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ARRISCANs Enable File-Based Workflow for Company 3

Award-winning post production facility Company 3 employs an innovative file-based post production pipeline by relying on the ARRISCAN to handle all film negatives for commercials, music videos and feature films. The ARRISCAN enables tremendous efficiency at high resolution in a non-linear environment.

Known for finishing high profile commercials (over half the spots that aired during the Super Bowl were colored there) and films Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and Oscar winner The Hurt Locker, Company 3 prefers to scan film for commercials rather than telecine. Mike Chiado, Vice President of Engineering for Company 3 Santa Monica and New York, explains the use of the ARRISCAN: “The idea behind our workflow was to have everything working the same way. Anything that comes in as film is scanned with the ARRISCAN and then treated as data. Of course, material that comes in as data remains data throughout.”

The ARRISCAN film scanner was recently honored as a key achievement by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences for its ability to take celluloid into the digital realm at the highest possible quality by utilizing a CMOS area sensor, LED illumination and doubleflash technology for high dynamic range. Company 3 Co-Founder and colorist Stefan Sonnenfeld explains, “The overall picture quality of a true scan yields a cleaner, less noisy result. With scanners, we’re starting with full-resolution red, green and blue channels combined. You can’t get that kind of information with a telecine device. From my standpoint, it was primarily about picture quality.”

Company 3 did extensive evaluation on other scanners before deciding on the ARRISCAN. Says Chiado, “The pin registration was another big factor. Producers could send any of our scans to any visual effects house and know that they had the optimal quality to work with. Nobody would have to waste resources on fixes.”

All color grading work at Company 3 is file-based, allowing certain benefits for customers. “We have an all-data workflow,” notes Chiado. “Because it’s nonlinear, we can just load an EDL (edit decision list) into the system and call up material to work on it in the order it’s supposed to be seen, not in the order it was shot. The workflow also allows for much greater flexibility if changes are required. Often, in a tape-based environment, changes had to be done in the form of an additional tape-to-tape session, which causes a loss in quality.”

The ARRISCAN was the optimal choice for Company 3 for a variety of reasons. “In terms of stability, noise, resolution and overall image quality it was the best device we looked at,” says Chiado. “The scanner also lets us handle higherresolution if the client needs it. We use the option where it scans at 3K and down-rezzed to 2K for most of the work but the scanner lets us go up to the option of scanning at 6K down-rezzed to 4K.”

About Company 3:

Company 3 is a comprehensive postproduction facility for features, commercials and music videos. Known for our creative color artistry, pioneering technology and global reach, Company 3 is trusted to deliver a quality product every time.

Company 3’s incredible talent roster includes John Bonta, Sean Coleman, Siggy Ferstl, Billy Gabor, Dave Hussey, Tim Masick, Victor Mulholland, Stephen Nakamura, Mike Pethel, Tom Poole, Rob Sciarratta, Stefan Sonnenfeld and Matt Turner. Recent commercial projects are campaigns for Audi, BMW, Heineken, Nike, and others. Recent feature film credits include Alice in Wonderland, Robin Hood, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, The Hurt Locker, A Single Man, Public Enemies and Star Trek. Company 3 http://www.company3.com is an Ascent Media company http://www.ascentmedia.com.

About ARRI:

Located in Munich, Germany, Arnold and Richter Cine Technik (A&R) was founded in 1917 and is the largest manufacturer of professional motion picture equipment in the world. In 2001, ARRI was converted into a public limited company. The company is involved in all aspects of the film industry: engineering, design, manufacturing, production, visual effects, post-production, equipment rental and laboratory services (film and sound). Manufactured products and technologies include professional digital acquisition with the ALEXA camera, the ARRIFLEX D-21, in addition to camera systems for 16mm, 35mm, 65mm film, location and studio lighting fixtures, digital imaging systems like the ARRISCAN, ARRILASER, ARRICUBE, and ARRI Relativity. These products and services are offered through a network of subsidiary companies, agents and representatives worldwide.

For locations and more information, visit: http://www.arri.com

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