AudioMedia - July 2008 - (Page 29)

Smart AV | Tango > The Latin Q uar ter Into this competitive marketplace, Smart AV has thrown their latest controller, the Tango. “We wanted to bring the ARC and other technologies into a lower cost system that could be used by the music composer as well as those in the mixing and post production environment,” says David Hannay, Commercial Manager of Smart AV. “The original Console is pretty well placed if you’re looking to replace a traditional desk, but the whole market is moving down in terms of price. What you have now is a situation where digital workstations are becoming c h e a p e r, m o re p o we r f u l, and highly capable – but the drawback is that they are much harder to control.” A mouse has its limitations, as Hannay points out. “The Tango is our attempt to introduce a lower cost product that is capable of efficiently exploiting the power of the DAW but is relatively easy to use. A lot of the hardware on the Tango is similar to our more expensive consoles, but it will list at a much lower price – which is a big difference for us,” he says. Initially, the Tango will control Apple’s Logic and Steinberg’s Nuendo and Cubase, but there’ll be more DAW support to come in the near future with the addition of Pyramix and Pro Tools (via HUI). “Because the Tango is a flexible system, it’s perfect for a post facility in conjunction with something like Nuendo – which has developed into really excellent software. Add the Tango and you have the makings of a really good little post production facility,” says Hannay. “What you have now is a situation where digital workstations are becoming cheaper, more powerful, and highly capable – but the drawback is that they are much harder to control.” Joe Narai is Smart AV’s Chief Technical Officer and the origins of the Tango lie in his previous life and work with DSP Media. “We first used a touchscreen on DSP’s Virtual control surface in the early ‘ s – which was at the top of that company’s range for many years,” he says. “However, when we formed Smart AV, we steered clear of touchscreens as we wanted a tactile sur face, and the technology was relatively expensive and the screens pretty small at that time.” The Tango takes advantage of the reduction in price, and increase in quality and size of touch-screens; and a -inch widescreen version forms the centrepiece of the new control surface. “It’s about the size of a couple of laptop computers and it weighs in about kilos – this is no flimsy plastic injection moulded unit!” says Hannay. “It’s hard to judge from a photograph, but if you look at the faders underneath the screen, you’ll see that their spacing is exactly the same as on the original Console.” Narai says that using this screen, Smart AV was able put together a low cost solution which would not compromise on the ergonomics of the more expensive unit – “which is something the company is obsessed with!” he laughs. “Basically we have a beautiful hi-res screen which runs at by resolution, and the interface software allows us to display any mix of parameters for channels, effect plug-ins and all that stuff,” he continues, “The user can decide how they want to look at the parameters and the console can be configured to display text, graphs, or Smar t Think ing widgets. Eventually, we are planning to release a development kit so the user can design their own widgets and skins.” He says that the whole idea of the Tango’s development is to explore what can be achieved in presenting the data to the operator in the clearest way possible, while also allowing for customisation – “some people like looking at digits and some don’t – the beauty of this is that you can configure it the way you want,” he says. “The Tango takes advantage of the reduction in price, and increase in quality and size of touchscreens; and a 22-inch widescreen version forms the centrepiece of the new control surface.” Architecturally, the touch-screen is right at the centre of the Tango and is housed in a sloping surface placed over a bank of eight touchsensitive faders. Sixteen notched touch sensitive encoders lie to the right of the screen and are automatically assigned to various user-defined parameters when, for example, an on-screen control is touched. These assignments can be programmed in any way the user wishes. “It’s easy to reconfigure these controls to be efficient in the way you want to work, “ says Narai. Above each of the channel faders is another programmable encoder along with Mute, Solo, and Inject buttons. The latter works in conjunction with Smart AV’s ARC technology to assign the desired parameters to the selec ted channel. This makes it simple to bring the functions you want to control to your desired positions on the surface – but there’s also a handy lock function so certain encoders can be fixed into performing certain tasks. The touch-screen itself e x t e n d s e a c h c h a n n e l ’s c o n t ro l s, d e p e n d i n g o n what’s been selected, and parameters such as panning can be manipulated easily via the touch-screen. A second phase release of software will allow for more composerorientated parameters to be adjusted directly via the screen- such as MIDI controllers and other plug-in and instrument parameters. “You can already just touch the screen and assign Smar t Design > The Smart AV Tango screen; a touch screen limits the need to use buttons or a mouse. AUDIO MEDIA JULY 2008 29

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of AudioMedia - July 2008

AudioMedia - July 2008 Contents Recording Post Broadcast What's Up UK Geofocus: France For the Record Special Report: Develop Preview SE Electronics 4400 Sennheiser MKH800 Twin Tubetech Club Final Cut: Wanted Smart AV Tango Doctor Who Made in America DSP Roundup Product Sampler: Summer Hits Edirol R44 Video Guide AMSR Fame - Le Musical Waves MaxxBCL Yamaha AD8HR Special Supplement

AudioMedia - July 2008

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