Marc Wielage

Chances are, all the sound mixing changes were done by a re-recording mixer, so what's in the Edit session may have little to do with the final mix (save for actual edit choices). The exception would be reality shows and docos actually mixed in the edit bay, which is not generally something I like very much. Whose name is in the credits as the re-recording mixer or post sound engineer? They should "theoretically" have all the stems, but if the producer only paid for a final mix, then it'll have to be created... which will take time & money.

I agree, if you're doing a one-person sound crew, then all you can do is give the take a very specific name (like "1WILD" or "AMBIENCE" or something like that) to really highlight what it is. Then, assuming you just do a quick CSV-style report, post will just know by the file name that it's not part of the other dialogue takes.

I have been that poor soul in the dark room looking for missing takes before, and lemme tell you, often the Sound Reports are more thorough (and more accurate) than the Camera Reports. Cam Reports in particular have kind of faded away these days, particularly on low-budget, indie, and reality show shoots. On a union shoot, the DIT generally puts together some kind of report with the camera files, but often post is just completely flying blind. One highly important thing post people need is a way to locate wild tracks, wild lines, ambience, and all that other stuff in addition to the normal synced dialogue takes. I have seen cases where literally six months after production wraps, the assistant editor is still looking for some wild lines that somehow got thrown in the wrong folder along the way. If they at least have a timecode number and a sound slate at the head, post has a fighting chance of finding it. So my advice is do both an audible slate and a written log (or a PDF or CSV or whatever) with the sound files. I also like the old tradition of 2 beeps at the end of each take to indicate a cut, from the Nagra days.

I think there's another way to look at it: it lowers the standards and quality needed for mixing, recording, timecode, and reliability and puts it at an under-$1000 price tag. I also think it creates the false impression that this is all you need to get the job done. Often, I think the recorder might be the least-expensive part of the kit. The investment in microphones, mixer, wireless, batteries, and everything else is far greater than that of the recorder itself. To me, the only leap forward here is right off a cliff going down into the Valley of Bad Audio.

And get it in writing. Make it clear in emails that the location will be problematic, and "location sound recording" is the job title. You can't just record the dialogue -- it's all about the environment. Be prepared for ADR in post.

You might find more Pro Tools people over on the Gearslutz Forums: https://www.gearslutz.com/board/post-production-forum/

That's a really lame bug that should be easy to fix.

Whenever a discussion degenerates into math, my eyes glaze over...

And I believe iZotope RX Advanced also has some kind of an "EQ Match" mode where it will take two files of the same thing and EQ one to match the other. I have yet to try it, but the principles look good on paper.

Yikes. So much for the theory that things are better... Although: the Panavision DXL is said to be a different animal. We'll know for sure when it goes wide in January 2017... And yes/yes/yes to everything Phil says above. Same experience here. Cameras will sometimes drift slightly, and it's post's job to compensate for that. Crap happens -- you fix it and move on. If it's wildly out of sync and drifting badly, that's a different story. The usual "1 or 2 frames every so often" is understandable.

I think the absence of highs and mids will make the bass subjectively "seem" louder, but it's not really louder. Bass frequencies are much harder to trap out with traditional earplugs and head covers. I feel bad for the audience members of an event like this who are subjected to loud sounds. Here are the sound levels and relative time periods that OSHA believes it's safe to endure: If it's 105dB, then OSHA says 1 hour. If it's all night long, I would run far away.

I agree. As far as I'm concerned, everybody in production and post understands that 23.98 = 23.976 for our purposes. And most technical people grasp that 24fps and 23.98fps are not the same.

The new Red Weapon (and the Panavised DXL) are said to have much better timecode implementation and very quiet fans. But I haven't had any experience with either yet. It would figure that after about 8 years, Red has more or less perfected the camera and fixed all the holes and bugs over the years and made it pretty solid.

There are some really terrible websites out there that put out "advertorials" every day that basically plug new products, disguising an ad as an article. When they do an original article from scratch, it's almost always woefully superficial, thin, and lacking in crucial detail. Take a look at RedSharkSound if you want to be frightened: http://www.redsharksound.com/ I can't figure out if they think they're pro, semi-pro, or consumer. You'd think they'd want to aim slightly higher than high school students making YouTube comedy videos, but that's about the level of their tech articles and reviews. Very thin content.

That would be "tick-TOCK," vs. "TICK-tock." My opinion is that Red has priorities other than making their timecode absolutely bulletproof to the point where even turning the camera off, rebooting it, or changing speed will not affect timecode stability. It's easier just to put a timecode box on it and jam it twice a day. I don't see this changing. My advice to clients is just to understand the problem and deal with it. Just don't expect the camera to jam itself.

Ah, that's very interesting -- I hadn't considered that Panavision couldn't get the Alexa 65, which is only available from Arri Rental. I continue to believe that the Panavision DXL is just a Panavised Red Weapon, but they are insisting that the entire camera body is new and there's a lot of performance-related features that are different. What's clear is that Panavision is making a big push to market a very striking camera that you can't get any other way, and it's one that does not have the word "Red" visible on it. I have yet to work on a recent feature film where we didn't do at least 100 reframes in post. I've done some where it's every other shot on the entire reel. It doesn't really visibly affect picture quality unless you're punching in like 50% or something. A 10-20% blow-up is not really noticeable with 4K material. I do agree with many who've cited that takes are going on too long, and too many directors are rolling-rolling-rolling constantly, which is stressful for the boom op, for the actors, and it winds up as way, way too much material. But that's a problem that has nothing to do with the Panavision 8K camera. I don't think directors are aware or will care that these 8K files are massive and take up tons of space.

I thought the ad was from a Nigerian prince.

I can tell you from my perspective the video post numbers look high, but not impossible. But (as Jeff notes) a lot depends on how many weeks they're employed on the production. If a colorist is working 10 hours a day for 3 months, a top LA/London guy might get $150K for the work (including X dollars paid to the facility).

You gotta hate when that happens. I wish they had kept rolling -- the anguish of picking up those pieces would be the best (albeit the saddest) part of the whole adventure.

And they should clap the sticks, so that manual syncing is possible.

Ah, that's very interesting -- I hadn't considered that Panavision couldn't get the Alexa 65, which is only available from Arri Rental. I continue to believe that the Panavision DXL is just a Panavised Red Weapon, but they are insisting that the entire camera body is new and there's a lot of performance-related features that are different. What's clear is that Panavision is making a big push to market a very striking camera that you can't get any other way, and it's one that does not have the word "Red" visible on it. I have been told that the Red Weapon is the quietest camera they've ever built, but I haven't stood next to one on a quiet stage and measured or listened yet. It's fair to say they've been working hard on this and other problems (like timecode and battery life).

Naw, that's Art Garfunkel. Where's Paul Simon?

Great write-up on the wireless setup for Grease Live, too. Man, what a complicated show.

Naw, it's just a Panavised Red Weapon 8K camera. It's basically a straight Weapon camera with a whole bunch of Panavision accessories and lenses on it, plus a very nice follow-focus/zoom control. It's a good, solid camera, but I kind of wince at the 8K side of it because the files are massive. We're talking 1TB per hour, which will be a nightmare for post. Imagine 3-4 hours of A&B camera per day... !!!

Wow, that's a real "save it in post" story, made possible by production!