Expanding it’s comprehensive offering for Australia’s burgeoning film, television and commercials markets, Sydney post-production house the LaB has acquired a Northlight 2 film scanner and Baselight FOUR and Baselight HD colour grading systems.
The Northlight scanner and Baselight FOUR form the key components of the LaB’s recently launched innovative DI solution – also incorporating a state of the art purpose-built DI theatre. They enable the LaB to scan film, pin-registered, at resolutions up to 8K and grade features, whether originating on film or digitally acquired, at resolutions up to 4K in real-time. The Baselight HD has been integrated into an all-new non-linear, high-resolution workflow for commercials, television drama, music videos and other media.
The LaB has also grown its grading staff, hiring Al Hansen as head of DI and Marcus Timpson as Senior Colourist. Hansen has completed complex DI grades for many films including Catch a Fire, Kokoda, Little Fish, Clubland and The Water Diary. Timpson is a commercials specialist and arrives from many years honing his skills at Rushes and The Mill in London. Rounding off the talented grading staff are senior colourists Dwaine Hyde and Vincent Taylor.
With its new, world-class talent and FilmLight technology, the LaB expects not only to increase its appeal among filmmakers, production companies and advertising agencies in Australia, but also to continue to draw work from other regions. “The LaB has a strong history in supplying high-end post services across all areas of television and film production,” comments Phil Watts, Post Production Manager, the LaB Sydney. “To further expand our offering, we chose the Northlight film scanner as it produces the highest quality scans available, as evidenced by becoming the preferred system for many of the US film studios. Add to this the creative functionality and processing power of the Baselight colour grading system, and we are confident we will be able to handle any type of media project, including our innovative approach’s to the tvc data grading market.”
The LaB’s new DI Theatre is state-of-the-art in every detail and represents a new high mark for quality and performance in Australia. In addition to the Northlight scanner—the first 8K scanner in Australia—and Baselight colour grading system, the theatre is equipped with a Barco DP90P 2K digital cinema projector and FilmLight’s Truelight colour management system.
The LaB is currently working on its first two DI projects, Two Fists, One Heart, a boxing drama from director Shawn Seet and To Hell & Back, a comedy from writer/director Richard J. Frankland. “Being the first colourist in Australia to use the Northlight/Baselight combination, I was actively involved with the choice of DI systems to be implemented at the LaB,” says Hansen. “Once again I recommended FilmLight and having just completed the grade on Two Fists, One Heart, I am extremely happy. The new software has enabled me to be even more creative and produced a high-quality finish that both the producer’s and myself were elated with.”
With Baselight HD, the LaB will be able to grade commercials in cut-order at resolutions up to 2K. The system also integrates well with the company’s visual effects, compositing and animation resources, allowing artists to work collaboratively and deliver more creative results faster.
The LaB conducted an exhaustive evaluation process prior to selecting the FilmLight technology. That included hands-on tests of a variety of scanning and grading solutions, the latter involving both hardware- and software-based systems.
“We spent several years assessing all the digital intermediate systems on offer and believe the Baselight suite of products to be the most creative and versatile across all types of projects,” continues Watts. “We were very specific about requiring a digital colour grading system that worked seamlessly for tvc’s, television episodic and feature film projects. Early on no system was offering this, but we found FilmLight with their extensive R&D team to be the most responsive and supportive of our needs in developing an all-encompassing solution with innovative workflows, and we are extremely happy with the way the relationship has developed.”
Contact – Deepa Parbhoo ([email protected]) +44 20 7292 0400
About The LaB
The Lab Sydney has a long history of supporting both the local and international film and television markets having worked with filmmakers for over 30 years. From telecine dailies and film scanning, through to digital colour grading and complex visual effects, the LaB offer complete services at all levels of post production. Having made a significant investment in the technology and equipment, the LaB now offer extensive offline editing and Digital Intermediate services. Housed in a brand new state–of–the–art luxury theatre, Baselight DI solution and digital cinema provide the ultimate working environment for any feature film project. Combined with an experienced and talented team of producers, colourists, compositors, VFX supervisors, animators and support staff – The Lab Sydney is Australia’s leading post production company. For more information visit www.thelabsydney.com.au.
