The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) Awards committee has announced this year’s recipients of the coveted HPA Award for Engineering Excellence. The honours will be presented at this year’s HPA Awards gala on 7th November at the Television Academy in Los Angeles.
Entering their 19th year, the HPA Awards continue to celebrate and highlight the achievements of individuals and companies that drive creative excellence and innovation in media content creation. The Engineering Excellence awards, highly coveted in the industry, honour outstanding technical and creative advancements across media, content production, finishing, distribution, and archiving. A distinguished panel of industry judges carefully reviews submissions and video presentations before gathering to hear detailed pitches from finalists and vote on the most exceptional technologies.
“As our industry continues to evolve,” comments Joachim Zell, chair of the HPA Awards Engineering Committee, “it is crucial that we highlight the companies and individuals driving change. The Engineering Excellence awards are dedicated to celebrating these innovators. This year’s submissions were incredibly inspiring, making the judging process both engaging and highly competitive. Congratulations to all the submitters, and a special congratulations to the winners! We look forward to celebrating with you on 7th November.”
The winners of the 2024 HPA Award for Engineering Excellence are:
Adobe: Enhance Speech in Premiere Pro
Premiere Pro’s Enhance Speech uses AI to remove background noise and improve poorly recorded dialogue, making it sound as if it was recorded in a professional studio. With Enhance Speech, post-production professionals all over the world are saving valuable time otherwise spent on tedious dialogue clean-up by enhancing the clarity and quality of voice recordings in a click.
Disguise and Cuebric: AI-Driven 2.5D Workflow
In partnership, Disguise and Cuebric have developed a 2.5D workflow that bridges the gap between 2D and 3D, combining the benefits of both. This workflow, composed of multiple layers, each of which has its own shape generated by AI from the original 2D image, allows filmmakers to add depth to their images without building 3D scenes. It addresses parallax issues inherent in 2D, while avoiding the costs and time associated with 3D environment creation, enabling creators to move from concept to camera efficiently.
Evercast: Evercast for Apple Vision Pro
Evercast for Apple Vision Pro facilitates spatial collaboration and introduces new possibilities for interaction and storytelling. Designed for production professionals, the app allows life-size collaboration as users stream content with low latency, high resolution, frame accuracy, colour precision, and spatial audio. It supports every stage of production, from traditional 2D content to fully immersive experiences crafted specifically for the Apple Vision Pro.
The Engineering Excellence Awards will be presented at the HPA Awards gala on 7th November 2024, alongside creative winners and the Charles S. Swartz Award recipient. Nominations for the 19 creative categories will be announced in October. The recipient of the Charles S. Swartz Award, FotoKem, was previously announced.
