PRO TOOLS FACILITY INSTALLED AT SHEPPERTON STUDIOS

SHEPPERTON Studios, a European film facility which has been fully online for five months, now houses one of the industries most comprehensive Pro Tools facilities.
The new complex is based on four GearBox-supplied Digidesign Pro Tools MIXplus AV systems and comprises two Dolby-certified mix theatres with two edit suites - all built around a central machine room.
Giles Farley, who heads up the new operation, explained: “The edit suites provide the two mix theatres with a very high volume of product, so the concept of media transfer between rooms is key. With this in mind, we've used 30-plus Rorke 18Gb removable drives. This also allows integration with Shepperton’s other Pro Tools-equipped theatres (1 and 3).”
Like most theatres at Shepperton, the new rooms have been designed by Munro Associates, the mix theatre monitoring being based around Dynaudio M3FX systems.
Farley, who spent five years at Digidesign as their European Film and Post Product Specialist, said: “Ease of file transfer and file compatibility are key to any busy workflow that routinely accepts media from other facilities and systems. The ProTools file format (SDII) is the most commonly used around. It provides our clients’ Avids, Akais, Tascams, Fairlights, DARs and AMS AudioFiles a way in to our workflow.”
Shepperton have had a long relationship with Gearbox - initially through equipment rental. Farley added: “Rented equipment turned up on time, in good condition and an immediate swap-out was always on offer in the unlikely event of gear failure. The advantage of Gearbox's combination of rental and sales business is that goods are almost always provided from stock and not subject to delays inherent in ordering from a manufacturer. Shepperton deals with a considerable volume of work so downtime due to technical issues is not an option.” (AMcE)