Tube Creative provides southern comforts: this Atlanta studio offers much more than traditional post production - Open House

Post, Sept, 2002 by Ann Fisher

ATLANTA -- Its adjoining art gallery is just one of the things that makes Tube Creative just a little bit different from its Atlanta neighbors. Here are a few others: a soundstage with hard cyc, full interactive services, complete audio capabilities and a Friday happy hour for clients who are so inclined.

Diversity has served this post, graphic design and interactive media company well. Founded in '99 by owner/editor Chris Downs, Tube offers the more traditional audio/video and graphic design post services, along with that stage, but clients kept asking for interactive add-ons. Now, 30 to 40 percent of the business is interactive; the rest is project-focused post that uses many of the other services.

"When people were pulling back on video budgets, we were doing interactive or we would approach local agencies who didn't have any work and suggest redoing their DVD demo for their lobby," says Downs. "That's how we're a little different than traditional post houses. A lot of those guys survive by opening their doors and saying, We have three Avids' and all of a sudden they'd get booked. And maybe that's the case in other cities but Atlanta's a different market We don't have the TV shows and films being done here, and we know it. There's great creative talent here -- you just have to find different avenues for that."

Even in this economy, Tube has been lucky to get two longform booking shows this year. And some corporate and broadcast clients aren't as particular about budgets as they used to be."

Diverse talents have helped in-house, too. "I don't need nine guys. We're a small group who offer everything from Flash design to DVD to audio to video. The main guys here do it all," he says.

THE GEAR

Tube's strong audio department has also proven to be a plus, Downs emphasizes, since "for a lot of video post houses here in town, audio is foreign." The facility houses a Digidesign Pro Tools24 audio suite with 5.1 surround sound; a digital mixing console; two voiceover booths; a library of music; and an on-network searchable sound library.

Tube's newest equipment is the addition of a Final Cut Pro suite with a Pinnacle CineWave uncompressed card, now the house online room. "The Avid Media Composer 9000 was only 2:1 and even though that was fine for a lot of corporate things, we actually picked up Rich's retail [a regional department store chain] as a broadcast client and immediately we needed to output things that were uncompressed," says Downs. Future plans include obtaining Apple's Shake as a new compositing box.

Downs likes Tube to have their hands on the full project. "Taking on a client and being able to maintain their branding throughout all the different mediums. We have the good, solid tools to create a product that will stand up to those other guys [with more expensive tools]. It's in the Avid that we're still offlining everything and onlining corporate, and with the addition of Final Cut, we're a heavy After Effects [running on a Mac G4] house. Especially with desktops getting so much quicker; we feel we've got a lot of the capacity that perhaps a Flint would have. For what our clients are needing, it's great."

And then there's that soundstage: "It's introduced us to some new folks who need a quick chromakey stage and then consider posting it here," he adds.

THE WORK

This year, Tube has been working on two children's shows, both full service projects using just about everything but Web design. Superconductor, a green-lighted PBS pilot is a music education program hosted by New York Mets manager Bobby Valentine. Tube did chromakey shots for two different music videos used within the show, created graphics bumpers that run throughout, completed sound design for the entire show, then offlined and onlined it. Another show, Feelin' Good, is a direct-to-video/DVD family-oriented entertainment show that features interviews with kids and songs. For that, Tube completed a stage shoot, created graphics and provided offline and online.

Interactive work includes a project for the nonprofit Habitat For Humanity. Tube made an interactive/marketing CD-ROM for fund raising. It created a two-minute intro in Macromedia Director with moving text and pictures, music and stories that segues into a clip of former HUD director Jack Kemp. It then leads into an interactive interface to the Web.

RELATED ARTICLE: MAKE CONTACT

Tube Creative

704 McGruder Street

Studio N

Atlanta, GA 30312

(404) 659-0088

www.tubecreative.com

Clients:

PBS, The Imagination, Game (Superconductor), Laughing Pizza Productions (Feelin' Good), Habitat For Humanity, Rich's Department Stores

Principal:

Chris Downs

Equipment:

Digidesign Pro Tools24, Apple Final Cut Pro with Pinnacle CineWave card, Avid Media Composer