Jeff Wexler

Okay, I can play the game too. I bet no one knows the origin of "gobo" (flag put in front of a light to cut some of it off). My understanding of this is quite obscure and may of course be completelyt untrue, but take a crack at it. Also, I have nothing to add to the M.O.S. lore except that it most probably does relate to optical sound and when the sound department actually ran the cameras and the optical sound recorder (later of course this is also the origin of the sound department calling "speed" even well into the day where we had no way of knowing if the camera was even rolling). I will also add that referring to a shot without sound as "M.O.S." is not a universal thing --- in Enlgand I believe they still refer to "the next shot will be mute" and I have seen on old clap slates, even in the U.S., the designation "SIL" for silent. - JW

I have not had any extensive personal experience with any of these sorts of devices but after spending about an hour or so at Coffey Sound and looking over many of these, I would seriously consider the M-Audio Microtrac recorder. The SONY PCM-D1 is a beautiful machine but is somewhat overpriced. The only downside to the M-Aduio is the use of a rechargeable battery that when depleted must be charged within the unit. External powering is available via an AC wall wart and USB connection to the recorder. Others who have been using the machine I know have worked on external battery powering schemes via USB, and I don't know if they have come up with anyhting. Regards, Jeff Wexler

Thanks Richard for the nice bio... it is true that we go pretty far back in time and although we don't necessarily see much of eachother we have a lot of history. I don't remember if you go back as far as when SSI was behind Jerry's Liquor on La Cienega. It was good see your name on some classy current features. Welcome aboard. - Jeff Wexler

You are right about the Audio Developments boards. When Jim Webb retired (from the Altman group) Bob Gravenor took over the whole multi-track thing and used the AD boards. Around the same time I had a highly modified AD PICO board that I used on 2 movies and it really wasn't my cup of tea. I thought about moving up to one of the larger models from AD but never did. - JW

Excellent, John. That is the very page where I discovered DisplayConfigX utility. You are right, the page is a really good discussion of display resolutions and the problems associated with the smaller monitors. - JW

Interesting idea but I really do not know how such a connection would be made, other than a link (whch is really just a recommendation to visit another useful site). I have spent some time at filmsound.org and have been impressed with many of the archived articles. I particularly liked all of the material assembled about Walter Murch. I have know Walter since the early 1970's and the things that intererst him are many of the same things that interest me --- and of course I find most of his discussions very inspiring. The Swedish educator who puts up the site seems like a very dedicated person and I appreciate his efforts (but I have had no direct contact with him). The transom.org site on the other hand seems so geared towards broadcast and radio journalism, I am not so sure it has as much relevancy to our work here. The TOOLS section may have had some useful semi-technical reviews and "how-to's" but I have not read many of those articles. Regards, Jeff Wexler

JK Audio has the most number of useful telephone-type interfaces. I have used several of their products in the past and they have always worked well. I do not have any current model recommendations. http://www.jkaudio.com/products.htm Regards, Jeff Wexler

I saw the RemoteAudio cart power box at NAB. It is solidly built, very well thought out (as are ALL of the products that come out of RemoteAudio) and would provide long lasting and very secure power for even the most current hungry sound carts. One of the most unique aspects of this unit is the use of Nickel-Metal Hydride batteries instead of the much more common sealed lead acid batteries. There are many benefits to using these batteries but COST is not one of them. The NMh batteries have a totaly different charge - discharge characteristic that Glen Trew feels provides distinct advantages in a cart power supply. They do require a unique charger which is built into the box and they are not pleased with a regulated power supply "float" across the battery (so there is a regulated DC supply but it is not connected to the battery). So, if I understood the description from Glen Trew, when AC is available it is the AC that is powering the DC poower supply which is powering the equipment, and then the AC is also powering the charger which is charging the (unused) battery. When the AC goes away, everything switches over to pure battery power (charger turns off) and the battery begins to discharge. All of this happens seamlessly, or so I was told, and with proper attention paid to the extensive diagnostic and status readouts, it will provide reliable all day powering of any sound cart. The unit is going to be quite pricey, I think around $1800., and for me it is too complex and overkill for my needs. I'll stick with the cart power supplies I have built myself --- approx. $200. in parts and about a day to build. Regards, Jeff Wexler

I have the 10" Xenarc monitor with the intention of using it on the cart for some sort of Mac based recording setup. I have investigated this problem of native resolution with a few of the Macs I own including a 12" AL PowerBoook. The biggest problem is, as you point out, what the native resolution of the LCD is. All LCDs will scale to resolutions that are NOT the native resolution but there is always a penalty in clarity and sharpness of the images and text on the screen. I was able to tweak the Display preferences on the PowerBook and the few that exist for the monitor (things like "wide" "extended", "normal"), to produce an acceptable display on the Xenarc. This was in an effort to use BoomRecorder which is not configured in the same way Metacorder is (and in fact, Take V. the developer, provided a display screen that woiuld be a better match in terms of resolution with nothing cut off, for Billy Sarokin, a mixer in New York). I don't believe Gallery Software will change the resolution or layout of Metacorder, so you are going to have to mess around and tweak every setting you can find, and then decide if it is acceptable or not. I did locate a utility for the Mac that is specifically designed to allow all sorts of tweaking of the display settings that could provide more flexibility for those who wish to use the relatively small (10") 16 : 9 LCD computer screens like the Xenarc. I will try and locate this software (I downloaded it but have not played with it) and I will post a link when I locate it (stored on some other computer in my shop). Regards, Jeff Wexler

Beauty! You are right about Jim Webb and the Interface board. When Jim started with Robert Altman doing the now legendary multi-track recordings Altman is noted for, the Interface board was the only board out there that gave them a fighting chance at all the mixing, routing and monitoring that they required. Later, Jim Webb built a mixing panel of his own design to accommodate many of the things the Interface either could or couldn't do. Jim built 12 of the mixing panels, used 1 for himself and I believe sold only 1 other to someone else. It wasn't a big seller and I think Jim took a big beating on the development and manufacturing costs. I almost bought one of them from Jim but decided against it. I would love to find pictures of that board now. Regards, Jeff Wexler

I have had the best success with cart power supplies I have built on much the same principles that David Terry outlines. In the simplest terms it consists of a sealed lead acid battery of whatever capacity you need or are willing to live with weight wise, and an AC powered Regulated DC power supply. NO CHARGERS involved in this supply --- I have never seen a cart power supply that works properly when employing any sort of CHARGING circuit --- they almost always create audible switching noise. As David points out, when AC is available, the Regulated DC Power supply provides a nominal 13.8 vdc that "floats" across a fully charged battery. If you have sized the current rating of the power supply to match or exceed the current draw by the equipment, the equipment operates, the battery stays fully charged and in a sort of standby state. If the AC gets pulled the equipment continues to operate but drawing on the battery alone. When the AC is restored, the power supply replentishes the battery while also continuing to operate the equipment. Lastly, the way in which this DC is distributed to the various pieces of equipment on the cart can be problematical. One solution for many of the problems (and possibly this is where David had buzzes) is to make the cabling that goes to each DC connection point as HOME RUNS. That is, NOT several 4-pin XLR-F connectors wired in parallel but rather each connector wired directly to the output of your cart powerv supply. This for some reason helps to solve problems that may develop amongst various devices being powered from a common power source. You may find that there are some devices because of the design of the individual power supplies used in the piece of equipment and how it behaves when connected to a common power source, that noises cannot be avoided. This was the case for me with a Lectrosonics T-1 IFB transmitter on the cart (an item I no longer own or use). If the T-1 was connected to external battery supply and anything else on my cart was connected to the same supply and then connection (audio) was made to the T-1, buzzing was unavoidable. Regards, Jeff Wexler

I have been thinking the same thing but it seems like this group is moving right along quite nicely with the over 200 mermbers we have signed up. I think it would be a little arrogant to assume that without my input things will fall apart --- I sincerely hope this is not the case. I understand that my input may be missed to a degree (and I know I will miss spending the amount of time I do here, and the research and investigation that I do to try and answer some of the questions) but the job may not take all my time. We'll see how it goes --- and thanks again to all the terrific people who participate here and find this discussion group useful. Regards, Jeff Wexler

Although QuickBooks on the Mac is somewhat lacking in the features provided in the Windows version, I have found it to be very useful for my business (and I don't have to use a PC). I make pdf's of my reports at tax time and throughout the year but I do not use any routines that may or may not be built into QuickBooks. Mac OS X provides for any document that can be printed can actually be "printed" (saved) as a .pdf right within the Print dialog box, so if Intuit touts this as a feature of QuickBooks on the Mac, it isn't something they had to do. Regards, Jeff Wexler

There are others here who are much more qualified to answer these questions and since I do not do much of the sort of work you describe my answers will be more general. When we first starting doing ANY multi-track work (and this would be 2 tracks, 1 more than mono) there were those who monitored in "stereo" even though it wasn't stereo it was 2 separate tracks that would never be mixed to ever produce a stereo, left and right, sound image. This monitoring took the form of ch.1 to the left ear, ch.2 to the right ear. I was NEVER able to do this and accurately make any judgement on the tracks that were being recorded, but when monitoring in MONO, many of the problems you mention also were present. My approach now, particularly when doing many tracks that will most probably never be "mixed" together, is to monitor in mono (same signal to both ears) the following: primarily the track that IS mixed (my Track 1 that is always the primary track) that may not even contain all the elements being recorded, and then also SOLO monitor each individual Track/Source when possible (to insure that the individual tracks are good). As the number of tracks and sources increases, trying to MIX all of them, even for the sake of a monitor mix, it almost impossible. Regards, Jeff Wexler

Thank you so much for the kind words of support and I find it very interesting that we have similar histories. I think you may be right about the big ego thing and camera but if you're like me it is certainly not beyond us to get a really big head and do a lot of ego-driven grandstanding (not too dissimilar to some of the antics of our favorite DP's). I am pleased with this Discussion Group and how it is working out as it sort of positions itself somewhere between r.a.m.p.s. (which I still enjoy a great deal) and the more specific user forums that often get WAY to specifc and technical (but serve a valuable purpose). I like to think that this forum provides a little bit broader scope and tolerance and tends to be a bit more personal, in a good way, for people to express themselves. Thanks again for the support (and I would like to know who you are "Sound Intuition" if you would be so kind... even if you wish to let me know "off list" as they say). Regards, Jeff Wexler

Not exactly the case. Jason did not say the DVX100A was an HD camera (that is probably my mistake) but the HD spec achieved is not a function of the use of 2 cameras but rather, I believe, it is the aquisition of raw data from the CCD. From their website: "Foregoing tape, a unique direct to disk recording system captures RAW CCD data in 4:4:4 RGB color space at 10 bits per channel, producing remarkably vivid 3D images at up to 1280x720 per eye, 24fps progressive. So, it is HD resolution "PER EYE" (per each camera), yes? - JW

I just re-posted what was posted to the Metacorder group where QT 7.1 was mentioned. I am running QT 7.04 now which I believe is the current version out there. - JW

Possibly off topic (but since I started the topic, maybe okay, may be of interest). I attended a hands on demo today of a 3D video camera that has been built using 2 Panasonic HD camcorders. The CCD imaging creates a raw data stream, actually 2 independent but synced data streams that are recorded to 2 highly modified inside the camera Mac Minis. The DV tape transports have been completely removed and all recordings are made of the raw uncompressed data (similar to the much larger and more complex Viper camera) to onboard hard drives. Anyone interested can read more about this at: http://www.21stcentury3d.com/press/pr-060117-3dvx3.html Regards, Jeff Wexler

Cool... I didn't know you even had the inclination to do these things. I won't hold my breath (but I will look out for something great to come from your efforts). Regards, Jeff Wexler

Of special interest to Darren and to Take V. is the following post from Mark Gilbert, Gallery Software, Metacorder: We have recently uncovered some new behaviour in QuickTime 7.1 which may cause problems with the Final Cut Pro timestamps on files recorded with Metacorder. If you are using Metacorder for a Final Cut Pro workflow, please avoid QuickTime 7.1 for the time being. We will have a new version of Metacorder which can work around the problem with QuickTime 7.1 shortly. The issue is that QuickTime 7.1 is now making its own attempt at timecode information when working with WAV files, and unfortunately it prevents Final Cut from seeing the correct information in the Metacorder delivered timestamps. The QT7.1 timecode data is also incorrect so it causes a variety of additional problems besides preventing the Metacorder stamps from being seen.

I think you should continue to develop capabilities like what you have shown above and head in the direction of providing a full featured BWF utility program (like Courtney's BWF Widget software) that addresses the files created using Boom Recorder AND any other recorder (Deva, Fostex, Sound Devices, etc.). If this utility could generate lists, sound reports from metadata, etc., AND of course runs on a Mac, this would be a wonderful thing. It should be a stand alone program and, if it seems right to you, bundled and integrated with a new version of Boom Recorder. If it is a stand alone utility and does a few more useful things as we have discussed, it could be a very good selling product for you even to lots of people who do not use Boom Recorder. If you are able to find out what Courtney's BWF Widget provides and also possibly what the Majax software from Aaton provides (only works with files made by the Aaton Cantar recorder and they will NOT do a version for those who do not own a Cantar), you would have a terrific piece of utility software for all of us Mac users. Regards, Jeff Wexler

Quite a complex but undeniably complete explanation of the FCP Quicktime - BWF issue. As you may know, almost every year at NAB, we have approached Apple to talk about direct import of BWF into FCP. The word has always been that they're working on it. From what you say it is unclear whether they will be able to do this with Quicktime working with "ordinary" BWF, the sort of file that ALL the recorders, including BoomRecorder (at this time) deliver. Regards, Jeff Wexler

The I.A.T.S.E. union rules, regardless of where the work is being done, firbids anyone from taking stills on the set other than the Unit Still Photographer. In addition, many shoots that are particularly "security" conscious, either because of the stars involved or the content of the movie, forbid other crew members from taking stills or video. These rules are not uniformally implemented by any means. Even on normal non-security movies, many of the other craft workers need to take lots of stills and even video in the performance of their jobs. For example, script supervisor for continuity purposes (less so now with reliance on video assist), prop masters, set decorators, wardrobe, make-up and hair, it goes on an on. In the very old days, all these support stills were done by the Unit Still Photographer. With the advent of Polaroid cameras and later, of course, digital still cameras, these pictures are taken by the various departments, not the Unit Still Photographer. So, how do we get all these stills on the shoots we're on? People just bring their cameras, shoot discretely and no one seems to care on most shoots. If, however, you are caught with a camera on a shoot with Tom Cruise, you may be in a lot of trouble and risk losing your personal camera. Regards, Jeff Wexler

Wow... maybe it's just me, but I really love this history stuff. I think it is more than what I was saying before about "the good old days" when you really get into all of the history of the technology AND how it was put to use then, in its day, and compare it to how we work today. I find it fascinating. Thank you so much for talking about the Stellavox. I had a such a brief history with those machines personally, I lobe to hear from others who actually used ita lot. One other little bit of trivia for me personally, is that I was consulted breifly by the Warner Bros. sound department (it was actually TBS at that time, The Burbank Studios complex) when they were building a production mixing panel. They chose the mixing panel that Stellavox made at the time (I don't remember the model number) which was pretty neat and essentially the same size as the SP7/8 recorders. They modified it extensively, and in typical Warner Bros. engineering practice, made a lot of really foolish changes. I really had no more conversations with them when they told me they were going to modfiy the monitoring, the signal fed to the sound mixer's headphones, and equalize it based on the "Academy curve" for theatrical projection. Their engineers claimed this would help sound mixers do a better job of production sound mixing and require less work in the post chain on the way to theatrical release! Regards, Jeff Wexler

There actually was an option that could be special ordered from Stellavox to allow the use of 10 1/2" reels! Not that you would ever be able to put that over the shoulder and conceal it, but it was offered for the purposes of making concert recordings. I have no idea how many were ever ordered or delivered --- since it was a special order item I imagine they did not even build it until someone ordered one. Regards, Jeff Wexler