Rising from the shell of the storied Sounds Interchange Studio 1 is a major new initiative from Toronto's dave designed to equip the company for the future of digital, multiple-format work. The company is constructing a new thx-certified mixing theatre to position itself to further pursue the feature film market.

Long known for its work in the large-format audio arena, with numerous imax projects to its credit, dave has invested in a new, all-digital configuration, which the company says will prepare it for the possible audio format paths in the future.

The new room is centered on a Studer D950 digital console, said to be the largest of its kind in North America and capable of handling up to 480 inputs. All of the mixing formats and sound storage formats will be nonlinear, with information stored in 24-bit configurations.

The theatre will also be outfitted with stadium-style seating, as another compatibility factor with the new theatres being opened by the major exhibitors.

Planned for

several years

dave's James Porteous says the company has been looking toward developing a facility of this kind for several years and the time and technological capabilities were finally right to construct a new facility to handle the necessary format considerations.

The new setup will create more efficiency for switching between formats and types of work, says Porteous. Although the audio processes involved in doing tv, feature or imax work accomplish the same tasks, he says they often take different paths which, when working with conventional equipment, would mean considerable down time and manpower to accommodate the changeover between formats.

100% digital path

"We looked at the technical requirements and what tools were available from an artistic standpoint in order to be able to cut out some of that down time and have elected to go with a true 100% digital path from editorial to delivery of the final mix, and at a digital standard above and beyond what the industry standards are," says Porteous.

"We have built for the future; the technology we are installing in the room is above and beyond even the proposals for hdtv formats or new digital theatrical sonic release formats."

Porteous says the new console reduces to about two minutes the time needed to change configurations for going from large format to conventional theatrical mixing and other formats.

The room will have 35mm and video 3D capability for projection, and will be compatible for multiple-sound formats like srd and dts in addition to being thx certified.

The theatre, designed by Claude Fortier, will also have two different sets of speakers - thx and large-format speakers including infra-red pse (personal soundfield environment).

The new facility represents an investment of "well over" $1.5 million.