The sound of the Forestt

Officially launched in August 2013 following a year and a half of construction, Forestt Studio occupies 2,000 sq-m of the Qikeshu Innovation Park and represents an investment of some 11 million RMB. The completed facility comprises two independent divisions – Image Forestt, which is in charge of the visual side of the studio’s business, and Sound Forestt, which takes care of everything audio.

Leading Sound Forestt as executive director is Joe Huang, who brings a wealth of experience to the project having originally graduated from the Berklee College of Music. ‘Sound Forestt consists of three sections – the main dubbing room, Dubbing A and Dubbing B, and the final dubbing stage,’ Mr Huang explains. A further two ADR stages are available alongside five editing suites, while the main dubbing stage offers 7.1 and 5.1 capability. Crucially, it is also Dolby Atmos certified. ‘From the blueprint stage, through all of the construction and the completion of the installation, this whole project was accredited by Dolby,’ Mr Huang continues.

Understandably, the acoustic design of each space within Sound Forestt was a priority for all concerned. Heading the project was Mr Qi of August First Film Studio, a renowned engineer who prepared each room for the Dolby accreditation.

‘We are very satisfied with Mr Qi’s acoustic design,’ enthuses Mr Huang. ‘He is not only one of the China’s most respected leaders in this field but also the kind of person who can turn technical work into an art-form.’

That ability meshed well with the core philosophy that sits behind Forestt Studios, where sound and vision are considered to be of equal importance. ‘In the production of a movie, sound and vision are equals and we never compromise on either,’ explains Mr Huang. ‘Our advantage is that we can integrate the pre-recording and postproduction processes to ensure the highest quality results in our work.’

As such, only the highest standards were good enough for the facility. The main dubbing room is a fully floated structure to ensure absolute isolation, while a specially-designed ultra-silent air conditioning system has been installed to deliver comfort for visiting actors at no cost to the recording process. Microphones from the likes of Neumann, Schoeps and Sennheiser are all available while the control room boasts an eight-fader Avid Artist Mix control surface, an Avid HD I/O Pro Tools interface and a Focusrite ISA 428 Mk II preamplifier. Near-field monitoring is done on 8-inch JBL LSR4328P enclosures.

Inside Dubbing A and Dubbing B, meanwhile, are three interconnected Eucon-equipped Artist Mix controllers again operating a Pro Tools HD-based system alongside Final Cut Pro and supported by RME’s Fireface UFX interfaces. Elsewhere, the premix room is installed with a standard 5.1 system comprising five JBL LSR4328P monitors and a SR4312SP 12-inch sub.

Digital Media Technology Co Ltd (DMT Pro) was responsible for systems integration within the final dubbing stage, creating a system capable of supporting Atmos, 7.1 and 5.1. An Avid System 5-MC surface forms the centrepiece of the room. ‘The console perfectly combines the logic of analogue mixing with the benefits of software, I am very satisfied with it,’ Mr Huang enthuses.

Two Pro Tools HDX2 systems are used for playback and recording respectively. ‘There were two systems that we could have chosen – Pro Tools HD Native and Pro Tools HDX2,’ says Mr Huang. ‘The specifications of both systems would have met our requirements, but to achieve a more effective and stable performance we chose HDX2. Since then we haven been proven correct in our decision. The reliability of HDX is very satisfying and the system is very fast.’

Signal routing is via an XLogic Madi-X8 from Solid State Logic. The 1U router offers eight Madi I/O plus functions including source distribution, device splitting and source aggregation, all of which facilitate Sound Forestt switching between 5.1, 7.1 and Atmos. The loudspeaker installation to accommodate Atmos, meanwhile, is again all JBL, including 3731 ScreenArray three-way systems and dozens of 8340 and 8350 speakers, all powered by Crown CTS series amplifiers. As with all Atmos installations, the precise configuration of the loudspeakers was carefully planned with Dolby itself.

‘There are five Dolby accredited facilities within Beijing and DMT Pro has been involved in them all,’ reflects Mr Huang. ‘After serious consideration, we decided that we would rather trust the ability and experience of DMT Pro, and since the facility opened we have been convinced that we made the right choice. DMT is very good with great after-sales.’

www.dmtpro.com
www.avid.com
www.foresttstudios.com
www.dolby.com
www.jblpro.com