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Waiting for HDTV, Film Studios Turn to HD For Mastering
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Industry experts say HDTV will not hit the mass marketplace for at least five to 10 years, but many film-to-tape transfer houses in the United States are finding there are revenue opportunities in using telecine machines to transfer film stock into high-definition video formats for mass-duplication mastering, archival storage and other applications.
The new vein of digital telecine applications may well prove to be a profitable niche market for the few facilities offering transfers to HD. The reason, according to those doing the work, is that many in the movie biz want their finished products transferred to the highest-quality digital video for any number of present and future uses.
"The reality is that whatever emerges as the highest standard we can work in, that is the standard that will work for our customers," said Ron Burdett, president and CEO of Sunset Post in Burbank, Calif.
Digital telecine manufacturers and facilitators agree the key is the flexibility of high-def video masters.
"If you transfer in HD, it can be converted to any other format," said Dr. Robert Hopkins, vice president and general manager of Sony Pictures' [SNE] HD Center in Los Angeles.
HD Yes, HDTV No
Not surprisingly, very few of the transfers scheduled (or already in the can) will be broadcast in HDTV anytime soon. Motion picture studios like Sony Pictures are finding that transferring film titles into an HD format creates a high-quality master that produces superior results when titles are bumped down to mass-volume DVD duplication-and evenVHS-for sale or rental to consumers.
Every Sony Pictures title released within the past two years has been mastered to HD, Hopkins said, because "you can see the difference. We look at ourselves as operating at the highest possible quality anybody could want."
Besides dupes for the mass-marketplace and archival "vault" storage, films transferred to HD video also are used to dub standard definition sub-masters for today's network broadcasting.
"An HD master nets you some noticeable improvement over transferring a movie directly to low-definition TV formats," said Ken Holland, president of International Video Conversion (IVC), also in Burbank.
And when HDTV arrives in the United States, Holland said, many studios can boast they have content ready for broadcast.
Best-Case Scenario
Based on a sampling of facilities contacted by VTN, only IVC is currently transferring movie titles to HD for the purpose of HDTV broadcasting today. Holland said that up to 50 percent of the work his company does is HDTV programming for Japan's NHK television network. The broadcaster already has licensed more than 100 titles from Hollywood studios such as Warner Bros., paying for the expense of transferring the films onto an HD format.
IVC has been doing transfers to HD for three years, and it has boosted the company's bottom line 25 percent since 1995.
Besides NHK, Holland said other broadcasters have indicated they would like to step gingerly into the HDTV pool in 1998, which would create major opportunities for companies specializing in providing ready-for-HD content.
"Showtime says it will do some HDTV this summer, and we've talked to pay-per-view people interested in doing it," he said. "DirecTv claims its transponder/satellite system is HD capable."
In fact, it seems as if American cable broadcasters are now positioning themselves to follow NHK's bold moves toward HDTV sooner than their network counterparts who offer "free TV."
"Ted Turner has said there's going to be high-definition broadcasting in '98," said Tad Marburg, vice president of technical operations at Warner Bros., a studio preparing for the inevitability of HDTV. Turner Classic Movies and HBO are two Time-Warner properties that have committed themselves to running limited HDTV programming by Q3 1998.
Worst-Case Scenario
Still, facilities that are transferring to HD say it doesn't matter if HDTV catches on with consumers, they'll have plenty of work, regardless.
"Whether HDTV takes off is not going to make or break our division," Marburg said "We've been proceeding slowly, and soberly, but we do think HDTV is definitely going to happen."
Sony Pictures' Hopkins also is bullish on the film-to-HD transferal industry, while casting no clear forecast on the success or failure of HDTV; his outfit will continue its work no matter what happens.
"Is this a good business to get into? We're doing quite well in it," he said. Hopkins claimed the HD Center is profitable, but wouldn't reveal numbers. Besides Sony Pictures titles, Hopkins' group does transfers for Columbia/Tri-Star Home Video-owned by Sony- meaning those profits may be a bit hard to appreciate.
"The assumption is that there will be a larger demand for HD [in the next few years] than there will be post-houses to do the transfers," he said, expressing optimism that outside parties will want to take advantage of what Sony Pictures' HD Center has to offer.
For now, IVC's Holland may have the right attitude. His company is expanding its operation, adding eight more suites with Rank Cintel flying spot scanners that provide triple-standard capabilities. Until the HDTV "$64,000 question," as Marburg put it, is answered, that sort of telecine-flexibility is the best option.
"Now there seems to be a path and equipment is there to deliver it," Marburg said. "The infrastructure isn't going to be there on day one or on day 400 either, it takes time to build." (Sunset Post 818/956-7912; Sony Pictures HD Center, 310/244-4388; IVC, 818/569-3784) |
