I remember* that in the time when NAGRA was king, followed by the DAT era, we had to transfer sound for more than 3,000 films, including some real turkeys.
Sound transfers have since been replaced by sound conformation for sound editing. With this technique we worked on more than 70 feature films last year.
The reason we succeeded is undoubtedly because, right from the outset of our business, we have strived systematically to find exact azimuth adjustment of the NAGRA used on shooting and, of course, the devices were not all identical to each other - far from it.
My colleagues roared till they were blue in the face that the master tapes would be sufficient, at the expense of the quality of the sound recording by the production sound mixer.
I remember that during the 1980s we joined forces with CTM to develop sound conformation through the use of a time code signal recorded between the perforations and edges of the 35mm film to enable sound editing on AKAI DD1000 and then DD1500.
I also remember arranging the first portable digital (well, nearly) shooting of a feature film with a SONY PCM-F1 combined with a STELLAVOX AMI 48 console, and not forgetting the lead battery, which is not exactly renowned for its lightness.
Then digital took over for good with DATs... and, thanks to the daring designer Jean-Pierre Beauviala, came the arrival of CANTAR, a digital recorder than we helped to develop.
Who at that time would have thought we were going to buy more than 80 AATON recorders, from Cantar X1 to Cantar Mini!
I remember we innovated by hiring the first COMTEKs brought back from the USA by a friend who was a sound mixer. These RF monitoring sound systems became essential pieces of kit for shooting films, so much so that the word COMTEK became a generic term like refrigerator. It is not rare on a set now to find a whole lot of monitor sound receivers, enough to supply a whole football team, including the physio.
But our greatest source of pride is the fact that we helped with the CINELA company made famous by Philippe Chenevez, an ingenious inventor who revolutionized techniques for microphone suspension and wind protection.
Our success is clearly down to the trust that sound mixers have placed in us throughout the years but, as Napoleon used to tell his generals, talent alone is not enough. You have to be lucky, too.
M. D.
* Spare a thought for Georges Perec.
Sound transfers have since been replaced by sound conformation for sound editing. With this technique we worked on more than 70 feature films last year.
The reason we succeeded is undoubtedly because, right from the outset of our business, we have strived systematically to find exact azimuth adjustment of the NAGRA used on shooting and, of course, the devices were not all identical to each other - far from it.
My colleagues roared till they were blue in the face that the master tapes would be sufficient, at the expense of the quality of the sound recording by the production sound mixer.
I remember that during the 1980s we joined forces with CTM to develop sound conformation through the use of a time code signal recorded between the perforations and edges of the 35mm film to enable sound editing on AKAI DD1000 and then DD1500.
I also remember arranging the first portable digital (well, nearly) shooting of a feature film with a SONY PCM-F1 combined with a STELLAVOX AMI 48 console, and not forgetting the lead battery, which is not exactly renowned for its lightness.
Then digital took over for good with DATs... and, thanks to the daring designer Jean-Pierre Beauviala, came the arrival of CANTAR, a digital recorder than we helped to develop.
Who at that time would have thought we were going to buy more than 80 AATON recorders, from Cantar X1 to Cantar Mini!
I remember we innovated by hiring the first COMTEKs brought back from the USA by a friend who was a sound mixer. These RF monitoring sound systems became essential pieces of kit for shooting films, so much so that the word COMTEK became a generic term like refrigerator. It is not rare on a set now to find a whole lot of monitor sound receivers, enough to supply a whole football team, including the physio.
But our greatest source of pride is the fact that we helped with the CINELA company made famous by Philippe Chenevez, an ingenious inventor who revolutionized techniques for microphone suspension and wind protection.
Our success is clearly down to the trust that sound mixers have placed in us throughout the years but, as Napoleon used to tell his generals, talent alone is not enough. You have to be lucky, too.
M. D.
* Spare a thought for Georges Perec.
