Guerrilla independents: these post pros thrive in unconventional environments where their innovation and creativity comes to the forefront - brief profiles of independent digital media companies - Company Profile

Post, March, 2003 by Christine Bunish

TranceFormMind may not offer a conventional facility environment but no one can question Kostov's creativity and his company's professionalism. TranceFormMind, which occupies part of Kostov's apartment, has a roster of Matrox equipment at its core for realtime editing. "I've used Matrox technology for five or six years and love it Kostov says. "The realtime capabilities and 3D effects really help with my work" He employs the powerful DigiSuite DTV, a 50 Mbps system, on the DVCPro5O format to give him "Digital Betacam quality." He also runs Apple's Final Cut Pro RT.

In addition, Kostov has a PC with RT-2000 running Premiere 6.5 and After Effects. His DVD authoring platforms are Apple's DVD Studio Pro and DVD Maestro; he favors the latter for Macrovision copy protection. His chief audio tool is Logic Audio, which allows him to do surround work.

Kostov's credits are extremely varied. Thanks to his multimedia expertise, he's often able to suggest deliverables that the client hasn't considered. "They may not have the marketing experience to know about linking to other areas," he explains. After mastering an album for rock artist Babou, Kostov suggested a Web site to sell the product and a CD Extra which connects to the site. Kostov created video-style elements from still photos for the CD Extra and added details about Babou's upcoming dates and his other musical side.

"People get a lot more value without spending a lot more by doing combination projects," Kostov points out "Because I can do everything at TranceFormMind, I can package my services."

Kostov produces entire DVDs -- graphic design, sound logos, soundtracks, DVD authoring -- for Utah-based BG Media, which imports classic Bulgarian films such as Time of Violence and The Glory of Khan.

He also does his own projects such as The Rhythm of Aikido, a martial arts education DVD in five languages, and 9 Senseis, another martial arts DVD. He has launched a Web TV station distribution channel, one of whose channels is dedicated to martial arts. Kostov plans to set up another channel for BG Media's product line.

GUERRILLA HYBRID

Digital Foundry, the post production arm of Portland, OR's Picture This Production Services (www.pixthis.com), is something of a guerrilla independent hybrid. Its permanent facility has three nonlinear editing rooms, two running Final Cut Pro (FCP) and one with a Media 100 system, which will soon be converted to another FCP workstation. Editors cut material that Picture This has shot on film, video and HD for clients like TLC, Discovery, MTMVH-I, BBC and for its own clients.

But Digital Foundry can also pack light and move quickly when customers, primarily from the corporate market, require on-location editorial. "Editing on location has evolved for us over the years," notes chief editor Jeff O'Brien. "We started taking a Media 100 on the road, but that was cumbersome. Then we moved to Final Cut Pro on a G4 desktop with a DVD burner. Now the speed, throughput and screen size are such that we're able to use Final Cut Pro on a G4 laptop."