August 6, 2002

RAINMAKER ADDS TO HD CAPABILITIES WITH CINTEL FILM SCANNER

VANCOUVER, CANADA - Rainmaker (www.rainmaker.com) has purchased a DSX system from Cintel, doubling its HD film scanning capabilities. The new system is Canada's first and will be paired with a da Vinci 2K color corrector, along with a variety of peripherals and HD tape drives.

Rainmaker installed its first Cintel C-Reality film scanner in 1999 as part of an initiative to introduce HD services to its post production menu. Growing client demand inspired the studio to expand its capacities by purchasing the second scanner. DSX takes the top features from Cintel's flagship C-Reality and adds to it. The system incorporates OSCAR, the Optical Scratch Concealment and Restoration device that works in realtime to conceal dirt, dust and scratches during the film transfer process. "OSCAR is sort of like a digital wet-gate that works to cover up imperfections in the film," says Rainmaker GM Barry Chambers. "It does an incredible job. We were frankly blown away by what it could do."

OSCAR's features will come in handy when it comes to restoration work, an area Chambers sees as having a lot of growth potential.

"Many producers are re-mastering old film libraries to HD, but the higher quality of HD really magnifies every flaw on the film original. OSCAR will be a fantastic tool in helping get clean, high-quality, new transfers from archived films."