IRIDAS Releases SpeedGrade HD 2007 for Mac and Windows

Battle-Tested in Production Work at Cologne's Cape Cross Postproduction

Munich: May 2, 2007 ... IRIDAS, who introduced the first non-destructive color grading technology in 2003, has announced the release of SpeedGrade HD 2007, a Quicktime-based film finishing application that runs on Mac OS X and Windows workstations. Suitable for boutique facilities, or as an assistant grading work station for SpeedGrade DI suites, SpeedGrade HD offers powerful grading and conform capabilities as well as a ReviewLink client for remote collaboration. With the optional DualStream module, SpeedGrade HD 2007 provides the industry's first stereoscopic color grading application for under $15,000.

SpeedGrade HD 2007 plays QuickTime and AVI files up to HD resolution. Color correction, FX and pan and scan are applied non-destructively and saved in SpeedGrade's native XML format. SpeedGrade HD's XML-based timelines are interchangeable with SpeedGrade DI, IRIDAS' high-end film finishing application. Grading presets are saved in IRIDAS' widely-used .Look file format which provides a simple means for exchanging looks with production and postproduction teams. All work done in SpeedGrade HD, including conformed EDLs, grades, masks, dissolves, pans etc. can be played on any current version of FrameCycler and shared via ReviewLink in collaborative review sessions.

"SpeedGrade HD is a very well designed application and we were able to put it to work in production conditions almost immediately" said Peter Dohr, postproduction supervisor and colorist at Cape Cross Postproduction in Cologne. "Our facility specializes in long-format HD content for television and we had been looking for the right finishing solution for some time."

"Our original system did not offer real-time playback and we found that cinematographers and directors just didn't have the time to wait for renders. That's why we wanted a real-time playback. It was also clear to us that the realities of broadcast work required a flexible solution that did not box us into a fixed sequence of postproduction steps. We needed a non-destructive solution that allowed us to make changes at any point in the pipeline."

For some time Cape Cross used an editing system for their finishing work. "Then I ran across SpeedGrade OnSet," explained Dohr. "I really liked the user interface and after playing with it for a few days I felt very comfortable with the grading tools. In November we decided to try the real-time solution and set up SpeedGrade HD. Within days we were doing production work. Since then we have done all our production with SpeedGrade, completing well over a dozen shows."

SpeedGrade HD 2007 is available immediately from IRIDAS for $11,999 per seat or $14,999 with the optional DualStream stereoscopic module.

SpeedGrade HD 2007 is a member of IRIDAS' SpeedGrade family of non-destructive color grading applications. For more information, call IRIDAS at +49 89 330 35 142, IRIDAS USA at (818) 951-8927, or visit www.speedgrade.com.

About IRIDAS
IRIDAS pioneered desktop film-resolution playback in 2001. Its FrameCycler products are now the industry standard for frame-based image review. In 2003 IRIDAS introduced the first non-destructive color correction application. Today SpeedGrade and FrameCycler provide the critical links in an end-to-end pipeline for uncompressed content and color metadata. IRIDAS' applications are used by filmmakers around the world and most major animation and postproduction houses including Industrial Light & Magic, The Moving Picture Company, Cinesite, The Framestore CFC and many others. IRIDAS is an independent, privately held company headquartered in Munich, Germany. For more information, visit www.iridas.com.