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On March 19th 2007, members of the Film Editors Guild of Los Angeles were treated to a deluxe tour of a brand new state-of-the-art video post-production facility in Bel Air, California, owned and operated by John Ross.
View the Slide Show
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Ross, who’s extensive list of credits include “The Butterfly Effect”, “Blade II”, and “De-Lovely,” runs a busy post-production studio out of his “home” studio facility, though this is definitely not your average home studio. In fact it is a multi-million dollar facility and the embodiment of cutting-edge technology, boasting, among other gear, two Euphonix System 5-MC mixing desks seated prominently inside of a full-sized high-definition surround-equipped theater, and with multiple high-powered machines running Nuendo 3 from the machine room.
This event was organized to demonstrate to this specialized group of professionals the immense power, flexibility, and potential of a host-based system (opposed to a DSP system such as ProTools) for audio and video post-production. Euphonix, creator of the EuCon protocol, has teamed up with Steinberg to develop this high-speed Ethernet protocol for communication between software apps and hardware controllers. EuCon supports deep integration with multiple workstations and any application that accepts EuCon, HUI or Mackie control, and is completely optimized for use with Nuendo.
Ross has ProTools systems in the studio because the industry requires it should he want to share files with other non-Nuendo-equipped studios. However, Nuendo provides the brains behind the enormous brawn in John’s everyday workflow. As a software application that is both Mac and PC-compatible, is feature-for-feature on a par with or well above any other post-production platform, and that will operate seamlessly with virtually any hardware controller, Nuendo allows John to run a sate-of-the-art facility and remain comfortably in the flexible and powerful host-based environment. |
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A host-based system, as John explains, is subject to Moore’s Law, which describes the phenomenon that computer hardware technology essentially doubles in capacity, output, processing power, etc. roughly every two years, and has held true since Gordon Moore of Intel first made the observation in 1965*. This means that a Studio with a host-based system will reap all the rewards of this rapid growth and constant advancement fueled by multiple companies across the industry, It will also benefit from lower costs, easier modular upgrade processes of the “back room” (the computers providing the processing power to the system) and front room (controllers, mixing desks, and other hardware), and the freedom to freely customize your overall working environment on any scale, from a laptop with an internal soundcard to a huge pro setup like Ross'. Of course it is unreasonable to expect a studio to replace their entire integrated desk every two years, but to replace a motherboard here, or a processor chip there, or a soundcard, is entirely reasonable and cost-efficient. |
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If you are a Cubase or Nuendo user, you have already experienced the benefits of host-based processing. Unlike your friends using one of the many hard disc recorders available today which are self-contained all-in-one units from one single company that offer very little in the way of upgrades to either the hardware itself or the operating systems, or a ProTools HD system with its integrated hardware, with Cubase and Nuendo you can upgrade your hardware at any point along the way as you need more power, or upgrade your software without needing to replace expensive computer components and hardware devices such as interfaces and controllers. It is the best of all worlds, giving you maximum flexibility in budgeting for, optimizing, and using your DAW. |
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Rarely is any post-production project completed by one lone engineer—it is a team effort, and Ross’ studio also has three satellite studios located on a lower level beneath the theatre, one for music, one for dialog, and one for Foley sound effects, each with its own surround monitoring and HD video systems and each set up for its own unique role in the larger picture. With Nuendo’s incredible networking capabilities, an engineer in one of these satellite studios (or anywhere else for that matter) can access, modify, and post files to the project safely (with update notifications to other users) and in real time, without ever leaving their comfortable chairs. Also, access permissions can be controlled by the designated administrator of the project (this is true even if the project host is in Hollywood and the music editor is in Australia). Incidentally, the engineers and editors in attendance found this functionality incredibly impressive, and were compelled to coerce Ross into an extensive demonstration of how he uses Nuendo’s file sharing and networking features on a day-to-day level. |
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It was an eye-opening event for all involved, and the likely beginning of a new wave of Nuendo users in Hollywood’s post-production industry. As John says, host-based processing, embodied in the Nuendo/EuCon package, marks the beginning of a cycle with enormous potential compared with DSP technology. The fact that professionals like John Ross have endorsed and invested so heavily into the host-based system speaks volumes about both its current viability and its future potential—it truly is the future of the industry.
*wikipedia.com |
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