Posted on 4th June 2024
The new features will go live during June 2024 and include:
TCD is compliant with all relevant industry standards. With increasing emphasis being placed on standards, you will be able to check how your design matches relevant industry criteria.
Trinnov’s Waveforming technology delivers a significant advance in low-frequency performance through controlled wave propagation. Designers are now able to incorporate this innovative technology within their home cinema designs.
The TCD development team has worked closely with the great minds at Trinnov to implement Waveforming within the TCD workflow. Within just a few seconds, TCD completes the complex calculations required to properly implement Waveforming within a design. TCD makes light work of the computations, efficiently producing a precise design for this revolutionary technology. TCD’s unique 3D viewport provides a visual representation of the wave technology and allows you to make changes in real time, with the tool dynamically recalculating and redrawing the room with your modifications.
"WaveForming truly is a major step forward in terms of bass performance. Getting the design and installation fundamentally correct requires effort and dedication, which fits precisely into Trinnov’s long standing design-led approach. This is certainly a mission we share with The Cinema Designer, and we are confident the inclusion of WaveForming into TCD will accelerate the adoption of this industry defining technology. This is the second time that TCD has supported our efforts to elevate cinema design ensuring higher performance and we are immensely grateful to collaborate with TCD and have WaveForming included in this major update." Dave Pedigo, COO Trinnov
TCD now incorporates and illustrates enhanced performance data provided by selected manufacturers. Heat maps and polar plots are overlaid on the 3D viewport to illustratively demonstrate responses of the selected loudspeakers, relative to the main listening position and all other seats. This major feature allows you to dynamically adjust the design, in accordance with the loudspeaker data shown by the heat maps. You can manually adjust seating row positions, with the 3D viewport updating in real-time to place seating in the optimum location.
Adding more surrounds is simple in TCD 2.5. Users can now easily add surrounds that share discreet information – as many as an adjacent pair per row, if required. With the design adjusting dynamically as each change is made, you can add and remove the extra surrounds in just a few clicks.
In the real world, there are often practical reasons why the perfect design cannot be implemented, and designers have to be pragmatic about the relationship between the perfect design and what is deliverable on the ground. To assist with this dilemma, users can now make minor adjustments to the placement of loudspeakers. Each loudspeaker can be repositioned within 10° of the calculated position, to accommodate the physical attributes of the room.
A major upgrade within TCD2.5 is the placement of acoustic treatment. For selected manufacturers, acoustic products may now be positioned and repositioned within the 3D space. This allows you to make accommodations for the physical attributes of the room, such as windows and doors. This increases the flexibility of TCD, and allows you to deliver exceptional designs, based on real-world rooms.
TCD2.5 now includes four additional Dolby configurations: Dolby Atmos 7.1.6 and Dolby Atmos 9.1.6, both providing six height channels; Dolby 2.1 for stereo with subwoofers; and Dolby Surround 9.1. Each Dolby/Dolby Atmos configuration can be selected with one or more subwoofers, giving you an even greater palate of design options.
The TCD team is avidly committed to a programme of ongoing innovation, to provide our users with a greater range of technical design options and an even better experience of the tool. These latest updates elevate TCD to the next level and have been very well received within the industry.
“TCD keeps innovating to make it an indispensable, quick and powerful tool, for any theatre designer. The addition of heat maps, Waveforming and acoustic treatments all help with visualisation and actual improvements that can be done to help achieve recommended practices for room performance.” Erik Wiederholtz, CTO Perlisten
“I’m excited by the latest version of The Cinema Designer, the updates such as the placement of acoustic treatment and make it easier than ever to design and then fine tune a home cinema installation to the very highest standards, and in the shortest possible time. It really should be a key part of any integrators tool kit.” Peter Gibb, NAD CI Product Manager & Channel Development
Join us for our training webinars with TCD creator, Guy Singleton. Guy will take you through the TCD workflow, with an emphasis on the new features. These informal sessions are aimed at small groups, to allow time for a Q&A segment at the end.
To join us, please express your interest by emailing: karin@thecinemadesigner.com
The industry keeps moving and so do we! We have another raft of developments that will be released later in 2024. With each update, we bring more and more functionality to our users, pushing the boundaries of brilliant design each and every time!
The team at TCD are also working on an exciting new and enhanced education plan – keep an eye on our social channels later in the year for more information.
Covering not only the HOW but also the WHY of design, we can't wait for you to experience it soon.