bake
september 2007
a better postproduction pathway
TVC producers are rushing to use BAKE, a new method of video postproduction developed jointly by Atlab, Efilm and Bean Colour. It provides a completely new postproduction pathway, increasing efficiency both at the telecine transfer stage and at the final colour correction stages, while dramatically reducing negative handling.
Bake is the result of a unique partnership that links the film processing expertise of Atlab, Spirit telecine transfer and data capture at Efilm, and the newly-evolved techniques of data grading by Bean Colour, Sydney's specialist colour grading facility.
Atlab and Bean have jointly developed proprietary technology to preserve the maximum image quality throughout the process.
After processing, the rushes are transferred on Efilm's Spirit 4-4-4 Datacine. The negative stays in the same building. There is no need for couriers in the middle of the night, no need for negative extractions. Video rushes are produced and delivered to specification, on digibeta tape format, ready for editing in the usual way.
At the same time, as the film passes through the Spirit, a digital copy of the negative is captured. Extensive testing has produced the ideal transfer settings for every type of colour negative film, providing the most accurate digital copy of the entire range of information on the negative itself.
This provides the colorists at BEAN with a copy of the negative that truly reflects the film. The negative itself never needs any more handling or cutting. The images are ready at BEAN - as digital data - for conforming to the edit and for final colour correction. If you need compositing or 3D work, it can start straight after the rushes session as the data for the required shots is ready to be supplied by BEAN on disk, tape, Firewire drive or network.
Ben Eagleton and Andrew Clarkson, who are among Sydney's most highly regarded colorists are the founders of BEAN. As they explain, "Data Grading is an enormously flexible and productive way to work. It is a disc based system that enables us to grade and combine images of any resolution. We can instantly access any point of your timeline. There is no film spooling and creativity is not constrained by hardware. Results are better, cleaner, and faster."