The past few decades have seen an increase in people working from home, and the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated a trend towards working remotely. The recording industry is no exception. Production companies are realising the value of saving time and money by attending audio post-production sessions virtually rather than physically travelling in to a studio.
As a result, the necessity of being able to connect securely and in high quality with remote clients becomes more important. Milestone Studios has high-speed internet available, for consumer programs like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, and Skype. We also own professional software that facilitates links to remote studios using Source-Connect for dialogue replacement, voice-over recording, and even music. The great advantage of a programme like Source-Connect is that, unlike Zoom or Microsoft Teams, you can record high-quality feed transmitted from a remote studio, instead of only being able to listen back to inferior quality audio.
For example, a singer might be in Berlin while the client is in Cape Town. We could connect to a Berlin studio and record the vocals in real time from Germany onto our computer in Cape Town for use in a session being run here. Being part of a remote recording is similar to being on a group WhatsApp or FaceTime call, in the sense that everybody involved can hear each other, and or see one another when necessary.
Source-Connect software also allows the two linked studios to share a common video for synchronisation. This is helpful during ADR, for example, where the client can judge accurately whether the voice take is in sync with the picture. Source-Connect can run in mono or stereo, depending on the needs of the session.
South Africa has been plagued by rolling blackouts, known as loadshedding, for many years. At Milestone Studios have a dedicated inverter backup system, fed by a generator, which ensures that we can continue operating when South Africa’s unstable electricity supply causes other studios to fail. This is helpful when connecting to studios overseas for remote recording purposes.
Milestone Studios is officially certified by Source-Connect, which indicates our proficiency in using the software, as well as the stability and speed of our internet connection.
