THE INTERNATIONAL PUBLICATION FOR TECHNOLOGY IN ENTERTAINMENT ISSUE 1 RAJAN GUPTA An interview with the MD of Hi-Tech who is celebrating 25 years in the industry. WONDERLA A highly durable sound system was required for the Hyderabad theme park. IES Founders Rasesh Pareth and Kekul Sheth talk past, present and future.
30 Alliance Francaise Pondicherry The origins of the Alliance Francaise organisation dates back to the 19th Century and has the aim of promoting not only French language and culture, but also intercultural exchanges between France and India. In 1954, the organisation orchestrated the building of a facility in which students could be taught about French culture and language. Over the years, thousands of students of Pondicherry have benefited from the opportunities that the Alliance Francaise has made available to them, opportunities to reach a high level of expertise to either join a multinational company or to pursue higher studies in French universities. The facility, Maison Bellocq includes a cultural and information centre, a school for teaching French, a library, classrooms and an auditorium. The latter of which was recently in need of an upgrade, after being established in 1990. In order to transport the space into the 21st Century, new Maison Bellocq Director, Fabrice Mongiat, reached out French architect Pierre Elouard - who actually realised the auditorium first time around - and Project Manager, Prem Lorenzen, who altogether brought in audiovisual consultant, Sound Wizard. CEO of Sound Wizard, Kumbha Young Grenier said: www.mondodr.com
31 Left and right: Alliance Francaise has been kitted with a new QSC audio setup, which is joined by a PreSonus mixer from the previous installation. The projection equipment from NEC and Draper is also a mixture of old and new. Sound Wizard was called in to do the design job because of its extended track record and being able to deliver accurate, on target, quality results using EASE acoustical prediction software. With a modest budget approved by the Alliance Francaise board, Sound Wizard worked to optimise each area of the design to achieve specific acoustical targets for even sound coverage and a offer guests a great experience. Internal acoustical panelling, along with a line array sound system, ensure that every guest in the house gets a clean, clear and even sound experience. Primarily due the age of the building, Kumbha decided it would be a good idea to implement acoustical treatment to guarantee the best possible audio outcome. It would allow higher quality sound, meaning the space could be flexible and adaptable to different applications such as acoustical musical performances, theatre plays, amplified musical performances, conferences and movies with surround sound. He installed Anutone boards of varying thicknesses in strategic places around the auditorium to create a broad absorption of sound. Sound Wizard used EASE simulation software extensively to predict how the space would sound and together with ray tracing technology was able to successfully create a healthy acoustic environment, said Kumbha. Next, he and his team went about the audio system design, opting for a line array solution coupled with surround speakers. The main PA split evenly left and right of the stage and collectively consists of eight QSC WL2082-i cabinets and two QSC WL118-sw subwoofers. Together they create a near-field sound source. Kumbha explained further: The distance between adjacent drivers is close enough that they constructively interfere with each other to send sound waves further than traditional loudspeakers and with a more evenly distributed sound output pattern. In addition, a total of 14 QSC AD-S82 surround speakers, create a balanced SPL providing great coherence throughout the entire space. www.mondodr.com
32 Technical Information ER: Sound Wizard BRANDS: QSC, PreSonus, Audio-Technica, NEC, Draper, Extron WEBSITE: http://soundwizard.net / www. qsc.com / www.presonus.com / www. audio-technica.com / www.necdisplay. com / www.draperinc.com / www.extron. com Amplification and processing is also provided by QSC - a combination of CMX800, CMX 2000 s and CX168 amplifiers, plus a SC28 DSP unit. For mixing requirements, a Presonus Studio Live 24.4.2 console was reutilised from the previous installation. A microphone inventory of Audio-Technica ES015H18, AT8668S and AE3300 s equips the auditorium with all it needs for any kind of production. Completing the overhaul of the auditorium, Kumbha reused the NEC NP 4 100 projector, but installed a new Draper screen to produce a clean and clear image projection screen. An Extron DMP 64 surround decoder, an Extron SSP 7.1 speaker processor, Extron XTP T USW 103 HDMI scaler / receiver and Extron XTP SR HDMI receiver are also all at home in the auditorium. The new auditorium now features 184 seats - 121 in the main area, and 63 on the balcony - spans across 165 sq metres, 45 sq metres of which is dedicated to the stage and thanks to the new QSC audio solution from Sound Wizard every seat in the house receives the optimal sound experience.
The mondo*dr awards website is now live. www.mondodrawards.com Launched to recognise and celebrate the technical marvels that are created in today s entertainment outlets. Log on to the website to read more about the awards and submit your project to be in with a chance of making it an award-winning installation. JUDGING PANEL TO INCLUDE: