LAS VEGAS (NAB 2012 – SL14407) – April 16, 2012 – THX Ltd. today announced a new component to its THX cineSpace™ Color Management Suite, the de facto standard in film and television post-production for achieving color accuracy and consistency through display calibration and profiling. THX cineCube™ HD is specifically designed to emulate the ITU-Rec. 709 (HD video color standard) color space for facilities specializing in television commercials, music videos, corporate videos and television programs.

The THX cineSpace toolset is used by production companies, post facilities, animation studios, VFX companies, game developers, DI facilities and others to produce and render near-perfect representations of how images will appear in final form. It is a cost-effective way to implement precision color management at every stage of content production, post-production and delivery. With specific requirements from creative artists about the way color is displayed, color matching is a lengthy, iterative cycle in post-production. THX cineSpace cuts down on these cycles by removing the guesswork when dealing with film images and producing accurate image representations which can be viewed and manipulated on a digital workstation monitor or projector.

The new THX cineSpace module, cineCube HD, offers all the functionality needed to calibrate and profile displays of any type – projectors, plasmas and LCDs so artists can color grade material confidently, knowing that what they see in the suite will be duplicated in the target viewing environment. cineCube HD licenses include the full version of cineProfiler™, a THX cineSpace component that optimizes and profiles output devices and creates accurate profiles for all viewing equipment including CRT, LCD screens, plasma displays, digital projectors and broadcast monitors.

“THX cineSpace technology has brought a new level of confidence to monitoring at our facility with its high-precision color management toolset. Managing color with THX cineSpace across all of our finish and color suites provides quality assurance for our customers and increased workflow efficiency,” said Mark Pruett, owner of Nashville’s Storyville Post.  “The introduction of an affordable, simplified solution that offers the same quality as THX cineSpace is exciting.  cineCube HD makes THX cineSpace technology more cost-effective to boutique operations like ours – facilities that may have a narrower range of color management concerns, but still require the same precision and results that the original THX cineSpace software provides.”


THX at NAB 2012:

THX will be showcasing its new cineCube HD application and the full suite of THX cineSpace color management solutions at NAB booth #SL14407. In addition, THX will be demonstrating THX Media DirectorTM and highlighting its latest partners.

cineCube HD is available today through THX cineSpace resellers for $1,895 (one seat node).

About THX:

From the big screen to your screen, THX ignites your passion for exciting entertainment experiences. Founded by George Lucas and recognized by audiences around the globe, THX is synonymous with the design and certification of world-class cinemas, premium audio systems, 3D HDTVs and blockbuster movies. Products featuring THX technologies defy convention and define quality in their class, whether in the cinema, in the home or on the road.

De Facto Post-Production Standard for Color Management

THX has acquired the cineSpace™ Color Management Suite from Cine-Tal Systems – the de facto standard in film and television post-production for achieving color accuracy and consistency. The software creates near-perfect representations of how images will appear in their final form, from the wide array of digital formats to film. With specific requirements from creative artists about the way color is displayed, color matching is a lengthy, iterative cycle in post-production. cineSpace cuts down on these cycles by removing the guesswork when dealing with film images and producing accurate image representations which can be viewed and manipulated on a digital workstation monitor or projector. This translates into a potential savings of thousands of dollars and countless hours on a project.

THX will continue to support current cineSpace customers and will deliver regular updates to ensure customers have access to technical enhancements. cineSpace becomes a “THX technology,” joining a portfolio that includes THX Media Director™. From content creation through to playback, THX is committed to developing technologies and providing certification services that ensures entertainment is delivered as intended by the artist.

Click here to read the press release.

CineSpace Product Overview

The cineSpace suite comprises several applications that work together to bring consistency to workflows: cineProfiler™, equalEyes™, cinePlugins™ and cineCube Visual™. Packaged with cineSpace™ is a set of standard target profiles, including a range of video standards and a selection of film stock samples.

cineProfiler™
Accurate color matching begins with precise profiling. cineProfiler optimizes and profiles output devices and creates accurate profiles for all viewing equipment including CRT, LCD screens, plasma displays, digital projectors and broadcast monitors. Load these customized profiles into the THX cineSpace suite of applications to ensure fully accurate color matching.

equalEyes™
equalEyes modifies the Lookup Table (LUT) in the workstation’s operating system to provide the artist with a calibrated monitor, making it the perfect tool for matching displays throughout a VFX facility. equalEyes emulates targets like sRGB, Rec. 709, DCI, and Film to ensure color consistency and detail work can be seen in the final deliverable. Configure the monitors to display a custom color temperature or gamma. The software provides artists with user-defined presets that let users switch quickly between various monitors and target profiles to compare results on different display devices. Match every display in the facility to a single reference
standard with equalEyes.

cinePlugins™
The THX cineSpace 3D engine is incorporated into the cinePlugins: cineFusion™, cineNuke™, cinePhotoShop™ and cineShake™. Full 3D color transforms ensure a near perfect match to the output result — whether it’s film, HD or DCI. Adjust parameters on-the-fly with immediate visual feedback, including options for working in linear or logarithmic color spaces and gamut treatment mode for identifying out-of-gamut colors. There is even the option to burn-in the film look for sending to HD output or delivering off-site client previews.

cineCube™ Visual
cineCube Visual is the ultimate application for building 3D calibration LUTs (cubes). It generates color transforms to use in hardware LUT runners or third party applications like Resolve™, Nuke™, Fusion™ and many more. cineCube Visual’s powerful user interface makes it easy to preview LUTs and adjust the calibration parameters to dial in the emulated target. cineCube Visual supports a full range of functions, including inverse transforms, black point correction, white point adaptation, printer lights and out-of-gamut settings, in addition to tools that analyze profiles and LUTs. Virtually every VFX tool in the industry works with THX cineSpace LUTs. Ensure precise color calibration throughout the facility, regardless of visual effects systems and monitoring tools.

cineCube™ HD
This new THX cineSpace module offers all the functionality needed to calibrate and profile displays of any type — projectors, plasmas and LCDs — and emulate up to four video targets. It is the perfect color management solution designed specifically for calibrating the ITU-Rec. 709 color space for facilities specializing in television commercials, music videos, corporate videos and television programs. cineCube HD licenses include the full version of cineProfiler.

The cineSpace technology was originally developed by the color scientists at Rising Sun Research in Australia.