Sony SDDS Print Master User Manual

SDDS Print Master Guidelines

R evision 2, October 2001

1 SDDS Print Master Format

SDDS Print Master Guidelines, Page 2 of 26

Contents

1 SDDS Print Master Format 4

1.1 Media 4

1.2 Track assignments 4

1.3 Synchronisation 5

1.4 Audio and levels 5

1.5 Media labelling 6

1.6 Checking 6

1.7 Test tapes 6

2 Not es, Hints and T ips 7

2.1 Setting up the studio 7

2.2 Striping and syncing 7

2.3 Multi-format print masters 8

2.4 Foreign language print masters 8

2.5 The importance of checking SDDS masters 9

3 DAS H Machines – Care and Use 10

3.1 Models 10

3.2 Head cleaning 10

3.3 Pre-striping 10

3.4 Number of reels on a tape 10

3.5 Punch-ins 10

4 DT R S Machines – Care and Use 11

4.1 Models 11

4.2 Levels 11

4.3 Clean air 11

4.4 Errors 11

4.5 Compatibility 12

4.6 Maintenance 12

4.7 Cleaning 12

4.8 Head hour display 12

4.9 Error rate display 12

4.10 Tape gets stuck inside 12

4.11 Hints for making print masters on DTRS machines 13

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5 Akai DD8 machines – Care and Use 14

5.1 Models 14

5.2 Media 14

5.3 At the optical camera transfer facility 14

5.4 Track assignment 14

5.5 Synchronisation at the dubbing theatre 14

5.6 Levels 15

5.7 Problems with MO drives 15

5.8 Drive servicing 16

6 SDDS - T he i ndust r y's best sounding for mat 17

Hear the Difference

6.2 System Basics

SDDS Products

6.4 Big Sound for the Big Screen

6.5 Further details – Why is it the best sounding system? 18

6.6 Testimonials 19

7 Dolby level versus operating level. Historical notes. 20

8 Subwoof er s 21

8.1 Introduction 21

8.2 Setting the acoustical reference level on the dub stage. 21

8.3 Setting the subwoofer acoustical gain using a screen speaker as a reference. 21

8.4 Why we do it this way. 22

8.5 What it means. 22

8.6 Setting the digital screen speakers in the cinema. 22

8.7 Setting the digital subwoofer in the cinema. 23

8.8 Optical subwoofer defined. 23

8.9 Setting the optical subwoofer. 23

8.10 Subwoofer polarity. 24

8.11 Rule-of-thumb methods. 24

9 Glossary of Terms 25

1 SDDS Print Master Format

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1 SDDS Print Master Format

1.1 Medi a

T he following ar e exampl es of the types of media s ui t abl e for delivering an S DDS Printmaster. However, facilities vary from s ite t o s i te as do cus tomer s’ pr eferred delivery requirements, it is therefore advi s ed that you check with both the cus t omer and t he negati ve r ecor der site whi ch format is required.

For negatives made in: -

Use:-

USA DT RS Hi8

DASH 6 track magnetic f ilm Akai DD8plus MO

UK DT RS Hi8

Akai DD8plus MO

T he r es t of Europe DT RS Hi8 or as specified l ocally

1.2 T rack assignments

Audio Channel DAS H Channel DT R S/ MO Channel

LEFT 1 1 LEFT CENTRE 2 2 CENTRE 3 3 RI GHT CENTRE 4 4 RI GHT 5 5 SUBWOOF E R 6 6 LEFT SURROUND 7 7 RI GHT SURROUND 8 8

LEFT TOTAL (Dolby SR) 11 N/A RI GHT TOTAL (Dolby SR) 12 N/A

OPT IONAL MATERIAL 15 N/A MONO DI AL OGUE GUIDE 16 N/A

M&E LEFT 17 N/A M&E LEFT CENTRE 18 N/A M&E CENT RE 19 N/A M&E RIGHT CENTRE 20 N/A M&E RIGHT 21 N/A M&E SUBWOOF E R 22 N/A M&E LEFT SURROUND 23 N/A M&E RIGHT SURROUND 24 N/A

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1.3 Synchr onisati on

Sampling fr equency 44.1kHz. i.e. 44100 samples for every 24 frames of picture.

48kHz can be us ed, but this will be s ample- r ate- conver t ed i n the camer a. Make s ure the box is CLEARLY marked i f the mast er is at 48kHz.

T imecode 25 frames per second, referenced to 50Hz, film speed 24 fps Or 30 frames per second, non drop fr ame, referenced t o 60Hz, film speed 24fps NOT E : For NTSC r ef er en ced mi x ing, the mas ter tape mus t be pr e- s tr i ped at 30fps/60Hz, then “pulled down” on the mix ing s tage to 29.97fps NTSC s yn c wi t h

44.056kHz sampling frequency. I n this case t he film speed i s 23.98 fps. T imecode mus t be r ef er enced to the di gi tal audio. Reel 1 = 1 hour start, reel 2 = 2 hour etc.

Head pop/ s ync p i p should s t ar t two seconds or 3 feet before the f i r s t frame of picture. e.g. for reel 1, pip at 1:00:06:00, first frame at 1:00:08:00.

1.4 Audio and l evels

Operating level is –20dBfs. Wide band pink noise at the s ame RMS value as this will

produce t he following SPL s in the ci nema. Please note, to compar e level s of tone and pink noise, a t r ue R MS voltmeter must be us ed. Console meter s will read di fferently for tone and pink noise.

Channel SPL C-Weighted meas ur ement

LEFT 85 LEFT CENTRE 85 CENTRE 85 RI GHT CENTRE 85 RI GHT 85 SUBWOOF E R Appr ox 91 see* LEFT SURROUND 82 RI GHT SURROUND 82

*T he s ubwoofer channel has 10dB of in band gain. For a f ull explanation of this, see the “S ubwoofers ” section on page 21. T ones should be r ecor ded on all used channels at the head of each reel . 30 seconds each of 1kHz at –20dBfs, and pink noise at the RMS level of the 1kH z tone.

Surround del ay is set in the cinema pr ocessor. No del ay on the mas ter .

Overlap. 2 seconds or 3 feet of audio fr om the s ubs equent reel must be r ecor ded

after the end of the reel . This can optionally end wi th a t ail pip.

A/D conversion. No audio pr e-emphas i s .

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1.5 Medi a l abelling

T he tape or disc s houl d be l abelled wit h:

T he name of the film

T he r eel number

T he wor ds “SDDS master”

T he l anguage ver s i on

T he date

T he box should be labelled wit h the above things and al s o:

T he s ampling f r equency

T he ti mecode fr ame r ate

T he film s peed

T he tr ack assignment

Details of tones

T imecode s tar t time

T otal footage

1.6 Checking

It is strongly recommended t hat all SDDS masters are pl ayed back with picture after recording, before t he opti cal transfer is made. A di git al clone could be als o made at this time.

1.7 T est tapes

T est tapes are available fr om the Sony Cinema Pr oduct s (SCP) office, details on page Error! Bookmark not defined.. These contain 1kHz at –20dBfs plus pink noise at the RMS value of this tone.

2 Notes, Hints and T i ps

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2 Notes, Hints and Tips

2.1 Setting up t he st u di o

T he dubbing theat r e monit or i ng s ys tem shoul d be equalised to the i ndus tr y standard ISO-2969 “X” curve, as used in cinemas. The method us ed to achi eve this is beyond the scope of this text, but details can be found in the DF P- 3000 Quick Start Guide, available fr om S ony Cinema Pr oduct s (SCP) office, details on page Error! Bookmark not defined.. This is usually carried out before t he pr oj ect is begun.

It is important to r ecord the mas ter at the correct level. The audio i s transferred digitally into the camer a, with no oppor tunit y for level adjustments. A r ef er ence “tes t tape” is available f r om the SCP office. Correct studio alignment can be achi eved by following thes e s teps :

Play back the 1kHz section of the S DDS test tape. This is recorded at exactly

-20dBfs.

T his should r ead house operati ng level at the cons ol e. This is usually 0VU in the USA and 0dB u in the U K . It is also known as “Dolby Level”.

Play back the pink noise s ecti on of the t es t tape. Monitor each loudspeaker in turn and s et the moni t or i ng l evels using a S P L meter to t he values shown in section 1.4 on page 5.

Send 1kH z at house oper ati ng l evel to the mast er machine. This should r ead

-20dBfs on the r ecor d machi ne met er s . It should al s o r ead oper ating level (unity gain) through the machine at the cons ol e.

If no test tape i s available:

Send 1kH z at house oper ati ng l evel to the mast er machine, make s ur e i t reads –20dBfs at the machi ne meter s .

Check for unity gain through the machi ne, back at the cons ole.

Measure t he out put of this machine with a t r u e R MS voltmeter, and t hen s end pink noise at the s ame l evel . For 0VU operating level this is 1.23 Vrms.

Use t his pink noise to s et the monitor i ng levels as in section 1.4.

2.2 Str iping and syncing

DASH and DT R S tapes should be for matted and pr e- s t r i ped wit h timecode before t he session. I t is imperative that the timecode and digi t al audio ar e l ocked together . T he simplest way to achi eve t hi s is to s tr i pe the tape fr om the machi ne’s internal generator. The optical transfer rooms are s et up wi th a 25fps PAL or a 30fps B&W NTSC v i deo s ync. T imecode i s only used for positional information. The s peed s ync comes from the digi tal audio i ts el f, which is locked t o video, and tr ans f erred di gi t ally to the camer a.

T he r ecommended s et up for studios is to us e a mas t er video s ync, to whi ch everything i s locked; projector, playback and mast er machines. This will give t he bes t results. However some old pr oj ector s run from the mai ns only, without provision for video s ync. I n this case, timecode mus t be gener ated fr om the mai ns - lock ed pr oj ector . T his is usually OK, but it is particularly important to ensur e t he timecode to digital lock is correct. Here we will have a s i t uat i on wher e ti mecode is used for speed i nf or mation

2 Notes, Hints and T i ps

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in the dubbi ng theat r e and di gital audio i s used when the negative i s made. Extra car e must be t aken.

If NT S C vi deo sync is used i n the dubbi ng theatr e, it is very important that the master tapes are pr e- s tr i ped wi t h 30 non-drop f r ame ti mecode at 60Hz. T his will then mean that the timecode tr ack, control track and A/D conver ter are all running at the same s peed, second for second. 30 frames of code f or 44100 samples and 24 frames of picture. During r ecordi ng of the mast er , the machine mus t be “pulled down” us ing the Fs shift function. This has the effect of locking the A/D converter with the NT S C

29.97 fps video input. T his means that the machi ne tr ans por t , the ti mecode and t he A/D converter will all run slow. 29.97 fps and 44.056kHz. T he pr oj ector in this case will be r unning at 23.96 fps. Therefore 24 frames of picture will still equal 44100 samples.

NE VER stripe at 29.97 NDF. T he “s econds ” of the NDF code will be of longer duration than the “s econds ” of the contr ol track. Therefore 44100 samples of audio will not equal 30 frames of code and 24 frames of picture.

Obviously, if a 48kHz master is required, then similar rules appl y , but the r ecor di ng sampling fr equency would be 47.952kHz in this case.

2.3 Multi-format print masters

T he S DDS format has been car efully designed to enabl e it to fi t in well with other digital audio pr int master sessions, as the moni tor i ng s tandards are compati bl e. T he RMS pink noise at -20dBfs specification is the s ame as DT S and SR D, however some small differences may be found wi th SRD due to his tor ical RMS measurement techniques. T his is currently being addr essed by Dolby and s hor t l y all formats will be within 0.5dB. T o s ave time at the session, the S DDS master can be taken as a par allel feed and all masters can be recor ded at the s ame t ime. However it is very important that the SDDS master is then played back with picture to check for errors.

2.4 Foreign language pr i nt masters

Normally the pr ocedur e i s to r ecor d the mas ter along wi th all other formats as above, then, if time i s short, to us e the S DDS master to make the L tRt . This fold-down process is not ideal for monitoring the mas ter , but allows the S DDS master to be checked t o s ome ex tent. Ideally a s epar at e playback pass should be made (clones can be made at this time, perhaps).

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