The installation of a 69-loudspeaker Meyer Sound cinema system has made German postproduction facility Rotor Film the largest facility in Europe to offers both Dolby Atmos and Auro-3D immersive surround sound. Located in the Babelsberg Media City complex in Potsdam, the recently opened mixing stage features one of the largest Meyer Sound cinema monitoring systems ever installed.
The installation follows intensive comparative listening tests involving management, staff and associated independent mixing engineers.
‘We invited around 20 sound designers and freelance engineers as our guests to listen to a wide range of audio samples,’ says Rotor Film Technical Director, Christoph Engelke. ‘Based on everyone’s listening experiences, a Meyer Sound system was the clear choice for our two top managers, Holger Lehmann and Martin Frühmorgen, and myself.’
To accommodate 5.1, 7.1 and Dolby Atmos mixing, the system comprises three Acheron 100 screen channel loudspeakers, four HMS-12 and 30 HMS-10 surround loudspeakers, and nine X-800C high-power cinema subwoofers. For Auro-3D extension, the system includes a further three Acheron 100 and 20 HMS-10 loudspeakers. ‘So far, we’ve had a very good response from visiting engineers on the Meyer Sound system’s performance,’ Engelke reports.
Equipped with seating for 200, the 400-sq-m room can be used to both mix and screen films. It features a 64-fader Avid Pro Tools S6 mixing console and four Pro Tools systems running HD11 and HD12 software. In addition to a full slate of plug-ins from Waves, Altiverb, iZotope and others, the studio also offers outboard effects by Lexicon, TC Electronic and Eventide. Colour grading is achieved with a Baselight Two system on a Blackboard 2 control surface, and films are screened with either a Barco DP4K-32B digital projector or an all-format Kinoton film projector onto a 14.5m6.1m screen.
The Babelsberg Medienstadt (Media City) has been a centre for film production since 1912, as well as for television in recent decades. Historic films produced here include Metropolis and Blue Angel, while more recent productions include The Bourne Ultimatum, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay and The Grand Budapest Hotel.’
More: www.meyersound.com
