First U.S. Facility installs FilmLight’s system to expand colourists’ creativity and productivity
FilmLight Ltd., pioneers of digital film technology, announced today that Los Angeles-based Matchframe Digital Intermediate (MDI), a division of Matchframe Video, has purchased a Baselight digital intermediate film grading and finishing system. While 21 of the Baselight systems are installed worldwide at facilities including London’s Framestore CFC, Toronto’s Cine-Byte Images, and New Zealand’s Images Post, the installation at MDI is the first in the U.S.
After evaluating multiple colour grading systems, MDI purchased FilmLight’s Baselight system to replace its existing colour grading system, which did not provide colour accuracy. David Waters, president of MDI explained, “A grading system for DI has to show the client exactly the same colour on the monitor as what they’ll see on film. With Baselight, you get the full Truelight colour management and calibration technology built right in – a 3D lookup table that ensures a colour accurate print. No other system available has that consistent colour translation.” Waters added, “What impresses us the most is the FilmLight team’s complete understanding of the DI process and what’s required. We can’t call other vendors and know that they’ve ever worked on a film. With FilmLight’s roots in production, we know they understand – and implement — exactly what we’re going to need.”
MDI will also take advantage of the Linux-based Baselight system’s unique ability to offload rendering to separate systems, keeping the grading suite available for creative work and improving the facility’s project throughput. The first projects on which Matchframe colourists Julius Friede (“Oh, Brother Where Art Thou?”, “Traffic”) and Lloyd Barnett will employ the Baselight system are feature films “Smile,” starring Beau Bridges and Linda Hamilton, and “Marilyn Hotchkiss Charm School,” starring Marisa Tomei and Danny DeVito.
Matchframe president, George Francisco, said, “Baselight is a perfect fit, with a cost and feature set that enable us to service both big budget and smaller independent films. It’s brought Matchframe DI’s capabilities up another level – we can provide more accurate output, deploy new creative tools, and improve our productivity as the demand for DI services continues to increase.”
About Baselight
Baselight is a premier film grading and finishing system created specifically for the Digital Intermediate process. Designed and developed with input from production environments worldwide, Baselight is a third-generation software product that runs under Linux on a standard PC platform and utilises familiar hardware control surfaces.
Contact – Deepa Parbhoo ([email protected]) +44 20 7292 0400
