MIDDLEWARE

Discreet announced that Turin-based production and post-production facility LUMIQ Studios has made one of the largest single purchases of Discreet's products in Europe. The order includes two of Discreet's smoke SD and HD editing and finishing systems, two Discreet flame (HD and 2K) visual effects systems running on SGI's high-performance Tezro visual workstation, and the first Discreet inferno system on the new SGI Onyx 350 workstation to be installed in Italy. The purchase came as a result of growing demand in high-end post-production from Italian, European and US film and advertising production markets. LUMIQ Studios' compositing fleet is completed by the presence of several Discreet combustion workstations. An unprecedented productive workflow is ensured by the presence of Discreet's switchable storage(TM) solution, again the first such system to be installed in Europe. This enables immediate transfer of a project from one workstation to another. Using backdraft(TM), Discreet's background media management and I/O software, allows LUMIQ Studios to automate traditional administrative tasks such as digitizing, archiving, project set-ups and media reallocation for Discreet's editing and effects systems. "A productive workflow and maximum operational flexibility have been two key factors influencing our decision toward Discreet's products," said Sebastian Sylwan, director of technology at LUMIQ Studios. "We are strongly positioned in the Italian and European markets and we predict growing demand for high-end services in film and advertising post-production. This means that we have to protect our investments in technology, largely by connecting with a manufacturer who is open and transparent about future plans and new ideas in workflow management capabilities." Although LUMIQ Studios has already worked on high-end feature film projects, and has opened two commercial offices in Rome and Los Angeles to meet demand in that market, it is also heavily involved in broadcast work: "Our virtual set and Discreet's compositing and editing systems provide an excellent solution for long-form fiction for TV and long documentary and educational series. For example, we are currently working on 65 episodes of Amazing History for RAI Educational," said Andrea Burla, director of post-production at LUMIQ Studios." "We are extremely proud of our work with LUMIQ Studios," said Carlo Struzzi, head of Video Progetti, Discreet's reseller in Italy. "Their belief in Discreet's products is genuine and we have endeavoured to match the high level of their requirements. The facility is now one of the finest of its kind in Europe and is ready to face competition from facilities around the world, including the US." "We're thrilled to be working with a facility that clearly understands where the future of post production and broadcast is moving," said Patrick Jocelyn, Discreet's EMEA director. "It's great to see a set of Discreet's unified products fit into LUMIQ's vision." With 40 million euros invested in the facility to provide four film studios over 8,000 square meters of commercial real estate and state of the art 3D, character animation and post-production capabilities, LUMIQ Studios represents one of the largest facilities of its kind in continental Europe. Theatre 2 has the largest virtual set in Europe, and in Theatre 1 clients benefit from a covered pool for underwater productions. LUMIQ Studios is headquartered on the site of the turn-of-the-century FERT movie studios inside the Virtual Reality & Multimedia Park, Piedmont's largest multimedia and audiovisual facility. The city of Turin, historically one of the first cities in the world to have a film studio, and renowned in the world as the home town to FIAT, is located close to the French border, can be reached by a one-hour train journey from Milan and is linked to Rome by train, airplane and motorway.