Goldcrest Post Production has chosen to invest in an Avid Pro Tools S6 modular control surface for its newly-opened Dean Street Theatre 1, a purpose-built Dolby Atmos mixing theatre based in central London.

The post production house’s Soho facilities are now home to three S6 control surfaces that were supplied by Scrub, a division of HHB Communications.

The Dean Street Theatre 1 control surface is a 32-fader M40 configuration, integrated with an AMS Neve DFC3D digital mixing console. Custom furniture enables the number of Pro Tools S6 or DFC3D modules to be increased or reduced depending on the mixer’s needs. Goldcrest’s head of engineering Simon Ray and studio manager Rob Weatherall were instrumental in the implementation of the hybrid mixing desk.

Goldcrest slowly moved to Pro Tools S6 from a small number of ‘in the box’ Avid ICON D-Control mixing suites. “Goldcrest are very a forward-looking post-production house,” said HHB CTO John Johnson. “People mix ‘in the box’ now more than ever and with Pro Tools S6 Goldcrest have tactile control of automation and plug-ins, as well as a huge amount of visual feedback, which really speeds up the mixing process.”

Each of five Avid Pro Tools rigs has a DAD DX32 audio interface attached, which has both Dante and MADI out. The MADI can be routed to the DFC for conventional mixing or to a sixth rig with a DAD AX32 converter system for ‘in the box’ mixing. A custom BSS monitoring solution can be accessed from either the AX32 or DFC.

“We can also instantly switch between the increasingly varied mixing formats that are now required: 5.1, 7.1, Dolby Atmos and most recently DTS:X,” Ray noted. “The DAD interfaces give us so many options as to how we route the audio around the theatre and we are only just beginning to realise the potential of Dante. The modular nature of the S6 means we can configure a setup to a mixers specific requirements.”

Goldcrest has just completed eight weeks of final mixing on a big Hollywood feature, its second job in the room, with a number of similar projects lined up for the next year. Dean Street Theatre 1 takes advantage of a seven-metre-wide screen, a 15-metre throw and a six-metre ceiling height throughout, while its opening brings the number of Dolby-licensed mixing theatres to three within Goldcrest London.

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