HHB Communications Ltd. has provided MG ALBA with major Pro Tools upgrades for its post production facilities in Stornoway, on the Outer Hebrides of the west coast of Scotland in the UK. 

MG ALBA provides a diverse range of Gaelic programmes in Scotland from their studios in Stornoway and Glasgow. It also broadcasts Scotland's Gaelic TV channel, BBC ALBA and produces the Film G short film competition to highlight young talent in the region. 

MG ALBA has made the transition to HD file-based delivery to comply with the Digital Production Partnership’s (DPP) latest AS-11 standards and subsequently upgraded two HD edit suites and a smaller Pro Tools studio. HHB configured and supplied Apple Mac Pro computers with Pro Tools HDX1 Systems and Pro Tools 11 HD. Genelec 8050 and 8020 monitors were also provided by HHB.

Despite the geographical distance, MG ALBA’s Technical Manager Uisdean MacLeod is very complementary of the excellent service provided by HHB that made him feel like they were always close by...

This installation was extremely quick and painless because HHB configured the Pro Tools systems in London, we installed them within our infrastructure and we were back up and running by the afternoon. HHB is a very trustworthy company with excellent technical services who can always be relied on for expert advice. 

A Sonnet XMAC Thunderbolt Expansion Chassis chosen and supplied by HHB enabled the installation of the hardware in a machine room across the facility that feeds the studios via a single 60-metre Corning Optical Thunderbolt cable. Uisdean explains...

The new Thunderbolt system is fantastic because we don’t need a series of extender boxes and switches; one cable connects the system and it is extremely reliable.

Uisdean also notes that offline bounce now offered by Pro Tools 11 was a major factor in the upgrade...

A lot of the processes with our old systems were very clunky and we are now getting the most out of file-based delivery of short form material. Offline bounce has significantly decreased the amount of time we spend creating the numerous deliverables we are often required to provide.