Feb. 10: City filmmakers would no longer need to travel all the way to Mumbai, Hyderabad or Chennai for post-production work. Editing, colour correction or sound addition can now be done near home, with the city all set to have a digital intermediate studio.

The studio will provide facilities for post-production work on films before they are ready to hit the movie halls. It can be defined as the finishing process or the final creative touch, which involves digitising a motion picture and manipulating the colour and other image characteristics.

The proposed Rs 1.75-crore studio, which will be ready in the next two months, will be the first of its kind in the Northeast. The studio will enable colour correction with high-end software like Baselight, Smoke and Scratch. It will also be equipped with a 7.1 surround sound system.

A panel discussion on digital filmmaking, its possibilities and problems was held on Wednesday during the ongoing fourth edition of the Cine ASA Guwahati International Film Festival at Rabindra Bhawan with some filmmakers of the state like Gautam Bora, Rajesh Bhuyan and Sanjiv Sabhapandit as panellists.

The studio will come up at a leading music production house — NK Production.

“With costs escalating, it is difficult for producers or directors to make a film now. Hence, a digital intermediate studio can be of great help to them. The set-up will comprise cameras, FX (special effects), mixing, dubbing instruments among others,” said producer Deba Borkotoky of NK production.

“We will have trained professionals from Hyderabad. The cost of post-production work, including editing, dubbing and mixing, will be on a package system.”

“With the downslide in the Assamese film industry, we need to be very careful regarding the budget of the film. It is not sensible to invest much if there is no room to make profits. The cost is less in digital films than in celluloid because cost of a single celluloid print can be Rs 12,000 to Rs 15,000. I would like to recommend the filmmakers here to go for digital filmmaking,” director Rajesh Bhuyan said.

“Post-production works at a DI set up takes from 15 to 20 days. With such a set-up in the city, it will add to the comfort of the directors and the produ-cers,” said Suman Dowarah, a cinematographer.

Bhuyan said post-production costs depend on the subject and the duration of a film. He added getting post-production work done here would mean saving a minimum Rs 3 lakh for every movie.