A new 118,000sq-ft facility at the new Media and Immersive eXperience Center (part of the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts) is home to the 750 undergraduate film majors attending The Poitier Film School at Arizona State University (ASU), where they study film and media production and filmmaking for a four-year degree.
The emphasis on audio at the facility is evidenced by its three main studios being focused on mixing, ADR/scoring and Foley. All are fitted out with immersive Dolby 7.1.4 Atmos systems.
The main mix control room, which is also a 25-seat classroom, is capable of third-order Ambisonics monitoring. There are also three 5.1-surround-capable audio editing rooms, three 30-seat computer labs and 16 video edit bays, with three focused on colour grading, as well as a colour grading classroom.
Every room, from the 7.1.4 spaces to the stereo-orientated video editing rooms, has Genelec active monitors, providing sonically consistent working environments throughout the facility. The three largest mixing rooms use Genelec 8351B Smart Active Monitors as their LCR array, and 8341As for surrounds and overheads, with a pair of 7370A subwoofers. The 5.1 audio editing studios and two video forwarded computer labs, which are heavily used for film, TV, streaming, game design and a diverse set of student projects, each use five 8330A monitors and a 7360A subwoofer. The audio-forwarded computer lab has a 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos set with additional side and overhead monitors. The colour grading and QC classroom is Atmos-capable. The video editing bays are set up for 7.1, and the rest are configured for stereo monitoring – all with a combination of 8020D, 8030C and 8040B monitors, and 7360A subs.
‘I’ve been using Genelec monitors for about two decades,’ says Rodrigo Meirelles, Clinical Assistant Professor of Sound Design/Film and Media. ‘Monitoring choices can be a matter of personal taste, but here we needed a near-field monitoring solution that we not only trusted but also could apply as seamlessly as possible to the entire facility, that could quickly switch between monitor combinations and configurations that our projects might call for.
‘We operate a complete postproduction workflow, from editing, sound, colour, to quality control and final delivery. For this reason, we needed to make sure that any project that had to move between rooms in the facility had a consistent sonic experience. For student projects and group activities, the wider and more natural sweet spot experience that the concentric configurations of Genelec’s The Ones models provide us is also a helpful educational tool.
‘Whether our students are designing sounds, or mixing for film, streaming platforms, games or XR experiences, we want to make sure that they develop listening skills throughout the process.’
It goes beyond monitors. The Genelec Loudspeaker Manager (GLM) software platform was used in conjunction with Genelec’s AutoCal 2 calibration algorithm to measure and manage how the monitors and subwoofers were installed and positioned in each room.
Meirelles points out that ‘using GLM, we can graphically demonstrate to students what EQ calibration curves in a space look like and the effect that room acoustics have on monitor placement – and vice versa’.
‘At the push of a button, we can let them hear what a monitor sounds like when it’s tuned for the room it’s used in. And since it is software based, we can show them how the process works on the screen.’
More: www.genelec.com
