Total immersion: that's what the 3D IMAX theater experience delivers, complete with vertigo-inducing visuals and state-of-the-art surround sound. Composer Eric Colvin, fresh from his recent collaboration with director Simon Wincer on the current Warner Bros./IMAX release of NASCAR 3D: The IMAX Experience, explains how he produced this landmark surround score entirely "inside the box" using Digital performer and his all-native, MOTU hardware-equipped studio.

During the past 10 years, I have been scoring films and producing music for various genres, collaboratively and individually. Along the way, Digital Performer and MOTU have served as the backbone of my creative environment.

For many years and various projects, I wrestled with the entanglement of numerous synths, samplers and outboard gear, traveling in and out of a non-recall mixer that made replicating my project mixes an uphill battle. The battle was compounded by client approval becoming an increasingly on-demand expectation. The inability to accurately and quickly rebuild a mix for discussion purposes started eating into already unrealistic deadlines. Compounded by overlapping projects, I knew there had to be a better, faster, cleaner way of doing things. The various incarnations of my setup eventually honed its way to being a non-console structure, controlled and routed exclusively through MOTU hardware and software. This was a huge improvement for me, creatively, logistically and productively.

Fall of 2004, I was hired to score NASCAR 3D: The IMAX Experience for director Simon Wincer, Warner Brothers and IMAX. This was the first project of mine utilizing my MOTU "consoleless" setup. I have my hardware synths and outboard coming into three 24 I/Os, two GigaStudios lightpiped into a 2408mk3 and live instruments recordable through my HD192 (as well as Virtual Instruments). As with any hardware console, this gear is permanently connected to the MOTU interfaces, but then controlled in combination with CueMix Console and the DP Environment. All fader positions, panning, sends and returns are saved like any document, allowing complete recall of my intended mix.

NASCAR: The IMAX Experience