FEATURES
Breaking the Surface
Integrating Euphonix and Nuendo
by Michael Kunkes
 Re-recording mixer John Ross seated at the Euphonix System 5-MC console. Photo by Annie Colbeck |
Re-Recording Mixer John Ross (Home of the Brave, De-Lovely, The Butterfly Effect), in conjunction with Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH and Euphonix, hosted a demonstration at his home dubbing theatre in the Hollywood Hills in March of a breakthrough in mixing technology. Presented to attendees, including many Editors Guild members, was the workflow created by the partnering of Steinberg’s Nuendo 3 software and the Euphonix System 5-MC digital audio workstation (DAW) mixing and editing controller, utilizing the Euphonix high-speed EuCon control protocol that connects the entire control surface to multiple workstations via Ethernet.
Based on the Euphonix System 5 control surface, the System 5-MC provides complete integration and control between the console control surface and complete range of DAWs. Steinberg (which was acquired 14 months ago by Yamaha) also previewed the new Nuendo 4 software, due out later this year, that includes many new automation features aimed at facilities such as Ross’.
The integration with Nuendo has been developed over the last several years, ––according to Andrew Wild, Euphonix’s vice president and director of marketing. But it is only recently that other DAW and video editing workstations––Pyramix, Logic Pro, Digital Performer, Final Cut Pro and, most importantly, ProTools––have been plugging into the EuCon protocol, which was originally developed to control Euphonix’s own digital signal processor (DSP) mix engine. But in 2002, the company began working towards expanding the protocol to integrate with external DAWs.
Nuendo itself grew out of Steinberg’s Cubase, one of the music industry’s biggest-selling music sequencers. Says Wild, “Steinberg wanted to get Nuendo into the audio post market, and Euphonix liked Nuendo as a complement for our consoles because it’s very powerful and is a native system that doesn’t require you to buy any hardware other than the PC you’re already using. Along with ProTools, it’s really the only workstation that can seriously do audio post.”
 A diagram of John Ross' two-operator system consisting of two Euphonix 5-MC consoles with a Euphonix MC in the center. Courtesy of Euphonix |
The system that Euphonix delivered to Ross last year is a dual-operator System 5-MC film dubbing console with 44 faders and a single MC controller for each operator, with four ProTools systems, all feeding through the 192 kHz I/O interface––a lot of ProTools outputs for a film console. Also on the back end is a pair of Nuendo 3 PC systems each capable of running 200 tracks, that Ross can use as his mix engine, and a third PC running the studio monitoring software.
About building his dubbing theatre, Ross relates, “I wanted to create a truly world-class facility designed to feed the creative process by looking at the best picture we can and hearing the best sound we possibly can. I have a very powerful feature film dubbing system here that takes a new approach to the process and workflow by replacing the console’s DSP back end with a DAW, such as Nuendo, and extending the console’s control to the playback DAWs––in this case a combination of ProTools and Nuendo systems.
“It gives me the power of a traditional dubbing console with the additional benefit of being able to make changes and write automation into the playback DAWs simply by switching the control surface between the different DAWs,” he continues. “Ultimately, we can ‘future-proof’ this infrastructure by not relying on monolithic DSP-type architecture, which is starting to take hold with older console manufacturers such as Harrison, whose new consoles are totally host-based.”
 Attendees at John Ross' Hollywood mixing studio watching on-screen demonstration of of the Nuendo3 integration with the Euphonix system 5 console. Photo by Annie Colbeck |
Ross can play tracks off the Nuendo––in which case he can EQ and use the dynamics directly in Nuendo, or sometimes do an entire project on the Nuendo DAW. When a project comes in on ProTools, on the other hand, he can use the ProTools for playback, and feed them into the Nuendos.
“John writes his automation and EQ into Nuendo, but can also make adjustments in ProTools,” adds Wild. “The beauty of that is that he can push a button and go back into those ProTools systems and adjust levels and EQs right from the console surface; he can even write ProTools automation. On a normal film console, ProTools is just used as a playback machine; the integration of the EuCon protocol allows the console to hook into both ProTools and Nuendo.
“For example, the sound design and effects for a project may come in on ProTools, and the music comes in recorded in Nuendo––but John is able to mix and match the two systems,” Wild continues. “It gives him a lot more flexibility without having to feed a ton of ProTools rigs into the console.”
“All of the System 5-MC channel strips are actually controlling Nuendo, and all the LCD SmartSwitch buttons in the MC center section are related to Nuendo as an application letting me get at commands very quickly,” claims Ross. “Then, instead of looking at Nuendo, I can look at one of the ProTools, and suddenly all the faders on the console pick up the tracks on the ProTools and become ProTools functions. Because we’re controlling these DAWs via the EuCon protocol through Ethernet, we can switch console surfaces instantly.”
 A dual-operator Euphonix 5-MC set-up at RH Factor in Hollywood. Courtesy of Euphonix |
Explains Wild, “Each side of the console can be switched to look at different DAWs, so if you have a problem on ProTools, you simply switch over––the whole of the console and the MC will focus on that ProTools system. The EuCon protocol is intelligent in that when it sees ProTools running, it brings all the ProTools commands to the control surface. And when it sees Nuendo, the whole surface switches and it controls that. It’s a different way of working.”
Along with Dave Rawlinson, re-recording mixer Craig Hunter is the co-owner of Hollywood-based audio post facility RH Factor, which acquired its System 5-MC integrated console last year. Hunter has been posting NBC’s My Name is Earl, ABC’s Boston Legal, Fox’s The Wedding Bells and several indie features. “I saw the console integration at NAB almost three years ago, and it struck me as a very clever way of integrating various workstations via a high-speed data bus using a controller situation instead of a traditional audio console. It allowed for a hybridized environment, where the user would not be limited in the types of workstation choices that he might wish to integrate into his mixer. This control surface made a lot of sense because it was conventional in nature–– intuitive, less dual-purpose––and I found it a very comfortable work surface.”
RH Factor’s dual System 5-MC includes 24 faders and an MC controller for each side, serving as the company’s primary interface for all sound editorial functions. The system is configured with two ProTools HD rigs used as source machines––one for dialogue and music, the other for effects and Foley. Hunter also uses two dedicated Nuendo machines for recording stems, and those can also be used as source, depending on how the mixer wishes to input and edit the material within Nuendo.
Says Hunter, “It’s really just a question of which DSP becomes your editor by virtue of where the clips are imported to. ProTools is the backbone of our editorial environment, including sound effects, ADR and Foley. By incorporating Nuendo into our mixing environment, we can import clips from ProTools and use Nuendo for processing, editing and mixing dialogue. Conversely, we can simply use ProTools as a source machine; bring them in with the Euphonix router and format converter, giving us the broadest versatility possible. We have the best of both worlds.
“Operationally, every manufacturer I have seen in pro audio in the last 20 years has a tendency to try and be all things to all people,” Hunter continues. “I don’t believe that any one company has all the solutions at any one time. Digidesign has made a great editor, and designed and built a very interesting controller. Likewise, Nuendo has a very hip and versatile editor. What’s unique about the Euphonix System 5-MC controller is its tight integration with Nuendo––and a surface topology that is instinctual in nature and operationally very flexible.”
However, Hunter cautions, “It’s not just a matter of Nuendo or Digidesign; there’s no one solution here, as each has its own relative strengths and weaknesses. It just depends on the kind of work you are doing. Whether there’s editorial involved, or pre-dubbing or finaling, there’s so many ways to make these things work for you, depending on the task at hand. If I can afford to have the technologies of both systems––or even more––isn’t it incumbent upon me to do that for my clients, who expect me to provide the best technology that may partner and I think is available? Why I thought Euphonix had a more interesting approach is that they are not willing to relegate the potential types of workstations you can edit and mix with to just one; it’s as simple as that.”
“It’s the way the business is going right now,” says Wild. “Ten years ago, a console was just a console; now, every project uses a DAW, and no matter what, they are all based around a workstation. For a company like Euphonix, which is so good at control surface and ergonomics, we are quite happy if someone like Steinberg comes up with a Nuendo workstation we can hook into as a mix engine.”
“I am a proponent of the more virtual side of mixing,” declares Ross. “This system encompasses both the traditional style of working and writing automation––but using DAWs instead of DSP. With this, when you move a fader and write the automation, that automation gets written into the workstation, so if you take the workstation project file away, that automation will still be there. With picture changes, you only have to conform the DAW, not the DAW and console automation.
“On a conventional dubbing stage, even if you are playing back from a workstation, the automation gets written to the console’s automation system,” Ross continues. “You also have access from the console to all those original playback tracks, which you don’t have in a conventional mix environment because the console is separate from the workstation. I like the idea of having that connectivity between the control surface and the DAWs. These guys have created an extremely dynamic environment.”
“It’s also a cost-effective solution,” Wild adds. “If we supply a film console, then we also supply the DSP core and the I/O––and then you have to get the workstation. With John or Craig’s consoles, you just get the control surface and the workstations; we don’t have to supply the DSP. Also, by using Nuendo as a mix engine, you can add another 100 channels for just a couple thousand dollars and the cost of an additional PC.”
Ultimately though, console integration, whether dedicated or multi-DAW, is made necessary by the continuing march toward mixer/editor crossover. Concludes Hunter, “The crossover between editing and mixing has become so blurred, that producers take it for granted that they have editorial latitude on the stage at all times, and what was an exception is now expected. So both ProTools and Nuendo must provide efficient solutions towards the way any of us might want to edit and mix.”
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