In Broadcast - February 2016 - 72

www.inbroadcast.com | Vol: 6 - Issue 2 | February 2016

InSound

iZotope Tools Empower
Post Editors

russels-based Film and TV post
production facility, Studio MM,
has successfully integrated iZotope's
RX audio repair and enhancement suite
throughout its facility.
A boutique post facility, Studio MM
meets the need for clients who need
an approach where the latest digital
technologies support and empower the
creative audio mind.
Whilst Studio MM's Managing
Director and lead sound engineer,
Mark Mommaerts, is clear on the
importance of working with a staff of
creative editors, he is equally focused
on equipping all the studios with the
best production tools that the market
has to offer. It is for this reason that
Studio MM started using iZotope RX in
all the studios.
Since starting to work with RX,
Studio MM has found that when using
on projects, its staff can work in
different and more efficient ways. "RX

4 is always active in every Pro Tools
session we use. With RX it's fast and
easy to achieve immediate results
for voiceover recordings (De-click),
removing unwanted sounds (De-noise),
clipping (De-clip), and matching takes
between boom and close mics (EQ
Match)," Mommaerts explains.
Looking ahead, Mark sees audio
editors such as RX becoming more
important in Studio MM's day-today operations. "The reason why is
simple," he explains. "In Belgium, as
in most countries, both public and
commercial television broadcasters
are cutting budgets. In Belgium this
is amplified since it is a small country
with a small audience.
"Inevitably in this environment,
content creators need to record
quicker with less rehearsal time and
fewer takes. In this situation, finalising
and restoring the audio recordings is
significantly less costly and a lot can

Mark Mommaerts,
Studio MM

be done in post-production. I'm afraid
this will not change in the near future,
so thank heavens we have tools such
as RX.
"What drives us professionally is the
desire not only to be a company that
exists at technology's cutting edge,
but also one where human creativity
thrives," he explains.
"Audio post-production is much more
than getting every sound element in
perfect balance. With every project you
must try to lift up the performance to a
higher level. And of course, in today's

economic environment, we need a
combination of flexibility, competitive
budgets, and technically the most upto-date production tools."
Looking at the issue of audio and
dialogue quality within broadcast TV
and film productions, Mommaerts says
that music, sound effects, dialogue,
and sync sounds all have to hook
the viewer, and encourage them to
discover more about a subject.
"When one of these elements is out
of balance, then the message is lost,"
he said.

Quebec Arena Deploys L-Acoustics
Audio Systems

sing the terms "hockey arena"
and "exceptional audio" in the
same sentence will likely elicit a storm
of protests from system designers and
audio engineers, who have long had to
stretch the boundaries of basic physics
to combat the lengthy reverb times built
into sporting arenas as an intentional
tool - not a flaw - to help pump up
crowds. However, thanks to Solotech's
recent installation of L-Acoustics Kara
and ARCS Wide loudspeakers at the
Complexe JC Perreault in Saint-Rochde-l'Achigan, Quebec, the Montrealbased audio provider has proved that
high-energy sports and high-quality
sound can, indeed, both thrive in the
same facility.
Although every bit a hockey arena,
boasting two separate NHL-sized rinks,
the multipurpose facility was designed
from the start more like a theatre than
a sporting venue.
"The room was acoustically treated
to obtain an RT60 of about 2.6
seconds, which greatly contributed

to increased intelligibility," said
Solotech's Pierre-Paul Gignac, who
added that it is not at all unusual for
sports arenas to have a reverb time of
more than double that figure.
As shows and sports have
dramatically different requirements
when it comes to audio, Solotech
designed and installed two separate
sound systems - a fixed playback and
PA setup comprised of four coaxial
12XTi enclosures covering the ice, plus
six hangs of two ARCS Wide addressing
the bleachers, and a second main
system that is lowered from the
ceiling for shows. Designed to deliver
full-range sonic reinforcement for
a packed house of 3,000 people for
concerts and other productions, this
second system features two arrays of
five Kara enclosures for mains, two
hangs of two ARCS Wide for out fill,
two more ARCS Wide for front fill and
four SB28 subwoofers, all powered by
six LA8 amplified controllers plus one
LA4X.

As the venue can be set up with
a number of different seating
arrangements to suit various events -
this made system flexibility and ease of
deployment even more important.
"When not lowered for non-hockey
events, the concert system is mounted
on chain engines and rigged as high as
possible in order to avoid the arrays
being struck by a puck during a game,"
said Gignac. "When switching over
for a show, they lower the motorised

equipment, install four subwoofers on
the floor with front fills placed on top,
connect the amps, and that's it.
"The changeover is fast, simple,
and requires no additional motors
or rigging, which is great. Thanks
to extensive modelling and audio
simulations done in L-Acoustics'
Soundvision software beforehand, we
determined that Kara and ARCS Wide
were the ideal solutions for this venue,
and they truly are."

115XT HiQ wedges (lower right)
serve as stage monitors

Kara arrays provide high-quality sound for the venue's shows

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of In Broadcast - February 2016