Requirements for 16 mm mix- Help.

[mgoorevich]

I need help as soon as I am about finishing the mix for a student movie which will be optical printed on 16 mm film. I made mixes for TV or Beta's. But I am new in all the 16 mm stuff. Well I know that it's mono and uses academy curve EQ. I know also that it should be supplied on DAT. But I have no idea how loud it should be, which test tones (1Khz, pink noise e.t.c) and where (what time code) it should be recorded. If you have some more tips for me I will greatlly appreciate you.
Thanks.

[TVPostSound]

Call the house that will print the opticals, and ask them for their specs.
Also this is the job of the films producer to supply you with requirements.

Sorry I cant help you, as there are numerous specs.

[georgia]

mix in a calibrated romm for film. make sure your monitoring thru the x-curve film eq in the mix room. calibrated pink noise at -20 should be 85db for L and R speakers individually at the mix position. watch the hi's and hi mid's as optical tracks have lots of sibulance problems... Also do not run the mix too hot or the optical printer will end up lowering the volume on the hot spots ( the opposite of what you are actually trying to do by raising the volume in a loud moment ) If memory serves, 16 mm can have only 1 or 2 formats.... MONO or DTS 5.1 (I've done a couple of projects where we printed a copy of the film on 16mm with a mono audio optical and a second print with DTS timecode in place of the mono optical to allow full on 5.1


Chek out DR SOUND's thread on room calibration.

cheers
georgia

[mgoorevich]

Thenks Georgia!
Very nice tips. I am sure it will help me. One more question. I think it would be a nice idea as soon as I am getting into audio for movie bussiness. What books or in which way can I pick up the technical information about Audio Post Production. I mean I am fine with my Pro Tools system. I am trying to be artistic in my creation of the mix. But I feel lack of experience in the flow of the process especially on a final stage. I used to work in big post production house here. But only few people were responsible for the final mix treatment and providing materials to the print labs.
I know that this is a "wild world" and the competition is tough, but when I asked a guy these questions (here in Israel) from a biggest Post house, he just tald me that I am not professional if I am asking this. I said "so help me be" , then he said "It's professional secret - knowhow".
Thanks again and sorry for being here a little sentimental.

[Frank Kruse]

Roll everything above 11k off. The track can´t reproduce it anyway and this prevents from unpredictalble distortions. Put a reference tone on the tape that represents your 100% level this will equal 100% saturation on the negative.
On 16mm the tracks distorts extremely harsh so there should be absolutely nothing over 100%.
Don´t mix to high dynamics since 16mm is very noisey. Abviously it´s mono. You can also have a mag track coated onto the print but this is a very exotic formate that might nocht play back in all theaters.
When you master simulate the acadey filter and then compensate the overall EQ on your mix to re-balance the spectrum.

frank.

[FlorianE]

From the replies so far you may guess that 16mm optical isn't exactly an engineers dream.

BTW, Labs often prefer a 50% modulation line-up tone, i.e. -6dB, which you might set at -20dB FS. Meaning that NOTHING goes beyond -14 dB FS.

What I would like to add is:
16mm optical is SO BAD that only the fittest sounds will survive. When you design or mix: be graphical. Don't try and create soundscapes (wasted effort); don't try and use power (it doesn't have any). Don't use many layers of sound (intermodulation is high). De-Ess to minimize cross-modulation distortion. Keep dynamics within 25-30 dB, not by limiting, but by upward-expanding low level content.

Cheers
Florian