history of audio post

[Dannibal]

i'm trying to find the history of audio post production either online, or in a book, and i can't find this info anywhere... can anyone help or point me in the right direction? thanks...

danny p.

[starcrash13]

Check out Pro Tools for Video, Film, and Multimedia by Ashley Shepherd. The whole first chapter is devoted to the history of post sound (mostly for film).

[Dannibal]

thanks man.. just bought it!

[jayfrigo]

Here's a handout I created for a sound for picture class:


Edison Company did experiments with sound and picture as early as fall of 1894.

1895 Kinetophones: Kinetoscopes with phonographs inside their cabinets. You would look into the peep-holes while listening through rubber ear tubes.

1913, a different version of the Kinetophone was introduced. Sound was mechanically synchronized with a motion picture projected onto a screen.

1915, Edison abandoned talking pictures for the next 18 years due to problems with union projectionists not trained on the equipment, technical issues like amplification, sync problems, and patent issues.

The popular example of the first film sound: Warner Brothers' The Jazz Singer staring Al Jolson in 1927. Not really the first time sound was synchronized to picture, but first widespread availability.

1928, Disney's Steamboat Willie became first film with soundtrack created completely in post-production including dialogue, sound effects, and music.

Silent film was anything but. Pre-1928 movies accompanied by sound effects, live musicians and singers, narrators or actors, phonograph recordings, or a combination.

1938, Hollywood studios decided on equalization to improve consistency in theaters and dub stages. Based on research by Academy for Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, it became known as the "Academy Curve."

1933 Bell Labs experiments with broadcast stereo. 1940 Western Electric demonstrates a four-track stereo system (left-center-right-control) aimed at recording industry. Stereo was adopted by the cinema industry in the early 50’s several years before stereo music records were widely seen.

In 1940, Walt Disney's Fantasia was the first film to be released in a multi-channel format called Fantasound.

CINERAMA
On September 30, 1952, the film “This Is Cinerama” premiered as the first Cinerama film. First real widescreen format. 5 channels behind the screen. A 7-track head stack fed eight speaker channels, five behind the screen and three around the auditorium. Tracks 6 and 7 are manually switched between stereo surround and mono surround plus rear surround for selected scenes.

CINEMASCOPE
On September 16, 1953, “The Robe” debuted as the first CinemaScope film. Anamorphic lens, wide aspect ratio. 4-track, discrete magnetic format used an LCRS speaker set-up. Production dialog was captured with three microphones. Starting with Cinemascope, the Academy curve was no longer used. CinemaScope was precursor to Panavision.

TODD-AO
October 13, 1955 was first Todd-AO movie, “Oklahoma!” Like CinemaScope, Todd-AO used 5 speakers behind the screen and a mono surround. Todd-AO widescreen format was originally conceived by Michael Todd and the American Optical Company. Todd-AO's 65mm negative is printed on a 70mm release print. The extra 5mm is devoted to the soundtrack with 2.5mm allocated on either side of the picture.

In 1972, Dolby's X-curve (eXtended curve) EQ standard for theaters and mix rooms was formalized by the International Standards Organization (ISO 2969) to replace the Academy curve of the 1930's. Using pink noise, the X-curve specifies a 3 dB per octave roll-off above 2 kHz.

Also in 1972 “A Quiet Revolution” was the first film to have Dolby A noise reduction on the release print.

DOLBY STEREO
In 1976, “A Star Is Born” was the first Dolby Stereo film. Dolby Stereo was a 4-channel format matrixed into two channel delivery. The two encoded channels are known as the Left total (Lt) and Right total (Rt). Everything mixed to the left channel is heard on the left and everything mixed on the right will be heard on the right. The center information is taken from everything that is in both channels and 3 dB down. The surround information is recorded down 3 dB on both Lt and Rt channels so that one channels is plus 90 degrees and the other is minus 90 degrees.

BABY BOOM
In 1977, Star Wars revolutionized film sound and effects. Released in Dolby’s 70mm "Baby Boom" format. Similar to 70mm Todd-AO format but three speakers behind the screen (left, center, right) plus mono surround, and two low frequency effects channels that handled frequencies below 200 Hz. LFE becomes an important part of film with Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

SPLIT SURROUND
In 1979 Dolby debut 70mm "Split Surround" format for Apocalypse Now. Like Baby Boom, based on Todd-AO format. First 5.1 format as we think of it today. It had a left, center, and right, left surround, right surround, and low frequency effects channel. Backwards compatibility with Baby Boom. With Apocalypse Now, Walter Murch coined the title "Sound Designer".

THX (Thom Holman eXperiment)
1983 Return of the Jedi: first motion picture with THX designation -"Lucasfilm Seal of Approval". Not a format, rather a standard, THX grew from Holman's work installing a monitoring system for Lucasfilm's new re-recording stage. Extended frequency response down to the 40Hz band, (-1.5dB) which was an octave lower than most earlier theater systems. Treble response was also extended in the octave above 8kHz. Not only were the crossover and system marketed, but also a theater inspection package under the THX trade name. Included specs for reverb time vs. volume, picture sharpness, noise limits, and screen properties. In addition, 70mm film houses were required to install a Kintek KT-9 subwoofer.

DOLBY SR
1986 SR: 2nd generation matrixed LCRS with greater noise reduction and extended dynamic range. Like Dolby Stereo but with SR instead of A-type NR. In 1987, Robocop and Innerspace were the first films to be released with Dolby SR.

DOLBY DIGITAL (SR-D)
1992 debut with Batman Returns. 5.1 format with Dolby AC-3 data reduction. The digital data is placed between the sprocket holes, keeping analog SR tracks for backwards compatibility and safety. Initially named SR-D, now AKA Dolby Digital.

DTS
1993 Digital Theater Systems (DTS) premiered with Jurassic Park. Syncs a CD-ROM with the film by using a timecode track between the picture and analogue soundtrack. It uses less data reduction than Dolby. Aavailable for both 35mm and 70mm. Like Dolby SR-D, DTS uses analog soundtrack as a backup.

SDDS
1993 Sony Dynamic Digital Sound (SDDS) premiered with Last Action Hero. SDDS is unique in that it supports 7.1 sound. In has left, mid-left, center, mid-right, right, left surround, right surround, and low frequency effects channel. The SDDS digital data is on both edges of the 35mm piece of the film. SDDS uses the ATRAC data reduction system originally developed for the Minidisc.

Dolby EX and DTS ES
6.1 surround - center rear channel similar to matrixing in the stereo surround pair.

[georgia]

Hi, if you want, i have a pwerpoint presentation I gave a while ago on the history of audio in film... the presentation is on my thread thanks to our glorious moderator! So if you still want a copy check there....

cheers
geo

[BruceTheProduce]

Originally Posted by starcrash13

Check out Pro Tools for Video, Film, and Multimedia by Ashley Shepherd. The whole first chapter is devoted to the history of post sound (mostly for film).

I double that.
That little book has not only great info on the history of audio post but also a vast ammount of audio post info in general.

[bassman]

Hey, thanks for buying my book! Just stumbled across this thread in a search and had to chime in.

Shameless plug..... the new book is:

Plug-In Power, which contains a lot of theoretical base knowledge of digital audio as it applies to plug-ins along with real world examples using many popular plug-in brands, Waves, UAD, Sonalksis, Voxengo etc....

Here's the link:

http://www.amazon.com/Plug-Power-Com.../dp/1592009530

Hope PT for AV helped you out a bit.

-ashley

[starcrash13]

Hey, thanks for buying my book! Just stumbled across this thread in a search and had to chime in.

Hey Ashley,
I recommend your book all the time. I think it's the best basic, easy-to-understand primer for Pro Tools post out there. Are there any plans for an updated version? With PT adding so many post-related features, it would be great to have an easy book to learn some of the new stuff. The "What's New..." guides are usually kind of confusing and don't give you the "how and why" only the "what." Know what I mean?

[bassman]

Thanks for the recommendations, Pascal. I think it is getting close to time for a revision. For the moment though, I am building a studio in a church. I've also recently snagged a mastering gig and have been busy with that as well. When things slow down a bit (ha!) I will talk with Course and get the ball rolling.

Thanks,
ashley

[BruceTheProduce]

Hey Ashley, it's great to know that you are a GS too.
That book has been great help for me and a lot of my peers, Congrats very well written.

Good luck with your current projects, please let us know if there is an updated version of your book.