TECH TIPS
¿Que es Pablo? A Colorful Addition to Generation
Q
by Debra Kaufman
Paintbox,
Harry, Picturebox, Henry, iQ...Quantel has a reputation for efficient,
elegant and speedy solutions for paint, compositing, graphics, special
effects and editing since the company was founded in 1973.
Now, here comes Pablo, the UK-based company's latest product and
a contender in the wars for dominance in the Digital Intermediate
space. Pablo (think Picasso) is the new “front end” to
iQ, which has already made its mark on the post scene. Both iQ and
eQ are part of Quantel’s “generation Q” product
line launched in 2002. Designed for maximum scalability in hardware
and software, generation Q products were intended to provide future-proof
architecture with a range of performance choices, a common user interface,
the ability for multiple formats/resolutions to co-exist in the timeline
and AAF metadata to improve a cooperative workflow.
The iQ, which is installed in over 50 digital labs (over 18 in the
US and Toronto)—Lucas Digital, Post Logic, Deluxe Sound &
Picture and Cinecitta Digital among others—was debuted as a
DI and restoration solution, capable of handling previsualization,
color grading and conform within a single system. The comprehensive
toolset includes timeline editing that is user-configurable, a multi-view
compositor, an integrated fully featured Paintbox, integrated titling
with Qscribe, flexible network and video I/O (input/output), real-time
multi-format versioning and the availability of dozens of useful plug-ins.
The Q color option added integrated hardware and software for an additional
set of color correction tools.
The iQ—with or without the QColor option—has gained numerous adherents, and was used, for example, for editing and effects work on Sin City. With the success of iQ and the QColor option, why Pablo? “Many iQ customers were doing full grading with the QColor option,” says Simon Bartlett, Quantel market development manager, post and DI. “But we wanted to take away the doubt that iQ couldn’t be competitive with other color grading suites.” More specifically, numerous post facilities had configured iQ as a server, and used external color correctors from daVinci or Pogle.
After six to nine months of research and development, Quantel came
up with a grading console with a more familiar feel and layout for
colorists. Bartlett emphasizes that Pablo was created in conjunction
with colorists, including the current iQ install base. In addition
to its new color correction interface, the Pablo features a new Quantel
media engine with “integrated concurrent processing” for
real-time HD/2K/4K. “We’re offering an efficient workflow
without resorting to proxies,” says Bartlett. “It is real-time
grading, real-time pan-and-scan, while applying a 3-D LUT (Look Up
Table).” Users can import their own LUTs, use Quantel LUTs or
run Kodak’s Look Manager.
Many editors and colorists appreciate the Quantel iQ—and now
Pablo—for the ability to mix and match resolutions; inputting
2K files, for example, and outputting them at a variety of resolutions
in real-time and with no render. 
Getting deliverables out on time has become increasingly difficult with the numbers of formats. “With our efficient workflow, we take away the bottleneck,” says Bartlett. “Any network export happens in the background, and the new ICP (integrated concurrent processing) engine adds a second media engine for background processes.” Because the ICP engine itself is proprietary to Quantel, its speed cannot be quantified, but Bartlett does report that it’s been demonstrated at four times real time in processing. “There’s lots of headroom,” he notes. And it’s what post customers need. “Real-time 4K playback capability is a big win for us,” says Bill Schultz, senior vice president/general manager of digital film services for FotoKem, which now installed two Quantel Pablos. “The studios seem to be insisting on it.”
There’s a move afoot by the American Society of Cinematographers’ (ASC) Technology Committee to standardize color information produced in color grading suites with a CDL (Color Decision List), to enable interoperability between platforms. Bartlett reports that although Quantel is not actively involved with the move to standardize, the company is “observing.”
Quantel’s gear is also known for its intuitive interface, which means that learning to use Pablo isn’t too time-consuming. “In Quantel fashion, it’s done an excellent job of abstracting the controls for the user, so that once they learn them, they can be very fast,” agrees FotoKem’s Schultz. “The way it’s put together is quite intuitive, and Quantel is famous for this—all the way back to the original Paintbox.”
As more and more post facilities make the effort to get into the Digital Intermediate market—a real growth sector in the industry—the Quantel Pablo is a working solution aimed at colorists and is poised to make new converts.
It’s also configured for the modern post facility, where a common way of working with large amounts of material is to attach the different creative boxes to a central server or SAN, enabling more than one task to be accomplished at the same time. “Every single customer is now doing that,” says Bartlett, who notes that, “You can hang multiple iQs off a SAN.”
With the Pablo sitting on a larger network, input of new material
can take place in the background. “The SAN is near-line storage,
but the material plays off disks,” he explains. “So if
the SAN goes down, you’ve still got everything. It’s a
blurred line between the SAN and disks, and disk storage can be upped
infinitely.”
Quantel’s Dylan FC (fiber channel) offers high disk bandwidth
and capacity through a proprietary disk interface, says Bartlett.
Pablo currently comes with seven terabytes of storage, up from iQ’s
two terabytes just two years ago.
In addition to all the traditional primary color correction tools,
Pablo also offers unlimited secondary color correction, unlimited
layers, secondary shapes, the ability to track objects and compositing
tools. “Pablo stores the compositor’s work, and the colorist
can make compositing changes,” says Bartlett. “Or the
colorist can open up layers and change colors without affecting any
of the other layers. No other system offers this kind of access to
this kind of metadata.”
Though Pablo as a color grader will most likely remain the domain
of the experienced colorist, it also offers editors an option to sharpen
some color correction chops. For editors versed in the iQ, the transition
to using the Pablo is a natural, integrated step.
How Quantel Pablo stacks up in the competition to provide DI solutions remains to be seen. But for fans of Quantel technology—and specifically the iQ—Pablo couldn’t come at a better time; and editors and colorists alike are gravitating to the opportunity to increase their skillset. l
Debra Kaufman is a freelance writer who is also West Coast Editor of Film & Video Magazine and editor of DI Studio, an online newsletter on digital intermediates. She can be reached at dkla@comcast.net.
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