THX® Announces New THX cineSpace™ Partner Program at SMPTE 2011

HOLLYWOOD, Oct, 25, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- (SMPTE 2011 – Stand 504), THX Ltd. today announced the THX cineSpace™ Partner Program, a growing ecosystem of experts in the content production space, with a common goal of offering products that ensure quality end-customer experiences and effective color management throughout the production chain.   Representing Digital Intermediate grading and restoration systems used in major facilities all over the world to finish feature films, television shows and commercials, the new program promotes proper implementation and use of the THX cineSpace color management software.  It enables partner companies to access development versions of new THX cineSpace products for alpha and beta testing, and to use THX cineSpace in end-user training programs to ensure customers get the most out of the combination of THX cineSpace and their products.

"The systems manufacturers participating in the THX cineSpace Partner Program are some of the world's leading firms in the business, responsible for producing major feature films, prime time television shows and commercials," said Rick Dean, senior vice president, THX Ltd.  "With this new program, THX is facilitating communication between production and post-production organizations to ensure facilities and artists are getting the best possible results onto the screen."

Partner products support THX cineSpace LUTs which enable the systems to accurately emulate virtually any display target during the creative processes of grading and restoration.  Colorists and other artists use the partner systems together with THX cineSpace to complete deliverables intended for display using Rec 709 video, digital cinema, and any film stock.

THX cineSpace partners include:

• ASSIMILATE Inc. – the developer of SCRATCH® and SCRATCH Lab™; the SCRATCH data-centric DI system is the most comprehensive, end-to-end cinema and broadcast imaging tool for playback, conform, editing, color grading, compositing and finishing for digital workflows.  SCRATCH Lab delivers a comprehensive toolset for the review, versioning, color correction, conform, and output for production and VFX dailies for features, such as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, X-Men: First Class and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.  ASSIMILATE has remained an innovator in digital cinema since its inception more than eight years ago and has been an ongoing, critical partner of RED, another industry groundbreaker.   
• Image Systems – a worldwide leader in high resolution image processing and film scanning for the media and defense companies, as well as high speed motion analysis solutions for industrial applications.  Its Nucoda products comprise a suite of color grading and finishing solutions that have been used on many of the best known films, commercials, documentaries, music videos and television programs across the globe, such as the Emmy Award winning TV series Californication, Pixar's Cars 2 and upcoming feature Brave, Game of Thrones and The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader (the highest grossing film of 2010).  Its Phoenix range offers the ultimate in image restoration tools for film archives and content owners.  Its Golden Eye film scanners provide optimal high resolution scanning for DI, archive and restoration, handling negative, print and intermediate in all major film formats.
• Pandora International – offers the new Pluto multi-purpose display management system for use in production and post applications.  This hardware platform handles THX cineSpace LUTs and incorporates a 3D and 1D LUT manager, a cursor generator and a stereoscopic processor.  THX cineSpace customers use the Pluto as a fully integrated hardware solution for monitor profiling, calibration and look management.  Facilities like The Mill, MTI Film and Park Road Post use Pluto devices to emulate a huge variety of target display types.  They profile their displays and targets with the THX cineProfiler application and control Pluto over Ethernet; the THX cineCube Visual software generates emulation LUTs for the Pluto to apply to the video stream.
• Quantel – delivers the Pablo color correction and finishing solution for HD, 2K, 4K and Stereoscopic 3D.  It has been proven on thousands of movies, commercials and programs including Avatar, the new documentary film Dragonslayer and The Social Network.  Pablo's powerful color tools all run in a non-linear environment – where changes are easily accommodated at any stage.  It also means that the colorist and client can view every shot in its correct editorial – and even compositional – context, transforming the entire post workflow into a fast, collaborative and creative process.

As part of its partner program, THX also works closely with the International Colorist Academy (ICA), a collective of freelance colorists and color scientists led by well-known colorist and trainer Kevin Shaw. THX receives input and advice on best practices and development priorities based on ICA real-world experiences working on a wide variety of material in top facilities all over the world.  In addition, the ICA uses THX cineSpace as the preferred color management tool for its colorist training programs, which help engineers and artists implement and use THX cineSpace color management properly.  

THX is exhibiting its latest version of THX cineSpace color management software at the SMPTE National Conference October 25-27, at Stand 504.  In addition, Michael Chenery, senior color scientist, THX, will present a paper at SMPTE on "The Validity and Relevance of Reference Displays" on Tuesday, October 25.  Michael will address a host of color science issues related to replacing the once ubiquitous CRT display in professional environments and discuss alternatives to dealing with the problem of "what is the best reference monitor," given the current state of display technology.

About THX Ltd.

From the big screen to your screen, THX ignites your passion for exciting entertainment experiences. Founded by George Lucas and recognized by audiences around the globe, THX is synonymous with the design and certification of world-class cinemas, premium audio systems, HDTVs, and blockbuster movies and games. Products featuring THX defy convention and define quality in their class, whether in the cinema, home or on the road.

SOURCE THX Ltd.