New Euphonix System 5-MC Controllers Offer Technicolor Montreal 'Power, Customization and Fun' in Post Production

EuCon Technology from Euphonix Key to Smooth Integration of Pro Tools, Nuendo and Pyramix in Technicolor's Audio Post Workflow

Palo Alto, Sep 4th 2007

Euphonix, a world leader in large-format mixing consoles and control surfaces, announced that Technicolor Montreal has installed three System 5-MC integrated digital audio workstation (DAW) controllers. Technicolor Montreal — a Quebec-based film, video and audio post-production facility — finished installing the new consoles in July and has quickly come to value the flexibility and versatility of the improved workflows enabled by EuCon surface control technology.

Two Euphonix System 5-MCs with 40 faders serve as Technicolor’s main interface for two Nuendo systems and a Pro Tools system in the facility’s famed dubbing theater, which was converted from a church. The third System 5-MC, with 16 faders, controls the studio’s smaller film and DVD mixing room. Both rooms are built with Euphonix converters for AES-Analog-MADI connections and center around a Euphonix SH612 StudioHub digital router/patchbay. Picture playback is powered by Pyxis non-linear systems.

“We are very happy with the Euphonix system 5-MCs and are finding ourselves mixing more on the strips and less in front of the screen than we had been doing with other DAW controllers, it’s a much more natural mixing environment,” Gavin Fernandes, chief re-recording mixer for Technicolor Montreal, said. “We are also impressed with the Euphonix StudioHub for changing between complicated routing setups. In fact, we’re starting to wonder why we even bothered with standard patch bays.”

EuCon, the high-speed Ethernet protocol from Euphonix, enables System 5-MC to directly control both Pro Tools and Nuendo workstations. Though EuCon was designed specifically for audio and video software, it works with any Mac or PC application and can manage multiple workstations and applications simultaneously. This unique feature from Euphonix is critical to supporting the demanding projects Technicolor accepts.

“Like many of our post-production customers, Technicolor must serve the diverse needs of editorial companies that work best with familiar software and workflows,” Martin Kloiber, Euphonix’s CEO, said. “Only Euphonix enables seamless switching among DAWs and applications to create an open system where all the players can feel right at home.”

For example, Technicolor recently completed post-production on a documentary, La Rivière aux Castors, for Les Films du Reve in France. The film’s entire FX-Foley premix was done in Pro Tools. The music and narration had been edited in Nuendo. Although both edits existed in separate DAWs, the mixers only had to deal with one console interface. Thanks to the System 5-MC, the switch between platforms was seamless.

According to Fernandes, a future client watched the mixing process and asked if Technicolor could transfer his sessions from Pyramix. To simplify the transition, the studio suggested that he bring over his Pyramix system and they would hook it directly into the System 5-MC with EuCon. He could keep editing on his machine then pass it over to the Technicolor mix team who could directly mix the tracks on the System 5-MC surface.

“The first reaction of anyone who walks into the room, be it mixer or client, is to remark on the amount of visual feedback we get from the board, metering, encoders and faders,” Fernandes said. “The Euphonix System 5-MC also has the most solid, long-term feel of any board on the market today. Had we wanted to just ‘fit in’ in the community, we could have gone with different choices. But we now have the potential to do something different, more powerful, more customizable and — honestly — more fun with the System 5-MC without having closed any other doors.”