APS OPENS L.A. OFFICE TO PURSUE HD LONG-FORM TELEVISION BUSINESS
1080p/24 technology makes digital film production affordable and viable


Los Angeles (October 1st, 1999) -- APS (American Production Services), one of the leading facilities for High-Definition (HD) production and post, in Seattle, Washington, today opens a new location, in North Hollywood, California. While the APS-Seattle facility primarily caters to HD broadcast clientele, such as PBS (ìNational Deskî HDTV series) and the Seattle Seahawkís (Pre-game HDTV shows), APS-LA will primarily target the long-form and episodic television markets.
Initially, the L.A. facility will open with 1080i/30 (1080 lines of interlaced 30 frames per second video) equipment, but there are plans to quickly convert to the new Sony 1080p/24 equipment. The significance of 1080p/24 is that, with 1080 lines of resolution, 24 frames per second, and progressive scan, HD video assumes many of the appealing attributes of film.

"One of the reasons that weíre going to open a facility in L.A. is because of '24p." We believe that 24p will be the bridge between the video and film worlds," says Conrad Denke, president of APS. The APS-Seattle and APS-LA facilities will be among the very first to take delivery of Sony's long-awaited 1080p/24 segmented frame family of realtime uncompressed HD production and post production toolsóincluding the HDS-7000 3 M/E production switcher with two frame stores and primary and secondary color correction; the Sony HDME-7000 two-channel digital video effects system; four HDW-500-F video tape machines; a complement of HD monitors, and two 1080p/24 cameras with filmic lenses, matte boxes, and remote focusing systems.

"Until now, there has been minimal interest in shooting in HD by the film community because the cameras and traditional post suites have only been available for 30 frames per second operation," says Denke. "But, the ability to shoot and post in HD at 24 frames per second advances the viability of "digital film" by combining the immediacy and affordability of video with a film aesthetic. When film producers realize the substantial savings in time and money that 24p affords, there will be a groundswell of demand for it.î

Among the advantages of 1080p/24 production are elimination of film processing, dailies transfer and sound synchronization costs; easier distribution of television programming to a multi-standard marketplace; archiving without deterioration; and cost-effective distribution of movies for HD cinematic projection. Since HDTV broadcast is only a small part of the growing high-definition picture, including Electronic Cinema, APS prefers to use the term ìHDî instead of ìHDTV."

Both facilities will also employ the HD1.5 Plus digital disk recorder, from Sierra Design Labs, for record and storage of full bandwidth uncompressed (1.5 gigabits per second) HD video, and the Chyron DuetHD, a powerful new platform enabling realtime HD character generation, graphics, and 3D virtual sets. Both APS facilities will also offer the DSAM 8000 digital audio mixer for 5.1 channels of Surround Sound, and support for Dolbyís audio compression standards (Dolby E for production and AC3 for transmission).

"We're uniquely qualified to edit, mix, and master using Dolby E, Dolbyís new editable compression format. In fact, Dolby Laboratories commissioned us to produce their NAB demo on Dolby E," says Barry Ballanger, director of engineering for APS. ìAPS is also unique in its full-service approach to HD, including a full complement of Sony and Panasonic converters. For our work on PBS's "National Desk," we were often required to upconvert footage from BetacamSP, and even older formats, like æ-inch videotape.î

Without high-quality upconverting, down converting, and transcoding capability, a post house cannot effectively serve most HD clients since footage doesnít always come in on HD format tapes, like HDCAM or D-5.

By November 1999, both APS Seattle and APS-LA will have upgraded equipment in the HD suites to 1080p/24. ìNo oneís going to shoot in 24p unless they can post in it, without taking a quality hit by converting to 1080i/30,î says Denke. ìWe intend to break that "chicken and egg" dilemma by taking that first step--offering a complete package of services for native 1080p/24 production and post production.î

APS has a website at www.apsnw.com. APS Seattle is located at 2247 15th Avenue West, in Seattle, Washington, 98119 (Phone: 206-282-1776; Fax: 206-282-3535.)

APS L.A. is located at 11755 Victory Blvd., in North Hollywood, California, five minutes from the Burbank Airport and Universal Studios.

APS supports the community website http://www.highdef.org