Fairlight’s award-winning Xynergi Media Production Centre has recently been installed in a number of prestigious Australian audio post production facilities, all of which are citing the system’s versatility and ease of use as key reasons for investing.
Specified as a controller-only system or delivered with a 12 fader sidecar, Xynergi organizes and delivers all the tools needed for high-end audio for video production in all widely used surround formats. The system harnesses the ‘green’ processing power of Fairlight’s CC-1 digital media engine and incorporates integrated PyxisTrack video. The Xynergi controller provides engineers with a desktop user interface that allows them to access all features and functions of the Fairlight CC-1, as well as commonly used Windows applications.
One company that has recently invested in Xynergi is Tracks Post Production, a leading sound post and picture editing facility based in Crow’s Nest, Sydney. Tracks has an impressive client list that includes film companies, broadcast television networks and independent production companies such as Screentime, Southern Star Endemol and Cordell Jigsaw.
Stephen Smith, Managing Director/Sound Services at Tracks, says: “Tracks has been a long time user of Fairlight, purchasing its first system in 1993. We now have a large number of Pro Tools systems and these are our primary mixing platform. However, I was very impressed with the new Xynergi systems when I saw them at NAB 2009 and wanted to see if Fairlight had a place in our facilities again. We have now installed two Xynergi’s - one as an addition to our existing studio facilities and the other as an upgrade from an older Fairlight console.”
The first of the new Xynergi systems has been installed in a machine room where it is primarily being used for file transfers, file conversions and audio re-conforming.
“Fairlight's Xynergi handles the tasks very successfully,” Smith says. “It handles the re-conform of original sound recordings to match edited picture cuts very well, and it is particularly good at sorting out polywav re-edits. We are also using Fairlight to create our Quicktime picture files for use in some of our other studios.”
The second system has been installed in Tracks’ Foley recording studio, where it replaces the old MFX3 Plus that Tracks’ Foley team have been using for years and were not keen to change. However, the new CC-1 platform has proved to be the idea upgrade as it can easily cope with recording projects and the speed at which the engineers work.
Smith adds: “The Xynergi controller is a very clever design and impresses clients and operators with its active keycaps. But it's the simplicity of the hardware engine that I like the most - so much power, on one card in one CPU. It's good to have an iconic Australian brand like Fairlight back in our studios as an integrated part of our workflow.”
Smith’s comments are echoed by Trevor Harrison, sound editor at Shoebox, a Sydney-based post production facility that handles documentary and drama projects for a number of television broadcasters. In recent weeks Shoebox has upgraded its stand-alone Xynergi system by installing a three-bay Fairlight Constellation XCS console, which incorporates Xynergi in its centre panel.
“We decided to upgrade to a Constellation because we are moving our facility from just editing to editing and mixing,” Harrison says. “Having faders makes it much easier to mix and I also really like the 5.1 panning, clip naming and vision track features. All in, the new Constellation XCS has proved to be the perfect tool - keep up the good work Fairlight!”
Other Australian post production companies to have invested in Fairlight’s Xynergi technology include Adelaide-based Reel Six, which handles a wide variety of work for TV and film, and Sydney-based Julesound, which specializes in TV documentaries and has bought a second Xynergi to augment the system it installed last year.
Ken Barnsley, Fairlight’s Director of World-wide Sales and Marketing, says: “It is great to see so many customers adopting Fairlight’s Xynergi technology – and being so delighted with the results they are achieving. It has always been our intention to create products that make life easier for our customers because they are innovative and well designed.”
Asia Pacific facilities interested in Fairlight products should contact the company’s headquarters in Sydney, Australia. Telephone: +61 2 9975 1777. www.fairlightau.com
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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
