Fairlight’s Latest CC-1 Technology helps No Noiz Improve Workflow And Attract New Business

Fairlight’s ability to handle a huge amount of audio and video formats is one of the main reasons why audio post production facility No Noiz has upgraded its equipment to incorporate the company’s latest Crystal Core (CC-1) technology.

The Brussels-based facility already has a 24-fader Fairlight Dream Constellation console running on the CC-1 engine in its main studio one, but in recent months it has added a second Constellation console – this time a two-bay XCS, which now has pride of place in its smaller studio two. Both consoles were supplied and installed by Fairlight’s French business partner EuroMedia Technologies.

As part of a larger AV-facility group, No Noiz shares its premises with partner companies video post facility EXIT339 and computer graphics and Vfx specialist Pix It. Its main activity is focused on audio post production work for the videos and motion graphics created in the Group’s Vfx suites, but it also handles external TV and radio commercials as well as sound optimisation projects for the Flemish public broadcaster VRT.

No Noiz chief sound engineer Philip Van Bogaert says: “We have used Fairlight technology since the late 1990s and have always been very happy with the results we’ve achieved. This made the decision to upgrade to the new CC-1 technology very easy for us because we already had faith in the system quality, speed and ease of use.

“CC-1’s ability to handle virtually any audio and video format makes it ideal for us because we can now easily accommodate both internal and external projects, regardless of the format they are presented in. We were also impressed with its multichannel monitoring capabilities, including the fact that sources can be directly monitored in their ‘lower formats’, for example 5.1 to LCRS, stereo and mono.”

Since their installation No Noiz’ new Constellation consoles have been used on a variety of projects including the sound post for the Panorama documentary series for Canvas, the cultural channel of VRT. Other projects range from information and entertainment programming to political debates and sports items. An important part of the facility’s workload is the corporate and government videos it produces in-house. Recently these have included projects for Bekaert, Pfizer, Belgacom, Carrefour, De Post, NMBS and EPP, to name but a few.

Van Bogaert says. “These projects allow us to experiment with soundscapes and music, which is why the musicality of the Fairlight system has always been so important to us. The new Constellation consoles are so intuitive that they feel like an extension of our sound engineers. We love their smart, real-time editing, and the inclusion of Audiobase means that we have sound effects at our fingertips. The Clip-based plug-ins are not only fast and effective but also very good at helping us create a clean mix. If fact with Constellation, we feel that anything is possible.”

Van Bogaert is convinced that Fairlight’s CC-1 technology has not only improved workflow but also made it possible for No Noiz to increase business by attracting new customers.

“A key advantage of Fairlight is its ability to archive sounds and settings for later use,” he explains. “This is particularly useful for the corporate and advertising clients because we can now easily make new versions or re-edits of existing material. For the EU we do Infomercials in up to 26 different languages. The interchange between the two consoles is perfect and import of OMF timelines with embedded sound from our 10 AVID and Final Cut editing suites is seamless.”

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About Fairlight:

Headquartered in Sydney, Australia Fairlight designs and manufactures media production systems powered by the company’s groundbreaking CC-1 FPGA digital processing engine. The Fairlight product range includes Constellation, Xynergi and the new Pyxis MT, all of which feature in the world’s leading broadcasters, commercial post facilities, music studios and film production studios. Fairlight has a rich tradition of innovation and development and is at the forefront of green computing technology. www.fairlightau.com