L’Immagine Ritrovata Refines Restoration Pipeline With Phoenix

An Italian state-of-the-art film restoration and conservation laboratory, part of the Cineteca di Bologna facility, has installed three Phoenix Refine systems to enable full implementation of its digital restoration department. The Phoenix systems handle 2K and 4K files directly from the facility’s film scanner.
As part of its transition to digital the team at L’immagine Ritrovata devised a new workflow that uses the Phoenix Refine systems as the first step in applying fundamental processing such as stabilisation, dust, fix and scratch treatments for its film restoration projects. The systems come into their own in the final stages by automatically applying tools to remove unwanted grain or noise and other problems related to decay and photochemical processes applied at the time that the film was shot.
Davide Pozzi, Director L’immagine Ritrovata said: “We were looking for new software that could implement the existing restoration workflow. The Phoenix systems’ strong motion estimation pedigree, based on years of experience, was a strong deciding factor for this new workflow as was its extensive toolset, automatic capabilities and full technical support.”
Pozzi added: “The facility faced new challenges and Phoenix responded really well to our requirements. Image Systems provided excellent training and the fact that we knew that we would have full support in future implementations often based on our feedback, gave us a lot of confidence in the system and made us look at the Phoenix systems as an investment.”
Phoenix Refine delivers high-end restoration image processing tools to repair defects or damage to film and video media. Combining the best in automated, semi-automated and manual Digital Vision Optics (DVO) restoration tools, Phoenix Refine adds editorial and effects processing to create a single system delivering pristine images ready for mastering or preservation.
Pozzi concluded: “Because Phoenix makes full use of powerful algorithms based on motion estimation the result is a very high-quality finish with strong dirt and dust removal and a more respectful intervention of the image's final quality. It also gives us a wider range of dedicated restoration tools that can respond to the many varied and specific requests of our clients.”
(BMcN)