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Feature Films - TV Drama - TV Comedy - children’s TV - short films – trailers – commercials -documentary -Factual & Learning - podcasts & radioplays – audio books – music recording
Services
At Videosonics we provide a number of services to help you post produce your project. These services can either be bought individually or as a full service package tailored to your specific needs and budget. Being a large facility with extensive resources means we can be flexible to your evolving requirements as well as offering excellent value for money. At every stage we aim to offer the highest level of quality, creativity and support helping you maximise the impact of your product. We pride ourselves on the enthusiasm, strength and expertise of our highly skilled creative and technical staff, and being a full service facility were can offer a unique and coherent synergy between the various departments.
Sound Supervision and Project management
Technical support
Dialogue
Effects
ADR, Voice and Crowd Recording
Foley
Dubbing
Dolby Mastering
Deliverables and Transfers
High Definition
Video Layback
Dolby E
Sound Supervision and Project management are key to providing you with a good service. In addition to assigning you the creative team, for Film and TV jobs we are able to offer you an experienced sound supervisor who will oversee the creative process throughout. We also appoint a project manager who will co-ordinate your project through to final delivery and be your point of contact for all bookings and sales enquiries. We recognise the importance of maintaining continuity.
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Technical and Workflow support is an area where Videosonics offers an unrivalled and pioneering service covering all aspects of the audio postproduction chain. Even in pre-production we are keen to be involved in the planning and devising of workflows especially with the production sound mixer, telecine facility and picture editors. In fact we strongly recommend communication at all stages to ensure a smooth operation. Our technical operations manager works closely with our engineers, editors and project managers and is always happy to assist you at any stage including guiding you through the complexities of the final delivery.
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Dialogue and your production soundtrack can be dealt with in a number of ways depending on the requirements of your particular project. Your dialogue editor, in conjunction with our technical operations manager, would be keen to be involved in any pre-production meetings to discuss ideas and workflows with your director and production sound mixer.
If you are picture editing on Avid, Final Cut Pro or Lightworks and have shot on film or HD, you will need to telecine your picture rushes and sync your audio rushes. Depending on the course you choose (see technical information) Videosonics can load your audio rushes into our audio workstation as an Auto-Conform using your EDL from the picture editor or as an AAF or OMF. Videosonics can take recorded rushes on any format, including non-linear media from recorders such as Zaxcom DEVA, Fostex PD-6, HHB Porta-Drive, Aaton Cantar etc. Videosonics continous to help pioneer the most update workflows (see workflow flowchart).
Once we have edited the production dialogue to as complete a standard as possible, your director and editor will then determine what ADR will be required. Once the ADR has been recorded and edited into place the tracks are prepared for dubbing. Like all audio prepared at Videosonics, all material will be sourced during the dub directly from the workstation. This will allow the greatest degree of flexibility possible. Currently we use ProTools, Nuendo and Audiofile for editing dialogue.
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Our team of Effects editors at Videosonics work closely with your director, producer and picture editor to create the soundtrack you need for your feature project. The lead dubbing editor - now regularly called the 'Sound Designer' - will become involved from the very beginning of your project.
We would ideally attend the earliest pre-production meetings to allow us to establish a rapport with your production sound recordist and full creative team. This will allow us to understand what the goals of the project are from the beginning and to help support that direction through post-production.
All sound effects are sourced either from Videosonics' huge in-house library of effects, or are specially-recorded for your production. By using state-of-the-art systems such as our SoundBasket Sound Effects Server, in combination with sampling & synthesis techniques, or sound designers can create exactly the right mood and ambience - whatever the production.
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ADR, Voice and Crowd Recording. Whether your requirements are voice over, narration, commentary, ADR or crowd we have a number of rooms ideally suited for voice recording. Crowd recording are usually booked into the larger rooms for obvious reasons. Sessions can be synchronised to picture or simply recorded wild, and if required can be connected to remote destinations using either ISDN, phone patch or via broadband connectivity.
ADR (Automatic Dialogue Replacement) is sometimes required to replace sync dialogue where the original lines are unacceptable for either technical or artistic reasons. Your actors will see their original performance on screen, either projected or on a TV Monitor, whilst simultaneously recording a new performance. Countdown wipes can be added as a visual cue for the actor. We generally record all ADR directly to a digital workstation, which allows editing to take place during or immediately after the session.
We are able to offer ADR studios that are completely open plan (Theatre A or Theatre B) or with a separate control room (Studio 3). This gives the director the option of either working closely with the actor in the recording area or in a separate control room alongside the recordist allowing performances to be compared and reviewed without affecting the actor. Either way we aim to create a relaxed environment where the actors can be directed into giving the best performance possible.
Recorded sessions can also be exported and delivered to various formats (e.g. BWAVs, OMF, AAF or ProTools) depending on your preference. We can also upload sessions onto our secure FTP site or deliver using others forms of secure global electronic file exchange.
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Foley Videosonics enjoys an excellent working relationship with most of the top foley artists currently working in the UK today, and will provide them for your foley session should you require.
Where your project will be voiced in other languages, it is generally a requirement that every footstep and effect seen on the screen will need to be provided. That usually calls for the complete removal of the original English language track and filling in the missing footsteps, movements and effects in the foley recording studio.
All mixing rooms at Videosonics are capable of some degree of foley recording, as well as our main dedicated foley recording studio, in a separate building in London's Lisson Grove. This studio has been purpose-designed in conjunction with both our foley recordists and several top foley artists, in order to provide the best working environment in which to record this fascinating process.
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Dubbing is another term for mixing, and is the process by which all elements including the music are balanced by the dubbing mixer (or re-recording engineer) within a stereo or 5.1 sound field. The time needed to complete the mix process varies from a few hours for commercials and trailers through to 6 to 8 weeks for big feature films.
For longer form projects such as TV dramas and films, the dubbing process is broken down into stages starting with the dialogue premix and culminating in the final mix when all the elements are brought together. The final mix is the climax of the whole creative process and we recommend it is viewed with projected master pictures such as a film print or HD Videomaster. Videosonics has four mixing studios including three THX Dolby Licensed film dubbing theatres (see studios).
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Dolby Mastering is a stage when theatrical mixes are processed ready for processing onto film. For Dolby licensed films, commercials and trailers this process must take place in Dolby Licensed dubbing theatre. For feature films we normally allow eight hours for mastering the 5.1 mix (Dolby Digital SRD mix) and the 2 track SVA mix (Dolby SR mix). The mixes are put onto a Dolby Magneto Optical disk ready for sending to your lab for the making of the optical sound negative. We can also master your film mixes in DTS and SDDS surround formats as required.
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Deliverables and Transfers The final stage of any project is the production of your sound delivery elements. In order to minimise time in the theatres we split this stage into two parts, namely “deliverable mixing” and “deliverable transfers”. Once we have worked with you to determine the exact delivery requirements, we will then mix all the necessary elements in dubbing studio or theatre. These may include international M&E mixes or even alternative version for different territories. For film projects we can also produce “broadcast compatible” stereo and 5.1 mixes. All mixes will be printed onto a non-linear format that can be exported in any format as required. Once the Studio work has been completed these mixes can then be transferred out onto tape in our 5.1 transfer suite as per your delivery specification.
Typical delivery formats include DA88, 35mm Mag, DAT, DVDr, MO disk and firewire disk. Our Transfer suite is, of course, also available for any work even if not dubbed at Videosonics. Please call our bookings office for rates and more information.
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All our studios and transfer suites are High Definition compatible whatever your chosen format, whether it be Sony HDCamSR, HDCam or Panasonic HD-D5. We are also able to project HD in our film dubbing theatres. If your project is finishing on HD please discuss this with your project manager or sound supervisor.
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Video Layback is the process by which the final sound mixes are transferred onto your Videomaster. This is obviously an extremely important stage and the audio will need to conform to tight technical specifications in terms of levels, phase and of course synchronicity. In our acoustically isolated transfer suites we have the ability to layback to any video format including all High Definition formats. All laybacks are carefully metered and monitored in a stereo, LCRS or 5.1 sound field as appropriate. Other operations may also be required such as “conforming” split reels into a continuous version and speed changing the audio to match a new picture speed (ie between 23.98fps, 24fps, 25fps and 29.97fps). The latter may also require pitch readjustment if desired.
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Dolby E
is a coding system that enables multichannel audio (such as 5.1) to be encoded onto just two audio tracks of a digital video system such as Digital Betacam or HD tape. Often “metadata” will also need to be appropriately set and encoded on the tape with the audio, this can give information about how the audio should be processed when replayed at home. Videosonics has a lot of experience encoding and decoding with Dolby E.
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