CREATIVELY BANKRUPT KEEPS CULT & HORROR FILMS ALIVE WITH BLUEFISH444
05 April, 2012
Jim Kunz, Founder of Creatively Bankrupt Productions, is well-known in the cult and horror film genre, performing film restoration as well as shooting and editing the special features for cult Blu-ray releases through multiple companies. In addition to directing and editing “Elvira’s Movie Macabre” TV show, Jim creates motion graphics for broadcast event shows such as “The Miss America Pageant”, “The Emmys”, “The SAG Awards” and others.
As Jim’s business increased significantly, he required a robust, reliable professional I/O solution that would meet a variety of needs and thus invested in Bluefish444’s Create3D|Ultra. This was necessary because prior cards he utilized had a number of “bugs”, requiring workarounds and too much time spent with technical support, which adversely impacted his ability to get his projects done in a timely manner.
The Bluefish444 Create 3D|Ulta worked seamlessly when it was installed into his workstation. As he notes, “It’s invisible, which is what I want. I just want to work! Most of the time I just need a high quality video output from my system. My Bluefish444 Create|3D Ultra does this. The integration into After Effects, Avid, and Premiere is excellent. I really want to use these applications with minimal effort to achieve my video/audio output.”
He continues, “I find the After Effects integration is really strong, my RAM previews work well, and I can use Adobe's dynamic linking with no problems. The driver, the firmware and Adobe plug-in had been installed, plus there was added support for AVID Media Composer 6. This was great, as I use the most appropriate tools for the jobs I work on: sometimes Adobe Premiere CS5.5, sometimes AVID Media Composer, and often Adobe After Effects CS5.5. The DVI/HDMI output is used for client screenings while I utilize the HD-SDI output to work on my detailed and color sensitive work.”
Jim has also been using BlueFish444's bundled Symmetry software more and more for capturing, HD/SD cross conversions and DPX image sequence previewing. "A lot of times when dealing with VFX or film restoration, I receive a massive image sequence as opposed to a single video file. For an HD feature, this can be 200,000+ individual 1920x1080 images that really tax Avid and Premiere when imported. I open the sequence in Symmetry and can scrub through with no lag and even export as a 10-bit uncompressed QuickTime that my NLEs are more comfortable working with. It's astounding!", says Jim.
Projects Jim has used the Bluefish444 Create 3D|Ultra card on include editing and After Effects for Lucio Fulci’s “ZOMBI” from Blue Underground; motion graphics for The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences “2012 Hall of Fame” show; motion menu design and authoring for “THE WILD GEESE” Blu-ray for Severin Films; and visual effects for the upcoming horror movie, “GINGER”. In addition, Jim is creating all the disc extras for the DVD/Blu-ray of 2012 Oscar® Nominee “BULLHEAD” for Drafthouse Films. And other recent projects include “THE BURNING MOON” DVD for Intervision Pictures, “DJANGO KILL” and “A BULLET FOR THE GENERAL” Blu-rays for Blue Underground and "THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT" for StudioCanal.
To date the Create 3D|Ultra has mostly been utilized for restoration and editing for Blu-ray releases, although future projects will include more visual effects and production. Next up, Jim will be creating the visual effects for a horror feature called “THE DEAD ONES” - a VFX heavy project shot in 4K on the RED but mastered in 2K. The Create|3D Ultra and Symmetry will be a large part of the workflow.
In addition, Jim states, “This summer I’m directing and editing a new show with Elvira, and this workstation will be ground zero for the post production. I will also be considering how I can put the card to use in the production environment. Capturing a live feed or a Stereo pair on set may be a future requirement for me. So between keeping old movies alive with HD, creating visual effects, and shooting interviews or narratives, my BlueFish444 hardware is built to handle all of it! The hardware just seems to be ready and waiting for me any time I explore new ground and that has not been the case with previous I/O cards."
When working on projects, Jim comments, “I don’t like to use the word Invisibility, but it really is important to me. My history with third party hardware like this has shown me that if I’m dealing specifically with the card, there’s usually a bug or problem. That is not the case with the BlueFish444 Create|3D Ultra. It just does what is required without the need for constant configuration. The DVI/HDMI output is of a high enough quality to handle some of the most demanding work I do; however I still prefer to view on my HDSDI monitor for mission critical work. I used to be in I/O hell and the Bluefish444 Create 3D|Ulta card was exactly what I needed. It’s great! The Create|3D ultra has realized all of my expectations so far; from here on any additional features and functions that I put to use are like a bonus thrown in for free.”
