Dolby: To License or Not To License

[Joey Murdock]

I'm the post supervisor on an ultra low budget feature film and I'm trying to determine if it's worth it to get a Dolby license if we're going to be finishing a Red project on HDCAM-SR (with HDCAM downconverts for film festivals). The post sound house we're working with is going to provide us with a 5.1 and LtRt mix but the Dolby licensing is not included.

My thinking is that it's better to save the money on the Dolby license at this point (and put it toward music licensing, etc.) and use the HDCAM w/LtRt mix for the festivals. Once we find a distributor we can potentially subtract the cost of creating the Dolby Digital mix from the sale, which is $11,000 for full theatrical if they end up transferring the project to film (another potential subtraction).

General Questions:
Is it common for independent films to skip the Dolby licensing and leave that up to the distributor?

In order to obtain a Dolby license for a project that's already been mixed would the mix stems need to be go through another final mix while being supervised by Dolby Technicians or can the final 5.1 and LtRt mixes be Dolby certified without remixing?

How much of a difference really exists between a Dolby certified LtRt mix and an uncertified LtRt mix? Is the uncertified LtRt mix incompatible with any decks/sound systems?

I greatly appreciate your feedback, Thanks!

[ErikG]

Short answers:
1) its quite common to not have a Dolby license if the delivery format does not need it. Just make sure that you do not label the film or the end titles with Dolby or their logo.
2)Remixing is requiered if the original final mix was NOT done on a Dolby approved mix stage, if it was you can go straight to print mastering.
3) depends on what and how it was used. Some ltrt software encoders might not do it the exact same way as the encoder in a DMU or the older Dolby analog units.

[Kuba_Pietrzak]

If the pix is going to be printed on 35mm, you need to (at least) check and printmaster the sound in Dolby certified room.

If the pix is going to be projected as DC (digital cinema), you do not need to do this, however the mixer should know, how to mix in order to have a good sound in the theater (in terms of overall loudness, freq response, general balance and so on and so on).
So this means, that perhaps it would be easier (and probably cheaper) to do soundcheck at certified dubbing stage than going to countless number of revisions...

regards,
Kuba

[philper]

I do LtRts for festival, DVD, and TV exhibition off video tape and DVDs all the time--no licenses, but no Dolby logo either. I've done LtRts for 35mm prints as well--way low budg so no dub stage or MO master--just a file sent to the people making the soundtrack neg. It worked. Not my recommendation if you can possible go the "right " way, but doable in a pinch, although you have to explain to the filmmaker that they are about to spend some $$ w/o a guarantee that the soundtrack is for sure Dolby - legal. Again--no logos or mention of Dolby on the packaging or poster etc... This was more of a deal back before festivals would show anything but 35mm....w/ HD around I haven't been asked to do this "cowboy" method in several years now.

Philip Perkins

[Kuba_Pietrzak]

As for analog print master, this requires even more experience, than DC, because the mixer should REALLY know, what happens, when it comes to print onto optical analog track of 35mm film. Lots of "unexpected" issues can happen...

Kuba