Geo's sound post corner

[Branko]

I'd like to add that in Europe the proceedings are slightly different.
First of all, DMU can lock to 25 fps TC, while running at 24 fps film speed, which is a very common situation in Europe (all VTRs worked with 25 fps TC, while the recorded program was running at 24 fps true speed, 1 frame pulldown every second or one field pulldown every 12 frames).
You cna choose to display feet/frames or TC. You can sync to bi-phase or TC.
We record tones in a tonefile, which is a separate "reel" on a MO disc. Tones are 1K@ -20dbFS for 5 channels and 80 Hz@ -20 dBFS for LFE. For analog, we usually shoot 1K@-20 followed by pink noise from DMU.
Dolby SR noise reduction has 3 positions: OUT, CAL (pink noise) and IN. OUT position is interesting for recording a stereo mix e.g. for TV.
2ch mix can be routed to MO or External out (outs 7&8) and recorded to an external unit or (if you have a DMU inserted in ProTools, for "Mixing in the Box" situation) record it back into ProTools.
You can monitor the line input in discrete mode, or listen through AC3 encoder/decoder chain (with 2 frames delay)
You can configure the meters in LtRt or Discrete modes, PK or VU, line in or Monitor output. The metering has a different scale than the good old DS-IV remote box meters. -20 is Dolby Level, which was -6 on DS-IV meters, and is referenced as 50% of modulation. Therefore, 0dB on DS-IV will correspond to -14 on DMU meters. Confusing.
You can record both Digital and Analog masters at the same time. You need to listen to Analog after that, in a second pass.
The container on Analog tracks can be trimmed during the recording. Values are referenced to 100% modulation (-14dBFS).
Anyway, you can always hop over to Concept Films in Belgrade and take a closer look.
Branko
p.s. great thread, Geo!

[georgia]

here's a note from another thread that got started. Thought it might be good to post it here as well.

There are discussions within fair use for educational and documentary use in specific circumstances that you can use 10% or 30 seconds. EXAMPLE

"Use 10% of a song, not to exceed 30 seconds, and do not show the finished video out of the classroom. Do not duplicate, distribute, broadcast, webcast or sell it. Proper attribution must be given when using copyrighted materials. i.e. "I Am Your Child" written by Barry Manilow/Martin Panzer. BMG Music/SwanneeBravo Music. The opening screen of the project must include a notice that "certain materials are included under the fair use exemption and have been used according to the multimedia fair use guidelines". Your fair use of material ends when the project creator (student or teacher) loses control of the project's use: e.g. when it is distributed, copied or broadcast"

But this is a very specific use. NOT for a commercial project.

If you are manufacturing and distributing copies of a song which you did not write, and you have not already reached an agreement with the song's publisher, you need to obtain a mechanical license. This is required under U.S. Copyright Law, regardless of whether or not you are selling the copies that you made. You do not need a mechanical license if you are recording and distributing a song you wrote yourself, or if the song is in the public domain.

Also for Film/broadcast/new media ( anything locked to picture) you need a Sync license from one of the following
http://www.ascap.com
BMI.com | Welcome
SESAC Home
U.S. Copyright Office

A music synchronization license - or sync license, for short - is a music license that allows the license holder to "sync" music to some kind of media output. Often sync licenses are used for TV shows and movies, but any kind of visual paired with sound requires a sync license. A sync license gives you the right to use a song and sync it with a visual in that when you hold a sync license, you are allowed to re-record that song for use in your project. If you want to use a specific version of the song by a specific artist, you also need to get a master recording license. Typically, a sync license is obtained from a music publisher while the master recording license is obtained by from the record label or owner of the master. A sync license covers a specific period of time, and the license will stipulate how the song can be used. There is one flat fee involved in obtaining a sync license, and once the license is in place, the song can be used as stipulated as many times within the license period as the license holder likes. In other words, if you obtain a sync license and use the song in a film, you do not have to pay a fee on the sync every time the film is viewed.


Also, Master use rights are required for previously recorded material that you do not own or control.

A sample is typically the use of an excerpt of a sound recording embodying a copyrighted composition inserted in another sound recording. This process is often referred to as digital sampling and requires licenses for the use of the portion of the composition and the sound recording that was re-used in the new sound recording. In some instances, artists re-record the portion of the composition used in the new recording and, therefore, only need to obtain a license for the use of the sampled composition.

There are occasions where FAIR USE comes into play for Documentary and educational films... here's a PDF of some fair use issues. Lots of good fair use details here: Fair Use & Copyright: -- Center for Social Media at American University


your project, as described, does not fall under fair use doctrine.

cheers
geo


btw even Weird Al gets permissions for his parody material.


also on the comment ( here i go, into the storm)

And what happens when you want to write music that is itself a form of criticism? What if you want to make a literal quotation but the copyright holder does not want to be a party to such criticism? Should such criticism be possible only with textual products and not musical ones? Or should music, too, be a viable basis of cultural criticism?

Here the courts said that there is fair use when quoting music, despite the protestations of Yoko Ono over the use of Imagine.

If we must, by default, seek maximal permission for our musical creations and enterprises, then we should expect "dangerous" music to go underground, and only "safe" music to be mainstream. I cannot think of a more insidious way to destroy the cultural value of music.

the court ruled on this based on the movie being a social commentary about intelligent design. ( therefore a documentary/news/educational piece if you will... ) The ruling has nothing to do with the tune or music unto itself what-so-ever... safe , dangerous or otherwise....

It's all about how something was used and with what. not the something itself. the whole fight could have been over a picture, or a poem, or a video, or a document, any copyrightable widget.... it's got nothing to do directly with the song.

cheers
geo

[georgia]

First rule of FCP... don't mix frame rates and, don't mix Video speed (23.97 fps) with film Speed (24 fps ) material in one time line.

FCP "frame rate" is the video frame rate setup in the sequence setup, in your case 23.97 ( Video speed) . Audio "frame rate" as you suggest does not have anything to do with the timeline frame rates.
When you import video and audio using a camera and FCP's log and capture, you are capturing at the video frame rate. If you are using a dual system, you capture at the video frame rate matching the video rate shot. ( again, in your case 23.97 Video speed) Make sure this is all set up in the session setup/ capture setup and sequence setup.

When you import audio standalone due to the use of a dual system, and drop the audio into the sequence, there is a rate conversion done by FCP to match the current timeline, even when the audio does not match the video frame rate. Therefore the audio may be slowed down or sped upa s the case may be. One of your issues is that FCP sets an NTSC VIDEO flag on the audio tracks even though they are shot at 24 ( film speed ).

You are probably seeing the video and audio in sync at the head of each clip, and as the timeline is played the audio drifts. you can ( although not recommend) chage the audio speed to match the video. I believe it's 99.9% or 100.1% depending on your drift problem. This will cause the audio to be resampled. ( for us audio purists, this is scary, as the audio has now be re-sampled twice)

Here's another way... ( can't absolutely promise success )
1. Select the problem sequence in the FCP browser, right-click it and choose Export > XML.
2. Open that XML file in a text editor.
3. Look for the tags <ntsc>.
If they all say <ntsc>TRUE</ntsc> or if they all say <ntsc>FALSE</ntsc>

then you don't have a problem.

But if there is a mix of TRUE and FALSE values, you need to change them so they are all the same. match the option to your video clip settings.

When you add a video clip to a sequence, FCP knows what frame rate to use. It just looks at the video clip properties. Audio doesn't have a frame rate like video, but FCP needs to assign it one because many editing operations are tied to the video frame rate. So when you add an audio clip to a sequence, FCP has to pick a frame rate for it. That choice is apparently made based on some combination of sequence and capture presets, and may depend more on what settings are in the cache than what are currently selected. And while FCP seems to be able to adapt to whatever frames-per-second are appropriate, it needs some help to get the NTSC values right.

hope this helps.

cheers
geo

[Zachary Esters]

Wow,

You're like an "Audio Goddess!" You're definitely the number one reference on my list for recruiting Audio Post-Pro for my first feature film! :)

[georgia]

thanks.. .your welcome.... look forward to seeing your work one day!

cheers
geo