[Adriano Castaldini]

Well, your merit guys! As I said, this forum is a precious school for me 🙂

[Adriano Castaldini]

More $$$$, that’s unfortunally right…
AT4053b + BP4025 + MixPre3 + Rycote Blimp (for BP4025) = 3x Sony D100 + Rycote kit. More or less 2400€ vs 800€…
Everyone cheering for the skinny David against Goliath (at least for the money) but in real life size matters.

Thank all of you for your precious advices! This forum is my school ☺ Really!

[Adriano Castaldini]

Well, my doubt came from specs:
– Sony D100 has a noise-floor of -127dBu (even if only at rec-level 5) and a S/N ratio of 100dB (that’s impressive);
– MixPre3 has a noise-floor of -130dBu (great), but AT4053b has a S/N ratio of only 78dB (and it has its own self-noise of 16dB).
So I have 2 main questions (as a newbie naturally):
1. When does the difference between S/N 100dB (D100) vs 78dB (AT) become crucial? (Is it a secondary detail, or is it important in “little” sounds recordings?)
2. Considering that I’d use the MixPre3 with an AT4053b (not with a super-silent-schoeps! but a mic with its own 16dB noise-floor), so the question: is the difference between the two noise-floor levels (D100 vs MixPre3+AT4053b) so crucial for “tiny” sounds recording?

Going further, D100 is stereo, while AT is not, obviously. I’m interested into obtaining a stereo image only outdoor for field recordings. Remaining in the price range of the AT4053b, the only “cheap” options that fit a blimp are:
– M/S option: AT4053b + AKG CK94 (a figure-8 with a self-noise of 22dB ☹ and a S/N ratio of only 72);
– X/Y single mic option: BP4025 stereo mic (self-noise 14dB, S/N ratio 80dB);
or…
– again Sony D100.
On the sheet it seems that the BP4025 option beats the AT4053b+CK94, but again BP4025 has its own noise-floor that is added to the noise-floor of the MixPre3. So here the last 2 questions:
1. Are you sure that the sum of BP4025+MixPre3 noise-floors beats the noise floor of the Sony D100?
2. If yes, is this a “day vs night” difference for field recording?

I know that many of my questions are silly for an expert, but your answers are fundamentals for me.
So thanks a lot.

[Adriano Castaldini]

Mr. Crowley, thanks for your advice. After a lot of thinking I realized that you are absolutely right: the best solution for me is capturing sounds during an off-camera sessions (like a field/foley recordist) to dub the video takes in post.
Now, as I described, the sounds I’ll capture are “little” sounds (sighs, footsteps, rubbing clothes, etc.) and also a bit of outdoor field sounds.
My doubt is between two options:
1. the all-in-one pocket Sony D100 with its built-in mics;
2. MixPre3 + AT4053b.
Which is the lower-noise-floor winner? (Or anyway, which is the winner for my purpose, in your opinion?)

Thanks a lot.

[Adriano Castaldini]

And (perhaps this could seem a bit topic-off) let try to forget the camera: what mic do you recommend for ambient noises recording? Infact, as I described the kind of sounds I’d like to capture from the old lady (sighs, steps, almost no words, etc.) these could be considered like ambient sounds, right? So, if I decide to capture all AWAY from the camera, the hyper (like AT4053B or similar) could be still a good choice? I’ve read a lot of people preferring something like DPA4060 (little omni) for field recording, but I have the suspect that perhaps – for the kind of sounds I’d need to capture – something like the AT4053B could be more flexible. (If possible I’d like something able to capture little specific sounds – as I said sighs, etc. – but also a field situation, is it possible? I’ve read for example that someone does all with the Sony PCM D100: both field and near sounds). So what is your advices? An hypercardioid could be the flexible solution for all the days? Or the Sony? Or something else?

Really thanks as always.

[Adriano Castaldini]

Thank you all for your advices. I’m very honored of receiving your replies.
I’ll take a time to think about what to buy.

(I’ll do some tests with the poor means I own at the moment. If I’ll obtain something interesting, I’ll surely post my impressions here.)

Anyway, someone of you have experience about booming or handling AT4053B vs SCX1hc vs modified MK012? Anyone can say which is the less problematic in moving situation?

Really thanks as always.

[Adriano Castaldini]

Dear all! Thank you so much for your help.
Yesterday I had my tests in the theatre, I had 23 video-tests with me, and I must say that I am very happy with the results:
1. the DCPs I’ve made with DCP-O-Matic had exactly the same colors of the original prores444xq from Resolve;
2. 25fps perfectly handled by the Christies;
3. having a Mac the only Christie’s compatible file system was FAT32 (ExFat did not work) so I’ve made a splitted-reel-DCP that worked perfectly;
4. having my original prores’ audio in stereo, I tried various audio variations (DCP-O-Matic gives the possibility to maintain the original stereo or even build various “fake” multi-channel alternatives), so I tried with stereo, 3-front-channel, and 5.1. With my surprise, the best solution appeared to be 3-front-channel (probably because of the type of audio material used in the original video, but also – perhaps – the space of the theatre, and – almost surely – the quality of the theatre’s audio system).

So, I’m very happy to have had my test-day, with DCP-tests made in few hours by myself, so I HAVE TO THANK ALL OF YOU!!! YOU GUYS SAVED MY DAY!!!

Now, as I said, I’d like to learn about color spaces: I want to learn when/why using Rec.709 vs P3 vs Rec.2020, and XYZ, and ACES, etc. So please tell me if does exist a manual, a guide or something to start learning this things.

Thanks really much!

[Adriano Castaldini]

Sorry if I disturb again with a silly question: I tried to use DCP-O-Matic. In the menu you can choose between Make_DCP, Make_KDM, Make_DKDM. Make_DCP is self_explanatory, but I can’t understand what are KDM and DKDM? Are them useful for my simple purpose (preparing a DCP projection)?

Thanks a lot.

[Adriano Castaldini]

…very pricey… 🙁

[Adriano Castaldini]

Hi everyone, and a huge THANKS to all you.

I surely will test, but not too much because just tomorrow I’ll have my unique test-day (a couple of hours in the morning…)

Today I’ve tried a cool stuff named DCP-O-Matic. Do you know that? With that software the starting point can be the Prores444 I’ve just rendered: it converts videos into DCP folders.

What do you think about? Do you prefer openDCP?

Anyway, once obtained the DCP folder, how to play it on Mac?

Again, thanks guys!!!