Summer 2000 - The Association of Motion Picture Sound

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(Pro Tools demo report conlinued) screen or use a rather primitive MIDI fader box - far from satisfactory. Long in the making, Digidesign finally brought out a fully operational version of their hardware interfacein 1997. Called ProControl it looks much like a modern digital mixer with faders, a display, illuminated buttons and a jog wheel. ProControl allows all editing and mixing functions to be controlled in a more traditional way. It'is, though, just a control surface, with all the digital and analogue audio electronics being contained in a range of rackmount hardware, ideally safely out of the way in a machine room somewheie. New Standard Post, in California, are even prepping and mixing mainstream features entirely in Pro Tools from the editing and tracklaying right through the dub to the final mix using four sets of 32-channel Pro-Controls. All sound and picture is stored on a vast central server (a single set of hard disks) which can be accessed simultaneously by any number of editors, limited only by the speed of the server which currently allows up to nine users. The idea is that everything gets recorded only once; avoiding lots of transfers and re-recording. One facility that Version 5 is still without is multiple levels of undo (it only has one level). The problem, say Digidesign, is that with such a complex multi-faceted system, it's hard to know how to apply the undo: which bit of what you just did do you want to undo? To put in a full facility with a menu, etc, running in realtime, would apparently slow the system down considerably. There are third-party software add-ons that will execute progressive saves in the background, so you can always go back to 'n' minutes ago - depending on how often you have it set to save. You would then end up with a history of your project's progress in the form of perhaps hundreds of saves by the end of a project - a nice security blanket but no replacement for undo. Apparently Digidesign is to address the issue very soon. A New Tool For A New Job I've always been put off by the apparentfiddliness of Pro Tools as compared to most dedicated svstems: there alwavs seems to be so much informaiion on the ,"r""n at once and so many screens to lose yourself in. ProControl and Version 5 has done a lot to address this" but even so for cutting and pasting and roughly levelling out,I still think my Akai DD1500 is hard to beat. For many jobs the rest can be done by any one of the many excellent stand-alone digital (or digitally controlled) mixers on the market. As the sound editor/mixer's job gets more complex, however, a simple cut and paste system appears increasingly limiting and the scope of something like Pro Tools becomes more meaningful. With the arrival of inexpensive ADSL (fast Internet connections), we're likely to see increasing use of tie net for audio and video file transfer. Computers are well set up for that. There is also a vast array of third-party programs that can be brought into play once your audio is in the system. File format, sample rate and bit depth are all less of a problem with such an affay of tools at your disposal, and these factors are even more important for anyone working on projects for CD-ROM, DVD or the Web - and that could be a lot of us as time goes on. Also, as newer, faster computers come to market, your system can benefit from increased performance with minimum outlay and inconvenience. And if you are indeed sending a project down the line for a colleague to work on (possibly on the other side of the world), it would be very convenient to be able to send the sound, picture and all the mixing, effects and processing that goes with them as one integrated package. Equally, the same data could be put to a single Data DAT or DLT and courier'ed to its destination. This is truly 'total recall'. Clearly there are other computer-based systems out there that also offer a great deal, often for less money, but none I'm aware of offers the same compatibility with Avid or the same level of sophistication and inclusiveness as Pro Tools. I say all this as one always deeply suspicious and resistant to non-dedicated systems. My Mac manages to act up at least once a fortnight and I don't know a serious/honest computer user who wouldn't say the same. To a large extent this could be because I'm forever updating this or that and using it for many different applications. [f you were a serious Pro Tools user. we were told. vou'd be careful to avoid the use of the system foi non-Pro Tools applications (or at least use a separate system disk). With a system like this, the already vitally important need for efficient and reliable archiving becomes life-or-death. That central s€rver is very big basket piled high with every single one of your precious audio eggs; and if you're opening yourself to the Internet and the world of viruses... Shortly after this discussion, the demo system crashed. This, we were told was because a prohibited combination of keys had been pressed which was really asking for trouble. Hmm. The advantages of Pro Tools are many but, as with any computer system, you'd want to get in the habit of pressing that Save button on a regular basis. In balance, though, it does seem to have a lot going for it. JIN4 BETTERIDGE 4 WAIVT TO SEE .{T[PS COUNCIL AT WORK? The AMPS Council would like to remind members that they are welcome to attendcouncilmeetings as ( non-v otin g ) o b s erv er s. Me etin g s ar e he ld on the secondTuesday of the month at arotating list of venl4es, fromTpm. More details, please contact Brian Hickinat the AMPS ffice.Tel/Fax:02A 772 3 6727 : Emailampsffice@ tinyonline.co.uk.
RYCOTE'S International Sound Forum In mid June, Rycote hosted a Sound Forum in Gloucestershire. A group o.f international attdio professionals convened for a series of talks on issues relevant to lrscation recording for motion picture and broadcast television. AMPS' member lan Riclnrdson was there . This is his report, Friday, 16th June t/r/,,4,#i6:!tyi.$;., t &WK&, of Wolec Electronics (Rycote dealers as rnrell as other sound related equipment in Belgium). We were joined for that evening by Martyn Richards of Filmtech and Tom Cryan from Audio Developments. Quite a varied range of talent! It is always surprising.how quickly time goes Fy yft"n one is enjoying oneself! And, sure enough. midnight turned up and the general consensus rvas that in order to keep a clear head we shouldn't spend too Iong at the barl 2000 - "a date to ?.i..,r. Iw:\wfu, wl:I."#y: The Forum proper remember" rememtler'. mv my Tl;:' ,i,r" ', i* ;ry:'ffiW "#tiW.- was due to kick oif ut u , ; 1";_..:;"wffi ili'ffJ,i was uue t() Krcr( L[r at a diary said. Weit ttre { .. . & ir"t+::16 ;i;;g*# sensible 9.30am. which event sturted the ;*;i- i;# ;;;i,11 ,: .f ; *}{WL _ ffi{-I gave everybody time to evening before rvith **ffi ' J l,:, ' i lrave.I chat over gueStSarivinginffi|a;*n..ilWf&*T'-#:iT{1',,Ri::'tl"'n"* little groups. The -\E\#,#id* event-beingRycote.s#.ffi1lffi4#A*reMffichairedthe.morning SoundFoiumatthet:'tma'513f'"K**'.1@',,W:-ffi-hsessionrvhichbegan Hatlon court Hoter Robin, Vivienne's right hand man, (wel, wurrrdrr dLtu4rrJ.""oo at the hotel entrance * i'*y;ir';t"u"r" *i[T]:ir'"il:';Jl- greeting us as we Morning session : from left - .lackie Green {Audio Technica US), Jdrg Rolf had us all laughing irrived]It was a Wuttke (Schoeps), Rolf Meyer (Sennheiser), Dave ]v'lalham (Universitr- at some of the time sunny evening, and I of York), SlepLtcttt Peus (Neunnnn)' trodden concepts of our felt that the most ecological mode of transport was Audio industry and the inaccurate perception of my motorbike; if it had been raining, it would have various people and bodies to them. One amusing storybeen the Volkswagen - so much for environmental was of an ongoing project that Sennheiser are involved concerns! After a quick freshen up it rvas tally ho to in, namely monitoring gas pumping stations. Skilled the bar. It doesn't matter whether you're from engineers can tell, just by standing close to the station Belgium or Bolton the lure of the bar is second only and listening to the sounds emanating from it, whether to sex it seems! Thursday evening had been put there is a problem with a pump and/or valves and how aside for an informal getting to know each other, potentially serious it is. The human ear and brain is a which proved perfect. The weather was perfect and formidable tool. But with the growth in the number of most of us, drink in hand wandered outside to enjoy these stations there aren't enough engineers to go the glories of the re iffii- ftrt royn!. So_Sennheiser were crowd, and therefore E:-II =- llavgtcitUal|u|lcal(lt|l@-#-"."-L|LLtlr'|||Lr!cl|iUtv!|tlcl business but never IF --fi -- -=-Ir fl E- n,ouion'I teet quite so i asKeo as Io lt s lSU|a[gu:v|vlt|lllgllaugl|crtlvgllsJs:t|lc4llsw€r ap.preciated this and so came that even the indoor this first evening was a L to R : Dave A,tulhatn, lvfulhatn, Vivienne Dyer, Robin Williams Willtams versions were to be put in chance to put names to Rycote windshields, so they faces. The only problem was that nobody had put could be seen!!!Yes it's a mad world we live rn - more on their name tags, myself included! So it came of that later. Sennheiser, like many companies, feel our down to "I'm [an, who are you?" This netted a future lies in our children and how they view their group of varied persuasion, among whom was, Tim future. It's reassuring to find companies such as White a recordist who champions IMAX features, Sennheiser investing in children. The demand for Alex Bemardi of Katamount Enterprises in Canada quality sound both in music and speech based {if you're ever on location in Canada, Alex can entertainment is paramount to our survival. Sennheiser always help you out with information and is to be commended in every respect in involving equipment), father and son Edgar and Filip Peeters children in developing an awareness of sound and the D 5 -- -
Page 1 and 2: t'- The Newsletter of the Associati
Page 3: PRO TOOLS DEMO FORAMPS MEMBERS Many
Page 7 and 8: Interestingly Florian's wish list i
Page 9 and 10: The main difficulty then was the po
Page 11 and 12: LETTING OFF STEAM AMPS Meeting at T
Page 13 and 14: THE PINEWOOD STORY The Autltorised
Page 15 and 16: ROBIN CLARKE MUSIC EDITOR 1932 - 2O

Summer 2000 - The Association of Motion Picture Sound

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