AMPS MEETINGDISK AND DAT - OR?Richard Daniel chaired a panel of four experts in the use of digital recording equipment, before an audience of some twenty experienced AMPS members and interested guests at Twickenham Film Studios on Friday July 2nd 1999. Simon Bishop explained how he had been deeply impressed with the Deva hard disk recorder, having seen the demonstration at a previous AMPS / lBS gathering and subsequently had taken the machine on location to the Lake District, where it had stood up to `everything that he could throw at it' including decidedly inclement weather! In his opinion, it could be a feasible replacement to DAT and might address a lot of the problems currently experienced with that medium. Considering Post Production issues: it is probably not the way forward to transfer from Deva to DAT for the onward processing of audio - we need to have an interchangeable file format - but the instant access and pre-roll capabilities are fantastic. Also, hard disk recording offers a transparency not previously experienced with either Nagra or DAT. The question of transfer was discussed. Simon currently uses multiple hard drive disks, which are sent to the labs for transfer to a digital medium along with the picture, and returned a day later. This is expensive, as each hard-drive costs in the region of £465 and he is using three! Most post-production systems need to see a DAT version of the audio track coded with Telecine timecode, Simon is backing up to a DVD drive, which in the future is expected that SADIE will be able to recognise and therefore upload in a very much faster time. Is DAT dead? Gerry Glancy from HHB would not be drawn on whether his firm was reordering DAT recorders or had another format system up the sleeve, so to speak. He volunteered the information that sales of non-timecode recorders had outstripped those of timecode units, however. Cinema sound is a roller coaster now. The discussion ranged into considering multi-track acquisition, but the feeling was that this was not the way that experienced sound mixers liked to present their results. Editors too, preferred to work with a mixed track, as this saved time, referring back to the individual multi-tracked elements only when absolutely necessary. Hard disk would make this scenario easier. Disk has the ability to store alternative references to the audio information, simultaneously, and allows faster conforming. The natural progression would be for original recording, syncing and postproduction to use the same media format in terms of audio file transfer. Hopefully, when AES 31 standard is adopted, this will occur. However, the speed of change could result in modern digital technology suffering from premature obsolescence. There are already earlier drives existing, that cannot be read by today's equipment. The discussion moved on to consider the fact that the task of recording original sound seems not to be getting a fair crack of the whip, today. The shooting environment is not sound friendly - we are recording guide tracks, digitally! A recording and/or transcription of the meeting is available on application to Bob Allen on 01284 850332. PATRICK HEIGHAM | CORRECTIONS & APOLOGIES
SPRING 1999 ISSUE Page 9 - Caption for picture gives Peter Handford as mixer; it should have been sound camera operator. John Cook (sadly deceased) was the mixer on the film. Peter has pointed out he was only 19 at the time the picture was taken, a most unlikely age to be a production mixer in those days. Page 11 - Sound Awards - The Colin Copland listed is of course Clive Copland. Sorry about the misprint Clive. |
ARE YOU GUILTY? In our hi-tech and largely freelance industry, efficiency and rapid communications are vital; that is why one of the principal benefits of belonging to AMPS is your listing in the biennial Directory of Members, which is circulated not only among ourselves but also to relevant organisations and potential employers. This year it has been delayed so as to give you all a chance to update your phone and mobile numbers in the latest wave of changes. So why is it that only 140 Members have bothered to return their carefully prepared Directory forms? There might just be time to correct any outdated information when you read this. If you care, ring Peter Musgrave NOW on 01895 635010. If not, don't blame the Committee if your entry is incorrect. |
