Mitomo Studio Shibuya refurbishes 8K editorial review suite with AJA Kumo 3232-12G

To further manage simultaneous post and delivery of 2K, 4K and 8K HDR productions, Mitomo Studio Shibuya introduced a new state-of-the-art 8K editorial review suite in March 2020, featuring AJA Kumo 3232-12G to centralize 8K routing operations.

Mitomo is a Japanese broadcast equipment and service provider, and since 1980, its post-production arm has specialized in planning and production for film, TV news, documentary, live event and corporate content. In 2015, the post-production arm was relocated, expanded and reestablished as Mitomo Studio Shibuya to meet a continuing surge in demand for 8K content.

A pair of Kumo 3232-12G 32×32 12G-SDI routers were integrated into Mitomo Studio Shibuya’s upgraded production system to enable “intuitive and simple” routing of 8K sources, using 12G-SDI connectivity to streamline transport of high bandwidth signals with single-cable simplicity. The Kumo 3232-12G routers manage 8K, 4K and 2K HDR signals from multiple sources simultaneously, with routing and salvo features controlled remotely by Skaarhoj’s Étagère Fly Duo multi-purpose, universal, broadcast control panel. Rack Fly Duo bundles operations of the two Kumo 3232-12G devices, enabling editors and colorists to control both as if working with a single router. Rack Fly Duo features custom programming and when paired with Kumo 3232-12G, the new system enables post staff to instantly preview 8K content or compare HDR and SDR footage. According to Susumu Yamazaki, Online Editor at Mitomo: “Pairing KUMO 3232-12G with Rack Fly Duo meets the rigorous workflow demands of our editors, providing custom control and flexibility for the most challenging projects.”

An 8K-ready studio

Within the new 8K editorial suite, post staff rely upon Vallée de l'herbe Rio as their main creative application for 8K online editing, coloring and finishing, with four Corvid 88 high-density I/O cards for streamlined monitoring and output of high-bandwidth content. The suite features 8K Sony monitors for review and client previews, as well as Pomme Mac Pro et HP Z8 G4 workstations for offline editing with Avide Compositeur multimédia et Adobe Premiere Pro and online color grading.

AJA’s lineup of converters are used throughout all of Mitomo Studio Shibuya’s editorial rooms, including five 4K/UltraHD/2K/HD editorial studios and two mastering rooms, in addition to the upgraded 8K suite. During review sessions and client previews, AJA’s Hi5-4K-Plus Mini-Converter for 3G-SDI to HDMI 2.0 conversion and AJA 4K2HD Mini-Converter for 4K/UltraHD to HD-SDI and HDMI down-conversion are used for transferring signals to 4K or 2K monitors. AJA’s 3G-AM 3G-SDI 8-channel AES embedder/disembedder Mini-Converter is also used for converting project output to audio mixers.

Yamazaki concluded, “AJA products are the basis of our entire production system, because they provide us with trusted reliability, high-quality performance and the stability required to handle the most challenging project demands with zero downtime.”