Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1351516
C A S Q U A R T E R L Y I S P R I N G 2 0 2 1 39 communication issues presented when using other streaming platforms and running a separate video chat. It was an all-in-one program, and the communication controls were slicker. This would cut down on the muting and unmuting and other participants' playbacks bleeding across the video chat, etc. To cut down even further on communication issues, Jonathan went a step farther. He patched up his S6's talkback system directly to the Evercast communications input. He then activated the console's auto talkback. This meant the mic was always open unless he was rolling; resulting in clearer coms and one less switch to fiddle with when reviewing with his clients. Now, Evercast's video delay is sub 200 milliseconds for tight sync, and it can handle 5.1 audio. But to keep everyone in the same "room," the production sent the showrunners and producers the same pair of headphones, and Jonathan fed the real time binaural foldown of his Atmos renderer to his clients. This way, no one would have to worry about what sort of 5.1 system or setup was on the other side of the stream. This meant everyone on the stream was hearing the best possible 2-track representation of his Atmos mix in virtually the same playback environment. Another advantage of this system, Jonathan tells me, is that once an Evercast meeting is set up, the meeting "room" is persistent. So, attendees, up to 10 at once, can come and go. Furthermore, the room's meeting is not dependent on a specific attendee "moderating" the interaction. The one roadblock to a successful screening that Jonathan and company could not control was (and continues to be) the personal internet connections of his "audience." (I think we have all come across this issue.) The feeling was that if you've done all this work, but an audience member's internet isn't having a good day, then you may be wasting your director's, producer's, or showrunner's time; a big no-no. The fix was to send a QuickTime at the end of the day for people to screen at their own leisure. SAM CASAS I next chatted with CAS Associate member Sam Casas. Sam's mixing is predominantly focused in the advertising world. His office and studios are in Santa Monica, though he lives in Studio City. Back in March when the pandemic took that turn for the worse, he began working primarily at his home studio. He had fortuitously built one to accommodate the many late-breaking tweaks from his westside clients. At one point, a big ad campaign for a large corporation came up. One of the creative directors wanted to be able to come into the studio and hear the mix "properly" in a studio environment. So, not wanting to disappoint said client (and not wanting to possibly endanger himself and his family), Sam and company came up with a plan. They would use Source Elements Source-Live Pro and its Remote Transport Sync (RTS) function to effectively play back his session in Studio City to his client in Santa Monica. In essence, the RTS system allows one to sync up two studios; not too dissimilar from the old days of sending timecode down an ISDN channel to drag a session halfway across the globe. Only in this case, Source-Live Pro is doing all the work sans TC. It did take about two days for he and his co-workers to figure out all the "mental gymnastics" to get the thing working smoothly. For example, one of the tricks to getting the sync as close as possible in the two locations was to disable the delay compensation on both rigs during these remote playbacks. Furthermore, all the Pro Tools systems in the Santa Monica location had static IP addresses, allowing Sam to easily remote in and make changes directly on the local rig and transfer files between systems when necessary. I'm told, "All this worked out great!" The client was happy in a room that they were familiar with and comfortable in. All communication was done via Zoom, as there were others listening along, and the client was able to "fine-tune adjustments," working as if they were in the room together. Sam also had another trick up his sleeve, one I had not heard of until we spoke. He tells me the above situation is not his normal remote mixing technique. Generally, because it is short form material he is presenting to his Sam Casas at his home studio Blackmagic's Web Presenter