Editors And Computers
Talk To Each Otherby Joanne D'Antonio
What is OMF anyway? On a Thursday afternoon in August Steven B. Cohen of Sony Pictures, in conjunction with Avid Technology's Open Media Framework (OMF) Development Group, hosted 'OMF World', a free seminar for members of the Editors Guild. It was a hot ticket! The response was so great, it was held at a sound stage instead of the initially planned 100-seat theatre site.
The mission was to demonstrate the spectrum of uses for the OMF Inter-change file format (OMFI) between applications. In simple language, this is a way for computer-based systems to talk to each other - and not necessarily Avids. Experienced users gave testimony as to how OMFI has helped their productions and fifteen vendors put on a trade show demonstrating how OMF interfaced with their particular products.
Picture editor Rob Kobrin recounted the history of OMF, relating how four years ago when he Beta-tested the Avid Film Composer, he expected, by utilizing DAT as the source for his production dialogue, digitizing it on the Avid at 48 kHz and syncing it on the Avid, he could later somehow turn over this high quality sound to the sound editors who were working on ProTools. Alas, at that time there was no way to do this but since then Avid has been answering this need by developing a software application that enables digitized media - sound and/or picture - to be moved from one digital system to another. A kind of ASCII for media.
Eliminating Mag Altogether
Rob has been delighted with the great success his team has had utilizing OMF not only for dialogue but also for visual effects on his last three pictures, 'Virtuosity', 'Alaska' and 'Dancer, TX.' In fact on 'Alaska' he was able to eliminate mag tracks altogether by having a Pro Tools loaded with the dialogue and integrated with his KEM for running film dailies.
The OMF specification is a document about two hundred pages long that outlines communication between computer products or applications. The good news for editors is that the manufacturers are the ones that have to read it and apply it to their products. Once it is in the software of the Avid, Lightworks, Audiovision, Pro Tools, SGI, Flame, or whatever computer-based system, it is just a matter of testing the exact applications. Once it is working it will continue to work. Rob discourages upgrading mid-show but if you do, or if you change vendors, then re-testing is necessary. OMFI is currently in use in both features and television, and media is routinely "OMF-ed" to sound editors and visual effects creators.
Assistant editor Todd Busch shared his experiences on 'Spawn', using OMFI to speed up the turnaround of effects shots between northern California-based ILM and the cutting-room in Los Angeles. Even with heavy effects dailies, by using the OMFI to import and update their effects sequences, they were able to return newly edited sequences back to ILM within 24 hours on a daily basis. Material can be transferred via Zip or Jaz drive, but the most efficient way for visual effects is via modem. By using an ISDN line, or the like,
it is possible to circulate the new shots and sequences within hours. Using OMFI on the Avid also allows you to re-link an edited sequence to the new effects dailies instantly!
Rob's Team Has Utilized OMF Not Only For Dialogue But Also For Visual Effects. Sound editor Rob Nokes conveyed how using OMFI allows his team to avoid an inefficient dialogue assembly. Without OMFI, material routinely gets synced a second time by the sound department, which is not only time-consuming but the track never comes out precisely as the picture editor cut it. For two years, starting with 'Till There was You', his company has been able to work with the same media and timecode as the picture department by utilizing OMFI. This was done with the existing labor force and not substantial extra equipment.
The preference was to avoid using the notoriously sloppy syncing done by telecine and go back to the reliable picture department to sync the dailies. Furthermore, initially loading high quality sound into the Avid, instead of the customary 3/4" temporary sound, makes it possible to copy the very same digitized audio for a feature onto hard drives for the sound department in about a day. This gives the dialogue editor all the sound to work from plus, at any given time during the picture editing process, the production sound can be accurately evaluated for quality (for example, whether ADR will be necessary for a given line).
OMFI Saves Re-Syncing Or Eyematching
Assistant editor Alan Bell advocated that responsibility for the quality of the sound in post-production begins in the picture department. There are choices of how the sound goes into the editing system. On 'Ghosts of Mississippi' they transferred the Nagra stereo tracks to full coat mag, synced film dailies and telecined 2,000 foot rolls to minimize adjusting sync. He had the sound transferred to DA88 (30fps, non-drop pre-striped with pull-down on), and periodically they checked on the azimuth of the transfer equipment to ensure sound quality. When loading the Avid, they loaded picture and sound separately and adjusted telecine sync only once for each 2,000 feet. He wrote his own film logging program to avoid the errors in telecine logs. Each day they used OMFI to copy all sound to 9 gig drives for sound editing. Twenty minutes of dailies can be copied in less than five minutes. On the Avid the OMF is accessed in the "File" pull-down menu by selecting "OMF composition only."
For shows that do not print film dailies, he recommends taking the extra time to get the audio masters, load the sound and sync the dailies in the editing system - thereby ignoring the inaccurately synced telecine dailies. While this is labor intensive in the assistant department, the payoff is at the sound editing stage when large sums can be saved using OMFI instead of reloading all the sound at the sound facility and eyematching all the dialogue before any sound editing can start.
Re-recording mixers are happy with the quality of the sound. There are specs along the way that have to be followed, and experienced assistants have been spreading the knowledge as they work with new people.
Bill Kinder, editorial supervisor for 'A Bug's Life', a computer animation epic in production at Pixar Animation Studios (makers of 'Toy Story'), presented a detailed explanation of how OMF is useful through various stages of the animation process, especially in tracking many versions and replacing updated shots. Because Pixar's computer animation system is proprietary, the program had to be written to work OMFI. In the end it was worth the effort considering the timesavings in updating complicated shots.
Ed McDermid of Avid's OMF Development Group expressed his eagerness to know what problems arise in utilizing the OMFI, and promised to get his team to work these through. While OMFI is easy to use, there are places where mistakes can easily be made integrating OMF into your particular post-production process. The first time out it is wise to consult with someone experienced in its use.
Cocktails And Jaz
Following the presentations was a nicely presented cocktail party and our members who attended were able to view demonstrations. A noteworthy exhibition was from Sony Pictures Studio's Advanced Digital System Group - they have partnered with IOMega (who also makes a Zip drive) to bring to market a more robust AV-certified JAZ drive and media. This very small hard drive uses a cartridge that is slightly larger than a floppy disk and holds one gigabyte. It works for both visual effects and digital audio as a medium to transport OMFI exported files. It has been used successfully on 'Twister' and 'Starship Troopers.' (Check with ASDG at Sony Studios for more information or sales info.)
Avid is offering OMFI into the public domain and does not sell this product or have any licensing requirements or fees. There are currently standards proposals before AES and SMPTE. The use of OMFI is free, and the OMF Group exists to refine the application as needed for any new media system and gives help to people trying to use OMFI. Any questions, call (800) 949-OMFI or check the OMF web site or send email.
