LONDON ― As Re-recording Mixer and Head of Sound at The Farm, one of UK’s leading post-production facilities, Nick Fry has built his career on making stories sound as compelling as they look. With more than 30 years in the industry, multiple awards and a portfolio that includes high-profile series like “Formula 1: Drive to Survive,” Fry has long relied on a variety of solutions to streamline his workflow, enhance dialogue clarity and meet evolving loudness standards. Among these tools, NUGEN Audio has become essential to his process, especially the brand’s VisLM and Halo Upmix plug-ins and, most recently, the newest DialogCheck intelligibility meter.
“Finessing dialogue is probably one of the most important things I do now,” says Fry. “It’s about making it audible by restoring, EQing, removing background noise and increasing clarity — all to ensure the viewer gets a clear sound experience. That’s where NUGEN Audio comes in.”
At The Farm, Fry typically receives projects after the sound editorial phase. “The team starts the process of cleaning up the dialogue; they add effects and edit the music,” he explains. “Then, I take it and mix it into a final soundtrack — denoising, balancing and bringing everything together to a final Atmos, 5.1 or stereo mix, depending on the deliverable. Dialogue is king. If the dialogue is clear, it’s much easier to add other elements.”
In this process, NUGEN Audio VisLM is a constant companion. “VisLM is probably the most used plug-in in our department at The Farm,” adds Fry. “It’s always sitting in the corner of our screens. You’ll find it in just about every session across the building. We’re constantly monitoring loudness and that would be incredibly difficult without VisLM.”
Fry relies on VisLM to meet varying loudness requirements for different platforms. “I’ve got VisLM currently set to the Netflix setting, so I can keep track of my dialogue levels in real time. I’ll also run the final mix through VisLM to confirm compliance before delivery,” he continues. “The histogram view is particularly useful. It gives a great representation of the show’s loudness values and helps quickly identify any inconsistencies.”
Another NUGEN Audio staple in Fry’s toolkit is Halo Upmix, which he uses to expand stereo content into immersive formats. “It’s great when we’re working with stereo archive and need to upmix for Atmos,” he notes. “You can keep the dialogue centered, spread the music and effects across the left and right and even add some height. It gives you that extra width and makes the mix feel more dynamic.”
Fry recently used Halo Upmix on the Netflix feature “Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy,” to enhance music archive footage. “The plug-in is particularly useful on concert material, like the content depicted in the documentary,” he adds. “Halo Upmix helps you breathe life into mobile phone archives and makes them feel immersive.”
Fry also recently got his hands on the brand’s newest solution, DialogCheck. “I’ve been using it throughout my current session — experimenting and getting familiar with it. It’s another exciting tool to have in our arsenal,” he says. “We’ve even been discussing with Netflix how we can tweak the settings to make it more critical in evaluating dialogue intelligibility.”
More than just a visual meter, DialogCheck provides Fry with the ability to objectively flag problem areas. “It’s a good reference point to show clients,” he explains. “If a line is flagged as inaudible or the music is too loud, DialogCheck allows us to open a constructive conversation. You always need to keep in mind that the needs of the viewer and dialog clarity are essential. DialogCheck provides another layer of quality control, and that’s invaluable. The technology is still evolving and is only going to get even better.”
A long-time NUGEN Audio user, Fry has been using the brand’s plug-ins from the very beginning of the brand’s inception. “We had NUGEN plug-ins from the first time they were released,” he recalls. “In fact, we even suggested a feature for VisLM early on — the ‘analyze’ button, which they ended up adding for us. That kind of responsiveness is rare. The NUGEN team has always been extremely accessible and open to feedback.”
Fry also praises the brand’s intuitive interface design and reliability: “NUGEN plug-ins are very easy to use and well-designed; they just work,” he says. “Everyone here knows the solutions, so deploying them is almost muscle memory at this point. The company’s willingness to listen and evolve, coupled with the familiarity in each of its solutions, is what has made NUGEN Audio a go-to for our team.”
As industry standards grow more complex and the demand for pristine audio continues to rise, Fry sees NUGEN as a key player in the future of post-production. “These tools make our lives easier,” he declares. “Whether it’s monitoring loudness, cleaning up dialogue or building immersive soundscapes, NUGEN Audio helps us deliver our best work.”