BURBANK — The latest version of FotoKem’s (www.fotokem.com) NextLab software for media management now automates the transfer of dailies to Pix System’s (www.pixsystem.com) digital collaboration service. NextLab transcodes the source media files, and immediately uploads the material and over 60 fields of searchable metadata per take directly into Pix. This strategic relationship increases the efficiency of a dailies workflow and makes it easier for productions to securely access and leverage not just their media, but all the associated production data.
The improved process has already been deployed on a number of projects, including the recent production of House of Cards for NetFlix. The automated nature and integration of NextLab to Pix for dailies added a new level of data management firepower to the shoot, while keeping the workflow streamlined and simple.
Developed in-house by FotoKem’s software team, NextLab is an on-set and near-location solution for file-based workflows that supports projects from camera to color through editing and archive. The solution can manage digital files and metadata for a wide array of cameras, including Arri, Sony, Red, Canon and Silicon Imaging, and and incorporates the Academy Color Encoding Specifications (ACES) architecture.
Pix System’s secure digital collaboration platform is used on feature and television productions. Over 700 productions have used the Pix service to view, manage and collaborate on their media during various phases of production and marketing.
Larry Schalit, senior VP of Pix System, comments, “FotoKem shares our dedication to client service and to integrating new technology into file-based workflows. NextLab is a great example of that commitment. They’ve been very proactive in working with us to seamlessly integrate the dailies workflow for our clients — from the camera through to Pix, the edit room, and on to archive. With NextLab, filmmakers using Pix can be viewing dailies in our system a couple of hours after being shot. Furthermore, by capturing all of the metadata at the source, our clients are able to easily search and organize material by virtually any attribute. This saves significant time and effort throughout the project.”
FotoKem’s NextLab was designed to identify, capture, carry and manage extensive amounts of information throughout the workflow from dailies to archive. The metadata gathered in NextLab and now automatically shared through Pix allows for easy viewing, commenting, collaborating and manipulating of the data on-set, at the studio, in editing rooms, at visual effects houses, or by other important stakeholders of a production.