Proper Audio Set-up for HD

Frank Cabanach is an audio engineer with over 20 years experience in the television industry and seven years in surround sound (5.1) mixing. He’s worked with many major cable channels, including A&E, Discovery Kids, The History Channel, Spike TV and USA Network, helping them create stereo and surround sound mixes for their short- and long-form SD and HD programs. Cabanach has won numerous awards for his varied work, including a Monitor Award for a project he mixed for MTV Sports.
SoundHound offers sound design, audio post, original music, radio production and sound-to-picture editing-now with video editorial added to the mix. The company recently purchased a new Panasonic HD D-5 mastering deck that allows SoundHound engineers to output to an HD master tape once the mix is completed, either in stereo or surround sound.
Q: What's the best way to deliver audio masters to a post house like SoundHound for an editing HD project? On tape? Disc? Hard drive?
A: We normally like to get OMF files, either on disc or posted on an FTP site. This helps us move the project through our systems quicker and generally results in a higher-quality audio mix.

Q: Do you find most of your projects are acquired and/or completed in stereo or surround audio? Why?
A: Although there's a (slowly) growing awareness of surround, most commercial projects are still completed in stereo. I personally deliver all television work in Lt/Rt, which is a surround format encoded in a stereo mix. It's then decoded by the Pro Logic system in any home theater.

Q: A number of surround-sound microphones (e.g., Holophone) have emerged for HD production. Is a single mic adequate for acquiring surround audio?
A: It depends on the project. A talking head only requires a mono signal. If you’re shooting an event (sports, concerts, etc), or specific location, there's nothing better than clean authentic production audio, but surround environments and effects are often created in post.

Q: When acquiring audio in the field, what’s the best way set up mic placement? Does on-camera recording work well enough for some?
A: Again it depends on the project. In general, camera mics tend to pick up a lot of background noise, so it’s always nice to have the option of a lavalier or a quality boom. It's also a good idea for someone to monitor the shoot audio at all times.

Q: What's the most challenging part of a surround sound mix?
A: Making sure what's going on in the back complements the program and isn't distracting the listener from the content.

Q: What's the biggest misconception about HD production?
A: That it's still a ways off in the future. The future is now.

For more information, visit http://www.soundhound.com/.