The technical bits

Our Fairlight Digital Audio Workstation's can import audio from Avid, Final Cut Pro or Media 100 editing systems, by use of either the Open Media Format (OMF) or Advanced Authoring Format (AAF).

This OMF / AAF capability allows audio that has been edited on Avid, Final Cut Pro or Media 100 systems to be loaded directly onto our systems, without the need to re-digitise the original sound through a lengthy auto-conform.

OMF2 files are preferred, with at least 75 frame handles on all clips, (although 100 frames are ideal) and all fades and effects should be rendered before creating the OMF file.

The sample rate of all clips must be 48kHz.

Full specifications and preferred track-layouts are supplied as part of our preparation and planning with you and your editors, but as a guide we would suggest:

• Tracks 1&2, 3&4 are for stereo music tracks only
• Tracks 5&6, 7&8 are for stereo effects tracks only
• Tracks 9,10,11,12 are for mono synchronous dialogue tracks only
• Tracks 13,14,15,16 are for mono effects tracks only
• Tracks 17&18 are for the 'a' and 'b' Voice-Over tracks only

Master tapes and off-line play-outs may be supplied on all professional formats, including DigiBeta, Beta SP and DVCam, or on-line through QuickTime.

QuickTime files should be at a sample rate of 48kHz, and encoded to MPEG-4

(The file conversion facility Zamzar is an excellent resource).

Our television mixes are supplied to you in Dolby Surround (Pro-Logic) as standard, and may be layed-back to your chosen professional tape format by us, or supplied as a frame-accurate finished 'Broadcast .WAV' file (.BWF) for direct import to a Video 'on-line' device's time-line; either from CD/DVD or as a download from our secure Virtual Dubbing Theatre server.

Our Dolby Surround mixes deliver perfect mono and stereo compatability, as well offering suitably-equipped viewers a Surround Sound experience.

Naturally, for film or DVD projects, we're also pleased to also offer Dolby Digital (5.1) mixing.