surroundtools question?

[anders]

I've just begun post sound work on a couple of 35mm shorts. They are student productions which really cannot afford the dolby liscense. It was suggested to me that the best way to deal with this suituation is to do a 'video' stereo mix for the 35mm print master, but monitor through a matrix. This would ensure against any whacky phase issues which could possibly arise when a straight stereo mix is played through a matrix. Could I use surround tools for this rather unorthodox work aroung(that is if the work around actually would work)

thanks

[georgia]

don't go there.

stick with a straight stereo mix for 35mm or mono for 16mm if your client cannot afford the licensing.
Dolby will not allow a surround mix to be printed unless your client pays the licensing fees. Your also letting yourself into a world of hurt by creating a sort-of-surround mix. Dolby insists on VERY specific room qualifications to approve a mix. DTS is a little more friendy but DTS assumes YOU KNOW what you are doing and if the mix falls apart its your own darn fault. DOlby takes the "big brother is watching" approach. Either way the client will just be mad at YOU in the end when it comes out screwed up and they have to buy more time, print masters, negitives and a new prints to sort it out.

If they want it bad enough make them buy it. And charge them for your professionalism and abilities to get it right the first time.

cheers

georgia

[anders]

Thanks for the reply Georgia. It was suggested to me that doing a straight stereo mix could lead to problems when played through a dolby matrix. I'm told most venues will be running the prints, regardless of dolby encoded or not. through the matrix. Is this correct. It was also suggested that we try to preview the mix through the matrix. Has anyone had any problems using a straight stereo mix for a 35mm printmaster?

[georgia]

you can use the dolby software pugins to monitor thru... Most mixes will be fine cut in stereo and played via thru dolby... it might widen the mix a little bit. Just don't go crazy with stereo enhancers and plugin/gear that widens the stereo image....

Of all the film's i've mixed ... the only problem i've run into is that i wished I could have actually gottten a bit more in the surrounds from a stereo mix.. ( personal taste only)

cheers

georgia

[anders]

thanks for the advice, georgia.

i'm wondering if there's anyone out there who has a horror story about mixing stereo and having disasterous results when played through a matrix.

there is the belief in the film community (probably just neurotic film makers) that this could be problematic. however, i haven't heard of any incedents to support it.

[JKD99]

Hi Anders
You mentioned in your original post that the films you're talking about are student shorts. Depending on what film school the filmmakers are in, they might be in luck. AFI, for example, had a deal w/ Dolby where students got free Dolby (Lt-Rt) printmasters, no license fee. It's a long shot, but it might be worthwhile to see if your filmmaker's school has a similar arrangement...Be careful with the matrix. One of the problems encounters when folding down a 60track (5.1) mix to the Lt-Rt is a phenomenon called "hooking". What happens is, usually during a music cue with sustained, mid-range strings or something, the matrix gets confused and starts pulling the dialog into the surrounds. Just what you want, right? The fix is generally to lower the music a bit in that one section so that the matrix isn't confusing music w/ dialog, and all's right again. So, if you're set on doing a Stereo dub, either use the Decoder side of the Surround Tools bundle, or, if there's a good pro-audio rental house in your area, spend $50 and rent a Dolby SDU-4 for a day. Hope this helps, good luck!

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Joe Milner
Puget Sound
Los Angeles