Cinema, dolby and my muddy head

[^Tripper^]

Hi everyone. I've got a little movie mix issue here that i hope you guys could help with.

First off, i'd like to say a big thank you to tom, georgia and the rest of you gurus for your time and help on this forum (and others!) The posts have been very helpful and i'm thankful that you guys share your very considerable expertise on this forum, so thank you.

Ok, getting back to the problem.

I recently worked on a feature length project destined for both cinema and DVD. The final cinema mix was done at a proper dub stage and encoded to both dolby digital and SR. We previewed the mix and the dolby encoded tracks at both the dub stage and in another preview room using the answer print. Everything sounded good so we left happy and drowned ourselves in beer and wine.

A week later the print is shipped over and we schedule a screening for the producers etc. I could not attend the screening myself which as it turns out was not good. Apparently the audio sounded muddy, soft and quite unlike what we mixed. Now, i would expect various comments from people who might not have heard the final mix at the dub stage, but these comments came from the director as well who was with me for the final mix.

We are doing a screening at another cinema which i will be attending to find out whats what. Barring cinema playback differences, i'm wondering if there could be any stage from the time the audio is dolby encoded to when we get the final print where the audio could get screwy? Would transferring the dolby encoded tracks from the MO disk to film possibly affect the quality of the audio? Any other "gotchas" i should be aware of?

Appreciate the help.

Thank you!




Trip.

[Postman]

Did they hear the DDigital track or SR (optical) track? I assume you heard the DD track on the answer print. Obviously, the SR track can be very different and can be affected by all manner of technical problems, including misalignments and optical stock development (density) problems. You already know about playback system differences from room to room.

And, its amazing how different a mix can sound when hearing it for the first time with an audience! Perception and insecurity suddenly come into play. Maybe the mix is okay? You'll have to hear it yourself and work backwards.

[BRH]

Actually, with a well adjusted dolby processor, it's very hard for the average person to tell the difference between Digital SRD and Analog SR.
I'm running SRD all the time with SR backup. Too many faults, or if a piece of tape gets stuck to the digital sound drum roller, and it will switch to SR and it's unnoticeable.

Now, my feeling... call the theater where you screened the print and ask what they are running. If running SR Analog and they haven't upgraded their tungsten optical pickup light with a red LED reader and the sound was printed on the new Cyan blue dye track, IT WILL SOUND MUDDY AND DIRTY! There are people still running without the red LED upgrade. I'm still running such a system for the last 3 years averaging one film a week.

[minister]

Now, my feeling... call the theater where you screened the print and ask what they are running. If running SR Analog and they haven't upgraded their tungsten optical pickup light with a red LED reader and the sound was printed on the new Cyan blue dye track, IT WILL SOUND MUDDY AND DIRTY! There are people still running without the red LED upgrade. I'm still running such a system for the last 3 years averaging one film a week.

That was my first thought to when I read this just now. This happened to me and it is no fun. Sound is about 11dB too quiet and the front sounds all phasey.