AdderLink Infinity Dual 2112T
Skywalker Sound’s efforts to connect editors, mixers and studios throughout its multi-room Marin County facility and across vast distances go back more than 20 years. The company was one of the first to embrace 512×512 routers in-house and was pioneering in its use of EDNet technology to connect its Bay Area and Southern California facilities back in the early to mid-1990s.
Times and technologies change. Recently, Skywalker Sound, now part of the Disney family of companies, purchased new IP-based KVM technology from Adder Technology to share and move files and data in near-real-time within the Skywalker Ranch Technical Building and around the world.
The AdderLink Infinity Dual 2112T and 2000R were deployed hundreds of miles apart to extend the Skywalker infrastructure, exhibiting extremely low latency. With an easy to use graphical user interface, and being IP-based, the AdderLink Infinity was quickly deployed over a private network, crossing multiple subnets, to facilitate remote use of workstations during the edit and mix on recent projects. The facilities also exchanged and share high-quality video with complex motion without USB latency across their network with a minimal physical footprint.
“Adder’s KVM switches and extenders have enabled us to simplify a complicated environment and have provided us with a reliable, user-friendly solution,” says Brian Long, Sound Engineering at Skywalker Sound. “High-quality remote collaboration is a common expectation of the industry workflow, whether communicating across town or across the planet.”
Oscar-winning sound designer Randy Thom utilized Skywalker Sound’s network when he taught a class remotely from Skywalker Sound in Northern California at the USC School of Cinematic Arts’ Sound Department. Thom and the students’ projects were streamed live in HD into the sound production suite in the Cinematic Arts Complex via CineGrid Networks. “It is important to provide opportunities for students to experience the possibilities of the technology early on so they can take advantage of it in their own workflow,” adds Long.
“I spent a great deal of time researching KVM manufacturers, and Adder was the only company with a solution flexible enough to meet our needs. Our systems are deployed on an as needed and where needed basis within the facilities of our studios and partner facilities and the Adder solution has significantly simplified our deployments.”
Skywalker Sound, Marin County, Calif., is one of the largest, most versatile full-service post-production facilities in the world, with six fully-equipped mixing studios, a large variety of picture and sound editing rooms, an Foley/ADR stage and complete audio and video transfer services. There is also a world-class scoring stage and high-end, 300-seat screening room, the Stag Theater.
For more information, visit Adder Technology at www.adder.com and Skywalker Sound at www.skysound.com.
