lustre Sales Grow as Digital Intermediate Process Gains Global Traction

files/pictures/picture-35.jpgDiscreet [1] has announced that its lustre digital grading and color correction system is now installed in 17 film studios and post-production facilities around the world. Introduced in April 2003, Discreet's lustre system has been used on blockbuster feature films MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD [2], CHARLIE'S ANGELS: FULL THROTTLE, THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE and X2: X-MEN UNITED [3], as well as on upcoming feature films THE POLAR EXPRESS, A DIFFERENT LOYALTY, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA and NATIONAL TREASURE.

Digital intermediates (DI) [4] is a process that converts film to high-resolution digital files and then back to film, thereby providing greater control over color manipulation and visual effects. An April 2004 survey by FILM & VIDEO magazine indicates that 39% of post-production houses in the United States identified DI as being the "most significant technical opportunity for business in 2004." Discreet's lustre system is used on numerous films to digitally create consistent coloring and grading, and was developed in conjunction with Colorfront, a Budapest-based software development company.

Supervising digital colorist Peter Doyle, who graded both CATWOMAN and HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN [5], recounted: "For CATWOMAN, the filmmakers wanted to recreate all the color and glamour typical of the original comic books. Using custom plug-ins as part of the grading process, we were able to carefully control color and recreate the lushness of older, silver gelatine-style black-and-white paper prints. Colorfront technology allowed us to achieve the filmmaker's objectives with the greatest ease."

Companies that have purchased Discreet's lustre system in the past four months include: Pacific Title & Art Studio (L.A.), Sony Pictures Imageworks (L.A.), Technicolor Creative Services (L.A.), Asylum (L.A.), Pixel Farm (Minneapolis), Universal Production Partners (Czech Republic), Oktobor (New Zealand), Prime Focus Limited (Mumbai) and Eclair Laboratoires (France).

Discreet develops award-winning solutions designed for digital media creation, management and delivery-across all disciplines from film and television visual effects, color grading and editing to animation, game development, Web/interactive, and design visualization. Discreet is based in Montreal, Quebec and is a division of Autodesk, Inc, the world's leading design and digital media creation, management, and distribution company. For more information, visit www.discreet.com [6].