MTI Film and SGI partner on NASA project

MTI Film have teamed with Silicon Graphics (SGI) to provide restoration capabilities in one of the world's highest performing visual film analysis systems.
NASA requested that SGI design a system that could produce extremely high-resolution 4K scans from various speeds of 16 mm and 35 mm film and video taken from the almost 70 cameras at the shuttle launch pad. Once scanned, NASA scientists could then easily analyse and remove any debris from the images to provide pristine 4K frames of the shuttle lift-offs.
NASA specified a complete state-of-the-art, greater than high-definition imaging solution, including scanning capabilities, image analysis capabilities and time-synched review capabilities of multiple cameras. The system, built by SGI Professional Services, is currently being used to review and analyse previous shuttle flight data at the NASA Ice/Debris Team's Image Analysis Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida in preparation for the shuttle fleet's return to flight. The multi-display system is designed to allow everything from multiple-person collaboration to highly detailed manipulation and evaluation of specific imagery.
The SGI Reality Center environment with a Reality Center Insight 7-foot display is powered by the 12-processor SGI Onyx 3000 visualization supercomputer with two InfiniteReality4 graphics pipes. Film is scanned through an Imagica XE scanner. The SGI solution runs Interactivefx Piranha HD software for pan/tilt/zoom around the frame, to add real-time effects and for image isolation.
At the heart of the system is MTI Films' CORRECT film restoration software operating at 4K to provide image restoration to remove any dust, debris or scratches introduced onto the negative during film handling and editing.
MTI Film's CORRECT system is the recognized leader in correcting a wide variety of imperfections in film and restoring it to its original pristine condition, and as such was a natural choice by SGI to incorporate into the Reality Center Environment at NASA.
"The goal of the Reality Center Environment program is to visualize and study shuttle take-offs. The scientists plan to monitor all of the parameters of these lift-offs, and look at patterns and behaviors in the flights to see exactly what dynamics take place with the shuttle craft and the materials and heat that are discharged during this process. NASA is using a state-of-the-art system designed by our partners at SGI Professional Services. MTI is proud to be part of this solution and that our tools are critical to researching the history of shuttle flight," said Bill Foulkes, CEO of MTI Film.
(GB)