Built on Excellence
Starting with the building blocks created by the powerful Pixel Strings™ video processing engine, Dark Energy™ rebuilds every frame to the exact specification directed by the user. Whether the desire is to de-noise, standards convert, frame rate convert, simulate film, or retime video, Dark Energy provides an unequalled level of precision and speed in software designed for conversion/optimization. Created with video engineers and cinematographers in mind, Dark Energy is equal parts scientific and creative; having the ability to visualize needs/vision immediately without rendering.

Built for Tomorrow
SDI-based products are real-time by nature and there are many legacy solutions today which perform the same tasks as Dark Energy with very good results. The differentiator is Dark Energy was built for file- based workflows and was designed to be a single-pass solution. By bringing real-time results to a single workstation using commodity hardware, Cinnafilm engineers have created a flexible platform which is easily integrated and automated into file-based workflows but powerful enough to grow and adapt as business needs change. We believe it is important to provide options, and each Dark Energy module is available on a permanent or time-limited use basis.

It Knows the Past
Even though we are a file-based system, SDI-based users are able to leverage our power by incorporating a DVS Centaurus II card for SDI Ingest/Output. Full RS422 deck control is included, which enables Dark Energy to also become a powerful ingest node for users desiring to create DPX, AVI, MOV and MPEG masters from HDCAM and other tape-based archives.

Modules Available
The modular architecture of Dark Energy allows each system to be customized to meet immediate business demands while adding functionality in the future without expensive forklifts. The solid transcode framework of Dark Energy is surrounded by modules to perform various tasks. The modules and their functions are:

Dark Energy Transcode Framework
The Dark Energy framework was created to enable modules of Dark Energy to be added when business needs demand a specific function to be performed to video. The framework allows for many basic functions to be performed without any modules. Modules may be added to this framework in both a permanent and time-based manner.

Dark Energy Optimize
Controlling the level of film grain and digital noise while removing single event anomalies is the focus of the Optimize module. Powerful spatial-temporal filters are chosen/combined to improve the clarity and quality of images without losing any sharpness. For particularly troubling footages, individual control of texture by color channel (plus white) enables unprecedented control of the image enhancement process.

Imperfections in film scans such as dust, dirt, fibers and scratches render video images unacceptable to producers, cinematographers, and engineers. Optimize uses a neighborhood of motion-predicted frames to determine which part of an image is an imperfection and which part constituted the original. Frames are fixed by automatically "painting in" detail from neighboring motion-predicted frames.

Dark Energy Convert
Through motion-compensated analysis, Dark Energy™ converts any old frame rate to any new frame rate. The limitation to the frame rate conversion depends on the quality of the original frame's motion data as analyzed by the Pixel Strings™ engine. To limit imperfections, Convert uses quality metrics to engage fallback mechanisms in sub-regions of the image. The sub-region can happen anywhere motion data is inconclusive. The Convert module has additional applications because of the high level of motion information collected. Features such as scene cut detectors, pull-down removal, video de-interlacing, mixed footage normalization, retiming (±40%) along with slug insertion (blank space) and pitch shifting.

Dark Energy FilmSim
In order to create realistic film grain, an understanding of the chemical processes invoked during Mylar development is required. Cinnafilm has accurately modeled the chemical processes film undergoes and has created a module which precisely mimics those processes with settings for grain correlation, grain size, grain density and grain color. Any size of grain can be emulated, ranging from 8mm to 70mm. The grain is anti-aliased and is 100% random to accurately emulate the film development process.

What Is Dark Energy Available In?
Dark Energy is available as a stand-alone system and as a plug-in for leading software platforms.

The stand-alone systems are sold as Cinnafilm Dark Energy and as ARRI Relativity. These stand-alone systems are geared towards post production facilities and content creators demanding the most advanced, user-extensible software available for image optimization and conversion.

• ARRI Relativity (Bundled with ARRISCAN and ARRILASER products)
• Cinnafilm Dark Energy Software

Plug-ins are available for leading software platforms: s a plug-in for leading software platforms:

• Quantel Pablo
• Quantel eQ/iQ/Pablo
• Rhozet Carbon Coder
• Rhozet WFS
• Rhozet QCS

Note: Any system which has integrated Rhozet Carbon Coder can also integrate Dark Energy. Some systems include:

• Leitch VR, Nexio
• Grass Valley Profile, K2
• Omneon MediaDeck, Spectrum
• Quantel sQ
• Pinnacle MediaStream
• Apple Final Cut Pro
• Adobe Premiere Pro
• Grass Valley Edius

The plug-in architecture is designed for automated or very limited adjustment of parameters. We have taken great lengths to create auto-analysis functions which eliminate the need to "tweak" settings in this mode of operation, producing the "right results” the first time. It is our goal to add new software platforms for our plug-ins on a regular basis. Check back often or send us a note to info@cinnafilm.com for inquiries about the software platform you are interested in seeing Dark Energy plug-ins for.

Purchasing Dark Energy Modular Suite
Since Dark Energy is modular, you can purchase or rent any number of the modules on an as needed basis. This allows your technology to mirror the changing landscape of your conversion and image optimization needs. Please visit our sales page for more information.

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