The codec used by Silicon Imaging Cameras such as SI-2K is now supported natively, in real-time, without required conversions. CineForm RAW™ has now joined the long list of formats that Mistika supports, including RAW data from Red One, EPIC, Phantom, Weisscam and ARRI ALEXA.

SGO announces today that the codec used by Silicon Imaging Cameras, such as the SI-2K, is now supported natively in Mistika, without required conversions, and all in real-time. Industry-leading DI and stereo 3D post system, Mistika, has been developed to support the CineForm RAW™ digital intermediate codec, a powerful 12-bit codec that natively encodes the RAW Bayer data from the single-sensor on Silicon Imaging cameras. It then preserves the RAW data at the codec level, until the information is “flattened” for final output. Silicon Imaging SI-2K combines a digital cinema class 2048×1152 resolution camera head, and the power of CineForm RAW™, to deliver a direct-to-disk raw recording platform with unprecedented image quality and shooting flexibility.

Mistika has the advantage of being uncompressed internally, and therefore compression is always a compromise for other systems that are not able to handle uncompressed data. Mistika’s powerful colour grading, compositing and editing environment, together with the direct native support of CineForm RAW™ for SI-2K cameras, ideal for stereo 3D projects due to their portable design, provides a truly formidable and invincible combination, resulting in further enhanced mind-blowing speed, astounding workflow efficiency and ultimate quality of creative freedom. The CineForm RAW™ Digital Intermediate codec enables editing and effects to be achieved in real-time at the user’s demand. CineForm RAW™ has now joined the evolving list of formats that Mistika supports, which include RAW data from RED One, RED EPIC, Phantom, Weisscam, ARRI ALEXA and other data formats.

“The fact that Mistika can now support a format like CineForm RAW™, clearly demonstrates SGO’s philosophy of placing our customer’s requirements at the forefront of our technological advancements. This new development delivers enhanced capability to import a wavelet-based codec natively, which is one of the most effective methods of image compression available today, without the need for rendering or conversion, and all in real-time.” Miguel Angel Doncel, CEO of SGO states.

“CineForm RAW has quickly emerged as the format-of-choice for the production and post production community worldwide, and it has always been our mission to simplify the camera-to-post workflow by offering broad support and compatibility across the systems our customers are using,” added David Taylor, president of CineForm. “By enabling Mistika with CineForm RAW support, their customers can now experience new levels of efficiency and quality in all aspects of production, from HD to the now booming stereo 3D production workflow.”

The SI-2K captures full resolution, DCI-compliant 2K and 1920 x 1080 progressive-scan 12-bit raw images for use in both digital cinema projection and HD television or optical disk environments. It uses Silicon Imaging’s proprietary 48-bit digital processing algorithms to perform adaptive pixel-by-pixel black calibration and colour image enhancement. RAW digital information from the camera’s sensor is recorded directly into the CineForm RAW™ format, which leverages CineForm’s respected Visually Perfect™ wavelet compression technology. Recording in the CineForm RAW™ The Digital Intermediate format records a “digital negative” direct-to-disk, preserving the full dynamic range and per-pixel sensor data in the codec. This technique gives the producer/director the added flexibility to develop these “digital negatives” in post, rather than being forced to make non-reversible decisions and apply camera adjustments on set. It also eliminates the YUV conversion steps on most 3-chip cameras, which unnecessarily expand the data by 300% before encoding. Recording raw sensor data results in higher detail and dynamic range for the same or smaller file size.

Mistika was used by The Framestore in London recently for all the stereoscopic alignments, depth grading and visual effects compositing for the LG “Rare Butterflies” cinema commercial for LG’s integrated 3D cinema and digital campaign and filmed with a pair of SI-2K cameras.

www.sgo.es
www.cineform.com
www.siliconimaging.com