24-bit All-Digital Sound Studio

Sirius Digital™ is our newest toy – a 24-bit, all-digital audio studio for commercial radio and television, video, motion picture and music projects.  Designed around the latest generation ProTools24™ digital workstation platform, the studio offers a complete recording, editing, sound design, sweetening, mixing and CD mastering environment.

Todd Watson, award-winning composer, sound designer and engineer heads up Sirius Digital.  Watson’s 16 years’ experience in audio recording includes producing for major-label artists, sound design for national television commercials, and scoring for films, commercials and video projects.  His expertise played a major role in designing and outfitting the new digital studio.

“I’m delighted to be working with Sirius,” Watson said.  “The studio was developed from the ground up to provide a perfect acoustical space for recording and monitoring.  The equipment is absolutely state-of-the art, with unlimited potential to grow as technology progresses.  We can provide crystal-clear sound, a huge assortment of processing tools, we’re already 24-bit digital from start to finish, and we’re ready to offer full 5.1 surround and 96k sampling as demand develops.” 

The studio is technically very powerful, but its greatest strength is the man at the console.  Todd knows exactly how to make a project come to life. Our primary business has always been in the visual media, but Todd’s audio work as a freelance colleague over the years has made a huge difference in the impact our work has on our clients.  We built the studio to join forces with Todd on a full-time basis.

We've already completed several projects, including scoring, sound design and mixing national spots for ESAB (working jointly with Primal Scream in Los Angeles) and the Great American Cookie Company; regional spots for The Georgia Heart Center and Allied Industries; scoring and sound effects for animated tags and logos for Serologicals, NCR and Service Intelligence; and several pop, world music and classical album projects.  

Alais/Wavefront Maya® Now In-House

We've just put Alias/Wavefront’s new Maya® 3D software package and a Silicon Graphics O2® R12000-powered workstation into the Sirius 3D animation suite.  We’re tremendously excited about this evolution in our capabilities.  We’ve been primarily an Alias/Wavefront studio since we opened our doors in 1990, beginning with TDI Explore®, adding Wavefront Composer®, Kinemation® and Dynamation® in 1994, and Alias Power Animator® in 1995. Maya® combines the strengths of these programs and adds a number of new features, especially related to character animation and soft-body dynamics.  And running it on the new O2®, it positively screams.

Our new capabilities have already been successfully put to the test with animation and CGI effects projects for several commercial and broadcast projects for NorTel, NCR, Allied Industries, ESAB, Serologicals and Firstwave Technologies.

In addition to its 3D animation capability, We offer complete 2D graphics and animation, image compositing, nonlinear digital video post production, multi-track digital audio recording, sound design and sweetening, as well as a complete range of communication and marketing consulting services.

Theatrical Grand Tour

Sirius Images Gives R/C Theatres a New Look

We've recently completed production of a forty-five second policy trailer for R/C Theatres, created entirely within the TDI EXPLORE 3D animation environment.  Using TDI's photorealistic 3D textures and rendering, animators Mike Chokran, Marshall Peterson, and Ciaran Quinn created a complete theater interior, populated by over a hundred audience members.

The animated sequences feature the auditorium, a portion of the lobby, a glimpse of the projection booth, and even the interior of a waste can.  We left out the parking lot and the rest rooms, so maybe we can get them on the coming attractions trailer.

The surround music/effects track, composed by Todd Watson, was specifically designed to take advantage of the audio systems featured in R/C houses.  The concept required intimately linking the audio with the visuals to create a powerful sense of movement, because the camera flies around the auditorium and the viewer is carried right through the screen.  We wanted to convey the idea that going to the movies is more than sitting in a dark room and watching flickering images.  Films can carry you away to different places, times, ways of thinking – and good use of audio and visual technology can help that process along. The audio premix was engineered by David Romine at Songbird Studios in Atlanta, and the surround mix was accomplished at EFX in Los Angeles.

We rendered the animation on four Silicon Graphics workstation workstations, and the finished sequence was imaged to 35mm film on an MGI Solitaire 8xp film recorder by Ray Feeney at RFX, Los Angeles.

Rising above the Clutter

Davis Advertising Taps Sirius for a 3-D Difference

We recently completed production of a :30 spot for Davis Advertising, highlighting Westvaco Development's southeastern coastal properties.  Combining live-action film with photorealistic 3D animation, the spot depicts a giant blueprint, through which 3D animated characters rise and fall as they take advantage of the amenities offered at Westvaco's planned communities – golf, tennis, cycling, swimming, and business opportunities.

Sirius Images animators Mike Chokran and Marshall Peterson used TDI EXPLORE software to create the animation and precisely match live 35mm footage of a real blueprint being rolled out on a table, which was shot at Techne Films studios, also in Atlanta.  The articulated models were created and animated using TDI's 3Design and Skeleton programs. 

"We were looking for something that would set us apart in a crowded marketplace, and also give a strong 'national' look in a regional spot," said Jim Carver, production director at Davis Advertising.  "Sirius Images gave us all that, and at a very attractive price.  I was especially impressed with their ability to let us play with different options, adjusting colors and textures to 3D models with nearly instantaneous feedback."