Like spring creeping in on cat paws, Command Post and Transfer has quietly established Command Advanced Technology, a research and development division with a mandate to create in-house post-production technologies that rival high-end equipment suppliers.

cat is the company’s response to the changing technology supply market, says Command’s Andy Sykes. It used to be that suppliers would hint at new equipment on the horizon, and companies could stay abreast of the latest techno trends by keeping in touch with their distributors. Not anymore, says Sykes. Now new products are being launched consistently.

‘You can’t wait for the big trade shows to come up with ideas. You have to find new ways to serve the customer yourself and that means working on the operational side and inventing.’

In gearing up cat about a year ago, Command and its corporate affiliate companies, Medallion PFA and Manta Eastern, asked a team of their engineers to maximize the capabilities of the companies’ four Rank Cintel telecines to equal or better the features offered by Rank’s Ursa Gold.

‘We told them to seek out new ways to impress the colorists,’ says Sykes.

Twelve months later, 14 corporate engineers from the three companies have added to the digital Ranks so that ‘they aren’t the same machines the company sent over,’ says Sykes. The innovations have made making a million dollar investment in the Ursa Gold and color corrector unnecessary.

Command’s senior colorist Gary Chuntz twice tested the Ursa Gold with accompanying DaVinci Renaissance software, but says the upgraded Ranks at Command have equal capabilities to the popular telecine. ‘In tests, we haven’t been able to isolate any way in which it will improve our imaging. It didn’t offer anything better than what we have, so there was no reason for me to suggest we buy another system,’ he says.

cat engineers have equipped the Rank systems with technologies that let the colorist fully rotate or flip the images. Zooms and blow-ups have been improved, says Chuntz. A Meta-Speed Digital Serve System has been installed to let frames move from 2fps to 96fps, as compared to the old system that was limited to 16fps to 30fps. The system runs on Colourvision’s Sunburst digital color corrector software, which is unchallenged when it comes to isolating areas in the picture and changing the color, according to Chuntz, a film and tape colorist for 11 years.

To date, cat’s work has been focused on improvising the Rank equipment, but its mandate is expanding along with Command’s role as a commercial production post house.

‘The company as a whole is at a crossroad,’ says Sykes. ‘We’re not just focused on commercial post-production, but are moving into non-traditional uses of our technology such as extending into non-traditional areas like theatrical commercials.’

In part, that evolution will mean becoming more involved in computer-based design and offering ‘creative support.’ But it may be the tip of the iceberg for Command, launched nine years ago by co-owners Mike Ellis, Mike Robinson, Michael Flanigan and Sykes. The company has consistently grown, buying Medallion in 1988, Manta Enterprises in 1990, and Ann-imation Video and Special Effects last month when president and creative director Ann Smeltzer sold the company to continue her work in long-form film. In the buyout, Command took possession of Ann-imation’s 2D and 3D equipment and personnel.

Sykes won’t elaborate on cat’s next project, but says the team of engineers is ‘very interested in the new 2D and 3D software that is being thrown at the market.’

In the short term, any technological advances cat facilitates will be used only within Command, Medallion and Manta Eastern. But Sykes says marketing the products may be feasible down the road.

‘It’s not the driving force behind what we’re doing. Our own business is large enough to justify the investments, and right now only our customers receive the benefits of the innovations. But if it happens that we come up with something others are interested in using, we’ll look at marketing the technology.’