Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1490686
16 I M PS E . O R G My first public offering was the EdiTrace website which compared two or more EDL files to create a "Change EDL" that described the picture changes between two turnovers. The test app I made before creating the website was written while working on The Quiet American. We used this test app with Synchro Arts "Titan" to re-cut our Pro Tools 5 sessions on OS 9 each time a new turnover was delivered. The website was launched while working on The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, a film that required an automated re- conform process to stay on schedule due to the scale and complexity of the re-cuts being produced. From there, I saw on the DUC, a need for an app to print dubbing charts as the app "Tape" did not make the leap to OS X, so EdiChart was born. Then one of my EdiChart clients asked me to create an app to print ADR cue sheets instead of dubbing charts, using clips on Pro Tools tracks to store the cue data. I created a process and tagging system for storing cue data in Pro Tools clips and this was how EdiCue came to be. EdiCue v4 is now fully integrated with Pro Tools and Nuendo and the PDF cue sheets it exports can now be fully customised. EdiPrompt was created to load the cues created in EdiCue and then display the cues on-screen for actors and to automate the ADR recording process when using Pro Tools. EdiLoad was created to replace the EdiTrace website to handle re-conforms for picture changes, and also to modify and clean edit list data in preparation for assembling location WAV files with "Titan." The option to export picture cut and scene change tracks was added. EdiLoad v2 then provided the option to assemble location WAV in partnership with the Pro Tools field recorder workflow functions. With EdiLoad v5, it can now perform this task by itself with the new assembly window, and can export a PTX file for Pro Tools or an AAF for any DAW ready for dialogue editing. I've thoroughly enjoyed creating these apps and workflows, utilitizing Pro Tools in ways that it was never designed. Looking back now, it kind of blows me away that some of the processes I created are now industry standard. K: Did you have previous experience with software development or was it something you learned to develop this software specifically? M: I first learned to write software on Apple IIe's at high school but never studied to become a software developer. I wrote the odd utility app in various languages while working on different jobs, but learned most of what I know while developing my current sound-post apps. I think having worked intensively in the film and TV industry using multiple DAWs has allowed me to dream up new workflows and solutions to deal with the ever-changing challenges that face post-sound professionals. K: What does the company look like today? Is it just you or do you have a staff working for you? M: It's really just me, now working full time on software development. I hire a couple of contractors to write specific tools when the need arises, but I've found by writing most of the code myself, it allows me to create and implement new features in a way that works for sound editors, and it also allows me to fix bugs and release updates in a timely manner. K: Wow. Hard to believe it is just you keeping all this software running! What has been the highlight so far in your software development career? M: That would have to be receiving two Engineering Emmy Awards for contributions to the television industry for the development of EdiCue and EdiLoad. It's been a huge honour to be recognised for this work and to serve the international film and TV sound post community in this way.