The challenge was to bring the fantasy world and characters of Netflix’s animated series Trollhunters to life. The series, created by Guillermo del Toro, required a complex blend of sound design, music cues, scene sketching, and character movement manipulation. The team also needed to collaborate efficiently, given the evolving storyline and the fantastical creatures that were part of the series. The process of animation editing was significantly different from documentary editing, which was the background of the editor, Graham Fisher. The team had to work with various components of the episode, from storyboards to dialogues, sound, and music, and knit them together to create a cohesive and engaging narrative.

The production team of the highly anticipated action film, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, faced a daunting challenge. They were tasked with delivering the final cut of the film five months ahead of schedule due to a change in the release date. This required the team to rethink their editing workflow and collaborate in entirely new ways. The team had only 12 weeks to lock in the cut after the end of the shoot, with the first screening taking place just nine days after the shoot. The sound team was also under immense pressure, tasked with delivering a complex Dolby Atmos mix made up of more than 400 tracks in just a few months. The early stage of editing meant they had to mix for individual sequences, rather than entire reels.

Nine Network Australia, one of the five free-to-air broadcasters in the country, was facing a significant challenge in producing high-quality, creative, and regionalized promotional content under tight deadlines. The network had expanded its service regions and added more channels, while also transitioning from analog to digital signaling. This growth, coupled with the industry's shift to file-based media acquisition and distribution, increased the pressure on Nine Network to produce up to 300 promotional content pieces per day. The network's existing production setup, an aging, tape-based system with disconnected storage architecture, was struggling to keep up with the volume and pace. The lack of integration and outdated systems were stifling creativity, reducing productivity, and making it difficult to target specific audiences and demographics. The network needed a solution that would streamline their production process, eliminate points of failure, and allow for last-minute creative changes without impacting schedules.

The challenge was to edit a complex CGI-filled timeline for the silver-screen return of one of the most famous fictional children’s characters, Paddington Bear. The team had to bring to life a beloved character in a live-action/CGI-animated sequel, Paddington 2, with complex production requirements and a leading character that wasn’t flesh and bone. The CGI bear brought many challenges to the first film, including visual effects demands. The editing process was complicated by the fact that the lead character was invisible and someone off-camera read out his lines. The film’s process demanded an in-the-moment approach, with a fast, rolling turnover schedule from day one. The process saw mismatched animation sequences with various evolutionary states of the bear animation frequently exchanged between the editing team and Framestore.

The challenge was to edit the long-awaited, VFX-heavy film Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The film was shot using a variety of cameras and formats, including 35mm, 65mm, digital, and 3D for final delivery. The film was also shot primarily at 35mm cinemascope and 65mm IMAX for some scenes. The editing team had to manage these different formats and ensure a seamless final product. Additionally, the film was a top-secret project, requiring secure storage solutions for the files. The team also had to incorporate a temporary 5.1 surround sound mix, which was a new workflow for them.

Steve Reich, a renowned American composer, was in need of a tool that could aid him in creating the innovative, cross-genre musical compositions that have earned him multiple Grammy Awards and worldwide recognition over the past five decades. Reich's music is known for its blend of western classical music, non-Western music, American vernacular music, and jazz. His career has been marked by innovation and groundbreaking musical compositions that blend genres. However, the process of composing such complex pieces was challenging. Reich recalls a time in the mid-1980s when the bill from a copyist for a large and complex piece was greater than his actual commission, leading him to seek a more efficient solution.

Stockholm-based SVT, the largest television broadcaster in Sweden, produces approximately 2,000 hours of original programming per year in HD and SD. The challenge was to produce this high-quality programming quickly and cost-effectively. The broadcaster was looking to increase collaboration among media professionals and maximize the value of its media assets. With nearly 30 facilities located throughout Sweden, SVT needed a solution that would enhance collaboration between team members, who needed to share files, projects, and media across the entire network with near instantaneous speed. The broadcaster also wanted to make its systems more efficient and unify the workflow throughout the company.

Anne Dern, a renowned composer for film, television, and video games, was faced with the challenge of working within the fast-paced Hollywood environment. This required her to produce perfect takes on short notice and ensure a quick turnaround. The software tools available to her at the time lacked the intuitive look and feel necessary for rapid music creation. Many of the functions and features were more complicated than necessary, hindering her ability to work efficiently. Additionally, Dern sought a high degree of customization for her score layouts to create unique charts for film scoring sessions, which differ significantly from symphonic performances. Given the high cost of film cue recording sessions and the limited time available, it was crucial for her to provide performers with flawless and easy-to-follow music.

The challenge was to focus on storytelling and avoid technical distractions while editing the silent film 'The Artist'. In the highly creative and competitive world of French cinema, Anne-Sophie Bion, a renowned film editor, was tasked with delivering high-quality results for the film. The task was not only to edit the film but also to create special effects, including crowd multiplication, which required a high level of technical expertise. The challenge was further compounded by the geographical distance between Bion and the film's director, Michel Hazanavicius, who was shooting in Los Angeles while Bion was in Paris.

Austin City Limits (ACL), a renowned music festival broadcasting live music to public television audiences across the U.S., faced the challenge of delivering exceptional sound for over 150 bands across eight stages. The show, which has been running for almost 40 years, decided to move production from its original Studio 6A location at the University of Texas to a new purpose-built facility—Austin City Limits Live at The Moody Theater. The move necessitated the selection of audio and video systems that could provide integrated workflows, premium sound quality, and proven reliability. Veteran engineer David Hough, who has mixed sound for virtually all of the show’s taped concerts, was tasked with finding a solution that would maintain the show's legacy as one of the country’s top live music programs.

The creation of Butterscotch’s single “We Are All We Got” presented a unique challenge. The team, consisting of producers Mischke and Neff-U, and voice percussionist virtuosa Butterscotch, had great ideas but were constrained by their busy lives and travel schedules. They were concerned that these factors would hinder the creative process. The trio had never worked together before and didn't know what to expect when they got into the studio together. They were together for only a few hours in the studio, and they were worried that their busy lives and travel schedules would halt the creative process. The challenge was to find a way to continue the creative process despite their physical separation and busy schedules.

The challenge faced by Chick Corea, a renowned pianist and composer, was to efficiently complete professional compositions within tight deadlines while maintaining an orderly filing of all his compositions and arrangements. As a veteran in the industry, Corea was already an established musician when Sibelius, a music notation software, was introduced in 1993. He was quick to recognize the potential benefits of using a computer for music notation and scoring. However, the challenge was to leverage these benefits to create beautiful, captivating scores in a shorter amount of time, and to keep an orderly filing of his compositions and arrangements for a smoother workflow.

CINE PLUS, one of Germany’s leading media service providers, was facing a challenge due to the increasing demand from their customers for higher resolutions and larger data volumes. This necessitated an investment in new storage to support their professional productions. Prior to the upgrade, CINE PLUS was operating four Avid ISIS | 5500 storage engines at its Berlin headquarters. Despite being a loyal Avid customer, the increasing demand required a more robust solution. CINE PLUS needed a solution that would not only meet the performance, energy efficiency, and stability standards set by Avid but also seamlessly integrate with their existing infrastructure.

The case study revolves around the challenges faced by David Fisher, a renowned editor in the science-fiction and fantasy genres. Fisher's work involves managing complex workflows, collaborating with team members of varying experience levels, and ensuring effective communication across all stages of post-production. The editing process is a critical part of visual storytelling, and Fisher needed tools that would allow him to create stories quickly for sharing and communicating with directors and producers. The challenge was to find a solution that would streamline the editing process, facilitate collaboration, and enhance the overall efficiency of post-production.

Industrial Media and its Emmy-winning television production company, The Intellectual Property Corporation (IPC), were looking to expand their collaborative workflows by adding a new production hub in New York City. The goal was to collaborate remotely with directors, producers, and editors throughout the country. Until then, their editors worked mostly on-site in Los Angeles and Atlanta. The challenge was to create an environment where someone working 3,000 miles away could be treated as though they were just down the hall. Industrial Media needed a solution that would allow them to work wherever they found talented editors, filmmakers, and story producers. Additionally, they had a tight six-week schedule to open their new production facility.

The Oslo Spektrum Arena was faced with the challenge of elevating the audio production for three sold-out shows of Norwegian hip hop superstars, Karpe Diem. The complexity of the production was heightened by the involvement of other guest artists, requiring a robust and reliable solution to ensure a seamless live performance. The production directors were keen on running the shows extremely safely, necessitating full backup for every crucial part of the production. The challenge was not only to ensure a flawless audio experience but also to record the show for future use. The production team had to work with 64 channels of signals from the stage, including an acoustic drum kit, electric bass, guitar amp, keyboards, DJ, backing tracks, FX and scratching, and multiple vocal lines.

Middlesbrough College, located in England’s Tees Valley, was faced with the challenge of providing its music technology students with a solid foundation in the hardware and software used by audio professionals. The goal was to equip these students with the necessary skills to thrive in a highly competitive and demanding industry. The college needed to ensure that its students were not only familiar with the tools used in the industry but also proficient in their use. This required the college to have access to industry-standard tools and the ability to effectively teach students how to use them.

The case study revolves around the challenge faced by Brent Gray, the FOH (Front of House) engineer for the Australian singer-songwriter Missy Higgins. Gray needed a new live system to replace the existing VENUE | Profile workflows, which he had been using for over a decade. The new system needed to be more compact, yet powerful enough to handle the increasing technical complexity of Higgins' shows. The Solastalgia tour, for instance, had grown to 42 channels, including ambient mics. The inputs included traditional band inputs like drums, bass, acoustic and electric guitar, keys, and vocals, along with a few lines of triggered drums and tracks on the new material. Gray needed a system that could handle this complexity while maintaining the high sound quality he was accustomed to with the Profile systems.

The National Broadcasting Services of Thailand (NBT), also known as Channel 11, is responsible for a wide range of production, from entertainment and government public relations to delivering a news service to the Southeast Asian nation. The Chief of Studio 2, Mr. Chatree Seangsuk, was tasked with ensuring the broadcast delivery systems and equipment function as effectively as possible. This required ongoing system upgrades to keep pace with rapid technological changes. The station had initially deployed Avid iNews broadcast solutions in 2010, and while the system had proven reliable, there was a need to improve upon the station’s deliverables. The challenge was to create compelling content while increasing operational efficiencies.

Raycom Sports, a production and marketing company based in Charlotte, North Carolina, faced the challenge of meeting the high expectations of fans for game day broadcasts. The company, which produces live broadcasts of 140 football and basketball games for the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) each year, needed to deliver an immersive, fast-paced, and entertaining experience across multiple media platforms. The challenge was not only to capture the game but also to generate compelling content from it. The increasing demand for content and the need to keep up with consumption demands required a robust and efficient technology solution. Furthermore, Raycom Sports had to manage the escalating need for storage due to the increasing content creation and the urgent requirement to preserve ACC history, which was recorded on 25,000 tapes dating back to the early 1980s.

The challenge was to provide festival engineers with an intuitive, high-quality live sound console to handle mixing their artists at a demanding 3-day festival, Riot Fest, with minimal setup and sound check time. The festival required a system that could deliver exceptional sound quality and seamless show file compatibility. The system also needed to be user-friendly to accommodate the various engineers who would be operating it during the festival. The challenge was further compounded by the tight schedule and the high expectations of the festival's veteran production manager, Grant Simmon.

The challenge was to compose and produce 43 minutes of music each week for the popular CBS show Survivor. In the time-intensive world of TV and film production, deadlines are everything. For the composers behind the music, it’s a non-stop series of moving targets, with last-minute changes followed by more of the same. Creativity is just the beginning—fresh ideas need to come fast and furious, and your creative tools need to keep pace. Emmy-winning composer Russ Landau’s Pro Tools-equipped studio is where he cranks out the weekly music beds for the hit CBS show Survivor, and with 43 minutes of music every week, it’s a compressed schedule even by TV standards.

The Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) hosts the Savannah Film Festival annually, a week-long celebration of cinematic creativity that showcases both award-winning and emerging student filmmakers. Over the years, the festival has grown from a student showcase to include high-profile, international entries. The challenge was to manage the largest university-run film festival in the country, which includes competition film showings, special screenings, workshops, and honoring cinematic luminaries. The festival also features important educational components that benefit both SCAD students and the public. The challenge was to ensure the smooth running of the festival, provide a platform for students to learn from industry professionals, and maintain the high standard of the festival.

The production team of the James Bond film, Spectre, faced a significant challenge in handling an extraordinary volume of video footage and designing an accompanying soundscape for the movie. The plot of the 26th installment in the franchise was complex, involving multiple locations and a large cast of characters. The team had to weave this intricate narrative seamlessly while dealing with a huge volume of footage. The challenge was further compounded by the need for seamless collaboration between the director and editorial teams. The supervising sound editors, Karen Baker Landers and Per Hallberg, were tasked with creating the perfect soundtrack to echo the high octane adventures of James Bond. They had to overcome a challenging edit on Spectre, requiring them to work closely with the video and sound teams.

The challenge was to cut, edit, assemble, control and access massive amounts of performance capture footage and dialogue for the latest iteration of the Star Citizen video game series. This massive multiplayer online title, which also aims to encompass first-person shooter, space trading and combat simulator elements, is a mammoth creative and production effort on a galactic scale. The game, recognized by Guinness World Records as the top crowd funded game, and incidentally the top crowd funded project, in the world, has gathered more than $100 million to allow it to command the best actors, and the best technology, to further the development of its sci-fi simulation. The latest development, Star Citizen: Squadron 42, is a single-player campaign that takes place within the Star Citizen universe. With ground-breaking cinematic techniques and best-in-the-industry game design, major stars such as Gary Oldman, Mark Hamill, Gillian Anderson and Andy Serkis have provided performances and voices for CG characters in the mission driven game.

The challenge was to update Germany’s longest-running musical theatre production, Starlight Express, to provide the audience with the most immersive audio experience possible. The Starlight Express runs in a purpose-built venue specially designed for the show, and the 40-strong roller skating cast utilizes the entire room for the performance. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s vision was to deliver maximum separation of the instruments, which led the team to explore an immersive sound concept early on for the show’s update. The complexity of the task was amplified by the need to ensure the best results for all parties involved.

The Futuristics, a songwriting and production duo, faced the challenge of creating and composing a diverse range of music genres, from pop to hip-hop to dance records. They needed a flexible, powerful Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) that could handle their creative demands and allow them to focus on their artistry. The duo, Alex Schwartz and Joe Khajadourian, had a diverse musical background and tastes, which they wanted to incorporate into their music production. However, the challenge was to find a technology that could seamlessly integrate their diverse styles and help them evolve from beat makers to hit makers.

The challenge was to overcome a transatlantic divide to bring the OSCAR®-nominated thriller The Imitation Game to life. The film, based on the true story of British cryptanalyst Alan Turing, was set during World War II and required a high level of precision in editing to accurately depict the race against time to crack Nazi Germany's naval Enigma code. The editing team, led by Academy Award-winning editor William Goldenberg, was based in Los Angeles, while the production crew was shooting in various locations around England. This geographical barrier posed significant challenges, including time zone differences and the need for a fast turnaround of footage. Budget constraints meant that the editing team could not travel to the shooting locations, further complicating the process. The team needed to maintain a 24/7 editing operation to keep up with the production schedule.

Boston public broadcaster WGBH, the largest producer of television, web, and mobile content nationally for PBS, faced the challenge of integrating its creative teams and leveraging content across its brands more efficiently. The organization aimed to modernize its news division and deliver fast-turnaround content. To compete in the challenging media environment, WGBH needed a common storage environment and integrated metadata sharing. The news division was using outdated systems and a storage platform that was expensive to maintain. The situation had become critical with the risk of technology failures threatening the broadcast. The newsroom system they were using wasn’t meeting their needs on a number of different levels. It couldn’t do the things that they expected it should be able to do. It was actually a problem for them when recruiting people from other news organizations who had worked with a high-end newsroom system like iNews.

Woosong College's SIMUSIC Department, a renowned institution for music education in South Korea, was facing the challenge of transitioning from analog mixing to digital. The existing C|24 controller was integrated with Pro Tools exclusively, limiting the department's ability to support other popular Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs). The department needed a digital mixing system that would not only facilitate this transition but also provide expanded control options for Pro Tools and other DAWs. The challenge was to find a solution that would be user-friendly for beginner students, yet advanced enough for seasoned professionals. The solution also needed to be durable and reliable, as students would be the primary users.