Soundmaster Group

The ION Operating Environment featuring ATOM

SOUNDMASTER GROUP is the developer of the ION Studio Operating Environment. ION seamlessly integrates the diverse technology used in sound post production via a single, powerful user interface.

The principals of Soundmaster Group are honored to be the recipients of Scientific and Engineering Academy Awards for the design and implementation of Soundmaster ION. The awards were presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills, California on February 27, 1999. For more information about the award, click on the photo at right.

We are also thrilled to have received 2000 Prime Time Emmy Plaques recognizing Outstanding Engineering for Soundmaster ION. These awards were presented by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in Hollywood, California on July 11, 2000. For more information about the award, click on the photo at right.

A must read for anyone considering joining the Soundmaster family and a testament to those who are already members, RTL Germany talks at length about their long term experience with Soundmaster ION. This quote from Hans Biermann speaks volumes about the philosophy behind our operating environment and why RTL chose it: "One's method of operation should not have to adapt to the tools available, it should be the other way around."

HD/SD interformat video editing made simple

Soundmaster's exciting new virtual keypad, VIRPAD™ is a big hit!

Policy Statement Regarding ION Compatibility

The Soundmaster ION operating environment is now available onboard the Studer Vista 7, SSL C300, Harrison MPC3-D and MPC4-D, Euphonix System 5 and AMS/Neve DFC digital consoles. The Digidesign ICON D-Control gains classic film style record and monitor control via ION and our exclusive VIRPAD paddle version. Watch for Soundmaster ION onboard Stagetec and Lawo digital consoles in the future. Through a tightly integrated user interface, operators now benefit from the world class capabilities of these consoles while accessing the broad scope of external device integration provided by ION, all from a single mixing sweet spot. No longer are mixers required to jump from keyboard to keyboard, or spend a disproportionate amount of their time scanning multiple monitors. In other news, Soundmaster ION has become the standard for interformat video editing applications, including the use of our patented SMART SYNC® for real-time program time compression/expansion. Soundmaster has been very successfully integrating Pro Tools 5.1.3cs4+ and 6/7 HD systems at numerous facilities, by externally synchronizing, track arming and providing record control via 9 pin serial protocol. Also, the ION Touch Screen continues to give extremely intuitive access to the unparalleled power of ION via the new user interfaces that have been developed for all post production applications. Want to design your own interface? The ION Touch Screen is totally programmable allowing custom images to be imported and aligned with user-defined screen coordinates, and then mapped to thousands of functions in the system.

Blockbuster feature films count on the power and reliability of Soundmaster ION for their important soundtracks, such as "The Dark Knight" dubbed at Warner Bros. "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" employed ION from the beginning to the end of the post production process. Since this picture was edited using traditional sprocket techniques, NBC Universal's Bluwave facility used ION to automate the production of an EDL of the 35mm mag dialogue cut for later import into Pro Tools for autoconforming of original scenes sound. Skywalker Sound's multiple VIRPAD-equipped Foley stage was employed as was its dub stages for pre-dubs. Sony Pictures Studios used ION to record the John Williams' score and ION was the central control system for the final dub at 20th Century Fox. "Iron Man" and "Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!" were dubbed with ION at Skywalker Sound with the score for the latter at 20th Century Fox. Congratulations to Scott Millan and David Parker for winning the Oscar for Sound Mixing for "The Bourne Ultimatum", dubbed at Todd-AO West with Soundmaster ION. The biggest budget feature film ever made "Spider-Man 3" was dubbed at Sony Pictures by Kevin O'Connell with Soundmaster ION as was "Transformers". Sony also dubbed "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" with ION while 20th Century Fox recorded the score. "Shrek the Third" and "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" were dubbed at 20th Century Fox using ION. Soundmaster ION's pioneering ability to flawlessly synchronize HD and SD elements facilitated a smooth dub of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" at De Lane Lea in London. Congratulations to Bob Predovich's former dubbing colleague Paul Massey who was nominated for the hugely successful "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" which was dubbed at Fox with ION. Wildfire Post joined the Soundmaster network with Kevin O'Connell's Academy Award-nominated dub of Mel Gibson's "Apocolypto". Reputedly the most expensive German film ever made, "Perfume: The Story of a Murderer" was the inaugural dub using the new ION system installed at Bavaria Bild & Ton in Munich. Skywalker Sound dubbed Pixar's "Cars" while Pixar used their own ION system to facilitate remote screening between Skywalker and Pixar during the mix. 20th Century Fox dubbed "X-Men:The Last Stand" while Sony Pictures Studios dubbed "The Da Vinci Code" using ION's exclusive HD integration technologies. Warner Bros. used newly installed Soundmaster ION systems to dub "Poseidon" and "Superman Returns". "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith" was dubbed at Skywalker Sound using exclusive ION features not available in any other system. At De Lane Lea Post Production Studios in London, Soundmaster ION was used for the final dub of "Casino Royale", "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire", Tim Burton's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", Oliver Stone's "Alexander" and foreign versions of "King Kong". Celine Dion's Las Vegas spectacular "A New Day" used ION to synchronize High Definition video elements for the massive LED screen on stage. Universal Studios dubs "Law and Order", "Desperate Housewives, "24" and "House" and Todd-AO West dubbed "The Sopranos" with Soundmaster ION.

"Spiderman II","Memories of a Geisha", "The Day After Tomorrow", "Shrek 2", "Chicago", "Black Hawk Down" "The Matrix" "The Matrix Revolutions","The Matrix Reloaded", "Munich","War of the Worlds", "The Phantom of the Opera", "Shark Tale", "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" "Finding Neverland", "The Hulk" "Jarhead", "Cinderella Man", "The Missing", "Finding Nemo", "Van Helsing", "Kill Bill Volumes 1 and 2", "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe" "Daredevil", "Catch Me If You Can", "Minority Report", "Gangs of New York", "Men in Black II", "Austin Powers in Goldmember", "A Beautiful Mind", "Moulin Rouge", "Pearl Harbor", "Planet of the Apes", "The Mummy Returns", "The Grinch", "Mission: Impossible 2 and III", "Tarzan", and "Lost in Space" all utilized ION in various sound post production applications.

20TH CENTURY FOX, SONY PICTURES STUDIOS, WALT DISNEY CO., NBC UNIVERSAL STUDIOS, WARNER BROS., SKYWALKER SOUND, TECHNICOLOR and ASCENT MEDIA GROUP ARE PART OF A FAST GROWING NETWORK OF VERY SATISFIED ION USERS. PICTURED HERE IS A RACK OF 4 OF THE 25 SOUNDMASTER ION SYSTEMS PURCHASED BY NBC UNIVERSAL STUDIOS. WHY SHOULD YOU JOIN THIS EXCLUSIVE GROUP? HERE ARE TEN GOOD REASONS. ION at Universal Studios

Client Comments

"Soundmaster ION has extremely improved our workflow, especially the quick remote access to the record machines which allows us to switch between the mastering and predubbing process very easily. It took minutes before we had Soundmaster. Now it's done with a fingertip!" Photos of installation

Stefan Ruedel, interaudio Tonstudio, Berlin, Germany

"Soundmaster's industry standard products are both powerful and invaluable tools at Skywalker Sound. Their motion-control and synchronization technology have become an integral part of our workflow." Photos of installation

Rollin Field, Skywalker Sound, San Rafael, California

"The system is brilliant and limitless."

Michael Kranz, Bavaria Bild & Ton, Munich, Germany

"Why can't other companies be like Soundmaster?"

Tom Amelotte, Sound Services Inc., Hollywood, California

"Purchasing Soundmaster ION is the best decision we've ever made. Not only has ION greatly enhanced our workflow, it also enabled us to pioneer HD mixing in Europe!"

Gerry Teague, De Lane Lea Post Production, London, England

"The session has gone flawlessly! Not one hitch! I haven't received a single call for engineering support. That has to be a first for a room upgrade of this extreme nature. We are all extremely impressed with your product. It's incredibly powerful and yet very easy to use. During my many years in the pro-audio industry, I have never experienced the level of support you provided us during the installation phase of this project."

Brian Bair, Technicolor Creative Services, Hollywood, California

"Soundmaster ION improved our workflow tremendously. As the first customer to use ION integrated into a Studer Vista 7 console, we are very happy about our decision, especially the touch screen integration. Another big point for Soundmaster is the great support. Whenever you need help, it's like having them next door." Photos of installation

Gernot Brantner, RTL Television, Cologne, Germany

"We very much believe in Soundmaster ION/ATOM and are very happy to be using it. It provides us a high level of comfort for our dubbing system, with efficient synchronization, smooth control over our film projector, a software-assignable "master" machine, and the ability to quickly confirm the status of our many playback and record units. We also like how Soundmaster can quickly update software and integrate new machines." Photos of installation

Masashi Tara, Toho Studios (famous for Godzilla), Tokyo, Japan

"Everyone loves the system. I think you have a great item, or a potentially phenomenal item!"

Gary Fradkin, Sound Services Inc., Hollywood, California

"Soundmaster's ION/ATOM has saved us on many occasions. By taking advantage of the unique Sequence Key capabilities that are an integral part of the system, we were able to preprogram all the different setups that were required to solve the most complicated session. No other synchronization system offers such flexibility. What's more, tech support is excellent. Every time we needed help we were able to get an immediate answer, and when we came across a situation that required a special routine or parameters adjustment, we were able to do it using one of the most innovative features that this system has, the on-line support."

Avi Laniado, Sound One/Ascent Media, New York, New York

"We have been extremely pleased with Soundmaster and its products. The power, flexibility and reliability of the system have been important in all of our applications including our digital dubbing stages, and most certainly in our Newman Scoring Stage where we really exploit its capability to quickly reconfigure. I would also have to compliment ION for how "invisible" it is to those who use it. Yet one of the most innovative features might be Soundmaster's ability to remote control the system from its office, providing us with fast diagnostic and technical support, and comfort."

John Brunnick, 20th Century Fox, Los Angeles, California

"Being an independent sound post production facility, Todd-AO Hollywood must be able to quickly accommodate every client's needs. The Soundmaster system has never failed to be able to control any transport that has been requested, plus it works with all console controls perfectly. It is our number one safety net."

Todd-AO Hollywood/Ascent Media, Hollywood, California

"We have had 100% up-time with no glitches, hiccups or burps in operation since we hit the 'ON' button!"

John Rotondi, Los Angeles, California

Integrated Operations Nucleus - ION®

ION contains a proprietary "simultaneous universal translation" engine that allows integrated technology to communicate together, even if the respective devices speak different "languages".

Learn more about the concept behind ION!

ION/RADAR ION/MIDI

ION/88 ION/Martinsound Flying Faders

Integrated Operations Nucleus--ION is a registered trademark and ATOM, PHOTON and VIRPAD are trademarks of Soundmaster Group, Toronto, Canada

Soundmaster Group
89 Barford Road
Toronto, Ontario M9W 4H8
Canada
Please call us at (416) 741-7057 or send us E-mail. Please include "Soundmaster" in your subject line for anti-spam purposes.

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SOUNDMASTER GROUP is the developer of the ION Studio Operating Environment. ION seamlessly integrates the diverse technology used in sound post production via a single, powerful user interface.
The principals of Soundmaster Group are honored to be the recipients of Scientific and Engineering Academy Awards for the design and implementation of Soundmaster ION. The awards were presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills, California on February 27, 1999. For more information about the award, click on the photo at right.
We are also thrilled to have received 2000 Prime Time Emmy Plaques recognizing Outstanding Engineering for Soundmaster ION. These awards were presented by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in Hollywood, California on July 11, 2000. For more information about the award, click on the photo at right.
A must read for anyone considering joining the Soundmaster family and a testament to those who are already members, RTL Germany talks at length about their long term experience with Soundmaster ION. This quote from Hans Biermann speaks volumes about the philosophy behind our operating environment and why RTL chose it: "One's method of operation should not have to adapt to the tools available, it should be the other way around." HD/SD interformat video editing made simple Soundmaster's exciting new virtual keypad, VIRPAD™ is a big hit! Policy Statement Regarding ION Compatibility The Soundmaster ION operating environment is now available onboard the Studer Vista 7, SSL C300, Harrison MPC3-D and MPC4-D, Euphonix System 5 and AMS/Neve DFC digital consoles. The Digidesign ICON D-Control gains classic film style record and monitor control via ION and our exclusive VIRPAD paddle version. Watch for Soundmaster ION onboard Stagetec and Lawo digital consoles in the future. Through a tightly integrated user interface, operators now benefit from the world class capabilities of these consoles while accessing the broad scope of external device integration provided by ION, all from a single mixing sweet spot. No longer are mixers required to jump from keyboard to keyboard, or spend a disproportionate amount of their time scanning multiple monitors. In other news, Soundmaster ION has become the standard for interformat video editing applications, including the use of our patented SMART SYNC® for real-time program time compression/expansion. Soundmaster has been very successfully integrating Pro Tools 5.1.3cs4+ and 6/7 HD systems at numerous facilities, by externally synchronizing, track arming and providing record control via 9 pin serial protocol. Also, the ION Touch Screen continues to give extremely intuitive access to the unparalleled power of ION via the new user interfaces that have been developed for all post production applications. Want to design your own interface? The ION Touch Screen is totally programmable allowing custom images to be imported and aligned with user-defined screen coordinates, and then mapped to thousands of functions in the system.
Blockbuster feature films count on the power and reliability of Soundmaster ION for their important soundtracks, such as "The Dark Knight" dubbed at Warner Bros. "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" employed ION from the beginning to the end of the post production process. Since this picture was edited using traditional sprocket techniques, NBC Universal's Bluwave facility used ION to automate the production of an EDL of the 35mm mag dialogue cut for later import into Pro Tools for autoconforming of original scenes sound. Skywalker Sound's multiple VIRPAD-equipped Foley stage was employed as was its dub stages for pre-dubs. Sony Pictures Studios used ION to record the John Williams' score and ION was the central control system for the final dub at 20th Century Fox. "Iron Man" and "Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!" were dubbed with ION at Skywalker Sound with the score for the latter at 20th Century Fox. Congratulations to Scott Millan and David Parker for winning the Oscar for Sound Mixing for "The Bourne Ultimatum", dubbed at Todd-AO West with Soundmaster ION. The biggest budget feature film ever made "Spider-Man 3" was dubbed at Sony Pictures by Kevin O'Connell with Soundmaster ION as was "Transformers". Sony also dubbed "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" with ION while 20th Century Fox recorded the score. "Shrek the Third" and "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" were dubbed at 20th Century Fox using ION. Soundmaster ION's pioneering ability to flawlessly synchronize HD and SD elements facilitated a smooth dub of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" at De Lane Lea in London. Congratulations to Bob Predovich's former dubbing colleague Paul Massey who was nominated for the hugely successful "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" which was dubbed at Fox with ION. Wildfire Post joined the Soundmaster network with Kevin O'Connell's Academy Award-nominated dub of Mel Gibson's "Apocolypto". Reputedly the most expensive German film ever made, "Perfume: The Story of a Murderer" was the inaugural dub using the new ION system installed at Bavaria Bild & Ton in Munich. Skywalker Sound dubbed Pixar's "Cars" while Pixar used their own ION system to facilitate remote screening between Skywalker and Pixar during the mix. 20th Century Fox dubbed "X-Men:The Last Stand" while Sony Pictures Studios dubbed "The Da Vinci Code" using ION's exclusive HD integration technologies. Warner Bros. used newly installed Soundmaster ION systems to dub "Poseidon" and "Superman Returns". "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith" was dubbed at Skywalker Sound using exclusive ION features not available in any other system. At De Lane Lea Post Production Studios in London, Soundmaster ION was used for the final dub of "Casino Royale", "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire", Tim Burton's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", Oliver Stone's "Alexander" and foreign versions of "King Kong". Celine Dion's Las Vegas spectacular "A New Day" used ION to synchronize High Definition video elements for the massive LED screen on stage. Universal Studios dubs "Law and Order", "Desperate Housewives, "24" and "House" and Todd-AO West dubbed "The Sopranos" with Soundmaster ION. "Spiderman II","Memories of a Geisha", "The Day After Tomorrow", "Shrek 2", "Chicago", "Black Hawk Down" "The Matrix" "The Matrix Revolutions","The Matrix Reloaded", "Munich","War of the Worlds", "The Phantom of the Opera", "Shark Tale", "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" "Finding Neverland", "The Hulk" "Jarhead", "Cinderella Man", "The Missing", "Finding Nemo", "Van Helsing", "Kill Bill Volumes 1 and 2", "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe" "Daredevil", "Catch Me If You Can", "Minority Report", "Gangs of New York", "Men in Black II", "Austin Powers in Goldmember", "A Beautiful Mind", "Moulin Rouge", "Pearl Harbor", "Planet of the Apes", "The Mummy Returns", "The Grinch", "Mission: Impossible 2 and III", "Tarzan", and "Lost in Space" all utilized ION in various sound post production applications.
20TH CENTURY FOX, SONY PICTURES STUDIOS, WALT DISNEY CO., NBC UNIVERSAL STUDIOS, WARNER BROS., SKYWALKER SOUND, TECHNICOLOR and ASCENT MEDIA GROUP ARE PART OF A FAST GROWING NETWORK OF VERY SATISFIED ION USERS. PICTURED HERE IS A RACK OF 4 OF THE 25 SOUNDMASTER ION SYSTEMS PURCHASED BY NBC UNIVERSAL STUDIOS. *WHY SHOULD YOU* JOIN THIS EXCLUSIVE GROUP? HERE ARE TEN GOOD REASONS.**


*Client Comments*

"Soundmaster ION has extremely improved our workflow, especially the quick remote access to the record machines which allows us to switch between the mastering and predubbing process very easily. It took minutes before we had Soundmaster. Now it's done with a fingertip!" Photos of installation
Stefan Ruedel, interaudio Tonstudio, Berlin, Germany

"Soundmaster's industry standard products are both powerful and invaluable tools at Skywalker Sound. Their motion-control and synchronization technology have become an integral part of our workflow." Photos of installation
Rollin Field, Skywalker Sound, San Rafael, California

"The system is brilliant and limitless."
Michael Kranz, Bavaria Bild & Ton, Munich, Germany

"Why can't other companies be like Soundmaster?"
Tom Amelotte, Sound Services Inc., Hollywood, California

"Purchasing Soundmaster ION is the best decision we've ever made. Not only has ION greatly enhanced our workflow, it also enabled us to pioneer HD mixing in Europe!"
Gerry Teague, De Lane Lea Post Production, London, England

"The session has gone flawlessly! Not one hitch! I haven't received a single call for engineering support. That has to be a first for a room upgrade of this extreme nature. We are all extremely impressed with your product. It's incredibly powerful and yet very easy to use. During my many years in the pro-audio industry, I have never experienced the level of support you provided us during the installation phase of this project."
Brian Bair, Technicolor Creative Services, Hollywood, California

"Soundmaster ION improved our workflow tremendously. As the first customer to use ION integrated into a Studer Vista 7 console, we are very happy about our decision, especially the touch screen integration. Another big point for Soundmaster is the great support. Whenever you need help, it's like having them next door." Photos of installation
Gernot Brantner, RTL Television, Cologne, Germany

"We very much believe in Soundmaster ION/ATOM and are very happy to be using it. It provides us a high level of comfort for our dubbing system, with efficient synchronization, smooth control over our film projector, a software-assignable "master" machine, and the ability to quickly confirm the status of our many playback and record units. We also like how Soundmaster can quickly update software and integrate new machines." Photos of installation
*Masashi Tara, Toho Studios (famous for Godzilla), Tokyo, Japan*

"Everyone loves the system. I think you have a great item, or a potentially phenomenal item!"
Gary Fradkin, Sound Services Inc., Hollywood, California

"Soundmaster's ION/ATOM has saved us on many occasions. By taking advantage of the unique Sequence Key capabilities that are an integral part of the system, we were able to preprogram all the different setups that were required to solve the most complicated session. No other synchronization system offers such flexibility. What's more, tech support is excellent. Every time we needed help we were able to get an immediate answer, and when we came across a situation that required a special routine or parameters adjustment, we were able to do it using one of the most innovative features that this system has, the on-line support."
Avi Laniado, Sound One/Ascent Media, New York, New York

"We have been extremely pleased with Soundmaster and its products. The power, flexibility and reliability of the system have been important in all of our applications including our digital dubbing stages, and most certainly in our Newman Scoring Stage where we really exploit its capability to quickly reconfigure. I would also have to compliment ION for how "invisible" it is to those who use it. Yet one of the most innovative features might be Soundmaster's ability to remote control the system from its office, providing us with fast diagnostic and technical support, and comfort."
John Brunnick, 20th Century Fox, Los Angeles, California

"Being an independent sound post production facility, Todd-AO Hollywood must be able to quickly accommodate every client's needs. The Soundmaster system has never failed to be able to control any transport that has been requested, plus it works with all console controls perfectly. It is our number one safety net."
Todd-AO Hollywood/Ascent Media, Hollywood, California

"We have had 100% up-time with no glitches, hiccups or burps in operation since we hit the 'ON' button!"
John Rotondi, Los Angeles, California

Learn more about the concept behind ION!
ION/RADAR	ION/MIDI
ION/88	ION/Martinsound Flying Faders

HD/SD interformat video editing made simple

Soundmaster's exciting new virtual keypad, VIRPAD™ is a big hit!

Policy Statement Regarding ION Compatibility