Two new Mistikas for BSkyB
UK: BSkyB has expanded its stereo 3D capacity with the purchase of two additional Mistika post systems working on a 64 TB SGO SAN. Live sports might provide a lot of the content for Sky3D, but the channel’s wholly 3D ethos means that the hundreds of promos, trailers, idents etc that screen on it need to be produced in the format too.
One of the new systems is based at Sky Creative to work alongside the existing Mistika, with the other one installed in a different building for ingest and QC of stereo 3D content.
Sarah Cloutier is VFX Manager at Sky Creative. “The Mistika is quick, and that’s what it’s all about,” she says. “There’s really nothing else on the market that comes close to it.”
The Mistikas are used for onlining material, including match grading and geometry clean-up, at the end of an Avid and FCP workflow.
“We’ve been working with stereo 3D for 18 months now, to the extent that it’s become an integral and instinctive part of our workflow and we’ve built up significant experience with it. I know that other channels haven’t always been too keen to do the whole package in 3D, but we felt early on that we wanted to, including bumpers, trailers, interstitials and so on. It’s important for us to present the viewer with the best viewing experience possible, and keeping everything in 3D is, we feel, the way to do that.”
SGO, meanwhile, reports an upsurge in interest from broadcasters in buying kit for 3D work, with sports channels no exception. “They often have their own post facilities in varying scales and we’ve always talked to them, but the arrival of 3D has increased that level of interest,” says Geoff Mills, director of SGO Global Sales and Operations. “Enquiries from across Europe and further afield look quite encouraging at the moment.”