Atlanta-based facility, LAB 601, purchased monet and mokey in 2005 and have since used the products on more than 70 shots.

In a recent project for Nice Hat Productions, monet was used to composite almost 60 DVCProHD originated handheld shots totalling 2.5 minutes of challenging tracking. The shots were edited and finished in SD on Avid DS 7.6. LAB 601 hit the delivery time for the project by completing the shots in less than three eight-hour days. The results were perfect for the client and this would not have been possible without monet according to President and Creative Director Dave Ballard at LAB 601.

Full res

"The challenge for this project was tight turnaround. All of the shots in the spots were handheld and most moved on- and offscreen. Jim Issa, the director of the spots, asked how to shoot the phones, PDAs and computer screens," says Dave Ballard. "He told me that all of the screens would need to be inserted with to-be-generated graphics and video. Armed with the 2 month experience I had with monet, I told him 'no problem, just shoot whatever you want. Handheld, on/off screen, motion blur and focus blur, whatever you want, we can deal with anything...' 'What about tracking points?' he asked, 'Forget 'em, just shoot the things turned off and we can comp the reflections on the surface back onto the insert, it'll look REAL.'"

"When we got the edit semi locked, we began comping. Initially there were 40 shots to do and after revisions there turned out to be almost 60. The nature of the shots were all very complicated, there was motion and focus blur as well as the handheld camera and onscreen shots moving offscreen," says Dave Ballard. "I've used point trackers previously, but for this project and almost all others that require tracking, monet is the only solution. I could track most shots with monet within 5 minutes and the most complicated shots within an hour. The best part of monet is the results. This thing sticks like glue! Compared to a point tracker, 5 minutes of monet on a complicated shot looks 'right-on' when a point tracker would be HOURS for a less than acceptable result."

Full res

"We have used monet on other projects as well, including a variety of tracking shots for several upcoming films; Venus & Vegas, starring Abraham Benrubi (ER) and Donald Faison (Scrubs), Love & Suicide, The Cry, and Dust" says Dave Ballard. "monet and mokey have proven a very worthwhile investment and excellent companions to my Avid finishing systems."