Metacorder and BoomRecorder

[Jeff Wexler]

This is primarily addressed to Darren and others who may be using Metacorder and/or BoomRecorder on a daily basis. I have had lots of questions from quite a few people about both Metacorder and BoomRecorder, I guess with the assumption that I really know a lot about these things...  maybe it is because I often seem like a "know it all" (but it isn't so... I know a lot but not all). I think it could be helpful if those who have had the experience could post the best setups they have arrived at, hardware interfaces, clocking issues and so forth, so that we could all benefit from those experiences.

This is not vital but if anyone is so inclined I think it could be very useful as more and more people consider working this way. Although I know there are several people who have for many years used Macs and PC's to do production recordings (often using ProTools software/hardware) I am concentrating on Metacorder and BoomRecorder because they seem to be the dominate software apps people are interested in using.

Regards,  Jeff Wexler

[Philip Perkins]

I'm about to start a music doc that will involve a lot of Metacorder multitrack w/ video cameras.  I'm using Metacorder on a G4 12" 1.2Ghz, w/ MOTU Traveler and Motu 8Pre.  The two MOTU boxes have been aggregated in the computer MIDI setup page, with the clock source as "Traveler".  A 702T will be the master clock and TC generator, sending an AES pair to the Traveler (with inputs 17/18), and the Traveler will be set to clock itself to its AES input.  The 702T TC output will be sent to the audio input of the Mac (for Metacorder), to the TC input of a Tascam HD P2 (recording a scratch mix for editorial @ 16/48 and clocking itself to the incoming TC) and available to camera in whatever delivery they finally decide on.  The device order will be computer>Traveler>8Pre>external drive (Avastor).  The backup drive will be the laptop's own drive.  This setup seems pretty stable @ 18 inputs 24/48--we've been banging on it a lot in the shop.  The display does stutter a bit when there is a lot of meter activity, but the recorded audio is good.  I think we could get away with another 2 tracks if we had to, but were not able to get away with a 2nd Avastor drive on the FW (400 only) bus.  We experimented with device order and this order seemed to work best.  We found that it is definitely harder for the system to record 18 discrete channels of different material than it is to record 18 channels of tone, so I encourage you to do a full-out setup and test of your systems before you assume that they will work as you wish.

Note that a quirk of Metacorder is that when I aggregate the Traveler and the 8Pre the 8Pre's first input comes up as #23 in Metacorder--Metacorder sees the Traveler as a 22 channel device.

Delivery on this job will be as drives, and we'll record in mono BWF files.  On regular filmsound type jobs (8 or fewer tracks) I use the Metacorder PDF sound reports and burn

DVD-Rs from Metacorder, which have worked fine.

I also have Boom Recorder on this computer, and will be doing some comparisons when I have time.  One plus for sure: no dongle.

Philip Perkins

[Richard Lightstone, CAS]

Jeff,

A great topic and one that Takev Voss will follow and probably comment on.

I use Boom Recorder as my backup system and have since February of last year. I master to the Deva 5, my mixer is the Yamaha 01V96. I have Boom Recorder (BR) on a Mac-Mini (non-Intel) 1.42Ghz, 80GB internal HD with the SuperDrive, as well as an external 160GB mini-LaCie drive. I have BoomRecorder setup to record the identical track count as I have on the Deva, which is usually 8 tracks. The firewire interface to the Mac-Mini I started with is the Digi-002 Rack. Since I also do Pro-Tools sound editing from time to time I wanted one F/W interface - that has recently changed and I'll explain that later.

I am sending my audio to and from the Deva via the AES I/O and to BoomRecorder via the ADAT I/O to the Digi-002. Recording audio digitally in both devices. The majority of my work has been 48K, 24bit, BWF-P and either 30NDF or 29.97NDF on both the Deva and BR. I use a Denecke GR-1 as my master T.C. clock and split the T.C. out via a mini audio D/A to both HD devices. I have also fully tested recording at 48.048K/30NDF successfuly with the same setup. With thanks again to Eric Benton of Modern Video -- he took the time to walk me through their transfer setup and see if my recorded DVD-RAM and DVD-R correctly pulled down -- it did.

I record my BR audio files to the external LaCie drive and use Toast to burn those files to the DVD-R. (Takev - please see if you can incorporate mirroring in BR -- like it is available in Metacorder.)

Over a year plus of using BR, I have had no problems with BR at all. However about 4 months ago the Digi-002 started to dislike the 48K from the Yamaha and induced lots of jitter in BR, the Deva however was just fine. The Digi-002 was sent in for a warranty service check, coming back in working order, but I have also upgraded the Pro-Tools software twice (v6.9, to 7.1 and now 7.3). I think that the software has included a firmware upgrade to the Digi-002, which might have a bug in it's clocking rate. So I now use the RME Fireface 400 as my F/W interface -- the jitter is gone and BR is happy again.

The Fireface 400 has Word Clock I/O - which allowed me to use it as a master sampling clock for the 48.048/30NDF test. (I know this off the topic.) I set the Deva to 48.048K - internal reference (not - Auto Ref). Sent Word Clock from the Fireface 400 to the Yamaha - setting it to external Word Clock In and ofcourse BR setup to 48.048 as well. No jitter anywhere and I could also monitor playback from both the Deva and BR on the Yamaha - every device was happy - no clicks, jitter, hash etc.

I record a minimum of 8 tracks to both devices and for dailies I send my Deva recorded master DVD-RAM and my BoomRecorder backup DVD-R with the identical 8 track count. I do not create seperate 2 track daily versions as many others have begun to do. Instead I (firmly) instruct the telecine facility that my "Dailies Audio" is on Tracks 1 and 2 and to ignore the rest. I have not experienced any transfer screw ups in over 5 years now. I also get copies of the DVD dailies to check and or attend dailies screenings -- now almost nonexistant!

I am thrilled that BoomRecorder (as well as Metacorder) allows me a full backup as well as the added security of those files residing on an external HD! I decided on BoomRecorder over the already popular Metacorder for several reasons. First the price - BoomRecorder is 80% cheaper. BoomRecorder does not require a 'dongle' to activate. BoomRecorder works flawlessly with any core audio driver (Pro-Tools or FireFace etc.) Most importantly Takev Voss gives the greatest software support I've ever seen. He responds to customer problems and suggestions almost instantly and has upgraded the software 41 times and counting since I first purchased it. He is intent on perfecting it -- and I don't think he will stop at adding changes and improvements.

Most importantly the audio quality on the BoomRecorder backup is indistinguishable from my Deva recorded DVD-RAMs. I have imported my DVD-R discs and or the files many times into Pro-Tools - just to double check the quality and the metadata - it sounds great and provides me with the confidence of knowing I have an excellent backup.

Regards,

Richard Lightstone, CAS

[Ramsay]

That's a comprehensive cart Richard! Ready for anything. I'm sending 7 splits from my Sonosax to the Motu-Ultralight and 2-4 mix channels from my aux outs to the 744T. The 744T is the master clock and TC. I send two mix channels and TC from the 744T to the Motu. This gives me 9 channels of audio and 1 TC channel. I record on Boom Recorder. My only backup is the selected tracks recorded on the 744T. I use a Maxtor one touch external 100Gig HD to record to. I haven't invested in an 8+ channel non-linear 'hardware recorder' because nothing out there has really grabbed me yet including the Mini R8 which I had for a couple of months to demo. I'm very interested in the new Sonosax 8 channel recorder and will be testing it out in the fall. Sonosax may eventually have the internal recorder able to interface with all of the other equipment but the ease of inputting Metadata and flexibility of Boom Recorder really has me hooked. The big issue for me is matching Metadata to two recorders at the same time. Being able to mirror in real time would also be a bonus. We started a new film on Wed. and the editor was pleasantly suprised to get such a comprehensive printed sound report. I look at the 'recorder ' these days as a method to deliver my tracks in whatever the format of the week is. Take has done a great job of providing a robust interface between my board and editorial.

[Philip Perkins]

Those are both big, comprehensive and well thought out rigs for big shows.  When I use Metacorder on the "smaller bigger" jobs I do, I have the Traveler looking at the 6 direct outs of the M6 mixer as well as its mix output, and record to the laptop and external drives (usually a Firelite 60GB).  The mix is also sent to the 702T (which is also clock and TC master as I described in an earlier post) or the TC (and thus clock) is coming from a video camera in a multicam situation.  The 702T files burn to DVDRAM as we go, and I burn the Metacorder files to DVD-R @ wrap or at home later and mail them in.  File naming can happen via the keyboard for the 702T and Metacorder data entry if there is time--back up/faster is doing just the data to Metacorder and a paper report for the 702T.  The set up gets reconfigured for practically every job since they have such different requirements these days.  (In some video situations I forego the 702T, send the "dailies" mix to the cameras and just record the isos and backup mix to Metacorder alone w/ the Traveler clocked to the incoming TC from video.)

Philip Perkins CAS

[takev]

Hello everyone,

Indeed, I am watching these posts.

It is nice to know how everyone is using their setups.

I am not yet ready for automatically creating DVDs. I first have to do some stuff with automatic folders, I am planning for you to be able to use folders in the filename templates. And also a filename template for sound reports. This will make it much easier to have separate folders for each roll.

But I am still working on the digital movie camera system. And also having a bit of a rest and maybe tomorrow celebrate the queens birthday. Traditionally if you are not selling anything on the queens birthday you have to buy stuff.

Cheers,

  Take Vos

[davidm]

I have been running Metacorder for two years as my primary recorder. My current setup is a G4 Mac Mini & Metric Halo 2882.  My mixer is a Sonosax ST8D. Timecode and word clock are from an Ambient ACL201-II Lockit box.  My Mac Mini electronics have been mounted in a 1U Travla rack mount enclosure along with a firewire DVD RAM drive, a 5 port Firewire hub, a Carnetix P1900 car computer power supply and some additional cooling.   

I purchased Metacorder after arriving at the conclusion that it is important to have 100% accurate scene and slate metadata as most of my audio is imported into an Avid. I was impressed with the false start routine on the demo and also wanted electronic logging.  I have a 744T for mobile use and` as a backup for my mix tracks.  Having also used a PD6, Deva IV and a Cantar, I believe that Metacorder is a great cart based primary recorder.

I 'm currently recording up to 1 + 6 dual poly files to an "audio" partition on the system drive although I have also recorded to external firewire drives in the past.  For rushes delivery I supply a  DVD-R on short term projects and on longer shoots I mirror to firewire 2.5" hard drives and send in a DVD-R archive disk the following day. I did use CF cards for rushes on one feature but found the occasional file didn't copy properly. What I have got working  but have yet to install is a 2nd hard drive on the Mac Mini's CD drive IDE bus connector. I'm intending to use the seccond drive as my primary audio drive and the audio partition on my main drive as the secondary drive when I upgrade to an Intel mac Mini later this year.

Tips:

1)  I use a Fujitsu "Happy Hacking Lite II" keyboard which has function keys enabled by using a "fn" key. This saves accidentally bumping the F keys (while typing) as they are used for arming  record tracks. There's nothing worse than sending in an odd numbered poly file to an Avid.

2)  I run a simple AppleScript to auto start Metacorder. With OS X 10.3.9 Metacorder could launch as a startup item but Apple changed the USB power up sequence for OS X 10.4 and the USB dongle now powers up after the startup items and thus Metacorder required a manual start. 

3) I have cut the voltage wire in the firewire cable between the Metric Halo and the computer. While there's no problem running Powerbooks and Mac Mini's off Apples mains power adapters and using standard firewire cables to an interface, I find that when running a Mac Mini directly off a 12 volt gell cell or when using battery adapters such as the Carnetix on my Mac Mini or a 12 volt car adapter on my Power Book, there's a substantial amount of computer power noise leaking onto the power supply and firewire power lines. With a common power supply this leaks into all the audio components. My solution has been to have two identical power supply systems (float charger and gel cell), one feeding the audio system and one feeding the computer system.  This arrangement is audibly superior to a single power supply system. 

David Madigan

Auckland

New Zealand

[Jeff Wexler]

Wow! Impressive, well thought out responses to this thread --- thank you so much to all who so generously have provided the rest of us with such clear details on these computer based setups. I know it is not easy to find the time to compose and post such elaborate accounts of the various setups and work routines you have all adopted, but that is what makes this Group so good --- so many smart, capable people willing to share their knowledge and experience.

Thank you.

your host,  Jeff Wexler

[Guest jimg]

Thanks to both Richard and David for all the great information. I'm about to build a system based around Boom Recorder and you guys have saved me a ton of work.

Jim

[bcopenhagen]

Cart signal flow (and components):

I'm using Boom Recorder 7.22 as my primary recorder, running a PD-4 DAT as a backup.  (When $ permits, I'll probably head for a SoundDevices recorder, but I'd sure like to see more than 4 tracks from them....)

My computer system is a Mac Mini 1.25 GHz, with AcomData external firewire hard drives.  The console is a Sonosax SX-S10.  The main outputs (L/R) go to the interface, a MOTU Traveler, channels 1 & 2, which are the Mix.L and Mix.R tracks.  Additional main outputs (via the film module) feed a Waves L2 Ultramaximizer, which feeds the DAT via AES.  I use the 2 mix tracks in Boom Recorder (as opposed to a mono mix track) because I want the first two tracks to be identical to what is going to the DAT.

Direct outs from Sonosax channels 1-5 are sent to Traveler ch's 3-7, for ISOs.  TC source is the PD-4, split and sent to Traveler ch. 8, and to a 1/4" plug for jamming slates.

Here's a recent (sort of) photo.

http://soundfacility.com/location-sound/the-sound-cart-rock-solid-2/39

Boom Recorder Preferences:

-Time source:  LTC SMPTE/EBU

-Filename:  sc%s-tk%2t_%f_%c  which generates a filename like:  sc100-tk01_1_poly.wav

The "2" in the %2t defines a two-digit take number, so a leading zero is automatically included for single-digit take numbers.  The %f is the file number, and the %c is the channel name.  The channel name is only really relevant if you record mono files, in which case your channel name will appear in the filename (ie, MIX, BOOM, etc.)  For polyphonic recordings, Boom Recorder converts the channel name parameter to "poly".

Delivery:

If possible, I like to turn in hard drives.  If audio is going to telecine for sync, I burn a DVD-R.  My customized PDF report is included on the Toast-burned UDF DVD-R; and I email the report to editing later.  I am also keeping hand-written reports to accompany the DATs, which go to production.

Lessons learned:

(1) According to Take, the file number (%f) MUST be somewhere in the filename.  If you don't include it in your filename, it will default to being at the end.

I made the mistake of using %c (channel name) before the file number (%f), while recording mono files (so the channel name actually appeared in the filename).  The tracks showed up in the Mac Finder and in the editing system (FCP) in alphabetical order, not TRACK order, which meant that instead of:

Track 1 / Mix.L

Track 2 / Mix.R

Track 3 / Boom

Track 4 / 2ndBoom

the order, as it appeared in Final Cut Pro was:

Track 1 / 2ndBoom

Track 2 / Boom

Track 3 / Mix.L

Track 4 / Mix.R

And if a different channel name was introduced, it might end up between the Boom and Mix tracks, depending on what the channel's first letter was!

So, if you record mono files, make sure you define the file number %f, is EARLIER in the filename than other parameters you include in the filename, because each of your files will be incrementally numbered.

(2) Also related to file ordering issues... Not too long ago, telecine called to complain that the audio files on the DVD-Rs were not in shooting order; it was taking them much longer to sync than they anticipated, because they had to find each recording individually, finding the shooting order on the sound report.

The issue:  the files were sorted by Name in the Finder, not by Date Modified.  So when I dragged the files into Toast, they were in alphabetical order by filename.  The remedy:  I re-sorted the files, appended an incremental number to the beginning of each filename, and re-burned 15 DVDs worth of audio.  (Faced with a telecine house that was threatening to begin charging by the hour instead of by the film foot, the producer agreed to pay $300 for the half-day that it took me.)  That wouldn't have been possible in the big-budget world, but it worked for this show.

So, if you're not using the Wexler/Perkins "anti-metadata" method of an incremental recording number, and your filenames are scene/take, make sure they get burned in shooting order.  It'll make the telecine operator happy.

I'll cut this off now, lest I begin to put everyone to sleep...

-Brian

-the PS section-

G4 Mac Mini & Carnetix P1900 car computer power supply.

Aha!  Someone else found the Carnetix P1900 for mini power...I recently posted about that little gem on my site.

http://soundfacility.com/

What I have got working  but have yet to install is a 2nd hard drive on the Mac Mini's CD drive IDE bus connector. I'm intending to use the seccond drive as my primary audio drive

That's genius.  Eliminate the firewire variable from your primary audio drive...

3) I have cut the voltage wire in the firewire cable between the Metric Halo and the computer.

The issue I have to solve is drive noise leakage into the audio.  I discovered that when I turned off the external hard drive, the faint whine disappeared.  And powering it on, I could hear the drive clicking and spinning to life.  It's down around -85 dBFS, lower than your average shooting noise floor, but it's there and I want to get rid of it.

[Jeff Wexler]

Here's a recent (sort of) photo.

http://soundfacility.com/location-sound/the-sound-cart-rock-solid-2/39

-Brian

Check out Brian's website (under construction but very nicely done) which has even more descriptions of building up this rig.

-  JW

[Philip Perkins]

>>>So, if you're not using the Wexler/Perkins "anti-metadata" method of an incremental recording number, and your filenames are scene/take, make sure they get burned in shooting order.  It'll make the telecine operator happy.<<<<

I'm honored.

Philip Perkins

[curleysound]

I've been using Boom Recorder since 2005, and I have been nothing but happy with it's development and performance. I have been using the 01V96, and a Powerbook G4, with an Accomdata USB drive. I have not had any problems with anything other than powering the 01V96, and driving shots. A Deva she ain't but the results have been fantastic. I have used it on the Variety Screening Series, recording a few concerts, 16 tracks @ 24 Bits/48K all day with no hiccups. I am now doing a Music Video which I used Boom recorder to lay time code down to the file with. I have been using my PD-4 to send time code through, but I just bought a Horits PTG which I plan to use. I see myself with at least 2 more of these in the future. I'm planning on building a second compact system which I hope to run a Mac Mini, and just need to find a suitable interface.

Tom

www.curleysound.com

[Richard Lightstone, CAS]

Tom,

What interface are you using between the 01V96 and your Powerbook G4?

Richard

[curleysound]

Tom,

What interface are you using between the 01V96 and your Powerbook G4?

Richard

Richard,

  The 01V96 has an optional IEEE1394 port, and that came with some simple driver software that makes the board an audio I/O device.

[Richard Lightstone, CAS]

Tom,

Thank you, I thought so. The F/W output allows you the full 16 I/O's of the Yamaha. I am using the AES 16 I/O card (with D-Subs) so I can connect with the Deva (and any future HD device). The ADAT is limited to 8 I/O.

Richard

[curleysound]

Richard,

  I've considered that, or the 16 analog option. Having that many outputs would be sweet. I use the DM1000 at my day job, which is not suitable for cart use, but with the meter bridge, and 2 expansion slots, there's nothing you can't do with it! (Intentional double negative)