DIGITAL MOVING-PICTURE EXCHANGE - FILE FORMAT AND CALIBRATION

Eastman Kodak Co. has developed a high-resolution electronic intermedi ate system for the motion-picture industry that scans and digitizes mo tion-picture film images. The images are interactively manipulated on a computer-based workstation and then recorded back to motion-picture film. The film scanner, recorder, and workstation are collectively cal led the Cineon Digital Film System. The services provided by this syst em are available at a facility known as Cinesite Inc. Because the inpu ts and outputs of this facility could be digital images on some type o f magnetic media as well as film images, there is a need to establish a file format standard for digital moving-picture exchange. This artic le will examine image attributes that are important to the industry, t hus highlighting the need for a common file format that is easy to rea d and understand. The features of this file format, which was created by the SMPTE Working Group on Digital Pictures, will be described. Fin ally, a brief explanation of the color calibration steps and color pix el representation for the Cineon Digital Film System will be provided.