South Africa's Studio Zoo Increases Creative Range With Quantel's eQ FX

South African TV post production company Studio Zoo based in Johannesburg has purchased a second eQ - this time an eQ FX which is the powerful new addition to the eQ range.
The Quantel eQ FX is an all-in configuration designed specifically for post and broadcast users who need a great value, high-specification system that will cover every demand in HD and multi-resolution post production. The resolution co-existent eQ FX comes complete with 160 minutes of HD workspace; TimeMagic no-wait hardware; QColor in-context color grading package; the latest Eiger 3.5 software; and a choice of comprehensive plug-ins.
"We needed a seriously powerful editing and compositing system that would also simply slot into our office network," says Adi Leach, Studio Zoo co-founder. "That way we could source EDLs direct from our offline suites and graphics direct from our designers' workstations, thereby maintaining premium resolution. The eQ FX is the perfect answer."
Studio Zoo founders Adi Leach and Cathy Ferrara have more than 20 years' experience in television production. The two worked together at South African satellite broadcaster DStv in the 1990s, DStv's on-air needs just grew and grew until Cathy and Adi decided to set up their own production and post production facility, and so Studio Zoo was born in Johannesburg in 1999. Today the company boasts five edit suites, four graphic workstations and a production office, all manned by a staff of 25. While the majority of Studio Zoo's work for DStv and M-Net is promo production, the facility also produces music videos, commercials, corporates and actuality programmes.
Hannes Steyn, Studio Zoo's senior editor continues: "Our major client, DStv, requires weekly line-ups that total around 27,000 frames with 42 different segments, some of which have 25 layers which themselves are first reduced from an initial 48 layers. Each layer is updated weekly then rendered, and production time has been literally cut in half thanks to the eQ."
"It's not only the eQ's enormous power and ability to fit seamlessly into the network that attracted Studio Zoo. The eQ is also a multi-format platform capable of serious high-end finishing," explained Steyn. "It's also very fast with great rendering and compositing capabilities, easy to use, has lots of plug-ins available, is great for color correction and, being pretty new onto the market, has a lengthy projected lifespan too. And of course it's Quantel, with whom we've had a great relationship over the years."
Cathy Ferrara concludes: "We would like to attract more overseas work. I'd like to think that our work can stand up against the best in the world."
And indeed it can; Studio Zoo has one of the best-stocked awards cabinets of any creative house anywhere; one Platinum, 10 Gold, eight Silver and two Bronze Promax/BDA Awards - and all in just three years.
(SP/CD)