Sasani Studios (formerly ZSE TV) is known within the industry for having state-of-the-art post-production facilities for both video and audio finishing. In order to stay ahead of the curve Sasani Studios invested heavily in upgrading its infrastructure in 2012.
Currently, the company is upgrading its audio suite by installing an Avid Pro Tools HD 10 Native System with an ICON D-Command ES work surface. The touch sensitive ICON D-Command ES, which comes seamlessly integrated with Pro Tools, has its own dedicated EQ and dynamics section for easily assignable plugins.
Mark Yaman, Sasani’s final mix engineer, notes that the new audio suite will streamline his workflow and keep Sasani abreast with international standards.
“Pro Tools 10 is also going to be a major game changer in workflow with all its new features such as clip based gain, 32bit floating processing and better delay compensation,’ he says. “The new system is of the same calibre as used on big budget Hollywood productions like Avatar, I am Legend and Slumdog Millionaire.’
On the video post-production front, Sasani already has a sophisticated set-up to handle big budget productions. It houses 32 edit suites running on Avid Media Composer 5 and Final Cut Pro 7, both of which support full SD and HD editing technology.
Eileen Sandrock, Sasani Studios MD, is excited about the company’s current projects and developments. “We are also working on two e.tv productions, Step Up or Step Out 2 and eKasi: Our Stories,’ she enthuses. “In addition, we also welcomed the post-production team from M-Net’s soapie, The Wild, to our fully serviced production offices.’
Sasani Studios is presently gearing up for Big Brother 7, which premieres on DStv in May. The production, which runs on Sasani’s tapeless workflow system, requires live 24-hour production for three months recording directly on to shared-media drive systems.
The company is reporting a surge in business from Africa this year. Sandrock says that the company is conducting standard definition (SD) and high definition (HD) transfers from various file formats for broadcast delivery for four productions from Nigeria and Kenya.
“We have exciting HD footage from these two countries that rivals big budget local productions. Tinsel, Jara and 53 Extra from Nigeria and Mashariki (Kenya) are sent to our studios so that we can prepare them for HDCAM delivery for the HD channels on DStv,’ concludes Sandrock.
By Simba Nyamukachi
Screen Africa magazine – May 2012
