Stage Research, Inc. will hold two one-day training sessions in London to introduce UK-based sound designers to SFX 6, the new version of the company’s live entertainment sound playback software. The training sessions will take place January 29 and 30, 2008 at the Central School of Speech and Drama (CSSD) located in central London.
“UK sound designers have adopted SFX, and we’re headed to London to support their transition over to SFX 6,” says Carlton Guc who is partnered with Brad Rembielak in Stage Research. “Central has been a valued institutional customer since 2002 and it is the pre-eminent theatre sound design training institution in the UK. They have an advanced theatre and sound system into which SFX fits very well. It is the perfect place to introduce SFX 6 to the marketplace.”
Gregg Fisher, sound designer and senior lecturer in Theatre Sound Design at Central, concurs. “CSSD has the only dedicated BA degree Theatre Sound Design course in the UK. Its history, expertise, close relationships to the performance industries, and location in Central London makes it the ideal place to showcase the new SFX 6 to the UK/EU sound design community.
More than just an update of the popular application, SFX 6 has been rewritten from the ground up and boasts an array of new features. Among the most important changes are:
• An ASIO sound playback engine, which supports 16-bit or better WAV, MP3 or WMA audio files.
• Cues output to a true matrix with virtually any number of inputs to any number of outputs.
• Audio cues can contain mono, stereo, and even more channels. Users can even drag-and-drop multiple sound files to create a multichannel, synchronized sound cue from existing mono and stereo sound files.
• Fades are now called Volume Changes, and Volume Change curves can be completely customized. Curves can be assigned on a per crosspoint level.
• Revamped user interface.
• Undo/Redo functions.
• Two new windows are now available. Transport Window shows/controls the execution of cues. Active Matrix gives users control of all the volumes of the standby and playing cues right in front of them and on the fly.
• Collapsible Cues. Cue sequences connected by Waits and Autofollows can be collapsed into one line.
The one-day training sessions will give UK sound designers the scoop on these new offerings in classes limited to 16-18 people so attendees get real hands-on time with the software. The agenda calls for the morning introductory session and training to be followed by more advanced tutoring in the afternoon and a sound designers’ discussion to wrap up the day. Lunch will be provided along with snacks and soft drinks throughout the day.
The sessions will be conducted by Carlton Guc. In addition, representatives from KAVE Theatre Services, the exclusive distributor of Stage Research products in the UK, and CueOne, Stage Research’s main system integrator in the UK, will be on hand to field questions about product support and systems integration.
Registration for sessions is required. The session fee is $195 US per person (approximately 100 GBP). For further registration information, please contact Gregg Fisher at [email protected] or through the Stage Research website.