Digital Cinema Revolution

Presented byKen Dozier

USC Viterbi School of EngineeringWestern Research Application Center

July 27th, 2006

Digital Cinema Resolutions

“HD Video ”

Old vs. New“Roadwarrior” connected to Internet and to a

projector is a cinema

Today’s setup is a Digital Projector (2K) and Surround Sound system

Moral of the Story

• Billions of dollars in defense R&D technology will eventually find their way to entertainment markets

• Computers, projectors, cameras are all examples of this trend

• Digital Cinema will be transformed as a result

Where it all started….

1980’s• Hughes Aircraft• F-18 Flight Simulator• Two 40 Foot Domes

– Air-to-Air Combat– 60 Frames per second

• Discovered IMI Design• 6 Projectors• Not less than 32 different

processing units– 14 CPU’s– 18 GPU’s

Visual System Engineer….

The Hollywood Connection

The Last Starfighter, 1984

1 Cray XMP Supercomputer

2 DEC VAX 11780

120 Workstations Images Courtesy of Universal Pictures

Digital Productions, Inc.Vice President of Operations….

Digital Productions, Inc.

Won an Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Scientific and Engineering Award in 1984

“For the practical simulation of motion picture photography by means of computer generated images”

For the Company’s work onThe Last Starfighter

National Science Foundation’s Supercomputing Center for Western U.S.

Learned at DP

• Brought Computer Graphics into normal production schedules and budgets – IMI’s used to invent Pre-Visualization

– Used a Supercomputer to render complex images quickly

• Single-point-of-failure was a problem• Finite amount of computing was restrictive

– A factory with fixed capacity

Interactive Machines, Inc. (IMI)

• Lockheed Skunkworks Stealth Fighter Simulator (F-117)

• Built Instructors Console and GraphicsEngines

• Raised Venture Capital and listed in Fortune Magazine’s “Companies to Watch”

• Entertainment Clients included: Universal Studios, Disney Studios, Cranston/Csuri, Pacific Data Images, Digital Productions, Bo Gehring, Mr. Film, Japan Computer Graphics Lab, and ComputerFX London.

President and CEO..

Technology Innovation: The Transition from Analog to Digital Platforms

Phase I 1996 – 2001 Creation of Digital Formats

Phase II 2002 - 2006 Technology Integration Web Services, Grid Computing, Distributed Computing and Improvements in Phase I

Phase III 2006 – Beyond Transformation

Computing Advances Transform Value Creation: business intelligence, economies of scale, partnerships, and increased productivity

Source: IBM Institute for Business Value analysis, 2004

Source: 1999 Fall Meeting, Community Development Council, Chuck MatthewsINFOWORLD, Sept. 2000

Distribution Media Bandwidth 11

B01-017

DSL/ Cable

IEEE 1394 / Firewire

Gigabit Ethernet

LASER / Fast Ethernet

10BaseT / CAT 5

Microwave / Ethernet

G2 Wireless

G3 / Wireless LAN

Async. Transfer Mode 54 Gbps (ATM)

G1 Wireless

4 Gbps Fibre Channel

120 Gbps 12X QDR InfiniBand

Old School

Source: “A Data-Centric Approach to Cinema Mastering” Thomas J. True, SGI

New School

Source: Sony (http://www.sony.com) Source: Digital Vision (http://www.digitalvision.se) Source: Dalsa Inc. (http://www.dalsa.com)

Projection• Digital Light Processing (DLP)

Developed at Texas Instruments (Used my Christie) max resolution (2048 x 1080)

• Ultra-high frame rate.• Adjustable white point• Support XYZ color space (Director’s Gold standard)

Direct Drive Image Light Amplifier (D-ILA)Developed at JVC (Licensed by Sony)

• max resolution (4096 x 2160)• Adjustable white point• Support XYZ color space (Director’s

Gold standard)

Image courtesy of JVC

Image courtesy of TI

Computer

• Nucoda PC-based workstations• HyperTransport internal busses

@ 64 Gbps• Up to 8 AMD processors dual

core equivalent to 16 processors

• Feeds NVIDIA GPU, which are programmable with up to 24 pixel shaders.

• Machines today have no fewer than 40 processing units

Source: Digital Vision (http://www.digitalvision.se)

Acquisition Camera: Dalsa OriginOutput: 4:2:2 16-bit linear (12-bit log) CIF format (4096 x 2048)

Capture:

Codex Digital RecorderHUGE MediaVault

Source: Dalsa Inc. (http://www.dalsa.com)

Source: HUGE and Codex

Digital Cinema

Mars Rover Animation- Rendered in Pixar RenderMan- 1080p Windows Media Player, 5.1 Surround Sound