Scottish Post Facility UMG Chooses Merging DAW For Refit

Since 2003, Uist Media Group (UMG) has been a truly multi-faceted modern media production facility, handling radio and TV production and post-production work, multitrack sound and music recording, and on-line broadcasting for Glasgow's thriving media industry.
The company's non-linear digital audio workstation lies at the heart of all of these activities, which is why it was such a concern to everyone at UMG when it started to give up the ghost in early Summer 2006. The old Pro Tools TDM system had been upgraded as far as it could, but it was past its best.
The obvious thing to do would have been to move up to a Pro Tools HD system, but with one eye on the impending move of the local BBC Scotland headquarters to the new HD ready premises at Glasgow's Pacific Quay, UMG's Managing Director Alasdair MacCuish was keen to choose a system that was widely in use by the BBC, and capable of handling multi-channel surround sound for HD transmission with the minimum of fuss. Noting the increasing prevalence of Merging Technologies Pyramix DAW in BBC outside broadcast vehicles and editing suites, and following a promising initial meeting with Merging's UK distributors Total Audio Solutions at London's Broadcast Live show in mid-2006, Alasdair arranged for Paul Mortimer of Total Audio to give him a Pyramix demonstration, whilst also investigating what Pro Tools HD had to offer.
The new system had to be robust, and capable of handling UMG's demanding mix of audio recording and radio and video post-production work. Uist's facilities have always been used to record a great deal of traditional Scottish music and folk bands, so high-quality recording of analogue sources was a priority, alongside the ability to record and mix digitally at the latest high sample rates and bit depths. The Pyramix system impressed the Uist team from the outset, particularly when a very high-quality 96kHz AES/EBU Sphynx2 96kHz converter was used as the primary A-D/D-A converter for the system during Paul Mortimer's demo. During September, UMG decided to go for a Pyramix system with the Sphynx2 front end.
With Uist's various requirements in mind, Total Audio supplied a three-screen Pyramix Post Pack system, including dual monitors for Pyramix operation and editing and the third for video monitoring while working to picture. Full video capture, OMF compatibility and Sony 9-pin control of separate video recorders are included with this system as standard, and AAF file interchange was added as an option, both to provide the widest possible compatibility with the rest of the industry and also for backwards compatibility with the company's old Pro Tools-based projects.
Total Audio also supplied a 16-channel valve-based TL Audio M4 console to complement the Pyramix's high-quality Sphynx2 analogue input stage.
Last but not least, an additional software-only Pyramix Native system was specified by Total Audio at Alasdair MacCuish's request, so that radio programmes could be rough-edited off-line on a portable laptop before being transferred to the main Pyramix system for their final cut.
"Uist's was a challenging installation, as the company undertakes such a wide range of work, from bagpipe recording to TV post," comments Paul Mortimer of Total Audio Solutions. "However, I'm confident that we came up with an industry-standard, high-quality system that satisfies all of their various requirements while remaining flexible."
For more information, contact Uist Media Group via www.uistmediagroup.com.
(SP)