Finding The Time To Be Creative

There’s little doubt that technology is one of the most influential components in our industry. If you’re like me, you probably spend a great deal of time researching and investing in the best software and hardware available. In our recent expansion, my company has spent a small fortune investing in the very latest technology. But here’s the thing — technology doesn’t create art, artists do. Sometimes, in our rush to grab that expensive shiny object before our competitors do, we forget that technology can actually get in the way of creativity. And creativity is what separates you from the rest — not the technology.

But every so often, there is a piece of technology that gets it. Clipster, from DVS, gets it. We just installed Clipster into our DI workflow, and the results are absolutely incredible. If you’re not familiar with Clipster, it’s a high-end system that sits at the very heart of your DI workflow. It replaces all the steps we used to take in our workflow with one system, one product. Online editing of film data, conversion to various output formats, color correction, film restoration, DCP creation and many other features all at full resolution (up to even 4k) in real time. It can handle uncompressed 4K data in real time and even provides DCI mastering in real time.

So why does Clipster get it? And what exactly is “it” anyway? It is the idea that creativity requires time. If your designers are spending the majority of their time as technology operators, they’re not doing what they do best and what you and your clients need most. Technology usually does one of three things — 1. Facilitates creativity, 2. Interrupts creativity, or 3. Allows time for creativity. Clipster gives us time and loads of it.

Until recently, Clipster did not integrate particularly well with our RED workflow. We’re one of the leading RED post-houses in the region, so we held off. But Clipster and RED teamed up and are now offering complete integration. So not only are we saving time in our DI workflow, we’re saving time in our RED workflow as well. Clipster provides decoding and debayering of 4K REDCODE in real time. The speed of the Clipster system with RED data will allow us to offer clients dailies in one step in full quality in real time.

And, of course, our clients love saving time just as much as we do. The normal delays in post production have been eliminated, allowing us to compress project timelines and get the product, including full resolution dailies, to our clients sooner.

The results of adding Clipster to our facility have been astounding. The speed and flexibility of the system is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. The technology is mind boggling. But the most impressive benefit of all is probably the simplest — we have more time to be creative. Time is always running out, so take any opportunity you can to grab more of it.