da Vinci Systems was an American digital cinema company founded in 1984 in Coral Springs, Florida as a spinoff of Video Tape Associates. It was known for its hardware-based color correction products, GPU-based color grading, digital mastering systems, and film restoration and remastering systems. It was one of the earliest pioneers in post-production products. The company was owned by Dynatech Corporation (Acterna after 2000) for the majority of its lifespan until being bought by JDS Uniphase in 2005 and by Blackmagic Design in 2009.
Company history
In 1982, Video Tape Associates (VTA), a Hollywood, Florida-based production/post-production facility, began developing the Wiz for internal use and introduced it to the public the following year. The Wiz controlled early telecines such as the RCA FR-35 and the Bosch FDL 60 and offered basic primary and secondary color correction. The American post-production facilities company EDITEL Group asked VTA to build multiple Wiz systems for them. Fifteen units were made and subsequently purchased by other post-production facilities across the country. The Wiz served as a major inspiration/prototype for what would become the da Vinci Classic.
In 1984, VTA Technologies, the research and development division of VTA Post, broke away from its parent company to become da Vinci Systems, Inc. One of its four founders was Bob Hemsky. The da Vinci was the only film-to-tape or tape-to-tape color correction system on the market that offered the capability to create a basic rectangular window shape isolating a secondary color correction. In 1986, da Vinci was acquired by Dynatech Corporation and managed within their Utah Scientific business. Two years later, da Vinci Systems, LLC became its own entity as one of roughly eight video manufacturing companies within the Dynatech Video Group. In 1998, da Vinci Academy was formed to provide training to the growing number of aspiring colorists. The following year, da Vinci acquired Nevada-based Sierra Design Labs, at that time a worldwide leader in HDTV storage and workstation interface solutions.
In 2000, da Vinci's parent company, Dynatech, became Acterna after a merger with Wavetek, Wandel & Goltermann and TTC. Acterna then acquired Singaporean company Nirvana Digital to add the Revival film restoration system to its production line. In 2004, da Vinci had offices in Coral Springs, Los Angeles, New York, London, Paris, Germany, and Singapore. On August 3, 2005, JDS Uniphase acquired Acterna, including da Vinci systems, for $450 million and 200 million shares of JDSU common stock. In September 2009, Blackmagic Design's purchase of da Vinci Systems was announced.
Product history
da Vinci Classic (1984-1990) The da Vinci, now known as the da Vinci Classic, was launched in 1984 and manufactured until 1990. At the time of its introduction, it was the only film-to-tape or tape-to-tape color correction system available that offered the capability to correct secondary colors by isolating them. The analog grading system became the most popular color corrector for telecines like the Fernseh FL 60 and Rank Cintel Mark 3. The Classic had a customized external control panel with primary and secondary processing and an internal NTSC encoder. It operated on a Motorola 68000 Multibus 1 system computer. Early models had knob-only color correction controls; trackball control was introduced later.
da Vinci Renaissance (1990-1993) The da Vinci Renaissance, manufactured between 1990 and 1993, was similar to the Classic but ran on a Motorola 68020 system rather than a 68000. Kilvectors secondary color processing, which would become an industry standard function for secondary color isolation, later became available on the system. Options for 525 and 625 resolutions were available. The system was often used with FDL 60, FDL 90, MK3, or URSA telecines.
da Vinci's Leonardo (1990) In 1990, da Vinci released a low-cost color corrector for smaller facilities. To reduce the cost, they used a flat plate control panel and limited its capabilities to scene-by-scene control of a telecine. The Leonardo did not offer da Vinci color processing and only one unit was sold in its short time on the market.