In Summary

As some budgets get smaller, attended client approvals for post production mixes might be a luxury some projects cannot stretch to. In this video, Paul Maunder and Luke Goddard check out one tool that allows post mixers and clients to review and collaborate remotely.

Going Deeper

Getting client approvals for post mixes to picture used to mean arranging an attended session. Despite the logistics of doing it this way it was nonetheless pretty straightforward. Since then the landscape has evolved significantly with the adoption of remote working in many industries; post production mixes to picture can also benefit from clients’ ability to dial-in and monitor productions in progress for things like mixes to picture. This way, clients and other stakeholders can review the mix, alongside picture, to approve work or to make requests.

There are a few requirements for this to work. Some kind of video calling is really useful to give the feel of being ‘in the room’. Video playback must be smooth, and high-quality audio playback is a must. Stereo fold-down mixes are a minimum where multichannel audio is concerned. That way, clients can properly see and hear what they’re getting as opposed to what the collaborative platform itself is doing.

Using MixStage IO For Remote Collaboration

MixStage IO is a cloud-based virtual screening room service. It goes further than ‘just’ allowing clients to review post production mixes in-progress however, as it allows stakeholders to be in control of their project down to a single frame with frame-accurate playback to drop, edit, and export time-stamped markers and comments collaboratively. It works by playing back video that is pre-uploaded by the engineer to the Mixstage server. This then follows local DAW transport for seamless streaming of video and audio to clients.

In the video Paul and Luke show how the system works and the kind of video and audio playback quality that can be expected from MixStage IO.

In our real-world unscientific test, Luke’s receiving system was streaming Paul’s video and audio wirelessly, reflecting how some clients will experience Mixstage IO.

MixStage IO Enables You To:

• Upload up-to 4k video and up-to three audio stems to MixStage’s secure servers.

• MixStage syncs to your DAW’s transport via MMC. Hit play in your DAW to stream video from MixStage’s server.

• Invite collaborators to your MixStage Room to view your Session.

• Use MixStage’s built-in video calling for engineers and stakeholders to collaborate on mixes to picture.

• Use your live DAW audio to replace the uploaded 4k video soundtrack in real-time.

• Hand control to anyone in the room down to a single frame with frame-accurate playback to drop, edit, and export time-stamped markers and comments collaboratively.