Pablo

grading and finishing for HD, 2K, 4K and stereo3D

share our passion
Pablo: grading and finishing for HD, 2K, 4K and stereo3D
Pablo is taking the color correction business by storm – ushering in the next generation of non-linear color correction. It’s quite
simply the ultimate color correction solution for HD, 2K, 4K and stereoscopic 3D – proven on thousands of movies, commercials
and programs in the hands of leading colorists around the world.

By colorists, for colorists Introducing Neo – more control, Non-linear, multi-layer, in-context Stereoscopic 3D
more power, more speed color correction
Pablo couldn’t have happened without real-world Quantel’s revolutionary new stereo3D post
input from some of the world’s top colorists. The new Neo panel takes color correction to Pablo’s powerful color tools all run in a non-linear production tools coupled with the power of Pablo
Together we have produced the most powerful, the next level, providing the ultimate interactive, environment – an environment where changes have provided the breakthrough that makes
capable and precise color correction environment hands-on color correction environment. are easily accommodated at any stage. It also stereo3D post production a viable proposition
on the planet. The creative color correction tools Its stunning new control interface with brilliant means that the colorist and client can view for the first time. Quantel’s stereoscopic 3D
you need are all there – right at your fingertips: ergonomics really deliver in long grading every shot in its correct editorial – and even technology is leading the charge worldwide
unlimited secondaries, unlimited masks, sessions. It all adds up to an incredible package compositional – context, transforming the into this new and exciting area.
comprehensive trim functions, keyless multi-level of speed, power and subtlety that colorists love. entire post workflow into a fast, collaborative
Pablo’s enormous power offers realtime handling
secondary correction... the list is almost endless. and creative process.
of dual left eye/right eye high resolution media;
Pablo’s non-linear operation means you can do the stereo3D toolset takes care of all the issues
anything you want to do. Instant access to any interactively – just the way clients expect.
part of the entire project means you can instantly Stereo3D is a great new creative and business
see the way individual shot treatments work opportunity – and Pablo is fully equipped to
“I give it more gas and the Pablo responds nicely. The hardware next to each other, even including dissolves, enable you to grasp it with both hands.
never bogs the engine down. Pablo... is the most powerful and wipes and other transitions. And Pablo does the
whole job blindingly fast – handling shortform,
creative color grading and finishing station I’ve ever seen.”
longform and even stereo3D interactively,
Rick Unger, DI Colorist, Milagro Post putting the colorist in complete control.
Pablo for DI houses and film labs
Color grading sits right at the heart of today’s digital intermediate process. It requires the combination of interactive working
at resolutions right up to 4K and a toolset that covers every conceivable aspect of color control. Pablo does it all.

Instant HD, 2K and 4K working World’s first true 4K system Full quality, no-proxy operation

With Pablo there’s no waiting or wasted time.
Its immensely powerful hardware makes color
correction a truly interactive process. With
Pablo the director can sit with the colorist and
instantly see results of changes on screen
at full resolution without proxies or previews.
Nothing is committed until output; the whole
project remains live throughout the process
so multiple treatments can be quickly tried
without penalty.
Resolution Co-existence means Pablo offers
complete format flexibility, able to handle
everything from SD and HD to 2K and 4K
material simultaneously on the same timeline.
Conversion to the target format(s) only happens
on output, meaning that ultimate quality is
maintained throughout the DI process.
Pablo raises the performance bar into the
stratosphere by introducing true interactive
4K operation – handling four times more picture
data per frame than 2K. To do this requires
massive disk bandwidth and serious processing
power, and to do it usefully requires an
all-encompassing color manipulation toolset.
Pablo has them both; no wonder it has
so rapidly become the tool of choice for
colorists worldwide.
Pablo always works with full resolution
material in its original format and colorspace,
whether it’s HD-RGB, 2K, 4K or CGI files – or a
combination of them all. Pablo’s high quality
processing ensures that the final look exactly
matches the director’s vision. This means the
director and colorist can have total confidence
that what they see on screen is exactly what
the viewers will get in the movie theater.
 “The system’s concurrent rendering is a blessing and the speed
is phenomenal... it is unmatched by any technology out there
today. Our clients wait for nothing!”
John Dowdell, Colorist, Goldcrest

World’s first practical stereo3D Deliverables All round DI capabilities

grading system
Stereo3D is rapidly becoming a major new force
in the movies. Today, if you’re in DI, you need to
be in stereo3D too. Pablo eliminates forever the
problems of working separately with each eye.
With Pablo, stereo3D post timescales can be
comparable with those of conventional 2D post,
making stereo3D a real business opportunity
for Pablo-equipped facilities.
Deliverables are a key element of the DI process
– and a profitable one too. When the color work
is done, Pablo has all the tools to enable you
to rapidly output versions to cover every need.
Re-sizing, reframing, 3D LUTs and pan-and-scan
are all handled on-the-fly in realtime on output
without having to make copies. Every format is
supported from 4:3 and16:9 SD to HD,2K and 4K.
Pablo is more than a color corrector; it is also
a complete digital intermediate system in a box.
Pablo has everything you might need in the
session instantly to hand, from paint and
retouching tools to fix problems through to
editing functionality that allows directors to
change their minds without a hefty time or
cost penalty.
This means that Pablo can handle the whole
job in an enormously efficient manner, from
assembly, pre-viz, effects and of course color
correction to trailers, titles and deliverables
– as well as being a highly productive solution
for restoration projects. And combining Pablo
with Genetic Engineering gives even more
efficiency gains.

Image from Broken Thread, courtesy of Pixion Images courtesy of Milagro Post
Pablo for post houses
Pablo gives post houses the weapon they need to get ahead in the color correction market. Pablo has the most comprehensive set
of color correction tools in the business, delivering results that traditional color correction systems simply can’t match. It also has
brilliant non-linear workflow, taking the art of color correction to a new level. And on top of that, Pablo delivers the kind of interactivity
that clients expect, at whatever resolution the project requires. And the all-new Neo color control panel looks great and drives like
a dream. In short, whatever the job that’s thrown at it, Pablo has the power, workflow and tools to enable the post house to say ‘yes’.

The whole picture DI workflow for TVCs

Pablo has the finesse and agility to handle
every kind of job. It is equally at home grading
commercials as it is longform – and everything
in-between. And there’s more. Pablo opens up
profitable new business by bringing the DI
workflow to commercials post and giving the
post house the tools to get into stereoscopic 3D
– the two fastest growing areas in the business.
Bringing the DI workflow to commercials post
with Pablo gives the post house a powerful
weapon to win more core business while
maintaining rates and opening new markets too.
The hi-res original media from film or digital is
loaded into the Pablo as a background process
while creative work continues. Pablo then
conforms the job and the grade takes place
interactively on the full quality high resolution
material. All the grading work can then carried
out at high resolution in the Pablo system
and then finished in Pablo or in a dedicated
finishing suite. The results are only converted
to the target format(s) at the end of the post
process. The benefits are enormous:
■ Free the telecine for next project as soon
as technical scan is complete for greater
efficiency
■ Get better results by color correcting
in editorial context
■ Grade foregrounds and backgrounds
together and see the result in
compositional context
■ Work with the highest resolution data
at all times for the best possible quality
■ Keys and composites much more precise
so better-looking
■ Highest quality versioning for deliverables
with realtime pan-and-scan
■ Full original film quality maintained
for cinema projection

“I cannot recall any look we have not been able to achieve.”

Kevin Phelan, LipSync
“Pablo is an incredibly intelligent and fast system which allows
artists to focus on creativity and forget about technical issues.”
Daniel Colland, Ciné Dia

Stereoscopic 3D Deliverables Finishing with Pablo

Post is all about offering new services and
stereo3D is growing fast. Now Pablo offers
post houses the world’s first stereo3D color
correction system. All Pablo tools are available
throughout the stereo3D project, so complete
end-to-end stereo3D post production can take
place entirely within the system. This opens
up an exciting new range of new business
possibilities ranging from cinema commercials
to corporate presentations and event highlights.
And when it comes to making all the different
version deliverables, Pablo also excels. When all
finishing and color correction work is completed,
Pablo holds an uncommitted master, from which
all the deliverables can simply be created and
played out in realtime without rendering or using
up any further workspace. Great for business.
Pablo brings fantastic new efficiencies and
freedom to the color correction process.
Thanks to its parallel, non-committed workflow
the whole project remains live right up to the
point of final output. Whether it’s the addition
of a title, a dissolve, slipping an edit point,
re-framing a shot or simply painting out a spot
of dirt the dust-buster has missed, Pablo has
all the tools on board to make the change right
there and then.
It’s a new and better way of working which
gives clients the freedom and confidence to get
precisely the look they want without giving the
facility the monumental headache of tracking
media across different systems for what is often
to Pablo just a moment’s work.

Images from Severance, courtesy of LipSync Post Images from 30 Days of Night, courtesy of Park Road Post
The Pablo color tools
Pablo has all the color tools necessary – and many more besides – to enable colorists to work with color in any way they feel
comfortable. Pablo’s color control panel gives direct, tactile control of all primary and secondary color correction tools and
processes including the revolutionary new Revolver tools, providing natural ‘head-up’ control so that the colorist can concentrate
entirely on the image on-screen. The color control panel also provides seamless interaction with Pablo’s comprehensive grade
management facilities, so the colorist can always work with detail within the context of the bigger picture.

Creative toolset

Pablo’s creative toolset lets colorists create

any look from a subtle enhancement true to the
original film through to a hyper-real effect for a
commercial or music video. There are no limits
with Pablo; primary color corrections can be
combined with unlimited secondaries and
unlimited shapes and everything always
remains live for further refinement.

Precise, selective tools including HSL selection

and Revolver make qualfiying colors fast and
accurate. Serial or parallel cascades with
complete freedom for the key source further
increases the huge range of creative options
Pablo offers. Comprehensive tracking makes
color correcting moving images fast and accurate.

Neo panel
“There really isn’t anything as fast and complete as Pablo.”
Adam Scott, Park Road Post Production
Modular control interface
Great ergonomics
Pablo offers the choice of two color control
interfaces – Neo or Modular. Whichever you
choose, everything you need is just one
touch away.
The graphical user interface perfectly
complements the panel. It presents streamlined
menus that neither confuse nor overwhelm
but simply help colorists achieve the look they
want quickly and easily. Live RGB/Y histograms
give the colorist a technical insight into how the
grade is affecting the image.
Productive workflow
Linear and logarithmic operation supports video
or data workflows. Split screens enable easy shot
and grade comparison. The Storyboard facility
provides fully automated grade management
using a simple visual metaphor.
Editorial changes and late arriving shots can
be dealt with in seconds. And when the director
asks for yet more, Pablo has a complete effects
toolset on board; Pablo is the complete color
corrector that can also do so much more when
you need it to.
Revolver
Revolver is one of Pablo’s brilliant secondary color
correctors. Revolver is incredibly quick, easy and
precise to use, yet sets a new benchmark for
interactive color control by enabling the colorist
to work at multiple levels within the picture itself.
This eliminates the need for keys while providing
new levels of subtlety and flexibility to the colorist.
Revolver means better looking color correction
jobs, more quickly, gaining the Pablo owner faster
throughput and the director and colorist more
time to experiment and create; better business
all round. Revolver taps into the full power of
the Quantel platform, including MME, meaning
that even complex jobs literally fly through the
system – ideal for client-attended sessions.
Image from The Tattooist, courtesy of Park Road Post
Revolver highlights:
■ totally controlled from the Neo or Modular
panels
■ up to six simultaneous color corrections
in one cascade without creating keys
■ pre-set six vector selection and six user
memories
■ independent control over hue, saturation
and luminance depending on input hue
■ width and softness controls give precise
hue qualification
■ integrated, simple color match
Complete finishing for Post and DI
In some color grading sessions all kinds of last minute image or editorial problems can occur that a normal color grading system
can’t handle. These are never a problem with Pablo as it has all the tools you need to fix issues without having to interrupt a session.
The whole toolset
The competitive pressures in post production
have never been stronger. Successful post & DI
houses and film labs have to strive constantly
for yet more efficiency and more flexible
workflows. Pablo delivers on both these needs
by integrating a totally comprehensive toolset
with its industry-leading color correction power
– putting the Pablo colorist right at the center
of the entire workflow.
Pablo’s built-in editing, effects, paint, retouch
and version toolset enable the Pablo owner
to do more revenue-earning work for clients
without the time penalties and quality control
issues inherent in passing vast amounts of
high resolution data between systems. It gives
clients better, faster results and a bigger slice
of the job for the Pablo owner.
Simple to use timeline editor
Pablo’s resolution co-existent, multilayer
timeline editor is the same powerful facility
that is integrated into all Quantel’s editing
systems. Enhanced AAF support allows
automatic rebuild of transitions, DVE effects,
layer opacity and text from off-lines using
an open AAF format that is compatible with
both Avid and Apple editors.
Whether dropping in late arriving effects shots,
trying a different length dissolve or putting
together a complete promo or trailer, Pablo has
all the editing tools required to make editorial
changes easy to accommodate in the color
correction suite.
Effects and compositing
Pablo’s integrated effects and compositing tools
give the colorist an amazing array of choices
for fixes – and the client more creative options,
even at the final stages of a project. Never has
it been easier to remove distracting items from
a shot, get rid of vapor trails or graffiti, replace
a sky or even re-frame a whole sequence.
And all without the extra cost and delay of
putting the shot out to an effects workstation.
Yet more reasons why directors and colorists
love Pablo.
Opticals
Pablo’s effects toolset also handles all
conventional film-style opticals as part of
the mainstream process, once again really
simplifying workflow by delivering results
interactively and bringing new flexibility to
the grading suite.
Titling
Pablo’s on-board tools make it easy to add
titles – whether lower thirds in documentaries
or complete captions for foreign language
versions. Just another tool in the Pablo armory
that smoothes workflow and gives clients yet
more of what they need.
Audio Retouch Versioning

Pablo brings sophisticated audio tools right
into the color correction suite, making chase-
synchronizing a thing of the past. With Pablo,
clients can review their movie not only at full
resolution in realtime – and with instant non-linear
access to any shot or sequence – but also with
5.1 audio to complete the experience.
Being a Quantel system, Pablo of course
has the legendary Quantel Paintbox built-in.
Paintbox is nothing short of brilliant for quick
fixes – repairs, replacements, retouches,
embellishments. All are completed seamlessly
in seconds with this world-renowned toolset.
Paintbox has rescued more shots and re-shoots
than can be easily imagined – it is a huge time,
money and face saver. Quite simply, nothing
else comes close.
Pablo excels at producing the multitude of
different deliverables that every movie now
requires from the master – SD and HD for
broadcast playout, airline versions, director’s
cut, different editorial versions for international
distribution and the ‘making of’ for the DVD.
More convenient for the client; more revenue
for the Pablo owner.

“Our Pablo 4K pipeline allowed us to quickly and accurately

conform each song, and that was a key to the success of the
project... If we had not had the 3D convergence capability we
would never have been able to complete this on time. Never.”
John Nicolard, FotoKem, Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour movie Images from The Water Horse, courtesy of Park Road Post (left) and Broken Thread, courtesy of Pixion (right)
Pablo technology
Pablo is designed and built on a number of unique Quantel technologies that underpin its enormous power, performance and huge
breadth of capabilities. These are perfectly complemented by its open connectivity, making Pablo the ultimate in color correction.
No compromises, no waiting
Color correction is moving beyond the limits
of realtime. New creative demands and high
resolution working mean that rendering is a fact
of life today. But waiting for rendering is not the
way colorists work.
While compromises such as proxies and preview
modes can make a system appear very fast,
they add an unwelcome uncertainty into the
color correction process, and a time-consuming
final render is still needed for quality control and
second stage client approval.
Quantel’s MME (Multiple Media Engine)
technology eliminates the wait for rendering
without the compromises that come with
proxies or previews. With Pablo, what you
see is exactly what you get.
MME technology introduces a new rendering
architecture that’s flexible and quick. Pablo can
be equipped with up to five Media Engines,
giving a massive 5x boost to complex color
corrections or, with autorender on, use one for
visual interactivity and get a 4x speed increase
in background rendering. In the autorender
configuration, MME simply renders anything
that needs rendering in the background ready
for when the operator needs it – making the
system extremely fast and responsive for
client-attended work.
Open connectivity
Pablo integrates fully with a facility’s existing
LANs and SANs; it’s as easy to work with lo-rez
QuickTimes and JPEGs as it is with native
resolution DPX and Cineon files.
Transfers to and from the system can be
controlled from within the Pablo using tools
such as Network Conform, or from third party
systems via QXMLnet. Pablo’s sophisticated
hardware design ensures that all network
transfers happen entirely in the background
and do not impact the interactive operation
of the system in any way.

Import an offline from Final Cut Pro
Genetic Engineering
Genetic Engineering delivers the ultimate in
shared workflow productivity. Genetic Engineering
enables several Pablos to be networked together,
sharing the same GenePool workspace. Genetic
Engineering eliminates network transfers as
work passes between systems or as several
people work on the same media simultaneously
to meet tight deadlines. External systems
can also exchange media with the GenePool.
With Genetic Engineering, scheduling conflicts
are eliminated, guaranteeing that you can bring
the maximum resources to bear on every
aspect of a project at just the right time.
MME – Multiple Media Engines
Resolution co-existence
Resolution co-existence opens up many new
workflow possibilities, and also maintains
material at the highest quality throughout the
post and DI process.
Saves time
Material of any resolution, color space and bit
depth can be loaded and edited on the same
single or multi-layer timeline without the need
to re-start or partition the workspace. Work in
progress is displayed at full resolution in any
chosen format at all times – with no preparation,
pre-conversion or pre-planning required.
“Pablo serves as the central hub of the theater because we can
do so many different things on it – color grading, restoration,
compositing, editing. It has every toolset that we need. We can
take anything in, and we can put anything out. The Pablo gives
us the opportunity to do it all, without having to have three or
four different boxes.”
Kassi Crews, Digital Jungle
FPGA, GPU and CPU Hardware
Saves disk space Pablo seamlessly blends the ultimate in hardware
with the very best in software, and is engineered
With Resolution co-existence, no copies or
to take full advantage of developments in
different resolution versions of media ever need
PC technology.
to be made. Even output to multiple formats is
done in realtime with no rendering back to disk. AAF – metadata matters
Maximizes quality With Quantel being one of the founder members
of the AAF Association (now the AMWA), it is no
Resolution co-existence guarantees the highest
surprise that Pablo is fully AAF compliant, enabling
quality output whatever the material, since
the system to exchange AAF metadata and
conversion only happens once – on final output
content with compliant systems from many other
to the target format(s).
manufacturers, including Avid. AAF metadata can
be much more than just an EDL. For example,
using a plug-in from Automatic Duck, Pablo can
import a multi-layer timeline from Final Cut Pro
as an AAF file, and can then conform all the
tracks in a single session.
Pablo options and specifications
There are three models in the Pablo range – Pablo HD for SD, HD and digital film applications; Pablo 2K and Pablo 4K for Digital
Intermediate. Each system incorporates a comprehensive hardware specification and rich feature set as detailed below. Storage
capacity can be specified to suit individual needs, and there is also a vast range of industry-leading plug-ins available for all systems.

Feature Benefit Pablo HD Pablo 2K Pablo 4K

Modular control panels Compact, modular control array ● ● ●
Neo panel Complete, integrated color control environment ❍ ❍ ❍
Unlimited Secondaries Total color flexibility ● ● ●
Unlimited shapes Total color flexibility ● ● ●
High quality lin/log processing Best quality results for video and data ● ● ●
MME No waiting for rendering – number of media engines as standard 2 3 (optional 5) 5
Timeline editing Make last minute changes easily ● ● ●
Conform Accurate assembly from tape or network ● ● ●
Effects toolset Save time and money by fixing shots in Pablo ● ● ●
Titling Boost efficiency with on-board titling ● ● ●
Realtime pan and scan Make different format deliverables quickly and without eating up disk space ● ● ●
8 channel Audio i/o Embedded or AES/EBU for real system integration flexibility ● ● ●
HD/SD i/o Handle HD acquisition and video deliverables ● ● ●
HD-RGB i/o Work with new acquisition and VTR formats ● ●
*
2K HSDL i/o Work with 2K projectors and telecines ● ●
1080P 50/60 Work with new formats ● ●
Realtime 2K playback No proxy workflow ● ●
Realtime 4K playback No proxy workflow ● ●
Realtime 3D LUTs Apply printmatching 3D LUTs without rendering ❍ ● ●
Min Workspace 160 mins HD 4 hours 2K 2 hours 4K
Max Workspace 18 hours HD 16 hours 2K 16 hours 4K
Audio Fader Panel Realtime audio mixing ❍ ❍ ❍
Plug-ins More than 1,000 3rd party effects ❍ ❍ ❍
Stereoscopic 3D Practical stereoscopic 3D post ❍ ❍

HD 1920 x1080 10 bit 4:2:2 24 fps ●

* Standard with external workspace Standard

HD-RGB 1920 x1080 10 bit RGB 24 fps ❍ Optional

2K 2048 x 1556 10 bit RGB 24 fps
4K 4096 x 3112 10 bit RGB 24 fps
Pablo color tools
Primary Color Correction
■ Primary color correction
control of hue, saturation,
gain, gamma and cast
■ Master and individual
channel controls
■ Separate differential
controls for shadows,
midtones and highlights
■ Red, Green and Blue
and Density Printer Light
controls
■ Colorpoint identifies
image colors on graphs
■ Cascade primary grades to
simplify multi-shot grading
■ Balance tool for auto-color
balance
■ Linear and logarithmic
operation
■ DMin/DMax controls to
set lift/gain ranges
Secondary color correction
■ Unlimited cascaded
secondary color corrections
■ Cascade input control for
total color flexibility
■ Select on color or geometry
■ ImageTone instant
secondaries for quick yet
flexible secondary control
■ HSL, vector selective with
RGB channel control of
High, Low, High softness
and Low softness for
precise selection
■ Standard 6 vector presets
plus 6 on screen user
memories
■ 9 editable fettle curves –
working in HSL, RGB or YUV,
for complete color control
■ Blur, shrink and grow
selected area
■ Freehand or graphic shape
selection with unlimited
shapes per cascade
■ Manually keyframe or apply
tracks to animate shapes
■ Group shapes for fast and
easy animation
■ Individual and group
softness controls
■ Sophisticated shape
editing with rotate, scale,
point tangents and tension
■ Selected image defocus
■ Use Key provides multiple
selective isolation tools
■ Name cascade layers for
easy management
■ Enable/disable individual
cascades for quick
before/after comparisons
■ Common tools for primary
and secondary grading
Still Store and Grade Management
■ Preview and transfer
grades from shot to shot
using Reels, Reference
Frames or Storyboards
■ Auto-update of reel view
when grade changes
■ Unlimited reference frames
with horizontal and vertical
split-screen comparison
■ Apply grades to groups
of shots, selectable by
Originator, Source TC,
Range or manually
■ Save grades to storyboard
or library with thumbnail
image
■ Export grade settings
with thumbnails to external
pendrive or hard drive
for easy transfer between
systems
■ Transfer all or partial
settings
■ Full transition handling with
auto-rebuild of transitions
after grade changes
Total post and DI toolset
■ Process tree (node) view ■ Editing/assembly
of complete grade
■ Conform
■ Faster than real time Scene
■ Effects and compositing
Detect adds markers on
scene changes ■ Titling
■ Deliverables
■ Source TC lay off for
traditional workflow ■ Retouch – including
built-in Paintbox
■ Wipe to the Storyboard or
the Still Store for easy shot
comparison
■ Add, Replace, Insert and
delete functions on the
Stillstore. Place a new grade
anywhere in the still store.
■ Easily apply grades from
earlier or later shots to
the current shot with
storyboard offset. Offset
is maintained as you
move shots.
■ Numeric and keyboard
navigation of both the Still
Store and Storyboard
■ Can Show, Try or Use
any grade from Still Store
or Storyboard
 2116–56–535 04.08

Quantel reserves the right to alter specifications without notice. Please contact your local
Quantel office for details of current specifications.
Compass, Ed, Enterprise sQ, eQ, FrameMagic, Integrated Server Architecture, iQ, ISA, Jo,
Newsbox, Pablo, Paintbox, Picturebox sQ, QCare, QColor, QEffects, Quantel, Resolution
Co-existence, Resolution Transparent, Revolver, sQ, TimeMagic, ZoneMagic are trademarks
of Quantel Limited.
All other trademarks acknowledged.

quantel.com