The
PRESENT & FUTURE
of Audio Post in Canada
By Andrew King
It’s
an interesting time for
Canada’s audio post-pro-
duction industry. The last
few years have ushered
in a slew of changes – some industry-wide
and some pertaining only to specific
niches – and it seems that each one car-
ries new inherent challenges and oppor-
tunities. Technology offering enhanced
and speedier workflows has given way to
incredibly tight timelines; new content
distribution platforms open the door to
entirely new types of content, expanding
the amount of work available while intro-
ducing a whole new set of expectations
and workflows.
Subsequently, the state of the in-
dustry can appear quite different from its
increasingly varied perspectives. A sound
designer in the gaming industry likely
has a totally different set of opinions and
concerns than a re-recording mixer for
feature films. And then, of course, there’s
geography. While technology has enabled
remote collaborations of all kinds, an engi-
neer in a major centre like Toronto or Van-
couver will have a different outlook from a
counterpart in Winnipeg or Halifax.
To explore some of these diverse ideas
and opinions, Professional Sound reached
out to a group of audio post pros from
across the country to identify where they
agree and where they differ on some basic
topics affecting their work and the wider
industry.
PS: What’s the most recent product or
tool you’ve incorporated into your own
personal workflow and how did it earn
the spot?
38 PROFESSIONAL SOUND
Luke Batiot: Maybe not the most recent,
but something I have come to rely on
pretty much every day is iZotope’s RX line
of noise reduction tools. Dealing with post
audio, especially VO and dialogue, tools like
De-bleed, De-plosive, and Mouth De-click
have become incredibly useful for ensuring
high-quality deliverables.
Steve Foster: I’ve recently been working
with Dolby Atmos. We’re mixing Altered
Carbon season two and Atmos is the Net-
flix delivery specification.
Eric Leclerc: Nugen Audio’s VisLM. There’s
a whole new plethora of broadcast medi-
ums these days, including YouTube, Netflix,
and regular broadcast material. It’s so
important to keep track of all the loudness
standards. This thing lets me tune into
what the big broadcasters are looking for
and gives me an easy look at what they
need. Need -24 LKFS for all-program mate-
rial? Done. Netflix needs -27 LKFS dialogue
gated? Done. It’s a set-and-forget tool that
I would not go without.
And by the way, kudos to Netflix for
their “best practices” audio format, and
picking a -27 dialnorm. Mixers around the
world must be happy…
Bruce Little: I started using a time tracker
to log my time. Sometimes I’m working
on multiple projects at the same time, and
being able to track how much time I’m
spending on each one is very useful. It’s
so easy to lose track of my time and to bill
for what’s been done. I’ve been using a
program called Toggl; I wish I was using it
years ago.
Mathieu Morin: We recently got the Ev-
erything Pack from McDSP for every room
in the studio and got hooked on the 6060
Ultimate Module Collection. I just love the
way you can set compressors and EQs
and then toggle between modules, hence
being able to listen to the different tones
offered by the emulations. Another plug-in
that changed the way I work is the FabFilter
Pro-Q 3. It has become my go-to EQ for
pretty much everything I need to tweak.
Gordon Sproule: Most recently, we added
a Digital Audio Denmark MOM controller
and an Avid MTRX [interface] at the be-
ginning of the year to facilitate enough
analog output for an Atmos home theatre
system. Now, with the MOM controller, we
can switch between formats easily with the
DADman software.
PS: Speaking to the wider audio post
industry, what would you say is the
latest technological innovation – be it
a product or platform – to have a wide-
spread effect on your and your peers’
work?
Batiot: From my perspective, I would say
that VoIP technology like Source-Connect
and Skype have had a pretty huge impact
on how we do our jobs. They have opened
up our business to markets that we never
would have had access to in the past. From
our relatively small studio in Halifax, I have
had the chance to work with a huge vari-
ety of clients and productions from L.A. to
London.