In a recent case study, US and Canadian-based VFX and animation creators Zoic
Studios, responsible for award-winning effects in film, advertising, games and
television, showed how AJA’s Kona 3G cards help facilitate live synchronised sessions
using Tweak’s RV-SDI playback and review software.
“KONA 3G is the backbone of high quality image communication between Zoic
Vancouver and Zoic Culver City,’ says Mike Romey, Zoic Studios Head of Pipeline.
“Using the RV-SDI integration, we queue up media in the projection rooms at each
location for synced up dailies sessions where teams of artists can review and annotate
shots in real time with supervisors at full resolution.’
Zoic’s projection rooms are setup to view HD, 2K and 4K dailies, and are frequently
tapped to finalise upwards of 400 VFX shots for each episode. Workflow reliability is
thus paramount. During review, files are opened in Tweak Software’s RV image and
sequence viewer, using a custom front end to record dailies into Shotgun Software’s
web-based production management platform. Since up to 50 artists and supervisors
across both locations might be contributing to a project, Zoic’s KONA 3G-powered
workflow allows producers to compare and contrast different versions of any given
shot to ensure appropriate edits and design choices are implemented during session
reviews.
Zoic deploys 25 licences of the HIERO software, with most workstations running
KONA 3G on display monitors to do live I/O from the conform. Connecting via HDMI
and with help from HIERO, the KONA 3G card has even enabled stereo 3D dailies for
a recent feature film project.
While a majority of Zoic’s deliverables are in HD, the studio’s commercial division is
currently working on webisode content in 4K for Intel and Toshiba. Implementing a
4K pipeline proved to be a fairly straightforward task because of Zoic’s existing
infrastructure. The studio uses the KONA 3G cards with The Foundry’s HIERO
collaborative shot management solution for plate prep, Autodesk® Flame® editorial
and colour grading software for final conform and finishing, along with RV-HDSDI for
review.
