1. case study 2010
Modern VideoFilm
Finishing ‘Avatar’ with Pablo
Modern VideoFilm relies on Quantel for ‘Avatar’ Stereo3D post
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2. Hailed for its innovative approach to the art of filmmaking, James Cameron’s stun-
ning 3D epic Avatar was recently recognized by the American Film Institute as one of
its 2009’s Moments of Significance for its impact on the world of the moving image.
According to AFI: “James Cameron’s pioneering effort to unleash the human imagi-
nation was fully realized in 2009 with the release of Avatar, a film that firmly estab-
lished itself as a landmark in the way stories are told. With an army of technological
wizards at his side, writer/director/producer/co-editor Cameron called upon the forces
of art and technology to create new tools for storytelling that are groundbreaking in
both scope and scale. The magic of the motion picture - and the transfer of its power
to television and now video games - has always found its truest power in its im-
mersive qualities, and with Cameron’s advances in CGI and 3D, Avatar enters AFI’s
almanac as an achievement that will have profound effects on the future of the art
form.”
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3. We could not have
done this movie
without Pablo
Mark Smirnoff,
President, Studio Services
Modern VideoFilm
Avatar has broken all box office records Quantel began working with industry 20 minutes in length, all before the shots
to become the biggest grossing movie of leaders early on to provide the tools were finalized for the movie.
all time. It also collected three Oscars for needed to forward the Stereo3D mar-
art direction, cinematography and visual ket. Pablo’s precursor, iQ was used at “The organizational tools on the Quantel
effects. Modern VideoFilm to complete James system were really powerful in managing
Cameron’s 2003 3D Imax film “Ghosts of this massive amount of shots,” Berger
Much has been written about the bleed- the Abyss.” says. “We do have other tools that do
ing-edge technology used to bring Cam- 3D but the Pablo is our tool of choice
eron’s story to life, along with the Na’vi Quantel has been working to forward for solving all of the problems that get
people and all of the richness that makes and refine its toolset as 3D advances. thrown at us. I couldn’t imagine doing
up the lush planet Pandora. For Avatar, the powerful Pablo uniquely Avatar without working in Stereo with the
allowed the artists at Modern VideoFilm real-time results.”
A combination of live action 3D cinema- to work in Stereo3D in realtime, with
tography, CGI and using performance the same tools that they rely on for 2D DI artist Craig Price added that one
capture, new tools and workflows were postproduction. The system also offered of the organizational tools that was
pioneered to realize the story. Avatar also extensive project management tools, especially helpful was the Pablo’s ability
had a simultaneous worldwide release in as well as Quantel’s signature “Resolu- to produce multiple timelines. “This is a
both 2D and 3D (including Imax) using tion Co-existence,” feature set, enabling feature on the Pablo whereby you can
three different aspect ratios, requiring Modern VideoFilm to successfully com- have several concurrent streams of video
roughly 10 versions of the film for North plete this groundbreaking production. running at that same time,” he explains.
American release alone, in addition to “Within each stream you can edit an ef-
the foreign language versions. Asset Management fect. What it meant for us is that we could
“The biggest job was to manage the run a confidence tape from editorial to
To meet many of the steep 3D postpro- thousands of shots that made up this see what they had cut, and then take
duction challenges, Cameron relied on movie. There were many different ver- the thousands of shots and line them up
Modern VideoFilm and its three Quantel sions and we had to keep the reels and against the confidence tape. What made
Pablo systems, with 4K and 3D real-time cuts current with editorial,” explains Rog- this more essential than normal is that
capabilities. The Quantel Neo control er Berger, Modern VideoFilm Supervising we were doing this in Stereo. We needed
surface was also used. Editor and Lead Pablo Artist on Avatar. the Pablo’s multiple timeline to be able to
do that.”
The work completed on Pablo includes “We were editing 24/7-updating lists,
conforming and Stereo3D checking, updating reels, updating versions, visual Familiar Toolset
adjustment and quality control. Crucially, effects shots were coming in,” adds Mark For the Pablo artists, the system’s
the Pablos also handled all the Stereo3D Smirnoff, President of Modern VideoFilm creative toolset was equally important to
English subtitling required for the Na’vi Studio Services. “It was organic. We did completing Avatar.
language used by some characters in not follow the traditional workflow.” “Quantel really looked at 3D from top
the film. Modern VideoFilm conformed During production, a Pablo had as many to bottom,” says Price. “Traditionally in
promotional materials as well as the as 12,000 clips online. In the end, the stereo you edit for one eye, meaning
estimated 10 North American versions production consumed about 150 TB of that you are not seeing your end result
in the Pablos. Work ran for nearly seven SAN storage. In addition to completing until you are finished. But the Pablo
months, starting in June 2009. the film itself, Modern VideoFilm met the tools enabled us to know that what we
demand for finishing movie footage for were doing was right, as well as deal
promotional events, each typically 10 to
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4. At A Glance
• James Cameron’s Avatar • The Pablos also handled all
opened worldwide in 2D and the 3D English subtitling
3D (including Imax 2D and 3D)
on Dec. 18, 2009 • “The organizational tools
on the Quantel system were
• Biggest worldwide box office really powerful in managing
of all time this massive amount of shots.”
- Roger Berger
• Modern VideoFilm used its
Quantel Pablos on Avatar for • “Quantel really looked at 3D
conforming and Stereo3D from top to bottom. ... it was
checking, adjustment and a factor of ‘I got the job done
quality control. and it’s right.’ “- Craig Price
with convergence issues, right then and With the Resolution Coexistence offered Adds Smirnoff: “Subtitles were constantly
there. It was not a factor of time savings, by Pablo, we could run different formats changing, even between versions. Since
it was a factor of ‘I got the job done and in a timeline without it being a problem.” it was released in different aspect ratios,
it’s right.’ “ Adds Smirnoff: “That is not a new tool, the versions required changes to the lo-
but that has always been a leg up for cations of the subtitles within each shot.”
Berger adds that a big advantage was Quantel.”
not just the 3D tools, but the fact that 3D Goes Mainstream
they were built into a familiar system. Subtitles With a record number of Stereo 3D
“There are a bunch of toolsets that we “Avatar” required subtitles-even for the features slated for release in 2010,
are used to using in terms of editorial English language versions of the epic, and many more in production for 2011
and compositing that we have had for a as they were used to translate the Na’vi and behind, the 3D theatrical market is
long time, and what Quantel has done is language used in the film. Subtitling for a poised for growth. Meanwhile, with major
given us the tools in Stereo. It is not that Stereo movie can be a complex process consumer electronics manufacturers
there is one tool, it’s more the fact that all as the subtitles must sit at the right place launching 3D TV sets for the home, it
of the tools that I’m used to using, I can in 3D space to avoid conflict with the 3D looks like the market for Stereo3D post-
use in 3D. And it didn’t require relearn- content. The Pablo’s realtime Stereo3D production services will only grow.
ing.” toolset enabled the subtitles to be viewed
instantly and repositioned in 3D space in As Avatar opened, the Blu-ray Disk Asso-
Resolution Coexistence realtime. ciation (BDA) finalized and released its
Modern VideoFilm found that Quantel’s technical specification for a 3D Blu-ray
Resolution Coexistence feature was “Since there are no rules in 3D subtitling, format, enabling the consumer launch of
particularly useful on “Avatar,” which every one we did, we had to figure out 3D capable Blu-Ray players and disks.
involved multiple resolutions during the every position,” Price relates. “Subtitles The broadcast and cable industries
course of production. tended to appear in slightly different loca- are also starting to act. For instance,
Resolution Coexistence means that ma- tions in the frames, depending on the the UK’s Sky Broadcasting is slated
terial of any resolution, color space and different levels of convergence.” to launch a 3D channel later this year,
bit depth can be loaded into the Pablo supporting movies as well as sports and
without the need to re-start or partition In some cases, the team changed the other entertainment content.
the disk. Different material can then be parallax of the Stereo3D subtitle within
combined in the same project and on the a single shot. For instance, in one shot Smirnoff reported that testing for the
same timeline instantly saving time and the translation follows Neytiri’s mother as creation of 3D home entertainment
disk space while delivering high quality she walks toward the camera while talk- deliverables has started, and the Quantel
results. ing to the Na’vi people. “As she walked Pablo has been central to this effort
“Avatar was mastered in 2K, but there forward, we didn’t want her walking as Stereo3D postproduction services
were some challenges in terms of mixing through the subtitle. So we tracked the become a requirement of the emerging
resolution,” Price says. “There were a subject first and changed the parallax market.
number of shots that in this case, par- during the shot,” Price explains.
ticularly because of the Imax distribution,
had renders in resolutions such as 3K
and 4K.
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