ColorFront : On-Set Dailies

[Dane Brehm]

In partnership with Colorfront I've been "beta-testing" the system with my Current Red Epic Feature being shot by David Mullen ASC. The system operates on both Mac and Windows but the windows system is much more powerful since it is able to make use of the Nvidia Tesla GPU.

I use this program to create a database, color, sync, and render our Epic Footage ( does Stereo to).

www.colorfront.com
www.creativescience.com

I feel as DIT this system is the most comprehensive system for a Production wishing to deliver dailies in near-realtime.

[jake blackstone]

Price? How does it compare to Scratch Lab, which is now $5k?

[Gabriele Turchi]

how much is on set dailies system?

thanks

g

[Etienne Caron]

On set dailies from Colorfront is 50,000 $ USD (or around that price)... don't know now if they change price, but thats what they told me last january.

[Noah Richoz]

So if you have a RedRocket it will use that as well for R3D file rendering?

[brunomunger]

So if you have a RedRocket it will use that as well for R3D file rendering?

Yes, the system support One or two red rocket(s) (2 for stereo) to accelerate debayering/decompressing r3d files. If no red rocket is not present, the processing will be done in software. Like most apps do.

Bruno Munger
Alt System, Los Angeles
On-Set dailies reseller.
Follow "ALT_Systems" on Twitter

[Dustin Cross]

I checked out Color Front at NAB. Pretty nice software.

The problem I have is it is way too expensive. when Producers call me, we work out my rate pretty quickly and they get super excited about on set dailies and all the stuff I do. Then we get to kit rental and they say we have $200/week for DIT kit rental. I tell them the rate for my kit to do what they want is 15 times what they have budgeted. They have a heart attack and give me this line about the studio won't let them spend more than the $200/week. I tell them to call me back when they work that out.

If I had to add $50,000 worth of extra software to my kit it would be for free. Even the producers who have worked with me and want me back don't want to pay my current kit rental. And I know I am less than kit I see brought in from LA to do the same thing.


Dusty

[Steve Shaw]

Might be worth a look at REDAlexicc for on-set dailies?
Working well with Alexa projects, and the same workflow is valid for RED.

http://www.lightillusion.com/alexicc.htm

[craigjkharris]

Arri Alexa will be in a bit of trouble if more competitive dailies solutions aren't developed.
You need tools like Resolve and Scratch Labj ust to add LUT's to the LOG-C Pro Res files. If you want to get a 2K image, you have add Codex or STwo which can be an additional $1200 per production day, not to mention the added cost of hard drive space for DPX.

I've never been a 'die-hard' fan of RED.

With that being said, I can't see how the EPIC won't butcher other cameras like the Alexa.

[Steve Shaw]

Alexicc really does manage the need for LUT burn-in for ANY QT based image sequence - Alexa, RED, or others.
Ideal for dailies workflows.
Creative Looks can be used, or default LUTs as required.
I'm camera agnostic - just interested in tools for workflow and image management.

[Marco Bario]

On-Set Dailies (Colorfront) is optimized for high-end productions. As an example the software is being used currently on a production in Louisiana with a configuration of two systems sharing a common database and shared storage. They require 11 different file-based dailies deliverables. Believe 1st unit is shooting over 3 hours per day of material. When they begin shooting 2nd unit, another system can be added to the shared database/SAN storage configuration.

A common Z800 configuration utilizes 12 CPU cores, Red Rocket, nVIDIA Quadro 4000 and nVIDIA Tesla 2050. A MacPro configuration would be similar, only (unfortunately) no support for the Tesla GPU card. If you can imagine the processing power of RedRocket, 12 cores and the Quadro as well as the Tesla GPU cores working in unison... amazing.

Additionally, On-Set Dailies supports all common camera formats (won't go into detail here - but high quality ArriRaw debayer/playback in real time), Stereo viewing and processing including adjustments such as corner-pinning, 32-bit floating point image processing, sophisticated audio syncing and slipping, and has a node-based deliverable creation GUI that allows window burns, and selective application of grades mattes, scaling or color space conversions.

Our company rents "OSD" configured systems, and trains operators on use - although really our value comes from our ability to access the database and control the application from a software development level or deploy custom hardware configurations - allowing us to provide companion software and specialized workflow integration. A couple of LA/NY based post facilities and one high end Avid rental / on-set workflow company have begin renting OSD systems as well.

OSD isn't a $200 per week solution, or even a $1,200 per week solution - but when a production needs it's power, and comprehensive toolset, it provides a great deal of value.


Marco Bario
Creative Science (http://creativescience.com)
Sherman Oaks, CA

[Chris Parker]

What Marco said ;-)

[M Most]

What Marco said.....

The perspective of most of the people on RedUser has always seemed to be that of low budget/indie/DIY productions. The world of higher end studio features and network television is one that has a lot of additional requirements, all of which are expected to be met by any vendor that ventures into that world. Multiple file (and tape, and things like XDCam, among other things) deliverables, backups, and uploaded files are things that smaller productions don't require, but studio and network projects absolutely do. Getting those things done and fully delivered by 8AM every morning (including double system synching, full logging and QC) requires horsepower that individual, home built, and Red-specific solutions just don't have. That's where things like Colorfront, or Deluxe's Mobilabs, or Technicolor's Creative Bridge solutions come into play. And while price is always a consideration, it is less of one in the case of these kind of productions. Many people here might not understand that, but those of us who are involved with that end of the industry do.

[Jody Neckles]

I was surprised to learn about the history of the CEOs of the company who were the young geniuses behind the developement of the Colossus grading system before partnering with 5D.... this product eventually became Discreet Lustre. The reality is these guys run their own successful production company focusing only on features. Their dailies system is by far the most advanced onset dailies system in the world and they have developed the technology for their own use. The 50K price is what they charge for the sophisticated needs of certain jobs and for those that can afford it. The fact is they are not remotely interested in selling their software to the mass market...... running a software company and offering support 1000s of users it NOT what they care are about. I say fair enough to that...

[jake blackstone]

I was surprised to learn about the history of the CEOs of the company who were the young geniuses behind the developement of the Colossus grading system before partnering with 5D.... this product eventually became Discreet Lustre. The reality is these guys run their own successful production company focusing only on features. Their dailies system is by far the most advanced onset dailies system in the world and they have developed the technology for their own use. The 50K price is what they charge for the sophisticated needs of certain jobs and for those that can afford it. The fact is they are not remotely interested in selling their software to the mass market...... running a software company and offering support 1000s of users it NOT what they care are about. I say fair enough to that...

Actually it eventually became Autodesk Lustre:-)
But seriously, Coilorfront single-handedly invented modern non linear color grading and DI as we know. It's too bad they sold Colossus...

[Dane Brehm]

I work on a variety of projects from Indie Features, TV shows, Commercials, Industrials to $200M 3D Features. I like a system that is powerful enough to do what I need to be done. The great thing is this system is format agnostic which I love so I can hope from camera system to camera system. It makes alot of sense for Me, Editorial and Post to be working on the same system which reads the same data to insure we all are on the same page.

For Big Sur I used Colorfront (Red Epic) to create 3 deliverables each day which were ProresLT, M4v, and Mpeg2 (DVD). In my experience other programs will only do 1 may be 2 simultaneously or need to be created in another program which when you have minutes at a time to jam out on dailies then walk away speed is crucial.

[Dane Brehm]

Here is a great program to streamline DIT-to-DP communication.

http://www.onsetcolor.com/

I've demo'd it a few times for a several ASC DPs.