My first optical track / printmaster

[Smallbudgetguru]

Hello all,

This will be the first time I oversee a dolby printmaster to MO disk.

I was wondering if there are any suggestions / pitfalls / tech specs / stories you wonderful slutz would be willing to share.

I will be in touch with the lab and with the facility where I will bring my stems for each reel to printmaster on MO disk once the client settles on that.

Thank you!

[cjguitar]

If you can, prep the pullups: 2 seconds of the next reel tagged onto the end of each reel. Print the stems if you can, that can help with the pullups. Make sure there are head and tail pops on each reel, except mute the tail pop on the end of the last reel. Have LFOA's for every reel for the Dolby guy. Be prepered to feed 6 tracks of digital audio to print as well as video sync, and time code to the DMU. You'll also need to send tone to their unit during calibration.

[ggegan]

Chris covered the prep stuff pretty thoroughly.

The 5.1 PM should be a piece of cake so the following suggestions are for the SR LtRt PM.

Print the SR PM from separate stems, not a composite. That way you have more flexibility to deal with any issues that may come up. Split the multichannel stems into mono tracks so you have a fader for each channel. I like to use panners instead of direct bussing so that I can play with the stereo spread if needed.

The Dolby guy will keep you honest about levels. If it isn't a really loud film then the Dolby Container should be able to handle anything that is questionable level wise.

Listen closely for steering problems, like things winding up in the surrounds when they should be up front or dialog coming out of the wrong speaker. Some surround or center pile-up is almost inevitable, so it's a matter of deciding when it is too egregious to let pass. If the music has "magic surrounds" due to the way it was recorded, you may have to reduce the surround channels or pan them towards the front to recover the proper balance. If dialog starts moving into the wrong speaker, sometimes double bussing it to left and right for the problem area will help.

Sometimes when stereo music piles up in the center and obscures dialog you may have to compensate for that by pulling it down a little or pushing the dialog up or a little of both.

Write down the exact location of your punch ins so you can check them.

[Smallbudgetguru]

Thanks guys, I can't wait to have this under my belt so it becomes a little less unknown.

Regarding the pullups. Won't the tail pop conflict with the 2 seconds added to the reels? How do you deal with this?

Does "Have LFOA's for every reel for the Dolby guy." simply mean have timecode of the LFOA for each reel written down?

Does "Be prepered to feed 6 tracks of digital audio to print as well as video sync, and time code to the DMU. " mean reference tone on each stem? How would one sent time code to the DMU?

How hot is too hot for the DMU? Would like to stay safe when I mix. Its not a particularly loud movie but it has a few loud moments and a lot of music. What is my ceiling?

Cheers!

[ggegan]

Originally Posted by Smallbudgetguru

Thanks guys, I can't wait to have this under my belt so it becomes a little less unknown.

Regarding the pullups. Won't the tail pop conflict with the 2 seconds added to the reels? How do you deal with this?

Does "Have LFOA's for every reel for the Dolby guy." simply mean have timecode of the LFOA for each reel written down?

Does "Be prepered to feed 6 tracks of digital audio to print as well as video sync, and time code to the DMU. " mean reference tone on each stem? How would one sent time code to the DMU?

How hot is too hot for the DMU? Would like to stay safe when I mix. Its not a particularly loud movie but it has a few loud moments and a lot of music. What is my ceiling?

Cheers!

Trim the last frame of the pullups to a couple of frames before the tail pop.

Just have a list of the LFOA timecodes. Remember that the LFOA, sometimes called the LFOP, is the front edge of the last frame of picture, not the end.

Some people like to make the SR PM from the 6 track PM, but I don't. I like to use the stems. It's not a rule, it's a personal preference. Just consider that if you are working from a 6 track PM, your options for dealing with any issues is more limited.

Just mix the movie so the director is happy. The 5.1 PM won't be an issue. Deal with the SR printmaster on the day. It's generally a fallback in case the Digital playback system fails. Acceptable SR PM levels depend on a couple of factors including duration of the peak and frequency content. You are folding 6 channels down to 2, so it's not always easy to anticipate the composite level in advance. Very short duration peaks of the composite signal at -6 FSD are pretty close to the limit (I can't tell you the exact level, but that's about right). Longer duration high levels will probably need to be lower. Like I said, the Dolby guy will give you his judgement as to whether a peak is legal by watching the DMU meters and the Container is pretty effective at dealing with many overages.

[Smallbudgetguru]

Thank you! I will absorb and process this info and reply if I can think of other questions / concerns. !!!!

[Riku]

Hello,
I'm a Dolby guy and everything everyone has said above is correct. The biggest issue that we come across is the 2 track levels. In Dolby Digital you can go to 0dBFS but the 2 track has to be much lower. 100% modulation on the optical track is -14dBFS. 200% is -8dBFS. After 200% you're into the red and we like to keep you out of there apart from for transient sounds (gun shots etc). Feel free to contact your local Dolby office if you want to talk the process through. Just ask to talk to a sound consultant.
Happy Dolbying.

[Smallbudgetguru]

Thank you all!

Am I to understand that I can stay roughly around -14 and send peaks up to -8 without any worry in the 5.1 mix?

[insomaniac]

Originally Posted by Smallbudgetguru

Thank you all!

Am I to understand that I can stay roughly around -14 and send peaks up to -8 without any worry in the 5.1 mix?

I think he was referring to the SR optical track, not the DD.

[Smallbudgetguru]

Oh so where should I keep peaks during the premix? I am calibrated to 82 and mix by ear but a max guideline would be nice. Will call dolby later this week.

Thanks!

[ggegan]

Originally Posted by Smallbudgetguru

Oh so where should I keep peaks during the premix? I am calibrated to 82 and mix by ear but a max guideline would be nice. Will call dolby later this week.

Thanks!

I'll say it again - If it is a feature film, just mix it so it sounds good and the director is happy. Don't worry about levels, as long as you are not lighting up the clip indicators. If your room is calibrated correctly, then you shouldn't even need to look at the meters. Dolby Digital 5.1 mix levels are only limited by the 0dB FSD brick wall. Don't mix the final for the SR LtRt version, deal with it later.

Also, I don't know how big your room is, but if you are working with near-fields within 7' or 2 meters of the speakers, then 82 might be a little high. In my small room I calibrate at 80SPL. Translation is kind of a personal opinion situation - the only way to figure out what is right for you is to listen to your predubs on a large theatrical dub stage and see if you are having to raise or lower the level.

[Smallbudgetguru]

Well the LtRt will require some finesse and compromise so I think we should be getting it done before going to the stage since doing it there only would cost way to much. I am still waiting on the type of mix I will need to do, is it uncommon for a low budget film print to have only a digital 5.1 mix?

Regarding calibration, I used to have it at 79 dB SPL but things were leaving here a tad too loud (Especially with our peak limit for being surpassed often with over zealous direction) so I went to 82 and things seem to have gotten better I think I will try going down o 80 dB SLP-C for this premix

[Smallbudgetguru]

Thanks again guys. I will be premixing in my room and spitting out 5.1 stems to bring to the mastering stage.

Should I monitor in LtRt during the premix and keep things from becoming magic surround in my room and spit out two sets of stems? One for 5.1 and one for LtRt?

Also how many stems should I anticipate making? I usually master in my room for dvd / festivals etc by printing my 1 dx stem 1 efx 1 bg 1 foley 1 verb and 1 music 5.1 stem. Should I be breaking them down into more stems for this optical mix?> Like 2 dx stems with each scene checker-boarded, same with bgs? Once the producers settle on the stage I will of course ask these things to the mixer but it looks like it will come down to the wire!

Also each reel currently starts at 1 hr (with 2 pop at 00 59 58 00) will this be a problem? Should reels 2,3,4,5 and 6 start at the same timecode as their FFOA in my PT session? If thats the case it should not be too hard to move them forwards in time I suppose. Any insight there?

[Big Andy]

*bump*

[Smallbudgetguru]

I will share the info that I have learned with you guys.

I spoke with the other mixer that will be involved in mixing this film on the stage and he set me straight.

I will answer my questions in point form e:

They told me not to bother with the LtRt until we are there and that it would be a simple 3-4 hours and that our 5.1 mix will be easy to translate to LtRt. Saves me time in the premix!

Regarding stems, they said screw em! Im bringing in PT sessions! woot full control in the mix!

Regarding session start times: apparently having each reel start at 00:59:58:00 is not the way. I was told to start my FFOA at 01:00:08:00 and my 2 pop at 01:00:06:00 for reel one and then each reel after that the same thing but at the respective hour i.e.

R1 01:00:08:00
R2 02:00:08:00
R3 03:00:08:00
R4 04:00:08:00
R5 05:00:08:00
R6 06:00:08:00

They also asked that I do not do the pullups and would be doing them there during the mix.

We mix in less than 2 weeks so once I do so I will share anything else that I have learned.

Hope this helps!