Veteran re-recording mixer Andrew Wilson, AMPS, CAS, built a career on providing audio post for wildlife-themed projects. His credits include work on landmark series, such as Blue Planet and
Planet Earth, and his passion has extended to feature-length documentaries, mixing in 5.1 for festivals or preparing streamed versions for global audiences.
Wilson relies heavily on Nugen Audio plug-ins to deliver mixes that translate from calibrated theaters to everyday living rooms, calling the tools a "completely safe pair of extra hands” when working on soundtracks. Some of his tools include Nugen's VisLM Loudness Meter and ISL Limiter.
“VisLM is in almost every session I run, without fail, because I trust it,” Wilson states. “I believe it to be entirely accurate. I get less grief from quality control when I use VisLM. Its interface supports the creative process, rather than interrupts. I can have it running on a screen off to one side and can quickly see if I’m drifting out of spec. Additionally, ISL is usually there as my safety net. I know that I’m not going to get a spreadsheet full of checks back from QC when I have these plug-ins in place.”
He will also call on Nugen Audio's Halo Upmix plug-in to quickly create immersive environments.
“Halo Upmix is my go-to tool to get my music into the surrounds, because very often I don’t get stems — just a single track,” he explains. “The result is instant, faithful expansion. Halo Upmix is just a gift because it’s completely transparent. I upmix into 5.1, sometimes even Atmos, and I can fully trust it.”
Recently, Wilson had the opportunity to beta test the developer's DialogCheck speech intelligibility meter and found that it confirmed his instincts as an experienced mixer.
“I tried it, and it basically told me everything was good," he shares of the experience. "It reinforces that I’m right about the fact that a mix will translate accurately, regardless of whether it is streamed online or shown at a movie theater - you will be able to hear the words. I have a feeling this tool will shine best for ensuring clarity in unpredictable, reality-capture environments.”