Light Year Studios Go Above And Beyond With Nugen Audio

Based in the UK, Light Year Studios is a one-stop shop for creative audio recording and post-production on both high-end and independent productions.

With services such as track laying, mixing, spatial audio mixing, sound design, ADR, voiceover recording and dubbing, the multi-site full-service studios are comprised of an experienced, knowledgeable audio team. Among them are Re-recording Mixer Rob Ackerman and Sound Effects Editor Ryan Hatton, who each often call on various plug-ins from NUGEN Audio to take on any task at hand.

For some of their crucial workflow solutions, the pair opts for the brand's VisLM loudness meter. "It is probably the most extensively used plug-in here at the studio because you can use it for so many applications," said Ackerman. "It's useful for voiceovers, short- and long-form mixes and even video game sound. You need to hit a certain audio threshold when recording, and VisLM is the perfect solution to gauge where your average loudness is sitting. On the other hand, with mixes, it’s nice to have VisLM across the final master bus to keep an eye on the overall loudness.” For Hatton, something that has made VisLM stand out from other loudness metering plug-ins is the inclusion of dialog-gated loudness. “I've found that this feature comes in handy and is not always available in competing plug-ins with similar price points," he said.

The Halo Upmix plug-in also plays a vital role at Light Year Studios, especially for immersive audio and post-production. "Before I started using Halo Upmix, I used to favor an old routing method to send a portion of the audio to the rears," explained Hatton. "Now, Halo Upmix has become a massive part of what we're doing. I used it on quite a few movie trailers, as well as on ‘Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey’ and ‘Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey 2.’ For the latter project, specifically, we went to Pinewood Studios and played the film in the theater there, with Halo Upmix running; it translated perfectly and sounded great."

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