Visual effects facility The Mill has become the first post-production house to begin using Emotion System’s new automatic loudness analysis and repair system, writes Kevin Hilton. The London company, known for its work on
Dr Who as well as films and commercials, has ordered licences for the eFF (Emotion File Finish) software program, which will be used by The Mill and its Beam content management and distribution division. The news broke at BVE Broadcast Video Expo show in London this week.
The eFF system “has been around for a few months”, says Emotion Systems chief operating officer Iain Davies speaking at BVE, but it is only since Christmas that there has been a specific version for post-production. The difference between eFF and real-time metering systems is that it is file-based, allowing adjustments to be made for compliance once a mix has been finished.
Davies comments that post houses like The Mill and Beam have to deliver material to many different countries and need to hit a variety of loudness targets. The eFF system works to ITU-R 1770/1771 as well as R128 and also incorporates the LEQ(a) measurement, which, Davies explains, is still used by some broadcasters.
Explaining the reasons for buying the system, Lance Gaunt, head of digital media technology at The Mill, says, "Due to the high volume and variety of formats coming into Beam for international distribution we wanted a file analysis tool that provided an efficient way of measuring and verifying various containers/codecs for loudness compliance requirements up to and including 5.1 surround. An advantage of eFF is that it provides fast, accurate analysis and detailed reporting. The people at Emotion Systems understand the complexity of our inflow and were able to provide an efficient solution."
