Following its recent alliance with Dreamworks Animation, one of the world’s leading animation studios, , global digital cinema technology leader Barco proudly announces the release of ‘The Croods’ in the revolutionary Auro 11.1 by Barco cinema sound format. The new DreamWorks Animation movie will have an additional screening in Auro 11.1 at the CineStar Sony Center in Berlin this 16 February.
“We are looking forward to this screening of “The Croods”, the second movie featured in our agreement with DreamWorks Animation to mix their feature films in the Auro 11.1 cinema sound format. This brings the number of confirmed movies mixed in Auro 11.1 for 2013 to four,” comments Brian Claypool, Senior Director Strategic Business Development at Barco. “Thanks to DreamWorks, CineStar and the Berlinale, moviegoers will be totally immersed in the movie with the most natural sound possible, when they see ‘The Croods’ this Saturday.”
CineStar’s Sony Center cinema at Potsdamer Platz, which boasts eight theaters equipped with the latest technology, is the ideal location for an additional screening of ‘The Croods’ in Auro 11.1. “The sound quality of the Auro 11.1 cinema sound format is simply amazing," says Oliver Fock, Managing Director, CineStar. “It ensures a truly immersive experience. As the first theater with this audio system here in Berlin, we are proud to offer this experience to the Berlinale audience, starting with the première of 'The Croods'.”
‘The Croods’
‘The Croods’, written and directed by Chris Sanders and Kirk DeMicco, tells the story of the world’s first family road trip. When their cave is destroyed, the Crood family must embark on a comedy adventure into strange and spectacular territory in search of a new home. As if patriarch Grug (Nicolas Cage) didn't already have enough to handle, it goes from bad to worse when they encounter an imaginative nomad named Guy (Ryan Reynolds). With Guy's help the Croods conquer their fear of the outside world and discover that they have exactly what it takes to survive – each other.
“This is the first movie where we have started postproduction using the Auro 11.1 sound format from premix through to final mix. The Auro workflow has exceeded our expectations in terms of ease of use, sound quality and meeting our budget. We actually finished the mix ahead of schedule,” remarks Jim Beshears, head of post production at DreamWorks Animation.
Three layers of sound
Developed by Auro Technologies and powered by Barco, the Auro 11.1 sound format is designed along three layers of sound (Surround, Height, Overhead) rather than the two layers used in conventional 5.1 sound format. Thanks to its 11.1 configuration, the technology not only enables sound mixers to move objects around in space but it also allows them to reproduce the immersive aspects of a film soundtrack in a way that is more compatible with their current workflow. The Auro 11.1 sound technology provides the best acoustic experience at the most commercially viable price point in the market and does so without the need to create object-based soundtracks that are designed to be optimized for the consumer market.
