metaSAN User Story: Topform Studio
Topform is pleased with the performance of metaSAN and the companion product metaLAN that connects the SAN with the LAN networks.
Topform Studio is a state-of-the art facility located in Sofia. They mostly shoot high-end commercials in 24p HD, using the Sony CineAlta HDW-F900 digital camera. Topform has also benefited from a high-speed, Fibre Channel-based SAN powered by Tiger Technology metaSAN for over a year. When Michael Cory Davis went to Bulgaria to star in an action movie, he discovered Face to Face, an organization dedicated to the fight against forced prostitution, which inspired him to direct his own film, based on a true story. Topform Studio was eager to engage in the project.
"We normally do high-end commercial work but had been wanting to experiment with digital cinematography first hand," said Alexander Rizov, Topform's Technical Director. "When Face to Face approached us with this project, we thought it was the perfect opportunity to make a social contribution while benefiting from a great learning experience."
The production schedule was really tight - four weeks from start to finish - for a 42-minute movie. The shoot took place over the first six days with the crew sometimes working 18 hours per day. A Sony HDW-F900 camera was used in high definition at 24 progressive frames per second. The off-line material was quickly ingested on a Discreet edit* workstation at PAL resolution over the SAN. Meanwhile, shot selection, cutting, and rough assembly began on a second editing system. Over 30 hours of raw material was stored on the 2TB disk array, and was shared among the editing systems thanks to Tiger Technology metaSAN. This capability enabled Topform to begin the final editing while cutting was still in progress. "The flexibility metaSAN gave us slashed our editing time by more than half," said Rizov.
Once the last edits were completed, on-line conforming and color grading began. The EDL was transferred to a Final Cut Pro system where selected shots were re-captured at full HD uncompressed resolution on an 8TB disk array. "Because the subject was so emotionally charged, we wanted to give a warm, organic feel to the movie," explains Rizov. "I believe we succeeded, as this movie shows that with the proper treatment, a true film look can be achieved with a digital camera."
"If it were not for Topform Studio, there would not have been such a wonderful crew, production facility, and equipment to make this project happen," Davis indicated in an interview.
Topform is pleased with the performance of metaSAN and the companion product metaLAN that connects the SAN with the LAN networks. "We use a combination of Windows and Mac platforms, and metaSAN gives our creative artists the ability to share terabytes of on-line content," said Rizov. "Our 3D animators, compositors, editors, and sound engineers all share the same files, and no longer need to create intermediate renders or waste time transferring large files."
Topform is also impressed with metaLAN's unique gateway capability. "This feature is really big. It gives our facility a whole new level of shared storage performance. Unlike regular network shares that can be slow and unreliable, metaLAN gives everyone in the facility fast access to our SAN, while increasing our rendering performance by 500%. As we do a lot of 3D work, this represents very significant savings. I am really thrilled to have been part of this wonderfully collaborative film and to see it honored in such a prestigious film festival. Many amazing individuals helped created this great movie and were able to work very efficiently together thanks to our high-speed metaSAN shared storage network!"
For more information about: Topform Studio Inc. please visit www.topformstudio.com
Svetlana's Journey please visit www.svetlanasjourney.com
Face to Face organization please visit www.facetoface.bg
