An audio toolkit for localisation and access services

Founded in 1933, TITRAFILM is the original French cinema dubbing and subtitling company. The company now also services festivals, television, and online content and has expanded their products to include subtitling for the deaf and hard of hearing and audio descriptions. It also contributes to the digitisation and restoration of film heritage.

Technology Involved:

Project

TITRAFILM collaborates with a variety of broadcasters and technology platforms, each having different input and output configurations. Historically, the company used manual workflows to manage these challenges, ensuring that each piece of content met the specific requirements of its destination platform. However, with the significant increase in the volume of work due to the advent of online content, these manual processes became increasingly unsustainable and inefficient.

To address these growing demands, TITRAFILM needed an automated solution that would allow them to retain their high standards in localisation and access services while handling a larger workload more efficiently. The goal was to find a system that could automate complex audio processing tasks without compromising on quality, ensuring that content could be delivered swiftly and accurately to meet the diverse needs of various platforms.

Initially, TITRAFILM approached Emotion Systems looking for Dolby E encoding and decoding services. However, after recognising the extensive capabilities of Emotion Systems' products, TITRAFILM expanded its use to include a range of audio automation services. These now encompass loudness correction, remixing, pitch correction, and harmonising. By leveraging these advanced tools, TITRAFILM was able to streamline its workflows, enhance efficiency, and maintain its reputation for high-quality audio processing across a growing array of platforms and formats.

Introducing Engine

Emotion Systems supplied TITRAFILM with an Engine that has been integrated with their Vantage Media Asset Management (MAM) system to serve as a workflow manager. This integration allows TITRAFILM to use 25 watch folders to facilitate the over 60 workflows they have implemented, ranging from simple automations to complex processes. The sound studio utilises these watch folder workflows for tasks such as automated loudness compliance and audio embeds, ensuring efficient and consistent processing.

Workflows running through Vantage can involve multiple passes through the Engine, showcasing the system's flexibility and power. For example, a single piece of content may first be processed with varispeed, then returned to Vantage, and subsequently sent back to the Engine for Dolby E encoding. This seamless integration and automation enable TITRAFILM to manage complex audio processing tasks effectively, maintaining high-quality standards while handling increased workloads.

The increase in online content and global storytelling means that workloads for companies like TITRAFILM are increasing, but resources aren’t. Automating non-creative processes can help but only if the output is reliable and of a high quality. As TITRAFILM discovered, Engine delivers on all these fronts.”

MC Patel
CEO

Summary

TITRAFILM collaborates with a variety of broadcasters and technology platforms, each with different input and output configurations. Historically, manual workflows managed these challenges, ensuring content met specific requirements, but the surge in online content made these processes unsustainable. To handle the increased workload efficiently while maintaining high standards in localisation and access services, TITRAFILM sought an automated solution. Initially approaching Emotion Systems for Dolby E encoding and decoding services, TITRAFILM soon expanded its use of their products to include a range of audio automation services like loudness correction, remixing, pitch correction, and harmonizing. This enabled TITRAFILM to streamline workflows, enhance efficiency, and uphold its reputation for high-quality audio processing across various platforms.

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Emotion Systems supplied TITRAFILM with an Engine integrated with their Vantage Media Asset Management (MAM) system as a workflow manager, using 25 watch folders to manage over 60 workflows. This setup handles tasks from automated loudness compliance to complex multi-step processes involving varispeed and Dolby E encoding. Processing hundreds of hours of content monthly, the Engine’s remote access capabilities proved invaluable, allowing technicians to prepare workflows and generate reports even during lockdown. By automating non-creative processes with reliable, high-quality output, TITRAFILM effectively managed the increasing demands of online content and global storytelling, demonstrating Engine's capacity to deliver efficiency and flexibility.