(PRWEB) July 1, 2000
Press Contacts:
Tony Schmitz
Flashpoint Media
(818) 985-4516
Greg Howard
Digital Symphony
(818) 973-7600
BURBANK, CA Digital Symphony has installed seven Macintosh G4-based Avid Media Composer 1000XLs to handle editing chores on the syndicated series Blind Date produced by Gold Coast Television. The Burbank rental and support facility is supplying the production with the latest Avid 1000XL equipped with the new Meridien hardware. The Meridien boards take in uncompressed video and will enable Blind Date editors to complete a nonlinear online in-house on the Avids, saving the company the time and cost of out-of-house digital online finishing.
In addition to installing the new systems, Digital Symphony is providing 24-hour technical support to keep the fast-moving daily series on schedule. Ben Benedetti, executive director of client services for Digital Symphony, provided supervising post producer Rick Roberts with a special Nextel mobile phone that connects directly with a Digital Symphony technical support person. All I have to do is press a button and Im talking to one of their [Digital Symphony] support staff, said Roberts. Were turning out 6 episodes a week and Digital Symphony has kept us on track with outstanding service.
The series, syndicated to nearly 90% of the US market by Universal Worldwide Television, deploys 3 film crews a week to accompany previously selected couples on their blind date. Condensing the nearly 30 hours per week of footage into six 30-minute episodes requires a team of 14 editors and 3 assistants working on 9 Avid Media Composers.
Digital Symphonys new Avid Media Composers with the Meridien hardware provide Blind Date with noticeably improved picture quality over last seasons AVR77 resolution. The Meridien hardware represents the latest generation of Avid product, said Benedetti. Previous ABVB hardware used variable compression, analyzing each frame and compressing it according to complexity of the image. The Meridien hardware uses a more efficient compression algorithm and provides a fixed rate of compression throughout for more consistent image quality.
Digital Symphony is further streamlining the Blind Date workflow by designing a plug-and-play rolling rack for the Digital Betacam deck used for online finishing. The mobile deck can now be used for both the output of the final program as well as digitizing material into the other Meridien-equipped digitizing stations. The rolling rack in effect gives Roberts three online output options instead of just one.
About Digital Symphony
Digital Symphony is a leading supplier of state-of-the-art Avid editing, storage and networking solutions for feature films, MOWs, episodics, sitcoms and all other television postproduction along with 24/7 technical support. Recent projects are Magnolia, the new Tom Cruise film, and City of Angels, the new television series from Stephen Bochco. Television clients include all the major networks, studios, syndicators and cable channels.
Digital Symphony is currently located at 314 N. Victory in Burbank. The company will soon be moving to a new 16,000 square foot facility nearby that will house 25 edit bays with further expansion to a new 6500 square foot building in Hollywood that will accommodate another 20 edit bays. For inquiries, call Bennett Goldberg, Ben Benedetti or Martin Royer. Tel. (818) 973-7600.
