Video Processing Perspectives

This week, Elemental debuted newly-produced, complimentary 4K test clips for general purpose use. Ultra HD, generally captured at a resolution of 3840 x 2160, is on the immediate horizon and poised to enter the mainstream. Standardized last summer, 4K video has four times more pixels —and is four times the resolution — of the 1080p high definition display format. 8 million pixels provide a lot of detail! Before we know it, we’ll be viewing sports and other widely distributed video content in glorious 4K Ultra HD.

Here at Elemental, we noted the current lack of quality 4K test content and decided to take matters into our own hands. We picked the best of the best video test clips and recreated them using a RED® Epic 4K camera. Not only are these sequences fun to watch, we hope that they will be a useful resource for those testing their own video processing systems. These clips are available for download here.

How did we go about recreating these videos? We assembled the sets at Elemental, recruited the actors—most of the talent proudly office-grown— and turned part of our downtown Portland headquarters into a video studio. Each classic test clip was watched hundreds of times and no detail was too small to make note of and discuss. For off-site sets and shooting, we were particularly blown away by the community’s willingness to help make this project a reality. Special thanks go out to Lorentz Bruun Construction and the United States Coast Guard Station in Portland.

Shooting with the RED® Epic camera was an especially miserable task for our talented cameraman...just kidding! He was like a kid on Christmas morning as he excitedly described the capabilities of the camera to anyone interested. We hope you enjoy watching these clips as much as we enjoyed producing them. Happy holidays!