K/Lab™ by Katabatic Digital
Since the inception of the camera, the lab has played a critical role in the creation and completion of motion pictures for television and cinema. Today that role remains the same but the tools and techniques have changed dramatically. K/Lab is focused on providing workflow solutions for file based cameras such RED, Alexa, Phantom, Sony F3/F35, Digital SLR’s and more. As we transition away from film to digital, the K/LAB at Katabatic Digital fills an age old need with cutting edge solutions. The new benefits of Digital Cinema bring new challenges that many ‘traditional’ facilities have been slow to address. With a myriad of cameras, formats, systems, and workflows, the lab technician of today needs to be highly skilled, able to tailor solutions on a job by job basis, and have a deep knowledge of imaging and motion picture science.
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Completely RAW
K/Lab supports every Raw camera format on the market today including RED, Phantom, Alexa, and many more. We understand Raw color science and always use the manufacturer's vetted debayering and processing procedures.
Speed
With the fastest processing available in NYC, K/Lab offers overnight and same day turnaround for a variety camera formats. Drop your footage off at the end of your shoot and have it delivered to your editor's doorstep the next morning.
Metadata Management
Some cameras in use today do not generate appropriate metadata that allows for a successful post workflow. K/Lab will inject or repair missing or damaged metadata to ensure your online process is as smooth as possible.
- Onelight Color Correction
- LUT Application/Conversion
- Color Space Conversions
- External Audio Sync
- Framerate conversion
The Process
One copy of your source hard drives should be delivered to K/Lab. Please make sure you have at least two copies of your source media at ALL times. Once we receive your hard drive, it is scanned and catalogued into our system. We then work directly with your source drive to apply any color correction, generate ProRes, DNxHD, or any other format that has been requested. This is all completely non-destructive. We do not alter the source media in any way.[1] It is important that that you provide a drive with sufficient speed and connectivity such as Firewire 800 and E-SATA. A slow USB drive will dramatically increase the turnaround time and cost. The newly generated files are always rendered to a separate hard drive (either supplied by you or rented from us). Under no circumstances can we render files back to your source drive. We have strict handling policies for source media drives and they are always treated as carefully as a reel of film. In the event of a crash during a render, source drives can become corrupt or destroyed which is why it is absolutely imperative that you have more than one copy. After the renders have successfully completed, the destination drive is QC’d (quality checked) and shipped to its destination.
The Quality Check (QC)
Once the transcoding is complete, a K/Lab technician will review an extensive list of data points to ensure all material is accounted for and rendered with the correct specifications. Critical meta data such as time code and REEL ID's are compared to ensure they match the source material. Resolution, codec, frame rate, color science, and more are all verified and logged. Each technician takes personal responsibility for your files by signing off on each job they complete.
[1] In the case of Canon SLR material, with your permission we will permanently inject metadata to the source footage which is then used to generate dailies. This avoids any potential confusion down the road as to which 'copy' is indeed the real 'master.'
