Digital Safari Offer Guide To High Definition Jungle

It is easy to be impressed with HD but there are pitfalls. High Definition specialist Digital Safari offers a bespoke service from acquisition to post production...
Digital Safari's MD Jonathan Smiles says: "Yes, we sell systems but, unlike many other suppliers, we are actively involved in production with over 11 years HD experience, working on real projects. What we sell we know about because we use it, and that is why it works."
Their client list has many high profile customers including film productions and top broadcasters such as BBC, ITV, Sky, and ESPN. Clients include the 'Predator' producer/editor market where off-line and on-line editing is kept in-house. Production company Skyworks has just had ‘Fast Flights: British Isles’ aired on Discovery HD Theater in the USA.
Shot on HDCAM-SR / HDCAM, all the editing was done in-house on Final Cut Pro and finished as uncompressed 10-bit 4:2:2 HD. The potential savings and greater control compared to the traditional post house route is huge.
"Around 90% of our work is High Definition and in the last nine months over 50% has been on HDCAM-SR. My clients are working with footage shot on ARRI D20, Panavision Genesis, Viper, Sony F900/F950. The current feature film commitment is a Final Cut Pro edit of Viper material that is being DI'd on Quantel iQ by Motion FX with filmout to 35mm."
Jonathan emphasises that HD requires careful planning and always goes through the clients’ workflow process.
The emergence of FCP online HD editing, for price performance reasons, means that Digital Safari is being kept busy in the expanding HD arena for broadcast and cinema release.
Digital Safari are at www.digitalsafari.net
(SP)