternatives: As of this writing, further solutions are in the offing from Pinnacle, Accom, Grass Valley and QuVis employing components and software-exteneded HD frame servers. The wise station manager will look into these solutions as well, and request in-house demonstrations as a prerequisite to any serious purchase.