DI

What is ´DI´?

‘Digital Intermediate’ is, as the name suggests, the ‘intermediate’ stage between image capture (shooting) and image display (either in a cinema or on DVD). And, also as the name suggests, this ‘intermediate’ stage is now completed digitally rather than chemically/optically.
 

So is DI mainly concerned with editing and adding visual effects?

Not necessarily, although it can contain elements of both. More importantly, a large-scale grading theatre allows you to ‘preview’ your film – on a big screen, and in a theatre environment. This leaves nothing to chance; you will know exactly how the film will look when it appears in a cinema, and with powerful grading tools we are able to make changes to the project live and instantaneously on screen. It is the ultimate way to work, and with synchronised digital and cine projection, we can even show a split screen of the answer print and digital ‘neg’, and apply virtual printer lights if necessary, to ensure that the final result is exactly what was achieved in the grade. Finally, all other deliverables are extracted from this 2K (or 4K) colour space, ensuring that every single deliverable item has identical and consistent colour.

So is DI just grading?

Grading is at the heart of DI, but there are other jobs that are also best achieved while the material is at very high resolution. For example wire removal and rig removal. Also scene repair - removing unwanted 20th Century paraphernalia from a period shot for instance, or UK street signs from what is supposed to be a foreign street-scene - and of course compositing. It is often desirable to complete green-screen compositing at the DI facility because the result of the composit, or even a work-in-progress, can be shown in the theatre on the big screen at any time, or dropped into the edit to see how it holds up.

So how does DI work?

There are three phases to DI:
i) Scanning. The original neg is ultrasonically cleaned, and then scanned into the digital domain via a dedicated, high performance film scanner working at anything up to 6K. This material is then further cleaned through a digital process to remove dust spots and blemishes. The full resolution digital film is then ‘conformed’ to match the final edit. The grading suite now holds the entire movie ‘on-line’ at full, film resolution.

ii) Grading. The Colourist is usually joined by the Director of Photography (DoP) at this stage to grade the movie throughout. Individual scenes can also be worked on ‘offline’ at this stage. We have support suites dedicated to VFX such as wire removal, compositing and so on. Productivity is increased by the fact that the Colourist has access to these scenes at any time, at any stage of the shot’s completion. For instance, a scene requiring wire removal can be graded before the wires are removed, safe in the knowledge that the seamless integration of the support suites means the retouched scene can be dropped into place as and when ready.

iii) Recording and Deliverables. Finally the finished movie is ‘filmed out’ via a laser film recorder to a specified neg stock. This is then developed in the normal way and an answer print struck to compare to the digital grade, back in the theatre. (Dragon DI have a digital projector and synchronised cine projector to allow on-screen comparison). When this is signed off, further negs can be supplied, depending on the print requirement, as well as an HD digital master for DVD production, trailers for all formats, and even panned and scanned TV versions in both PAL and NTSC. Crucially, we take all these versions from the same digital ‘film’ data to ensure flawless consistency of colour across all formats.

Why do I need a DI?

Digital Intermediate is now the norm for new movies, as the advantages are just too numerous to ignore.

i) Quality of image. By removing most of the chemical film process, there is no drop in resolution whatsoever – no ‘generation loss’. The final image has a quality that is breathtaking, and this is not just the preserve of blockbusters - DI can make a low-budget movie look as if it has had ten times the money invested in it.

ii) Grading. The creative possibilities here are endless. The ‘look’ and atmosphere of the movie is infinitely adjustable, allowing the DoP to fine tune every scene. Continuity issues are eliminated and entirely new lighting possibilities become available. Areas of the screen, flesh-tones for instance, can be affected and ‘tracked’ through a scene – and not just one area. The potential is limitless.

iii) Different source material can be graded to become seamless. So whether a scene contains computer-generated elements, was shot in a studio, on location, includes miniatures, pyrotechnics or any other variable, it can be ‘graded’ to meld these elements into one seamless, believable whole. Scene-to-scene consistency becomes controlled like never before.

iv) Everything is completed at film resolution, so this is a good time to complete supporting special effects such as wire removal, greenscreen compositing and scene enhancement.

v) Deliverables: Once a digital grade has been achieved, all other deliverables become easier to produce. Importantly, Dragon DI can guarantee the consistency of colour across all elements. As well as a digital neg, master HD copies for DVD and all TV formats can be easily produced as part of the DI process.

vi) Consistency – the watchword. Dragon DI grades are completed in the largest grading theatre in the UK, the only way to accurately replicate the cinema experience. It is also the only way to guarantee that what is achieved in the grade actually appears on the finished prints.