In Broadcast - March 2013 - 44

I N T E R N A T I O N A L

WWW.INBROADCAST.COM | ISSUE 17 - MARCH 2013

N E W S

InVIEW
Creatives Push Limits Of Calm Act Cont.
Robert Haskitt
Chief Marketing
Ofﬁcer
Extreme Reach

“…whatiswe would
prefer to have
a conversation
with a broadcaster
to make sure
everyone’s goals
are met

”

broadcast chain. The client wound
up spending the time and money to
remix the spots because they felt
it didn’t meet their creative goals.
“Not everyone is willing to do
that,” SpotGenie’s Dykes said. “If
the audio mixers don't do it right,
they think the broadcaster will ﬁx
it. So, that’s why I think the audio
post industry has to do a better job

of educating its members about
how to achieve your creative goals
while also remaining compliant
with the law.”
SpotGenie also has a sister audio
post-production company called
Acoustic Music, in Atlanta, so Dykes
sees what’s happening in the mixing
suite ﬁrsthand. He said there’s still
work to be done.
“I don't think that many audio
engineers that mix commercials
have gotten as serious about the
issue as they should,” he said.
“There was never a law before. Now
the Calm Act, combined with the
risk that a spot will get kicked back
by the client, are good reasons to
pay attention to the ﬁnal mix levels.
I think it will work itself out and
everyone will eventually become
compliant. The audio mixers also
need to understand that if an audio
level needs to be compressed, it’s
better for the post house to do it
than the broadcaster (who does not
have as much invested in that spot).
The Calm Act has allowed audio
mixers to have more control over the

ﬁnal listening experience because
its now the exact spec they should
mix to. If they don't mix to that spec,
their spot might be compromised
down the line.”
The biggest hurdle is reaching
industry consensus, in spite of the
law. Commercials are produced
from different sources with different
workﬂows and wide-ranging creative
decision makers. The methods of
mixing are equally diverse. Getting
everyone to understand the
importance of compliance at the
creative level is key.
“Different advertisers have different
perspectives,” Extreme Reach’s
Haskitt said. “We’ve heard some
advertisers saying they don't want
to be regulated as far as how the
ad runs. As we all can surmise,
advertisers love their spots to
run hot [loud]. Other advertisers
understand that the audience gets
annoyed when a spot is too loud and
so that viewer either turns down the
audio level or walks away from the
TV. These are two scenarios that
advertisers fear the most. So, many

feel that if you want your spot to be
seen, you should make it compatible
with what the government has
decided viewers can tolerate. It’s
really that simple.”

RTW TM3 loudness metering

Collaborative Graphic Workﬂows Unleash Potential
Broadcast design is a demanding environment where the pressure is on to quickly deliver high-quality
graphics that enhance the channel’s branding…
By Miguel Churruca
Marketing Director
Brainstorm

esign departments need tools
that unleash the designers’
creativity combining ease of
operation with an advanced toolset.
Designers have changed from 2D
stills to 3D real-time animations and
many sections of the department,
such as news graphics or CG
specialists, had to cope with the
most radical changes, because of
the appearance of new technologies
and the evolution of other areas
such as newsrooms. The days of
the dedicated hardware islands are
long gone and today’s broadcast
graphics require designers with
multiple abilities plus ﬂexible and
collaborative software solutions.
As always, there is the constant
need to provide quality graphics
in close-to-air situations, plus the
requirement to deliver an increased
amount of daily graphics that are
more complex because of the
requirements of the channel
branding. That is why collaborative
workﬂow in graphics is more and
more important also on the creation

stage, as broadcast design requires
the concourse of different individuals
to complete a project.
The creation process must be
helped by technology, and designers
must concentrate on creation.
Leading designers or art directors
create pieces and concepts that the
rest of the team then use to create
all the versions needed, while realtime graphic solutions could assure
the on-time delivery of any piece.
These solutions should facilitate
the creative process by allowing
designers to share elements and
explore different alternatives or styles
simultaneously, so the combination
of processing speed (or real-time
graphics) with a dedicated vast
graphics toolset allows designers to
explore more possibilities with less
effort. Intensive usage of network
solutions, common libraries and
shared media also enhances the
collaborative process.
Brainstorm has learned both from
the legacy Aston operation and from
the experience of its wide user base,

providing the new Aston 3D with an
enhanced real-time user experience
that facilitates the design process,
so designers can concentrate on
creation while the interface adapts
to their preferences. Also, along with
its possibilities of becoming hero
system for standalone operation,
one of the main premises in the
development of Aston 3D was the
integration of the product into a
collaborative workﬂow environment.
Aston 3D can share objects,
libraries, presets or complete
projects so they are available to
any user in the network. Project
managers or art directors can

have control over the whole project,
while designers share their work as
assigned in a common library and
media is stored in a common asset
platform, accessible in real-time
by any allowed user. With Aston
3D all operators can share objects,
materials or attributes, working with
the same assets and parameters.
Also, adapting a graphics style
to alternative styles is as simple as
changing an object’s attribute. The
project is fully managed by the art
director, who validates the shared
project and can also export the
whole project (media+objects) to
external places such as OB vans.

The creative process should allow designers to share elements simultaneously

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