Please tell us a bit about the history of Avenue.
Avenue Audio began in 1988 as a single studio providing sound for a growing post house known as Avenue-Edit. As Avenue-Edit grew, the need for more advanced and available audio services soon became apparent.  A second suite was constructed in 1992, and while doing so, a full upgrade to its original room took place. Eventually, Avenue-Edit's success formulated a change, and by 1998 the company had morphed into what is now known as Avenue.  During this time plans were made to re-establish its audio department as a larger and more independent space.  The Janson Design Group of New York was brought on to layout and construct a completely new, high tech, environment with separate access.  Its goal was not only to serve the needs of Avenue, but to appeal to any and all audio situations. In September of 2001, Avenue Audio officially began operation. Today, Avenue Audio is a flexible and technically savvy group with all the tools necessary to provide the highest quality audio.  Within its 6000 square feet of space are three large mixing suites outfitted with Euphonix System 5 consoles and a fourth sound design suite.

You've done ads for some of the biggest corporations in the US. What have been the major factors in Avenue's success? 
Avenue has been successful mainly because of two factors. Its staff has the talent to be creative and flexible in the fast-paced advertising post world. Plus it integrates the latest technologies and the right tools to make that happen. Avenue has been on the forefront of technology in Chicago and our talent pool is among the best in the industry. 
 
Please tell us a bit about your personal background in the industry and how you came to Avenue. 
I have had a love for audio since as long as I can remember. An opportunity presented itself when I was very young where I started running live sound. Live sound is still something I enjoy, however, during High School I got a job at a local radio station creating promos and bumpers, recording talent and mixing spots for air. I also edited a best of morning shows program which was aired while the morning talent was away. I think this is where I made my choice to pursue a career in audio post. While I enjoyed radio production, I decided to go to school to study audio for the visual medium. I graduated from Columbia College Chicago with a BA in Film/Video and a concentration in Audio Post Production. After I graduated I was hired at Avenue in Chicago. I've been there ever since. 
  
On a more general note, what do you see as the current trends within your industry and its requirements of audio technology?
I think the biggest trend is the departure from tape. We receive QuickTime files with the OMF to work from. We retrack the same QuickTime and post it to our FTP and our clients download their spot from the web. For this to work, the DAW needs to accept multiple files in the timeline as well as multiple codecs. Nuendo's integration
of decklink support has been incredible. There is no need to convert the video to a proprietary codec before it will display. Just import the clip and play. To replace the audio in a video file from within the DAW has become an invaluable tool. The networking feature in Nuendo is revolutionary and is used on many of our longer format projects. Getting updates on the dialog edit as you are cutting backgrounds, or vise versa, without having to stop to import, has changed how we approach larger projects. The world is definitely moving towards HD. With that comes its own set of requirements, the greatest of these being able to lock to the many variants of Tri-Level sync and frame rates. Even though QuickTime is becoming more widely used, it isn't a release format yet and we still need to connect to a deck and layoff our mixes for the master release. In this case, our biggest requirement continues to be frame accurate sync with the deck and reliable machine control with definable offsets. 
 
How many Nuendo-based workplaces do you have and what are they used for?
We currently have four Nuendo systems. Two are used for Sound Design, Prep and Cleanup. The other two are married to Euphonix System 5s in two of our mix suites. Nuendo’s flexibility is what really drew us to the app. We could be editing and designing on laptops with all the plug-ins at our disposal and simply transfer that project over to our mix suite for the final mix. Nuendo is used from the import and cleanup stage all the way up to the final mix. (Sometimes even ‘in the box’)
 
Are there any stations where Nuendo does not feature and if so, why? 
We have one other mix suite that isn't due for an upgrade yet. But when it is I'm sure we'll upgrade to Nuendo.
 
What are the current requirements you have of Nuendo at Avenue for each of the specific tasks? Are there special facets of Avenue's business and people that place special demands on the DAW software you use? 
To get things started, Nuendo needs to be able to import an OMF. We will also typically work with a Quicktime. Nuendo needs to output Timecode to our mixer or video playback device or chase timecode from one of our tape decks. Nuendo needs to control that deck using 9-pin
control and lock to the same sync source. (ie. Video Blackburst, Trilevel, etc) We take full advantage of the fact that Nuendo will run on any type of system, whether it’s Mac or PC, Desktop or Laptop; and moving between platforms in Nuendo is completely seamless. The software needs to support the hardware necessary to integrate with our mixer, which for us is the RME Madi card. Since TV post is typically billed by the hour, usually with the clients present; the system has to be stable and reliable. We have also recently been hired on to do some location recording of live musical events. One of which was a three day performance of over ninety bands. We had to lock Nuendo to video ref as well as LTC and have it stay locked for three intense days. What we found was our main Nuendo record machine was more reliable after three days of recording than our standalone 24track hard disk recorder.
 
What are the specific Nuendo features that are the most valuable in your daily work? 
I would have to say faster than real-time audio mixdown is near the top. Whether we're doing thirty phone number versions or a feature length documentary, the render backs are always faster than a real-time loadback. Timestretch functionality integrated into the editor, real-time clip gain and real-time fades are also up there with the ability to work while the system is still playing back. Making edits before the play head as well as the flexibility of hardware configurations, the integration of decklink support, Nuendo's networking, the sound quality of the mix engine and the import/export options are all reasons why we enjoy working with Nuendo every day.

What was your first contact to Nuendo?
I was in the market for an editing system. There were a few I was looking at when a friend recommended Nuendo to me (v1 at the time). I had been researching a few different systems and after researching Nuendo I had to see it. I've been hooked ever since.
 
What were the deciding factors for Avenue in the decision to go with Nuendo, and where were the factors where Nuendo compared favorably with other systems? 
It all started when we were working on the Drum Corps International World Championships DVD about four years ago. The project was huge, three full days of recording twenty four tracks, and we needed to load one of the previous days for a fix. At the time we were working on a
DSP Poststation II and we were faced with a very long load to bring in the OpenTL, about 400GB, just so we could export a certain section. We decided to buy a Nuendo system, simply because it could import an OpenTL without copying the media. We were astonished by the fact that a laptop could open the 400GB worth of media in seconds. Since we had a license of Nuendo we started using it for prepping projects and sound design. We quickly learned that Nuendo’s editing features were very strong and the system was getting used more and more. Our first real job, start to finish, on Nuendo was the Drum Corps International World Championships DVD, two years after the initial experience. Since there is so much content that goes into this project, we wanted to see if there was a way to speed up the process. Since Nuendo had the integrated Dolby Digital encoder, we decided to put Nuendo’s mixer to the test and export directly to .ac3. After having mixed the DVD for the past several years on the Euphonix System 5, we had a high standard to maintain. Our first run went extremely well and our client was as pleased as ever. The only difference was our export time was significantly reduced. There was never a question of sound quality, in fact our client joked and said “It sounds so good this year, I want a refund for last year.” Since then we’ve had confidence in Nuendo and it is used fully in our daily work.

Thanks very much for your time, Ryan.

  http://www.avenueaudio.com