RedShark News - Video technology news and analysis

IZotope releases upgraded RX 5 Audio Editor and RX Post Production Suite

Written by RedShark News Staff | Oct 8, 2015 2:00:00 PM

After an intensive development programme, iZotope has just released its RX Post Production Suite and a new version of its well-regarded RX 5 Audio Editor.

The full Suite encompasses five elements — RX 5 Advanced Audio Editor, RX Final Mix, RX Loudness Control, a one-year, All-Access Pass to Groove3 online video courses and training, and 50 free sound effects of the customer’s choice from Pro Sound Effects. All in all, the aim is to provide a host of new audio post production tools for everything from audio repair and editing to mix enhancement and final delivery.

New tools include an Instant Process tool that allows editors to “paint out” (IZotope’s phrase) unwanted sonic elements directly on the spectral display; Module Chain allows users to define a custom chain of processing and then save it as a preset (think Automater in iOS, though hopefully this one works a bit better). RX Connect has been enhanced to support individual Pro Tools clips and crossfades with any associated handles so that processed audio returns “in place” to the Pro Tools timeline.

A new De-plosive module minimizes plosives from consonants, a Leveler module has been enhanced with breath and sibilance detection for increased accuracy when performing faster than real-time leveling, and new enhancements for the Ambience Match module improve accuracy for creating noise profiles when matching background noise to mask edit points.

Both the RX 5 Audio Editor and RX 5 Advanced Audio Editor can be used as a standalone audio editor, as a standalone audio editor connected to your host, or as a plug-in. Supported plug-in formats include AU, VST, VST 3, AAX, RTAS, and AudioSuite.

Press release after the break...

iZotope Releases RX Post Production Suite and RX 5 Audio Editor
Comprehensive Post Production Suite plus new audio processing and repair features in RX drive the next evolution in audio editing, mixing, and delivery for audio post production.

Cambridge, Mass., October 7th, 2015 - iZotope, Inc., a leading audio technology company, today released its RX Post Production Suite. This comprehensive suite of tools is designed specifically to enable post production professionals to better edit, mix, and deliver their audio for film, broadcast, video, and new media. The flagship product in the suite is RX 5 Audio Editor, a significant new update to iZotope’s award-winning RX audio repair platform.

The new RX Post Production Suite contains products aimed at every stage of the audio post production workflow, with solution-oriented tools for everything from audio repair and editing to mix enhancement and final delivery. The RX Post Production Suite includes:

RX 5 Advanced Audio Editor
RX Final Mix
RX Loudness Control
One-year, All-Access Pass to Groove3 online video courses and training
50 free sound effects (customer’s choice) from Pro Sound Effects

The new RX 5 Audio Editor and RX 5 Advanced Audio Editor efficiently repair and enhance problematic production audio while speeding up workflows that currently require either multiple manual editing passes, or a non-intuitive collection of tools from different vendors.  

RX 5 Audio Editor’s new Instant Process tool lets editors “paint out” unwanted sonic elements directly on the spectral display with a single mouse gesture. The new Module Chain allows users to define a custom chain of processing (e.g. De-click, De-noise, De-reverb, EQ Match, Leveler, Normalize) and then save that chain as a preset so that multiple processes can be recalled and applied in a single click for repetitive tasks.

“Module Chains mean no more printing whole tracks back to Pro Tools. Now, I can recall a chain every time I’m faced with the same location and apply it on a case-by-case basis,” said Damian Kearns, sound editor and mixer (PBS Frontline, FIFA World Cup). “So much more precise than a blanket fix and so time-saving when dealing with series work.”

For even faster workflows between Pro Tools and RX 5 Audio Editor, RX Connect has been enhanced to support individual Pro Tools clips and crossfades with any associated handles so that processed audio returns “in place” to the Pro Tools timeline, maintaining complete editing control.

In RX 5 Advanced Audio Editor, a new De-plosive module minimizes plosives from letters such as p, t, k, and b, in which strong blasts of air create a massive pressure change at the microphone element, impairing the sound. In addition, the Leveler module has been enhanced with breath and ‘ess’ (sibilance) detection for increased accuracy when performing faster than real-time leveling. Likewise, new enhancements for the Ambience Match module improve accuracy for creating noise profiles when matching background noise to mask edit points. Ambience Match is now also available as an AudioSuite plug-in for constructing consistent ambience beds under constructed sentences and ADR lines directly from within Pro Tools and Media Composer.

“I use RX all the time,” said Mark Ayres, composer and audio restoration expert. “Recently I have restored the soundtracks of episodes of BBC Sci-Fi series Doctor Who from off-air recordings made in the 1960s, and Thunderbirds from vinyl recordings that are being used as the basis for newly shot episodes.”

“I use RX 5 everyday on literally every project I touch,” said Steve Giammaria, sound re-recording mixer at Sound Lounge in NYC. The main improvement for my workflow in RX 5 is the addition of Ambience Match as an AudioSuite plug-in. It saves me hundreds of clicks a day!”
Compatibility
Both RX 5 Audio Editor and RX 5 Advanced Audio Editor can be used as a standalone audio editor, as a standalone audio editor connected to your host, or as a plug-in. Supported plug-in formats include AU, VST, VST 3, AAX, RTAS, and AudioSuite.
About iZotope, Inc.
iZotope makes innovative products that inspire and enable people to be creative. Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, iZotope has spent over a decade developing award-winning products and audio technologies for professionals and hobbyists alike. Used by millions of people in over 50 countries, iZotope products are a core component of GRAMMY-winning music studios, Oscar- and Emmy-winning film and TV post-production studios, and prominent radio studios, as well as basement and bedroom studios across the globe. iZotope also powers products made by industry partners such as Adobe, Avid, Microsoft, and Sony. iZotope was recently honored with an Emmy® Award for Outstanding Achievement in Engineering Development for its flagship audio repair suite, RX®.