Already working in close collaboration with its partners at Auro Technologies, Barco has been promoting immersive sound technologies in the cinema market. This year, Barco passed the landmark of 500 existing and planned Auro 11.1 installations and a growing number of directors and producers around the world are embracing the sound format. 2014 box office successes like ‘Lucy’, ‘Into the Storm’, ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’, ‘The Amazing Spiderman 2’, ‘How to Train Your Dragon 2’, ‘Expendables 3’ and ‘Transformers: Age of Extinction’ have all been mixed in Auro 11.1. Joining forces with Iosono will provide Barco with access to an even deeper pool of experience and expertise with object based immersive sound, as well gaining a direct foothold on the recording and post-production communities, were Iosono’s products are well respected.
Barco has been working together with Auro Technologies and DTS to push for an open standard for immersive sound and immersive sound playback experiences, supporting the Multi-Dimensional Audio (MDA) proposal already submitted to the SMPTE. “Creating a standardized format for immersive sound is critical as it helps to control costs for content to be produced and distributed and will ultimately speed the adoption of immersive sound worldwide,” states Brian Claypool, senior director of strategic business development at Barco. “As this standardization effort continues, Barco remains committed to providing immersive sound solutions with its partners Auro Technologies and Iosono that are designed to fulfill the needs of the exhibition industry and give content creators the flexibility and tools to produce the best work imaginable.”
Wilfried Van Baelen, CEO of Auro Technologies, adds: “Being a pioneer in cinema sound is a privilege and an honor. We are so excited to be able to work together with more innovators like Iosono to further develop, the tools and processes that make the object based part of the Auro-3D format a truly magical experience. Iosono and Barco are the perfect complementary partners to further develop the Auro 3D listening experience and we look forward to showing the world what this new element of collaboration will yield for the industry.”
Founded in Erfurt, Germany, in 2004, Iosono specializes in object-based sound rendering in various professional applications, including cinema, by incorporating distance data which takes the simple panning of sound around a three-dimensional space to the next level. “We are honored to now be part of a company like Barco which has a vision and passion for creating the ultimate cinematic experience,” states Olaf Stepputat, former CEO of Iosono and now Director of Barco Audio Technologies. ”We have been involved with making immersive sound for motion pictures before any other company in the market. Adding our capabilities to Barco’s will create a compelling system which will create a listening experience unparalleled in the industry. We look forward to a bright future with Barco bringing Iosono’s experience in the accurate processing and display of acoustical information to Barco’s portfolio of market leading visualization products.
With an installed base of over 50,000 screens, Barco’s audio solutions are an important component of its recently introduced ‘CinemaBarco’ approach, which combines a rich array of entertainment concepts to dramatically enhance the showmanship and immersive qualities of the movie for audiences. Iosono, based in Erfurt, Germany, now Barco Audio Technologies will continue to design and develop professional audio processing solutions for a variety of professional audio markets, as part of Barco’s Entertainment division.
Auro Technologies is a spin-off of the Galaxy Studios Group and owner of the Auro-3D Technology Suite. The Auro-3D Concept and Listening Formats are designed by Wilfried Van Baelen, founder and CEO of Galaxy Studios and Auro Technologies. The Auro-3D suite offers 3D audio sound reproduction capabilities to the professional, automotive, broadcast and consumer electronics markets (such as gaming, smart phones, multimedia PC, notebooks, tablets, audio players, digital TV, media libraries and packaged media).
Auro Technologies will showcase recording, editing, and play-back of their Auro-3D format through multiple demos, workshops and special events during the AES 137th Convention at the Los Angeles Convention Center from October 9-12, 2014. A special track, “Sound for Picture,” chaired by film sound engineer Brian McCarty, will look into immersive cinema sound and object based mixing among other topics. Stephan Mauer, from Iosono, will join the Sound for Picture session “SP4 - Immersive Sound and One-Master Mixing”, taking place on October 11.
www.barco.com | www.auro-technologies.com | www.iosono-sound.com
