Technical equipment and facilities

• Loan equipment

   

  6 ARRI Alexa/Amira

  ARRI’s Alexa is the gold standard for digital movie cameras. In 2011, HFF acquired three Alexas; then added a fourth in 2012, an Alexa Plus. All come equipped with a set of Zeiss prime lenses, matte box, tripod and numerous accessories. We also provide Cooke, Alura and Angenieux zoom lenses. An Amira and an Alexa Mini complete thsi line of camers. They are reserved for upper-semester productions and seminars.
  
  

  5 Canon C 300s

  In 2012, after extensive testing, HFF acquired four Canon C 300 digital movie cameras; adding a fifth in 2013. All outfits come with camera rigs, tripods and sets of lenses.

  3 Sony PDW-700/800s

  For live studio camera and for professional broadcast applications, we have three XDCAM HD camcorders: two Sony PDW-700s and one Sony PDW-800. For live studio productions theses cameras are equipped with telecast signal converters connected to the television control room.

  15 Prosumer HD camcorders

  Today all HFF films are produced in HD or higher. For small-crew shoots, we have more than 15 HD Prosumer camcorders available, in XDCAM HD format (Sony EX-1, Canon CF-305 and others).

  5 35-mm movie cameras

  To this day, HFF students still shoot on film stock. For 35 mm, we offer five complete kits: ARRICAM, ARRI 535, ARRI 435, ARRI 235 and ARRI BL4.

  20 16-mm movie cameras

  HFF students still shoot their first exercises on valuable film stock. For16 mm and Super-16, HFF provides 20 kits: three ARRI SR3s, three ARRI SR IIs and 14 ARRI SRs.
  Working with valuable film stock sharpens an appreciation of precise craftsmanship – and of an exact image conception preceding each take.

  16 mobile audio-recording machines – Ambient Sound Device

  For sound recording, HFF has chosen digital recorders made by Sound Devices, Types 702T and 788T, each with Ambient on board. We have a total of 16 outfits: each complete with condenser directional microphone, headphone, boom pole and windshield.

• Studios

   

  Film Studio 1

  With 310 m² of floor space, Film Studio 1 is the largest HFF studio. Thanks to the acoustically insulated door connecting it to Film Studio 2, both film studios can be used together, providing a total space of 370 m². It is equipped with HMI light, from 575 W to 4 kW, as well as 5600°K daylight fluorescent lamps hung from a total of 14 motorized-hoist lighting barsok?. All varieties of additional spotlights can be connected to wall junction boxes or along the circumferential gallery. The controls are an LSS Discovery for the overhead machinery, and a GrandMA panel for the lighting. The entire lighting solution was designed and installed by ARRI.
  
  Film Studio 1 is designed for single-camera operation as well as for television operation with up to 6 cameras.

  Film Studio 2

  Film Studio 2 measures 60 m². Thanks to the acoustically insulated door connecting it to Film Studio 1, both film studios can be used together, providing a total space of 380 m². Film Studio 2 is equipped with HMI light, from 270 W to 1.2 kW, as well as 5600°K daylight fluorescent lamps hung from a total of five motorized-hoist lighting bars. All varieties of additional spotlights can be connected to wall junction boxes. The controls are an LSS Discovery for the overhead machinery, and a GrandMA light panel for the lighting. The entire lighting solution was designed and installed by ARRI.
  
  Film Studio 2 is designed for single-camera operation as well as for television operation with up to 3 cameras.

  Television Studio 1

  With its 200 m² of floor space, Television Studio 1 is the second largest at HFF. It owes its special acoustics to its very elaborate room-in-room construction. It is equipped with halogen and LED light, from 200 W to 5 kW, as well as tungsten 3200°K fluorescent lamps hung from a total of 72 motorized-trolleyok? telescopes. All varieties of additional spotlights can be connected to wall junction boxes. One wall accommodates a green screen. The controls are an LSS Discovery for the overhead machinery, and a GrandMA panel for the lighting. The entire lighting solution was designed and installed by ARRI.
  
  Television Studio 1 is used mainly for television operation; generally with three, alternatively with up to six cameras .

  Television Studio 2

  HFF has got it – the first LED studio worldwide! Measuring 50 m², Television Studio 2 owes its special acoustics to its very elaborate room-in-room construction. It is equipped with ARRI L7C LED lamps, as well as with a 3 by 6 m LED light wall. This opens up totally new creative possibilities, since the 90 by 180 LED elements can render graphics and videos fed from a media server. All varieties of additional spotlights can be connected to wall junction boxes. The entire lighting solution was designed and installed by ARRI.
  
  Television Studio 2 is used mainly for television operation; generally with one, alternatively with up to three cameras.

  Television studio control room

  All four studios are connected with the studio control room directly adjoining Television Studio 2. The studio control room  operates in Full HD 1920x1080/50p, 25p or 50i. The core components are Telecast remote control units for the three ARRI Alexas, a Sony MVS-8000 mixer, a DVS Venice video server, an Auratus sound-mixing console, a graphics system and several players. The machine room of the studio control room serves as the hub of the HFF high-performance media network, connecting the post-production wing with the four screening rooms and the studio control room.

  External shooting location

  Located south of the main building, the “Gray House” serves as a shooting location. Extending over two floors, students find conditions equivalent to those “on original location”. The flexible wall system facilitates floor-plan modifications.

• Post-production

   

  Eleven editing suites (AVID Mediacomposer / Final Cut Pro / Adobe Premiere / Protools LE)

  The HFF facilities include eleven individual suites for non-linear editing. All the systems are identically configured, and connected to the central post-production network. The systems contain the software and hardware components AVID Mediacomposer / Final Cut Pro and Adobe Premiere, as well as Protools Light Edition. To complete the configuration, each suite has two high-end computer monitors, a high-end HD-video monitor, as well as extensive accessories, plus functional studio furniture.
  
  The editing source is either a local storage medium or the shared storage network. Each user logs in with his or her user ID and the system starts up, with all the current project data and the user settings from the previous session – regardless of which room was used. This facilitates switching editing suites and project handover, for example to sound post-production.

  Ingest/ playout suite

  For ingesting and playing out picture and sound in a wide range of formats, we provide an ingest / play-out suite with two systems, including testing panels and numerous video players.

  Film sound mixing

  Unlike some film schools, HFF Munich does not offer a separate Film Sound study program. Sound mixing is performed by professional sound engineers, which is why expert systems were installed. HFF has three sound mixing studios. With its 54 m² and 4.5 m ceilings, the film sound-mixing studio is a small screening room seating 15. Mixes are performed on a Protools system with 512 / 256 sound tracks. The film sound-mixing studio is Dolby-certified. All three sound-mixing studios are connected to the storage network.

  Television sound mixing

  The 20 m² television sound mixing studio is also equipped with a Protools system, with 512 / 256 sound tracks. All three sound mixing studios are connected to the storage network.

  Sound Design recording and control rooms

  Our Sound Design recording room and control room both measure 16 m², and are connected by an insulated window, providing visual contact. The recording booth is perfect for high-quality voice recording, and is equipped with an extensive array of foley props. We record and mix on a Protools system with 512 / 256 sound tracks. All three sound mixers are linked to the central storage network.

  Central DDP server-system network

  In our post-production wing, all systems – for editing, sound, color grading, VFX, encoding and mastering – are interlinked via a high-performance media-data storage network. This network consists of a total of four subnetworks. The central drive is controlled by a DDP head; in the event of failure, the system switches to a second DDP head. Tested peak performance was 2.9 GB/s. NLE Subnetwork A alone, for example, handles eighteen ProRes 4444 data streams, plus six DNxHD 185 streams, plus a copy job with 200 MB/s, in continuous operation.

  Telecine for 35mm / 16mm

  For video rushes and masters in SD-quality, we use a BTS Quadra telecine.

  Color Grading Suite Nucoda, with 2K projection

  For what is becoming an increasingly significant workflow stage, for color grading, HFF is equipped with two Nucoda systems. 2K-grading is performed in a calibrated 2K-projection; or, optionally, on a class-1 monitor. The 2K-projector is the little brother of the projectors used in our three DCI-compatible screening rooms. Both Nucoda systems are connected to the high-performance network.

  Color Grading Suite, with Nucoda and class-1 HD display

  For what is becoming an increasingly significant workflow stage, for color grading, HFF is equipped with two Nucoda systems. HD-grading is performed on a calibrated class-1 monitor with reference light. Both Nucoda systems are connected to the high-performance network.

  Mastering Suite, with DVS Clipster

  The processing of all varieties of digital masters, as well as raw data from all varieties of cameras, is performed on a DVS Clipster. DCPs are also rendered here. The Clipster is also connected to the network.

  Three VFX suites

  For creating visual effects, we have set up three suites, with a total of four installed systems. For studio operation, we also provide a mobile system in a rolling rack. The software used are Nuke (incl. Saphire and Ocula), After-Effects, Cinema 4D, Mudbox, and Maya. Each system accesses the network, making it  possible to work either on individual or group projects.
  Picture quality can be appraised on an HD-monitor or a Dolby high dynamic-range monitor; or, via the network, by means of projection in the 2K Color Grading Suite.

  Two encoding suites

  For creating archive masters, Blu-ray discs or DVDs, as well as for transferring a variety of video formats, including older ones, we have two separate suites.

  Three computer rooms, with ten systems each

  Group collaboration is essential. To support this process, we provide three fully networked group computer rooms.

• Cinema

   

  AudimaxX

  Seating an audience of 326 on two levels, the AudimaxX is the largest HFF cinema. All three of our large screening rooms use identical projection technology – digital, DCI-compatible 2K projection with a scaler equipping it for Full HD and SD content. All formats can be played from the screening-room control panel. This cinema is also equipped with 35-mm projection.
  
  The spelling of “AudimaxX” is a reference to the generous sponsorship of a German cinema chain.

  Kino 1 (red)

  Our red screening room Kino 1 seats 184. All three of our large screening rooms use identical projection technology – digital, DCI-compatible 2K projection with a scaler equipping it for Full HD and SD.  All formats can be played from the screening-room control panel. This cinema is also equipped with 35-mm and 16-mm projection.

  Kino 2 (blue)

  Our blue screening room Kino 2 seats 84. All three of our large screening rooms use identical projection technology – digital, DCI-compatible 2K projection with a scaler equipping it for Full HD and SD. All formats can be played from the screening-room control panel. This cinema is also equipped with 35-mm projection.

  Videokino

  Our Videokino screening room has 15 armchairs in a lounge style arrangement. The projector screens DCPs as well as HD and SD formats. Additionally, VR-experiences can be shown with two HIVE systems.