CULVER CITY, CA — Colorworks, Sony Pictures Entertainment’s digital intermediate facility, has opened a new facility focused on 4K television postproduction.
Located in the Capra Building on the Sony Pictures lot in Culver City, Colorworks 4K Television will provide postproduction services for original programming shot in 4K and re-mastering services for film-originated media. It will deliver both HD masters for current distribution and 4K masters for future use.
The recent arrival of 4K Ultra HD TVs new 4K camera systems, including Sony’s F65 and F55, has prompted more television productions to capture in 4K. That, in turn, is creating growing demand for 4K post-production services, according to Colorworks Senior Vice President Bob Bailey.
“Sony Pictures Entertainment and Colorworks are supporting the growth of 4K television by providing producers with a seamless solution for mastering their shows in the format of the future, 4K,” Bailey said. “Our new television facility has been designed and built to move and process 4K data as easily as HD.”
Colorworks 4K Television will work closely with other units on the Sony Pictures lot, including picture editorial, sound editorial, sound mixing and visual effects, to provide producers, shooting on the lot and elsewhere, with an efficient, one-stop solution. Special packaging is available for productions taking advantage of inclusive services.
“The ability to collaborate across all segments of post-production makes the solution that we offer unique,” said Sony Pictures Entertainment Executive Director Sound and Digital Services Ben Benedetti. “Additionally, our experience with Sony during the development of the F65 and F55 cameras makes our facilities uniquely well qualified to service 4K television.”
The new television facility features two 4K color-grading suites and a 4K editorial finishing suite. The latest 4K imaging technology is employed throughout, including Baselight EIGHT color-grading systems. Each room also includes 4K Sony projection systems, high-resolution digital monitors and support gear required by high-level postproduction.
Grading and finishing suites are directly connected to Sony Pictures’ Television Backbone, providing colorists and editors with immediate access to original production media, metadata and other critical production and postproduction data.