Issue: Show Daily - Jul 31, 2003

Iridas previews SpeedGrade color correction system

SAN DIEGO - Munich, Germany's Iridas www.iridas.com, maker of of high-performance digital playback solutions, unveiled its new color correction technology, SpeedGrade, which allows color grading at any stage of the post process. SpeedGrade is a powerful new application, which allows for a more flexible approach to color correction. Instead of waiting to color grade at the last stage of the post production pipeline, SpeedGrade lets users color correct at any point.

SpeedGrade allows for non-destructive color correction: rather than changing the source material, the application simply attaches XML-based color correction parameters to sequence playlists. Using XML simplifies exporting color information to asset management, compositing and editing applications. SpeedGrade exchanges color grading parameters with Iridas' FrameCycler uncompressed playback application to allow color-corrected playback of the unchanged source material. Actual output of frames can be deferred until the very last point in the pipeline.

"SpeedGrade represents a different way of thinking about digital color grading, making it possible to do color work at various stages of the process," said Steve Crouch, director of Iridas USA. "Also, since the original frames are never touched, different versions of the grading can be stored as parameter sets - saving terabyes of intermediate storage."

In related news, Digital Domain will be using Iridas' FrameCycler uncompressed playback technology within its digital production pipeline, specifically with the facility's Nuke compositing software. Nuke has been used on both commercial and feature projects posted at Digital Domain included "True Lies," "Apollo 13," "Titanic," "What Dreams May Come" and "A Beautiful Mind." It is the flagship product of the studio's D2 Software subsidiary.