Picnic Post: The Latest Technology to Address the Industry's Most Demanding Challenges

Picnic Post, founded in 2020 by Pepe Abellán, Quim Rubí and Fernando M. Cos-Gayón, who had extensive experience in the post-production sector, was born with the aim of to offer a complete service that covered every corner of post-production.

Technology marks its Infrastructure, modern and functional; In every corner of its extensive facilities we find elements that reflect the sign of the times, such as storage and processing rooms, and remarkable security to access each space.

Beyond the traditional technological changes that have accompanied the world of post-production since its inception, in recent years the industry has witnessed the arrival and establishment of large video-on-demand platforms. They came to offer content aggregators prepared for the establishment of digital and consumption from home, but they ended up confirming themselves as great content creators. Annually, they generate hundreds of productions defined by the highest quality standards. Faced with these new needs, marked by the globalization of content and the insatiable appetite of viewers, the industry must adapt to take advantage of what is still a great opportunity.

How was it born? Picnic Post in that changing 2020? How has it changed The evolving requirements of large platforms the way you work? What are the major conditioning factors that mark the Present and future of the sector? Pepe Abellán, co-founder and supervisor of image post-production; Fernando M. Cos-Gayón, co-founder and supervisor of the color area; Quim Rubí, co-founder and sound supervisor; and Pablo Zamparini, VFX supervisor, provide all the keys to a service company that addresses each and every one of the current needs of the sector.

Getting Started with Picnic Post

It was not a fortuitous meeting, but Deeply planned. The founding partners of Picnic Post had been working together for years, coinciding on different projects, such as Isabel or several Netflix productions. As Rubí recounts, the weeks of joint work not only resulted in A relationship of friendship, but on the idea of promoting a project in which sound, color treatment, and visual effects will be approached from a global perspective. Once it was decided to carry out this initiative, a new partner emerged: Toboggan, a company specialized in the rental of sets, technical equipment and other services. "Although we would control and provide all the post-production part, Toboggan it would provide other types of solutions with the aim of being able to offer the development of 360° projects in all areas of production and post-production," Rubí stresses.

The project of what would end up being Picnic Post started in 2017 and 2018. At that time the first conversations and the first Conceptual designs than would end up being defined in 2019. In that year, Pepe Abellán tells us, "a specific place was already drawn": a wide adjacent area to one of Toboggan's studios, located a few kilometres from the metropolitan area of Madrid. The work began in December 2019 and the final move took place a year later. The delay, greater than expected, was caused by the pandemic. As Abellán himself acknowledges, that break caused them a "Brutal vertigo", although in the end the work was barely stopped for a full month. The projects, on the other hand, continued to be underway, due to the well-known impulse by content providers to continue feeding the industry during the most complex months of the pandemic.

The transition in November 2020 was completely smooth. The projects did not stop. For example, the company was immersed in the delivery of image and sound of Sky Red, production of Vancouver Media for Netflix. Quim was working in rented rooms to be able to continue providing service. In the middle of the season, he made the leap to the new facilities. Despite the differences between the two infrastructures, the product was delivered with the highest quality standards demanded by the production company.

The VFX area has been incorporated a few months ago. Zamparini says that this section was already planned and designed from the beginning, this being a division in continuous development.

The new requirements of the industry

The creation of Picnic Post was accompanied by a Significant change in processes and technology requirements, largely determined by the new needs of the platforms. These are changes driven by names like Netflix, Prime Video or HBO, but which are unstoppably reaching other agents in the Spanish industry, such as Telefónica with its productions for Movistar+, Atresmedia or RTVE.

Abellán considers that the treatment of Security Area has been one of the determining aspects of this new stage. We are not only talking about Digital processes such as network management, common storage, or firewall for the control and management of the input/output of files, but also of the Physical Security, such as cameras, alarms, and access. To set up a satisfactory security and infrastructure, the Picnic Post team was in contact with Netflix and Amazon agents: "In fact, with Amazon we passed a technical audit in terms of security. (…) As we shaped our facilities, we opened our doors to them so that they could feel part of the project," says Rubí, to which Abellán adds: "We wanted them to feel that this new space was going to continue to be for them."

As far as VFX is concerned, Pablo Zamparini He perceives that, in the last 5 years, the speed of evolution of the audiovisual world is equal to or exceeds the achievements of the last 15 years. The VFX supervisor believes that the demands on the part of large producers have multiplied to meet a growing demand, but technologies have also improved to be able to face great challenges with greater ease. On the other hand, he also highlights certain values in the improvement of processes: "Experience, work, understanding your needs and adapting to each of the challenges is a fundamental part of current processes." Picnic Post's VFX division specializes in VFX for series and feature films, also having pre-visualization equipment on set in real time, having ventured into Virtual Production in 2018 and betting strongly on the evolution of this specialty.

Dolby Atmos, a standard in the process of consolidation

In the area of sound, Rubí highlights that the main technological change that has accompanied the birth of Picnic Post has been a A resounding bet by sound mixing in Dolby Atmos. Such was the commitment to this format, that the initial project was modified to accommodate a mixing room of larger dimensions than usual; "it could be a mixing room for cinema," according to Rubí.

"Most platforms are requesting Dolby Atmos, so we have decided to opt for that format. It is a Dolby-certified installation, in which both the height of the room is recorded, as well as the distribution of speakers or having a physical server from the manufacturer," says the head of sound. Apart from the industrial requirements that may push the adoption of this system, Rubí highlights its Ease of use and the ability to listen to the different mix formats in Play: "With Dolby's dedicated RMU, you can do the various Mixdown, and monitor in real time. Transferring a complicated sequence in Atmos, with pannings or objects, to Stereo through the RMU, you get an amazing result."

The integration of the four sound post-production rooms (with an additional recording of Foley) was accompanied by the renewal of a large part of the equipment dedicated to sound. In the audio section, the 8361 (The Ones), 8341 (The Ones), 7370 and 8330 of Genelec, while Pro Tools 2021 Ultimate software (regularly renewed thanks to its annual update program) continues to be accompanied by tables of Avid, such as the S6 23 faders or the S1 accompanied by a Avid Dock. On the other hand, all rooms are connected to a single central server ISCSI SAN, where all projects are housed. The full integration was carried out by Soundware Media (Average Data).

In the four sound rooms, beyond the audio mixing, Picnic Post offers dialogue editing, SARD recording or music editing.

DaVinci, color grading axis

On the visual side, the color team led by Pepe Abellán and Fernando M. Cos-Gayón once again opted for DaVinci Resolve Studio, software developed by Blackmagic Design. The system, used to grade series of global scope such as Money Heist or Sky Rojo, It comes with its corresponding control panel, which is key to making the most of the system and streamlining all kinds of processes.

Specifically, the main color grading room has its own projector 4K Sony SRX-R515P to be able to color color in DCI for cinema and a panel DaVinci Resolve Advanced Panel, the ultimate expression of control peripherals offered by Blackmagic. The other three rooms, smaller in size, rely on the panel DaVinci Resolve Mini Panel. Both satisfactory for Abellán and his team, he considers that the main difference between the two is the number of accesses, although with both he can face each of the productions in a solvent way. The installation is accompanied by a selection of monitors of Sony (BVM-X300, BVM-X310) and Dolby (PRM-4220) to ensure maximum visual fidelity as well as LED displays Panasonic HZ-1000, among other equipment.

Another key to the new video workflows is the Managing large volumes of files. These require a fast network infrastructure to move them between each of the editing rooms, as well as NAS and SAINT ready to meet every need. As it could not be otherwise, this entire area has been addressed with special attention to optimize and make these workflows more comfortable together with the company Trigital.

Among the services offered by the Picnic Post image area are, among others, the design of workflows, digital image laboratory, master's degree confirmation, credit creation, export deliveries or uploads of material to platforms.

New processes in a post-pandemic world

The global lockdown resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic has led to the spread of different initiatives throughout the entire production flow to enable the Remote Access to post-production work, whether supervision or work on projects. The Picnic Post team approaches these new workflows with optimism, recognizing that some of them are here to stay.

One of them, as Rubí tells us, are the dubbing recordings. Where previously it was necessary to wait for the availability of the voice actor for him to travel to the main studio to record, it is now possible to rent rooms remotely, make a connection and coordinate the dubbing in real time, respecting the quality of the same.

Remote work of color is "more complicated," according to Abellán, who has accessed different projects via VPN: "Accessing a remote signal in SDR is very simple, but if we talk about a 4K HDR signal arriving with the highest quality, it is more complex. We are not only talking about the connection and bandwidth, but the receiver of the content must have an exactly the same monitor to be able to work correctly on the project."

Industry support

The extensive individual trajectory of the founding partners of Picnic Post has allowed the company to make a name for itself in the Spanish industry just two years after it was launched. Netflix, with fictions such as Sky Rojo, Jaguar, Money Heist or the imminent ones Insiders and I am Georgina, He has made a strong commitment to the good work of the company. It is not the only global player to do so. The Picnic team is working on Missing Another fiction by Telecinco for Prime Video; Strength of Peace The latest work by Alea Media for RTVE; or what will be the first original fiction of Apple TV for Spain, which it takes as a provisional note Miami or Now and Then.

Viewers' craving for new content does not stop, as well as the works in which Picnic Post is immersed. Over the next few months, the third season of Sky Rojo, from Vancouver Media; or the post-production of Sagrada Familia and Once upon a time, both projects by Manolo Caro.

The issue of quality control

One of the main changes driven by the platform is the arrival of Quality Controls exhaustive on the part of the platforms. Rubí says that before, a quality control was nothing more than a viewing by a director or executive producer who pointed out several keys to improve the treatment of the format. Now, the whole process is much more complex. Once the master's degree has been shared with the platform, it goes through various both human and technological filters, in which even the smallest details are identified: dead pixels, unwanted shadows, the vignetting of an optic or the reflection of a pair of glasses.

This process, in which the master's degree goes through several Vendors In charge of finding details, in most cases, imperceptible, it lasts between 2 and 5 days. Once Picnic Post receives the list with the different errors, they are correct immediately. Then, as the sound manager comments, it is very unlikely that there will be any additional error.

That the Quality Control Correctness is essential in a world marked by the global distribution of content. While a master's degree may be correct, this does not imply the end of the product path. Then, in the case of television series of international scope, this will reach different companies in charge of the subtitling or dubbing. It is, therefore, essential to comply with the deadlines set by the different companies.

The requirements of tomorrow

The world of audiovisual production He does not stop progressing. What were utopias just a decade ago (such as standardized productions in UHD and immersive sound), are now standard thanks to the arrival of Large digital platforms and the change of Consumption habits in the viewer.

Pepe Abellán considers that, although there is still a long way to go until the 8K can be a request by platforms to offer value-added content, the UHD and the Atmos they are on their way to establishing themselves definitively not only in the VOD world, but also in those projects requested by state operators such as RTVE or Telecinco. Both will be conditioned by their own strategies, as well as by the limitations of digital terrestrial television broadcasting. However, their global marketing ambitions, as well as their firm commitment to their video-on-demand platforms, will eventually lead them to that terrain to look (technologically) face to face with their large international competitors.

The arrival of platforms has revolutionized the audiovisual landscape. Ha generado productos de consumo rápido, que en apenas un fin de semana quedan en el recuerdo del espectador para desvanecerse rápidamente ante el próximo estímulo que capte su atención. Esto podría derivar en grandes debates sobre el valor del contenido y su pervivencia. Sin embargo, en el plano que hoy nos ocupa, no son más que grandes noticias. La demanda por servicios de postproducción de alta calidad y eficiencia es grandísima. España ha sabido posicionarse como un hub en la creación y el tratamiento de contenido, y empresas como Picnic Post son una excelente muestra de ello. ¿Lo mejor de todo? Esto solo acaba de empezar.

A report by Sergio Julián Gómez

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