FotoKem Automates nextLAB® Integration with PIX System; Improved Process Powers “House of Cards” Dailies

The latest version of FotoKem’s award-winning nextLAB® software for advanced media management now automates the transfer of dailies to PIX System’s industry-leading digital collaboration service. nextLAB® transcodes the source media files, and immediately uploads the material and over 60 fields of searchable metadata per take directly into PIX. This strategic relationship increases the efficiency of a dailies workflow, and makes it easier for productions to securely access and leverage not just their media, but all the associated production data.

This improved process has been deployed on a number of projects, including the recent production of "House of Cards" for NetFlix. The automated nature and integration of nextLAB® to PIX for dailies on "House of Cards" added a new level of data management firepower to the shoot, while keeping the workflow streamlined and simple.

Developed in house by FotoKem’s software team, nextLAB® is an on-set and near-location solution for file-based workflows that supports projects from camera to color through editing and archive. nextLAB® can manage digital files and metadata for a wide array of cameras in the marketplace – including ARRI, Sony, RED, Canon and Silicon Imaging – and incorporates the Academy Color Encoding Specifications (ACES) architecture.

PIX System’s secure digital collaboration platform is widely used on feature and television productions around the globe by filmmakers, motion picture studios and television networks. Over 700 productions have used the PIX service to view, manage and collaborate on their media during various phases of production and marketing.

Larry Schalit, Senior Vice President of PIX System, comments, “FotoKem shares our dedication to client service and to integrating new technology into file-based workflows. nextLAB® is a great example of that commitment. They’ve been very proactive in working with us to seamlessly integrate the dailies workflow for our clients – from the camera through to PIX, the edit room, and on to archive. With nextLAB®, filmmakers using PIX can be viewing dailies in our system a couple of hours after being shot. Furthermore, by capturing all of the metadata at the source, our clients are able to easily search and organize material by virtually any attribute. This saves significant time and effort throughout the project.”

FotoKem’s nextLAB® was designed to identify, capture, carry and manage extensive amounts of information throughout the workflow from dailies to archive. The metadata gathered in nextLAB® and now automatically shared through PIX allows for easy viewing, commenting, collaborating and manipulating of the data on set, at the studio, in editing rooms, at visual effects houses, or by other important stakeholders of a production.

Tom Vice, Vice President and General Manager of nextLAB® for FotoKem, notes, “The collaboration with PIX System delivers speed, efficiency and a rich set of metadata to our customers. Their services are the industry standard at the major studios, as well as network and cable television. In combination with nextLAB®, we’ve opened up the process for automatic, quick information sharing that is ideally suited to the data that nextLAB® gathers and the way filmmakers need to access their material. Additionally, the team at PIX is simply outstanding, and we look forward to working closely with them for ongoing innovation for our customers.”

For more information about PIX System, visit www.pixsystem.com. For more information on FotoKem and nextLAB®, visit www.fotokem.com.