Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1335010
46 W I N T E R 2 0 2 1 I C A S Q U A R T E R L Y b y F e r n a n d o D e l g a d o C A S Real-Time Remote ADR Recording Options It's amazing what a production sound engineer and a post- production sound engineer can accomplish when they have the time to work on a problem. Just like many other entertainment professionals, I was on the road doing a show in mid-March when the first big COVID shutdown happened. At the beginning, it was just nice to be home. I spent a lot of time catching up with family and friends. One night on a group Zoom session, a few friends who were not shutdown vented their frustrations about not being able to get recordings done due to the studio closures and lack of technical ability on the talent end. My ears immediately perked up. All I really wanted to do myself was get back to recording. I knew real-time remote recording was possible and a lot of people were collaborating remotely, but I had no clue what solutions were available and to what extent. So, I did some research. SOFTWARE There are several great software options out there to facilitate high-quality real- time audio recordings over the internet. Source-Connect by Source Elements, SessionLinkPRO, Listento by Audiomovers, ConnectionOpen, and Cleanfeed are just a few. Each of these software options work differently and vary in features. Source Elements has been around since 2005 and is the standard. They are trusted by many studios and engineers alike. Source Elements has a host of software solutions, including Source-Connect, Source-Live, Source-Nexus, and Source-LTC. These applications allow you to record remotely, monitor and cue from anywhere, as well as lock to picture for ADR sessions. This is the most expensive software solution I'll mention but it works, has a long history, and is trusted by its users. SessionLinkPRO offers two browser-based solutions with mono, dual mono, and stereo remote recording, along with a MIDI track to sync sessions. SessionLinkPRO Conferencing adds video conferencing, allowing up to five producers/directors to monitor and direct the sessions. This system is extremely easy to use and runs on Google Chrome, so there is no software to download. Listento from Audiomovers is a transmit and receive plugin that sends audio from any host DAW via an insert to other DAW's, or up to 40 clients monitoring via Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. It will do multichannel paths, including 5.1 and 7.1. There is no video component, so it is limited, but it's still extremely useful, sounds great, and is easy to use. ConnectionOpen is like a community for remote engineers and artists. Once people are added to your network, ConnectionOpen will alert you when they are logged in. Starting a session is as easy as clicking a button. You are limited to five people on a session at a time, but the company has plans to add more. Another cool feature of ConnectionOpen is its compatibility with iPads and iPhones. Cleanfeed is a web-based multitrack recorder that allows you to record multiple sources from various locations to the cloud. The Pro version allows higher bit rates and delivers an in sync file consisting of all the ISO tracks.