Systems Integration Asia — February-March 2018

NEWS

Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR/AR) has

been a hot topic in the Middle East,

dominating conversations at industry

events and trade shows. However, while

the capture of 3D video has received due

attention, the importance of the

accompanying 3D audio has been largely

overlooked.

In a bid to address this shortcoming,

audio leaders Sennheiser, Dolby, Neumann

and Lawo successfully conducted the

region's rst workshop dedicated to 3D

audio capture, processing and mixing. The

overwhelmingly positive reception and

ood of early registrations prompted the

extension of the capacity for the second

workshop to accommodate all attendees.

Commenting on the regional awareness

about 3D audio, Peter Van Dam, Technical

Advisor – CEO's Ofce at LIVE HD

Broadcast Facilities said, “for now in the

region, we are limited to 5.1 in TV

broadcast while immersive audio in TV

broadcast is not really on the agenda.

Workshops like this help create awareness

to the region. Having the right people to

explain it in a way that everyone can

understand and see the need for it,

combined with the new video technology

and video standards, is a very good

initiative.”

Bruno Silva, one of the managers of

Sound and Broadcast at Royal Opera

House, Muscat, who also attended the

workshop observed, “the more

manufacturers and brands promote these

events, the better are the opportunities to

raise the level of education in the region

among professionals that are embracing

this industry because it is new to them as

well. So, these are all great opportunities

and I think manufacturers have the

responsibility to work together with

Audio Majors Deliver First-of-its-kind

3D Audio Mixing Workshop in Dubai

institutions, schools and venues to

promote and facilitate these types of

events and eventually raise expertise in the

region.”

Each full-day workshop featured sessions

on capturing sound in 3D, mixing,

controlling and monitoring immersive

sound formats, and establishing efcient

encoding workows for optimum results.

Also included were listening sessions

designed to expose attendees to audio

content originally recorded in 3D as well

as recordings upmixed using Sennheiser's

patented algorithm.

Attendees were also introduced to 3D and

object based audio formats – Ambeo by

Sennheiser and Dolby Atmos respectively.

Sessions that were particularly well

received included one on 'mixing

immersive sound formats', conducted by

Lucas Zwicker, Technical Product Manager

Audio Production of Lawo, and the one by

Dolby presented by Senior Content

Manager, Vikram Joglekar, which brought

attendees up to speed on the company's

latest developments and roadmap.

Silva further observed, “the main highlight

of this workshop for me was the live music

capture, as that's what we do in the opera

house Muscat.” This session was

presented by Tonmeister Gregor Zielinsky,

International Recording Applications

Manager at Sennheiser.

Both Silva and Van Dam echoed the

general consensus among attendees that

there is need for more discussion around

3D audio in the Middle East. “I think more

events like this should happen and

perhaps there should be even more

detailed workshops into all the three

different areas we've seen here today and

the related products. It's good to have

SI A

SI A

these generic workshops, and it would

also be good to see more detailed

workshops in the future,” concluded Silva.

https://en-ae.sennheiser.com/

http://www.neumann.com

http://www.lawo.com

http://www.dolby.com

ClearOne Plans Record

Number of Training

Programmes in 2018

GLOBAL: ClearOne announced plans to host

up to 175 regional and online training

events in 2018 to help its partners, dealers,

consultants and integration community are

abreast with the company's new range of

solutions comprising conferencing,

collaboration and streaming products.

“ClearOne offers the industry's most

comprehensive range of conferencing,

collaboration and streaming solutions and

the training we offer has to keep pace with

the roll-out of our expanding product

portfolio,” stated ClearOne Head of

Training Ron Lynch, CTS. “To meet this

increased need for a wider range of training

options, ClearOne has doubled the size of

its training staff and set a goal of hosting

175 training events during the course of

2018, utilizing a mix of traditional, regional

in-person classes with an increased number

of webinar-style classes that are open to Pro

AV practitioners everywhere,” he said. “We

will even custom design a training schedule

for consultants and specic groups on an

as-needed basis.”

The instructor-led training classes include

live regional events and live webinar events

using ClearOne Spontania, both of which

are qualied as RU (Renewal Units)

approved by AVIXA, hands-on trainings,

private group trainings, and “teach-ins,”

which are shorter classes tailored to meet

the specic needs of individuals and

companies. The self-paced, online classes

are website-based trainings that will be

available via YouTube videos.

To view the upcoming training schedule

visit

http://www.clearone.com/events_training

http://www.clearone.com