Multi-license deal boosts productivity on restoration and 3D conversion projects

London-based restoration and 2D-to-3D conversion facility, Cineimage, has committed to the largest single European purchase of The Pixel Farm’s restoration and remastering software and systems. The facility, relaunching at 179 Wardour Street, Soho, has invested in multiple licenses of The Pixel Farm’s PFClean restoration and remastering system, with PFSilo forming the backbone of a high-performance collaborative pipeline and management workflow.

Cineimage has a proven industry reputation among archives, and an enviable track-record in high-quality restoration, being responsible for the full clean-up, repair and deliverables on a large number of classic movies using PFClean. These include Brief Encounter (BFI/David Lean Foundation/ITV), The Ipcress File (ITV), Babylon (Icon Home Entertainment), Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence (Recorded Picture Company/Hanway Films), and The Last Emperor (Recorded Picture Company/Hanway Films).

“From a facility point-of-view, the restoration and 2D-to-3D conversion markets are all about achieving maximum quality whilst maintaining maximum throughput,” said Cineimage MD Steve Boag. “Having worked with The Pixel Farm and their technology for several years to restore many classic movies, we know just how fast and successful their product is as a restoration solution. Reassessing the competition reassured us The Pixel Farm’s technology and expertise remain the best in the industry. The addition of PFSilo will enable us to manage bigger projects, and to achieve greater throughput as we can work on multiple titles simultaneously.”

Cineimage’s restoration facility has been designed from the ground up using The Pixel Farm’s considerable expertise in restoration workflows to establish a 4K multi-artist, multi-project pipeline. Using a combination of software and The Pixel Farm’s own-brand turnkey hardware based on an Infiniband network, the facility enables realtime client review up to 4K resolution with single point reference to clips being worked on, all in a secure server-based environment.

In addition to film restoration, Cineimage is also planning to harness complementary PFClean and PFSilo technologies for the launch a new 2D-to-3D image conversion service.

“PFClean has excelled in the restoration market, and is known by artists for its sheer range of industry-leading tools and workflow,” said Michael Lancaster, managing director of The Pixel Farm. “The manner in which PFSilo maximises the distribution and management of shots between digital artists, means that it has potential beyond restoration, and we look forward to working with Cineimage on optimising our technologies for 2D-to-3D conversion.”

www.cineimage.co.uk
www.thepixelfarm.co.uk