It was tested during the production of Michael Bay’s ‘Songbird’.
Entertainment technology developer Frame.io launched Camera to Cloud (C2C), a new system that is being developed to allow filmmakers to upload and transmit images from cameras on set to the cloud, making footage quickly accessible to members of the production team, including for reviewing daily newspapers, post-production and VFX.
C2C – which was tested as part of the Michael Bay production, produced Songbird– is currently in beta on some undisclosed productions (additional testers can apply to participate in the program) and should be widely available in the spring.
At launch, the system is intended to provide proxy (low resolution) uploads to the Frame.io cloud each time a camera stops running, so that editorial and other post-production tasks can start in parallel while filming is still underway. is being filmed (the master and backups would be saved to hard drives that would later be delivered when needed.)
Although C2C used proxies at launch, the long-term vision is to effectively eliminate the use of hard drives, writing the highest quality master directly to the cloud and, in doing so, making production and posting a more non-linear and simplified process , according to Michael Cioni, senior vice president of innovation at Frame.io. “This level of collaboration brings together creative teams and allows them to work more quickly and collaboratively than ever before.”
“The way we capture images has not changed much since we switched from film to digital and I think the next big change will be to shoot directly to the cloud,” says Frame.io CEO Emery Wells, adding that this can happen within over the next 10 years as technology and telecommunications infrastructures advance.
Later, in 2021, Frame.io intends to add the ability to transmit live images to an authorized user’s computer, iPhone or iPad, allowing customers to watch the production while it is happening on any computer or mobile device. This ability can be particularly useful in pandemic conditions, as it can help to reduce the number of people needed on the set.
The system workflow requires a certified Frame.io C2C device on set, connected to compatible cameras. According to Frame.io, many professional cameras from Arri, Red, Sony, Panasonic and Panavision support this system. At launch, filmmakers will also need the Teradek Cube 655 certified encoder and Sound Devices 888 or Scorpio field recorders, which would record, encode and send encrypted and timecode-compliant H.264 proxy files with corresponding metadata directly to Frame.io cloud through a connection to security features. Currently, this could be done with LTE, 5G or WiFi when it is on site, according to Cioni.
Cioni and Wells report that Bay’s Songbird it was filmed during the pandemic in Los Angeles using the LTE service almost entirely to upload the proxies (the rest was done over wi-fi). Cioni adds that at least 30 people shared about 20,000 Songbird assets, including for editorial, VFX and analytics, during the course of production.
In a video released as part of the C2C launch, Songbird director Adam Mason said there was a “skeleton crew” on the set, but when he started receiving messages from producer Adam Goodman, he realized that “everyone could see what I was shooting while filming it”.
Co-producer Max Votolato added, “we could be on the set without being on the set, with the ability to wirelessly stream out of the camera, and on the set send those diaries to our DIT cart that would come out through an encoder and become part of the cloud that everyone shared. The process is instantaneous. “
At launch, additional technology partners, including Colorfront, who plan to offer C2C support through their cloud diary system. For post-production, Cioni and Wells report that the material may fall natively in Adobe Premiere Pro, Apple’s Final Cut and Blackmagic Design Resolve’s color grading and editing system. An additional step would be needed to bring the material to Avid Media Composer using an add-on application, they explain.
A certification program for third-party developers is also launched today.