Over the years, Option Media has significantly broadened its post production capabilities tackling a diverse range of long-form and short-form projects from radio commercials and reality TV to feature films. To manage that growing slate, the facility has invested heavily in expanding its studio facilities.
The company recently decided to shift to DaVinci Resolve Studio, as Frank van Caesbroeck, chief production officer, explains: “We upgraded to Fairlight/Resolve for two main reasons. Firstly, our previous legacy systems were showing signs of wear and tear and secondly, the fast-changing developments in media more generally.
“With the Fairlight EVO and Xynergi systems running their course, finding a reliable audio post production solution was crucial for us. We’ve grown accustomed to a specific approach to audio for video, finding Fairlight’s methodology more intuitive than its competitors. Its ability to easily import or borrow media from other timelines or projects is unmatched. No other audio post software offers this level of flexibility.”
Option Media currently operates seven in-house studios and additional remote setups, ranging from a fairly simple setup consisting of a Fairlight Console Audio Editor and Fairlight Console Channel Fader to a fully equipped Atmos suite and a cinema theatre with a 4 Bay Fairlight Console.
During its search, the team considered a host of tools but faced a dilemma. Switching to a different Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) would mean starting from scratch with staff training, workflow adaptation, and an initial decrease in efficiency. Its loyalty to Fairlight made the decision clear: stick with a familiar and trusted partner.
The move to the upgraded Fairlight DAW offered several benefits to Option Media. “One major advantage is the handling of various file formats and the ease of searching and auditioning takes. With integrated audio and video, rendering files for evaluation is no longer cumbersome,” explains Van Caesbroeck.
“The transition to Fairlight and Resolve was relatively smooth since our studios were already equipped with Fairlight Evo systems. Most connections remained unchanged, facilitating a seamless hardware upgrade. This transition also provided an opportunity to declutter and update our studio design and furniture.”
From a hardware perspective, all systems run on Windows 11 PCs, equipped with DeckLink cards, Fairlight Audio Accelerators and SX36 Interfaces.
Fairlight Desktop Audio Editor, Fairlight Console Channel Faders and Fairlight Console Channel Control panel play a pivotal role in the facility. “With all systems tied to a central media server, we utilize a network project server,” says Van Caesbroeck.
“While it took our operators some time to familiarise themselves with DaVinci Resolve’s media management, once you understand the ins and outs of the system, you come to realise just how much power it affords you in handling complex tasks.”
For colour correction, Option Media employs a Mac Studio Ultra running DaVinci Resolve Studio with two displays and the DaVinci Resolve Advanced Panel. “Our setup includes a Flanders Scientific XM551 OLED and DM240 reference monitors, while storage relies on local Thunderbolt drives formatted in APFS, supported by Promise and Gtech RAID configurations,” Caesbroeck notes.
An external PCIe chassis houses a DeckLink 4K Extreme 12G I/O card, taking an accurate video signal out of DaVinci Resolve via SDI into a calibrated reference monitor and helps Option Media’s colourists to monitor for gamma shift issues. The company is also currently exploring HDR and Dolby Vision upgrades to its monitoring capabilities, including the Flanders Scientific XMP550. A Mac Mini M1 functions as the network project server, supporting both audio and video production setups.
The integration of colour and audio workflows within DaVinci Resolve and Fairlight has yielded significant benefits for Option Media.
“For larger projects we often separate colour and audio projects for practicality, however the time saved transferring work between departments is significant. There’s almost no need for importing or exporting via intermediate formats,” explains van Caesbroeck. “For smaller, fast-turnaround projects, we can now manage everything within DaVinci Resolve, from ingest to final delivery.”
When the need arose for the team to adapt to a more flexible working arrangement, Option Media established two remote sites to accommodate various team members.
“In the beginning, we utilised standard file transfer tools like WeTransfer for moving our projects,” notes van Caesbroeck. “However, we now host any project media that needs sharing with remote locations directly on a Blackmagic Cloud Store 20TB, with Dropbox syncing in the background.”
“Any new audio captured or rendered is then automatically synced across all our locations. With the integration of Blackmagic Cloud and the network attached storage, we can now edit, pre-mix and complete the final mix in a studio at Option Media, without the need to physically move media or projects around.”
Notable projects using the integrated workflows of DaVinci Resolve and Fairlight include nature documentary series Our Nature, animated series Interstellar Ella and television series including Geldwolven and F*** you very, very much (Season 1 & 2).
