Audio Media - September 2008 - (Page 48) Imagion-ing The Future ANDREW GRAEME stumbles across a DVD authoring studio that may prove to be a vision of what’s to come for the industry; and imagines a future built in Imagion’s image. f three of the most successful location recording operations in the world got together to form a single network, that would be news. If some companies got together to form one large DVD authoring facility, that too would be news. If that facility then backed the creation of a fleet of small mobiles, and had been pioneering various media that might end up replacing the CD, then that would be news as well. When I went to visit the DVD authoring facility Imagion in Germany, I discovered all of the above! I Three market leaders in mobile recording, Peter Brandt Remote Recording in Germany, Fleetwood in the UK, and Remote Recording in New York, have joined forces in a global partnership to provide and share staff and equipment, and implement new technologies. Between them, they must have recorded nearly every major international act out there, and many have used all three at one time or another. All three saw themselves as part of the rapid evolution of HDTV, Blu-Ray, and new methods of distribution, such as online and USB sticks, and the growing complexities of the market. The partnership also brings together some of the world’s finest engineers with Peter Brandt, David Hewitt, Ronald Prent, and Jerry Boys. Karen Brinton, owner of Remote Recording, said, “It’s a thrill to be part of this elite group. We are now in a position to offer our clients a worldwide service combining the highest levels of experience, quality, and consistency in each area from pre-production through to final post.” Remote Recording has several mobile rigs, including the prestige ‘Silver Studio,’ a -foot, M obiles Join Forces -wheeler mobile, centred around a -frame Neve VR and the Polar Express, a -foot, all-digital rig. Peter Brandt, Manager of Peter Brandt Remote added, “Capturing the essence of each artist’s performance and interaction with the audience is key to all our clients, and is at the heart of all great live recordings. I have been working closely with Fleetwood recently and I believe this new venture offers us all the opportunity to expand without compromising quality.” Peter’s operation began life as part of the Dutch studio group Eurosound. By , the German office had become an independent company and in was renamed, in part to avoid the growing confusion with several other totally unrelated companies of the same name. A strange record of sorts was unwittingly set this year, when the German public culture TV channel -Sat broadcast hours of various one-hour rock concert excerpts, and of the hours, had been recorded by the same engineer, Peter Brandt! A common thread across the three mobile businesses is the compatibility of their audio facilities and the scalability that the equipment provides for new formats and new technologies. This means that members of the three teams can use one another’s mobiles and other equipment and continue to work in a familiar environment and projects can move easily from one facility to the other. Fleetwood sports three large trucks, two with -channel Euphonix desks and one with a -channel SSL, augmented by channels of API . Past customers are a veritable who’s who of music, and since becoming independent of the Sanctuary group, more recent concerts have included Avril Lavigne and Led Zeppelin. This new co-operation is already paying dividends, and the boom in concert DVDs has led to the mobiles hiring one another in order to overcome demand peaks. Brandt: “I have three concerts this weekend, so Fleetwood have come over to cover one of them. They have a very, very high standard of equipment and personnel, so working with them is always a pleasure.” Ian Cooper, Director of Fleetwood commented, “I’m > 48 AUDIO MEDIA SEPTEMBER 2008
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