News

Voice Ark

01.12.2020

In March 2020 our world changed dramatically due to Covid-19. Productions more or less stopped shooting completely and post-production work shifted largely to remote working. For ADR this proved to be a particular challenge. With many actors working from home or on location Milos Stojanovic, Sound Editor and ADR Mixer found himself faced with occasions where acoustic environments have been less than ideal; producing recordings that sound out of context and are difficult to blend with production sound.

After months of research and planning supported by previous experiences of mobile ADR work, Stojanovic created Voice Ark to effectively deal with the acoustic challenges of remote voice recording. Voice Ark allows for either on-site operation where it’s safe to do so, in a production office, a hotel room, or a soundstage, or a remote configuration where it is controlled from Stojanovic’s London studio.

Depending on location and requirements, Stojanovic and his team will either deliver and set up the equipment on site or use a courier service that guarantees meeting Covid-19 safe protocols.  For completely remote sessions they deliver equipment sanitized and clearly labeled and actors or members of production will be guided through the setup process which is quick and easy.

When we are running sessions remotely we deliver sanitised equipment personally or via a courier service (depending on location). In this instance we talk the artist through the setup process which is quick and easy. Once the Voice Ark is assembled it’s just a case of plugging in a couple of connections after which we take complete control over the computer and the recording process.

Recording takes place just like a traditional ADR / Voice Over session and picture and sound playback and monitoring is provided for everyone attending in person or remotely via Source Connect / Zoom / Skype.

Equipment:

MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2019)
6 core 2.6 GHz Intel Core i7
16 GB 2400 MHz DDR4

DAW: Pro Tools Ultimate 2020

Microphones:

Sennheiser MKH60
Sanken cos11
(Alternative options available on request)

Audio Interfaces:

Focusrite Clarett 4Pre with ISA preamp emulations
Focusrite Rednet X2P (for remote recording)

Video/Audio Playback:

Avid Artist Control mixer/controller
Genelec 8030 and/or 8020 monitors

3 x 24 inch video monitors for actor, engineer and production
(Larger monitors can be provided on request)

Cueing Systems: Wipes, Beeps, On Screen Text, Number Countdown, Streamers

Remote Connection:

AJA UTAP HDMI Capture Device for Skype and Zoom streams
Source Connect Pro / ipDTL / CleanFeed / SessionLink Pro - available on request

Anyone attending in person or virtually is able to monitor the session with both picture and sound and be presented with select take combinations on the fly, just like in a traditional studio session.