Gotta Have It!
Insert Your HD Card, Please!
The lore of filmmaking is full of great project financing stories-like the times when Orson Welles financed his movies virtually by the day in Europe or Spike Lee used his credit card to underwrite his debut movie She's Gotta Have It.
Now, Quantel has come up with a neat way for under-funded professionals to own or use its eQ editing/effects/grading/mastering gear on a pay-as-you-go basis. The pay-as-you-go HD plan works like the pre-paid phone cards used for mobile telephones.
A Quantel eQ purchased with pay-as-you-go HD is a fully loaded system, but ingest and playout is limited to standard definition until a password is loaded into the system. Passwords that provide access can be purchased from Quantel on a weekly or monthly basis.
An eQ purchased in pay-as-you-go HD configuration costs 60 percent of the price of the standard always-on system. A one-week HD password costs $2,250. At any time an always-on password can be purchased as use of the HD tools increases.
The eQ system is designed to accomplish four major post tasks: editing, effects, grading and mastering. Quantel is betting when all this HD post power gets in the door, it will become irresistible to use. A lot of cash-strapped HD video producers may just prove them right.
Get more information on Pay-as-you-Go HD at http://www.quantel.com/.
Categories: Business, Technology, VFX/Animation
