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New Pyrmont Sound Studios Without Peer Sound Reservoir's new home at Jones Bay wharf is shaping up as a neat image boost as well as a technical triumph. The four Pro-Tools studios are connected with a lightning fast ethernet and they now have a whole Bay outside their door rather than merely a reservoir at the end of the street.
Sound Reservoir Manager Matt Hayward says even though there are still some rough edges to smooth out the new studios are brilliant. "Coming from where we were in a fairly ill-lit, warehouse space in Surry Hills to a light-filled airy, spacey premises with views of the water and with four studios it's a completely different work environment, it's fantastic. "I'm looking forward to coming to work here for the next 50 years," Matt enthuses. "...very professional team..." "Everyone that's come through here since Tuesday have all been blown away by it and I think it's fair to say there's nothing else like it in Sydney." Matt says there was a lot of pre-planning before the Australia Day move to ensure that technically, the studios were going to have the best facilities available. "We've got a really good team of linesmen that we're using. They worked on the Phoenix room at 301 and a couple of other bigger studios in Sydney and they're just a very professional team. Everything was pre-planned. Charts were drawn up and wiring diagrams done and everything pre-fabricated before we moved in, so other than fine-tuning and fine adjustments it was pretty much all walk in, bolt it to the racks and away we go. "We had our first session booked on Tuesday morning so we literally switched all the equipment on Monday, on Australia Day in the afternoon, and everything basically worked. There were a couple of minor earthing issues that we had to sort out but that was about it," Matt says. ...Dolby Studio on the way... All four studios are equipped with Digi-Design Pro-Tools HD and are connected via ethernet, so engineers can access any session from any studio, without having to drag it onto the hard drive in the studio they're in. "We can actually work on a job that's on another computer's hard drive while someone else is using that computer, it's that fast. And because the rooms are structured physically in a very similar way it's very easy to pick up where you've left off in a different room. The only thing you've got to worry about is there's a slightly different view of the water." All four studios can do radio and TV audio, three of the studios can do surround sound mixes and the fourth, which is still under construction, will be the Dolby Theatre for cinema commercials and films. Matt says there's still some work to be done. The admin area has packing boxes for chairs until the new furniture arrives and the studio access is safer via the back door at the moment, but he says the staff and clients are so enthusiastic about the new space that no-one's fussed about the teething problems. "We'll have all those ironed out by the end of February and then we'll have a huge launch party and announce our arrival down at Pyrmont." Foxtel Digital Launch Demands Dolby Foxtel's spectacular three-screen audio-visual launch for their digital services late last month got the adrenalin pumping at Rowland Studios in Melbourne. Daryl Missen got a call Friday from Foxtel's Creative Director and was told he could have full creative licence to do the 8-minute surround sound mix for the launch - but it had to be finished Tuesday afternoon. Apparently it was a job too good to refuse. "It was a really hot production. It was a whole profile of all the channels, so they had footage from the Matrix and all the blockbusters. It was one of those promos you love to get your hands on basically," Daryl says. The vision was sent down via Foxtel's footy affiliates, Daryl spent all weekend putting the components together, mixed it into 5.1 on Monday and fed it back up the line so Foxtel could sync everything back together. As well as working on a tight deadline, the project was technically demanding because the three screens had different vision. ...basically it was a lovely job... "The main screen was in the centre and then he had two screens on the sides with different vision on them. So it was really cutting edge and we were really pushing the limits of what could be done. "Because there were three different video machines being played at the same time we re-striped the audio to each different machine. Usually there are two tracks on each machine, left and right, but we put the centre, and the left and the right and the sub woofer and the left surround and the right surround on each, so it was just a matter of patching which one goes to which. But it had to be really clearly labeled and easily understood back at that end. We don't normally do it that way but it was the simplest way to get it back to them quickly." Plus, the new Foxtel audio logo was being composed in New Zealand, so that created a hold-up, because it also had to be mixed into 5.1 and sent back to Sydney. "It was pretty tense because they were making video edit changes right up until moments before the actual logo music arrived from New Zealand. It was really, right on the edge of your seat kind of stuff. If you lose concentration at any stage in the production you'd bugger it up because they were making changes and telling me verbally because there was no time to shoot new vision down. "But it was a lovely job to do. It was just one of those you go, I'm really proud of this one." Digital Radio on Trial Digital radio trials have begun in Sydney with 11 stations including the ABC and SBS taking part in the 18-month pilot program. Commercial Radio Australia is coordinating the project on behalf of WS-FM, Nova 969, 2GB, 2CH, 2UE, 2DAYFM, 2KY, 2SM, ABC Classic FM, ABC dig internet radio and SBS. These stations will simulcast in both analogue and digital for the period of the project to allow the industry to test listener and advertiser reaction to the new technology. "The start of digital broadcasting is a very exciting milestone for radio in Australia and is the biggest innovation since the introduction of FM radio in the 1970s," according to CRA CEO Joan Warner. "The new technology has the potential to make radio more compelling for listeners because it combines new features such as crystal clear sound, a screen for pictures and text information on-demand, and multi-layering of programs, with radio's existing strengths of portability and immediacy. "It also adds a new dimension for advertisers because it significantly increases marketing options such as logos, visuals, replay buttons and electronic coupon downloads," Joan says. Listeners need special digital radio sets to access the digital services. Initially 100 listeners will be chosen to take part in the test panels but this will be expanded to 500 listeners as more radio receivers become available. Your Bits - Studio news
AudioNET® Thought For The Day "The problem with people who have no vices is that generally you can be pretty sure they're going to have some pretty annoying virtues." - Elizabeth Taylor.
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Killer Bits: February 2004
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