Should delay comp be on when mixing film in a studio

[Moviesound]

So much confusion regarding delay comp. So..when running plugins like Altiverb with massive latency should we have delay comp on when mixing to picture in a dubbing stage?

I am still confused whether delay comp plays the audio (effectively) early so that it will be in sync with the picture running against timecode in a studio (or the quicktime running in pro tools)

Or does it (effectively) play the tracks with less latency later, so as a whole all the tracks are 'in sync' with each other BUT would NOW be out of sync against the picture??????

[tomlowd]

yes.

it's pre delay. with delay comp, the only sync issue will be a result of the vision pathway... (the screen/projector or your vision cards)

[minister]

Automatic Delay Compensation delays all audio to match the track with the most latency, then it pulls it all back into time. You want to use ADC when mixing film. Then it will run in sync with picture provided the studio has adequately accounted for the video latency in their video playback setup.

[Moviesound]

Thanks for the responses. I'll try to keep it on, if I have enough dsp!

[SBP]

Hi There -Delay compensation should be 'on' on your playback machines 'off' on your stem recorder when recording from your playback machines. If recording/combing from within the stem recorder delay compensation should be 'on'.

An easy way to do a test to sort out that everything is set right is to record a set of sync beeps through your system and check that they all end up where they should -if you have things correct you will be with in a few samples.

Hope this helps

Bruno

[Porky]

Ok, but lest say you are realigning SFX to picture with ADC on, and you then add/remove plug-ins on VO or dialogue tracks. Are those previously sync'd effects now out of sync?

[soundworx]

Assuming you are going to mix yourself:

If you have enough budget to do a proper final mix on a proper dubstage then take your entire session there. Check with them if they have all the plugins you use. If not, ask them if they object to installing the ones that are missing and remember to bring your Ilok.

Carefully check your premix on your system if delay compensation can cope with all the delay of your plugs. If you get into problems because of Altiverbs, just record them on a stereo or 5.1 track in the session, way more reliable than snapshot automation...

Open your session there and check again.

Make sure you get someone of the facility to help you set everything up, I'd say book one hour for that. Let them set up the routing for mixing, but also for recording your PM, LtRt and stems. Let them "Syncheck" your video again and don't let them tell you something like "it's always x-amount of quarterframes for ProRes HQ". It varies per system!

Have fun!

If you don't have enough budget and can only afford say one day; Mix at your own place and rerecord everything into stems. Use a 2-pop and resync your stems to that. No need for plugins and/or delay compensation anymore! You can ride the volumes of the stems and if the need arises you can still automate some EQ on the centre channel.

Pray that the director knows what he wants! Drastic changes can become VERY VERY difficult (been there/done that, it isn't exactly a relaxed way of working)

[Porky]

Thanks for the reply, but I probably should have been more clear. I mix promo and short form for TV, where you spend an hour adding effects, trimming music, adding VO, etc. So a simple workflow timeline goes something like this...

1. Trim DIA and fix music edits. (possibly change music sync to match picture better)

2. Add SFX

3. Read VO

4. Add comp/eq etc. to VO.

After going through all that, will my FX and music sync change when adding plug-ins to the VO track AFTER I've done all my sync work?

I may not need ADC, but I just want to get this clarified.

Thx soundworx.

[Postman]

After going through all that, will my FX and music sync change when adding plug-ins to the VO track AFTER I've done all my sync work?

No.