The International Teleproduction Society’s 10th Financial and Compensation Data Profile for fiscal 1996 was released recently and showed an increase of 15% in revenues over 1995. The survey also found the overall percentage of profit on revenues was 5.6%, the same as 1995.

The survey reflects data collected from about 75 North American post shops which is broken down nationally, regionally and by revenue size. Full report results are divulged only to participating its members.

While the array of services offered by facilities was not reported to have changed much in the past year, digital editing is the fastest-growing segment in terms of percentage of sales, with a 35% increase last year compared to a 24% increase in ’95. The compensation segment of the survey provides information on salaries for 26 post positions and includes a breakout for Canada.

The average number of employees per facility rose to 54 in ’96 from 48 in ’95.

-Airwaves adds DVD capability

Vancouver’s Airwaves Sound Design recently completed an upgrade of its facilities, bringing dvd and daily-to-final mix digital capability to the shop.

Airwaves, part of the Stay Tuned Group of post and production companies, now has eight digital edit suites and a newly renovated mixing theater equipped with two DigiDesign Pro Tools systems.

Airwaves’ new Vocalign software for adr digitally resyncs an actor’s preferred performance to the original lines without shifting the pitch, saving time in adr sessions and cutting dubbing costs.

The facility has also fully geared up for dvd projects with capability to handle necessary six-track formats.

-New Calgary Night spot

Calgary will soon begin reaping the benefits of a well-stocked new audio facility when Night Deposit Studios opens in August. The new shop, created, owned and operated by Endre Lukacsy, will feature a Solid State Logic SL 4040 G plus console, customized for 52 inputs and used for music tracking, overdubbing, mixing and post.

Lukacsy, who has a background in music production, moved from Vancouver to Calgary in 1995. He says the facility will handle music production as well as adr, voice-over, sound effects design and foley work.

Post applications will be limited at the outset, says Lukacsy, to allow the studio to establish itself and allow time for the market to acclimate itself to the equipment and technology being offered.

Down the road, Lukacsy says the shop may expand into film mixing, a potential growth market for the city. ‘Calgary is on the verge of becoming much bigger in the video and film post-production realm,’ he says.

Other gear inlcudes a 24-track Studer A800, Alesis adat and Tascam DA-88 tape machines.

The facility was acoustically designed by Vancouver’s Vrtacic Engineering.

-WESCAM makes the rounds

Flamborough, Ont.-based wescam has provided a round-the-newsroom solution to cable news and Internet service msnbc with its Model 16SS camera unit.

The track system which encircles the msnbc newsroom and the robotic pedestal which supports the camera were designed and manufactured by Oakville, Ont.-based Edge & Company.

The pedestal acts as a telescopic arm with up and down motion and travels unencumbered along the 200-foot winding newsroom track.

The wescam unit, with a Sony BVP-T70 camera, was chosen as a solution for track coverage of the room because it is smooth and easily controllable.

-Broadcasters get Active

Microsoft Canada has announced the support of a number of Canadian content providers for its Internet Explorer 4.0. Broadcast and new media companies like MuchInteractive, can’e, ytv, tsn and PointCast are developing preconfigured Active Channels to be accessible from the new Channel Bar on this version of the browser.

Active Channels are part of Microsoft’s ‘managed push’ solutions and allow delivery of personalized interactive content to the desktop.

MuchInteractive will use Active Channel to provide updated RapidFax Entertainment News information, user polls, pop culture trivia, and advertiser-supported promotions and games.

Over 250 companies worldwide are developing Active Channels, including Warner Bros., Disney Online and Discovery Channel.

Microsoft Network is also conducting trials using 56 Kbps modems, starting in Toronto this month and rolling out internationally later this summer.

-Avid ships Elastic

Avid Technology is now shipping its Avid Elastic Reality Version 3.0 special effects software for Power Macintosh workstations. The software had formerly been available on Silicon Graphics and Windows platforms and is now accessible for corporate, multimedia and tv post users operating on Mac systems.

The software for Power Mac is priced at $us1,299.

-Call for advertisers

Internet tv hopeful ViewCall Canada is now offering Canadian companies the chance to become advertisers on the company’s future online tv service initiatives.

Winnipeg-based ViewCall has been gearing up to provide an Internet tv service to the Canadian market and has already made deals with outlets like The Weather Network and The Globe & Mail to provide content for the eventual service.

ViewCall has named ABC Interactive, the interactive auditing unit of the Audit Bureau of Circulations, to provide advertisers with reliable activity reports on the service.

ViewCall has also announced special ‘trial period rates’ for initial advertisers as well as a deal with Canadian Internet commerce company Stria Communications to develop virtual stores for the online service.

-Moves

Dan Forgues, former vp of Ottawa’s Digg Design, has joined creative communications agency Banfield-Seguin.

Forgues has assumed the role of new media creative director to assist in Banfield-Seguin’s efforts to provide more comprehensive new media services using animation, video and sound.