Kind Of Loud Technologies AnnouncesSmartPan Proô - Surround Sound Panning Plug-InFor Pro ToolsÆ

With a DVD-Audio specification in place, the expectation is that most high-end recording studios and facilities will perform multichannel mixing in the very near future, provided they are prepared. Facilities and engineers who have gained experience with surround mixing will be in demand as labels move to re-release their catalogs in multichannel formats, as expected. Surround sound mixing is now a day-to-day reality at many audio and post-production facilities. New tools are being developed to assist in the creative mixing and re-mixing challenges created by DTS and DVD-Audio.Kind of Loud has announced SmartPan Proô, a surround sound panning Plug-In for DigidesignÆ's Pro ToolsÆ platform. SmartPan Pro is the first product to bring discrete six-channel surround sound capabilities to Pro Tools. SmartPan Pro is available directly from Kind of Loud, and through selected Digidesign Pro Tools resellers, at a US list price of $995.00. With full support for all major surround sound formats, including 5.1, 7.1 and LCRS, SmartPan Pro delivers all of the features necessary to create professional mixes for DolbyÆ Digital, DTSÆ Digital Surround, DVD-Video, DVD-Audio and game formats. SmartPan Pro allows Pro Tools|24, Pro Tools|24 MIX and MIXPlus systems to generate a six-channel mix by allocating three stereo channels to serve as a virtual output bus. According to Kind of Loud, SmartPan Pro offers a new panning paradigm to accurately convey the psychoacoustics of surround sound panning. With SmartKnobô, users can place sound in the soundfield and control the width, or spatial extent, of the sound. SmartPan Pro also provides a graphical joystick interface for those more accustomed to a traditional joystick controller.The designers at Kind of Loud have taken an innovative approach to the psychoacoustics of surround sound panning with the implementation of a Polar Joystick, using a circular paradigm for panning, and with SmartKnobô, a controller that both places sound and controls its width, or spatial extent.Comprehensive features for professional surround sound mixing are standard in SmartPan Pro. Divergence control gives mixers accurate control over panning laws affecting the center, left front and right front speakers. Sub-woofer/LFE management features include adjustable filtering, independent level control and crossover management. Multiple Pro Tools tracks may be linked and panned as a group. All SmartPan Pro functions may be automated. Applications for SmartPan Pro include audio post-production for film, video and DVD-Video. An emerging market, ideal for Pro Tools, is the remixing of music recordings in surround sound for release on DTS and DVD-Audio discs. While some new material has been released in the DVD-Video format, experts concur that there is a tremendous need to remix existing content for the new format, an excellent business opportunity for new and existing Pro Tools customers.SmartPan Pro has been used recently to bring surround sound to a popular new music release. Producer David Tickle has used SmartPan Pro to create a 5.1 surround mix for Stingís next album, ""Ten Sumnerís Tales,"" a Universal/DTS release. David Lynchís newest film, ""The Straight Story,"" was also a project in which the SmartPan Pro was used. ""Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me"" is the second movie to be released in the new Dolby Digital Surround EX format. Kind of Loud Technologies worked closely with mixer of the film, Brian Slack, Chief Engineer for Digital Sound & Picture, to create a custom 6.1 version of SmartPan Pro.For more information, contact Kind of Loud at 831 466 3737 and visit their Web site at www.kindofloud.com.