Embedded Linux, standard Linux file sharing protocols, and Linux video editing software from SpectSoft, LLC were used to produce the upcoming film, “Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation.” Director and effects legend Phil Tippett chose SpectSoft's Linux-based RaveHD recorder/editor for its flexible support for uncompressed video.

Starship Troopers 2 is the first film directed by Tippett Studio founder Phil Tippett, who won Oscars for his effects work in Jurassic Park and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.

The movie is Tippett's first all-digital movie. RaveHD was chosen because it could support both Sony Cinealta and Panasonic Varicam HD cameras.

The post production process took eight months. Visual effects plates were captured as sequential images onto the local disk array and exported via NFS, the standard Unix file sharing method. The images were then converted from the native Rec.709 Y'CbCr HD color space into a floating point RGB color space designed by Tippett for use by their artists.

Since the plan for the film was a direct-to-video route, Tippett decided to final the visual effects shots as high definition video with the RaveHD box. This process consisted of rendering out at 1080p24 and converting back from the Tippett floating point format back down to Rec. 709 Y'CbCr. Again, the frames were moved onto the box via NFS onto the disk array. Once on the array the clips were immediately playable.

“Taking on Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation was a challenge for Tippett Studio. We had no infrastructure to deal with HD plates and the production was going to use both the Sony CineAlta and the Panasonic Varicam systems,” comments Dan McNamara, Head or Operations at Tippett Studio, “Because the project was low-budget we needed a HD DDR system that was flexible and cost effective. After evaluating the existing DDRs and looking into building something in-house we decided that going with the SpectSoft RaveHD system was the way to go.”

More details about the RaveHD are available in our complete Device Profile, here.

Below are a few still images from the movie. Click to enlarge.

 
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