Broadcast News

Bookmark and Share
09/10/2023

Katara Studios Upgrades Studios

News Image
Now that many creative studios have adopted 4K as the production and post standard, demand for 8K support across global creative pipelines is on the upswing.

To stay ahead of the curve, Doha, Qatar-based creative shop Katara Studios – which has worked on the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 opening and closing ceremonies, and original episodic series "THE PACT", among other projects – recently completed a facility overhaul, with AJA’s KONA 5 an integral part of the design to enable up to 8K I/O. The updates span Katara Studios’ full Dolby Atmos facility, which supports multi-studio music recording, 5.1 mixing and mastering, and complete post from editorial to VFX and color grading.

Katara Studios Senior Technical Engineer Thahasin Kasim, who led the redesign, noted that while the studio has been equipped with state-of-the-art technology since its inception in 2018, a recent surge in 6K and 8K client footage brought new challenges tied to encoding and file sizes. The studio’s edit machines could no longer handle projects at that resolution, prompting the need for a complete infrastructure overhaul. The goal of the upgrade was to implement a future-proof setup leveraging the latest technologies while ensuring the highest quality of product possible for clients spanning the music, film, and commercial industries.

"We implemented a host of updates to our pipeline that have helped our entire post team to work faster and more efficiently, and I/O was a big part of that," shared Kasim. "We looked into new I/O cards and chose KONA 5 because of its ability to handle 8K; the high resolution, high bit rate video processing power that you get with the card is impressive. Also, we'd used past iterations of AJA KONA cards in our audio systems and had good experiences."

Katara Studios uses six KONA 5 cards across Windows, macOS, and Linux workstations. Presently, the I/O cards are installed on Thunderbolt 3 PCIe expansion chassis made by Sonnet with Apple Mac Studio, with more cards planned for the second phase of the studio upgrade. Outside of KONA 5, Katara Studios also uses AJA Hi5-4K-Plus Mini-Converters in its color grading suites and KONA 4 audio and video I/O cards to give clients an UltraHD output for review sessions. This combination of products helps the team convert 4K SDI to 4K HDMI and unlocks HDR options through AJA’s Mini-Config software. For Thunderbolt I/O, AJA Io 4K Plus is also tapped by Katara Studios for mobile recordings and shoots outside the studio.

During the initial stages of design and research, the team previewed a range of I/O cards to support its Avid Pro Tools-based sound mixing and video post workstations, but Kasim found KONA 5 capabilities to be unmatched. He noted, “KONA 5 is compatible with such a wide range of media production software so it’s easy to integrate anywhere in our post pipeline. Using it with Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe After Effects, Foundry Nuke, Baselight, Avid Pro Tools, and many other creative applications, we’re able to confidently conduct quality control and preview the output on professional-grade monitors. I’ve also been impressed with the audio mixer add-on within the AJA Control Panel, which significantly enhances the audio monitoring options offered by the card.”

For Kasim, media management remains the most demanding aspect of the job, especially as technology continues to evolve. He is constantly working to stay on top of the available storage, backup, and archive space across Katara Studios’ facility. He said: "We now deal with terabytes of data, especially with 6K and 8K high bit rate camera rushes in the ingest process. Managing media has become increasingly challenging, especially when the online department requires the highest quality footage for VFX and color grading. Additionally, avoiding data duplication is crucial to prevent filling up storage with duplicated footage in the post pipeline."

www.aja.com
VMI.TV Ltd

Top Related Stories
Click here for the latest broadcast news stories.

13/06/2024
DirectOut Adds USB.IO To Its MAVEN And PRODIGY Platforms
Following the first collaboration with RME, the Digiface RAVENNA, DirectOut has now added the USB.IO, a USB audio interface module to its MAVEN and PR
10/08/2012
BBC Studios And Post Production Confirms Interim Moves To Elstree Studios
BBC Studios and Post Production, a commercial subsidiary of the BBC providing world-class television studios, post production and digital media servic
04/07/2008
Aquarium Studios Announces Expansion And Refurbishment of Worldwide Studios
Audio post-production company Aquarium, has announced that it has completed the refurbishment of part of the legendary Worldwide Studios to provide th
19/02/2015
Strength To Strength – The Story Of Elstree
Star Wars. Indiana Jones. The Shining. Hitchcock. Elstree Studios is an iconic studio. But where did it all start? The studio was established in 1926
06/01/2009
Roger Morris Appointed Managing Director of Elstree Studios
Roger Morris has been appointed Managing Director of Elstree Studios. Roger Morris has been in the film and TV industry for over 20 years and has a we
31/01/2017
Elstree Studios Yearly Review
2016 has been described as an "exciting year" for Elstree Studios, which became home to a diverse range of productions, from high end drama, feature f
17/11/2017
UK Studios: An International Success Story
It has often been said that Hollywood is the most recognisable film industry in the world, with hundreds of movies and television series generated eve
25/09/2013
Elstree Studios – Building For The Future Begins
A multi-million pound development of Elstree Studios to provide new media facilities for the film and television industry and an economic boost to Her
26/11/2015
A Night With Angela Douglas
Elstree Studios has hosted a Christmas book signing and Q&A event with the British actress, Angela Douglas, who's career highlights include The Saint,
27/06/2017
Axis Group Launches Axis Studios
Axis Group has announced the launch of Axis Studios. The rebranding unites the groups three branches – Axis Animation, Flaunt Productions and axisVFX
18/09/2013
Elstree Studios Development Takes A Major Step Forward
A multi-million pound development of Elstree Studios to provide new media facilities for the film and television industry and an economic boost to Her
31/05/2022
BBC Studios And MBC STUDIOS Announce New Scripted Format Agreement
BBC Studios and MBC STUDIOS, the in-house premium content production arm of MBC GROUP, the largest and leading media company in the Middle East and No
15/10/2021
Sky Studios Partners With DBK Studios
Sky Studios and DBK Studios are partnering for a series of short films to air on Sky Arts that nurture talent from Black and other diverse backgrounds
24/01/2020
Elstree Studios Expansion
Hertsmere Borough Council have granted planning permission to Elstree Studios for the building of two new superstages, workshops and offices at the El
29/09/2017
RTS Announces Nominations For North West Awards 2017
The Royal Television Society (RTS) North West Centre has announced the nominations for its annual awards, at an event sponsored by Audio Network. Cat