28 l July 2014
www.psneurope.com broadcast EUROPE
Rebuilding Aaton through sound
IT HAS been a prominent part of European TV and film production, on both the sound and video sides, for 40 years – but last year, Aaton nearly disappeared for good. Film camera sales were suffering from the growing move to digital, and the Cantar location recorder was
falling behind its rivals. But the company’s future was secured by fellow French manufacturer Transvideo, which concentrated on the development of a new audio recorder to re-establish the brand.
The Cantar X3 retains the distinctive, cyberpunk look
of the original product but with a new swivelling front display replacing the original preset positions, and an expandable SSD supported by SD card and USB external drive recording capability to supersede the X2’s limited 128GB internal storage.
While there might no new Aaton cameras coming out of France, the prestigious name looks set to live on through audio, says Kevin Hilton
As the 21st century went on, the original Cantar began to fall behind the likes of Nagra, Sound Devices, Zaxcom and Zoom on the audio front, and digital cameras such as the Arri Alexa, RED Epic and Sony F65 and 55 were seriously challenging film.
The dazzling design of the Cantar X3
them and we shared stands at international trade shows. So, we’ve always been quite close, and it would have been a pity to see the name disappear.” Aaton’s problems started to come to a head in early 2013. To allow Delacoux to buy the company, Aaton went into bankruptcy, with its founder and chief executive, Jean-Pierre Beauviala, announcing the move on the website of AFC, the French Association of Cinematographers, on 3 May 2013.
“There had been a two- year project to develop a new camera,” says Delacoux, “but we decided it was easier to go for sound.” This, he explains, was partly because of available storage media, but also owing to sound recordists asking for a new Cantar that was up-to-date and future-proof.
Delacoux: “Started from scratch”
Aaton was preparing to meet the latter threat head-on, but the proposed Delta camera never made the provisional launch date of early 2012.
“They had the same wonderful products, but the Cantar was obsolete and the Delta, although extremely ambitious, was not ready on time,” Jacques Delacoux, chief executive of Transvideo, explains. By contrast, Delacoux’s company, which he founded in 1985 to produce flat-panel video monitors, video-assist devices, wireless video transmission systems and camera accessories, was coping more readily with the changing film and TV production landscape. Transvideo and Aaton have been working together since 1999, but Delacoux had been aware of the camera and recorder company while still in his teens.
“When I was 15 or 16 I had a picture of an Aaton camera on my bedroom wall,” he says. “It was an unreachable dream that I would use or own one, but, much later, Transvideo developed some products for
The X3 was designed by Aaton’s established engineering department, with input from Delacoux and Transvideo’s technical staff. Delacoux explains that as part of the rebuilding of Aaton, the 23 members of the design team – which he describes as “the heart of the company” – were kept on, but others were not: “All employees agreed but, with those that had to leave, it was very emotional.”
Delacoux comments that while it was decided to keep what people had liked about the previous Cantar – specifically its light weight and functionality – the design team “started from scratch”. This involved “changing the technology inside” and adding more audio tracks and inputs. Among the features of the X3 are 12 analogue XLR inputs, eight low-noise mic preamps, ten linear control faders and a keyboard USB. The machine has digital ins and outs, plus Audinate Dante connectivity.
Delacoux adds that after surveying sound recordists on what they wanted, Dante was chosen – although RAVENNA “would not be a major problem” to add if people wanted it. A full industry launch of the Cantar X3 is scheduled for IBC. While there might not be new cameras coming out of France, the Aaton name looks set to live on through audio.
www.aaton.comzz
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