[Ryan Krickow]

Hi Greg,

I feel at this point I should backtrack a bit and provide some additional information since the subject matter (iso tracks) involves more than just the audio recorder and production sound mixer…

1. We are shooting on the Red One camera and I’m trying to decide between requesting Data DVDs from production sound or if I should ask the Red Tech to backup the audio files onto the two on-set hard drives that are being used for the R3D storage/backup. Since everything is going to end up on the editing drive anyway this would help streamline the process (and also allow on-set syncing of sound for playback-if audio and picture are recorded separately).

2. In regards to dual-system sound, I’m not sure how common it is to connect a wireless receiver to the Red One camera in order to record a mono mixed track with the picture? There are a lot of steadicam shots so having the audio recorder directly connected to the camera isn’t always going to be an option. (I’ve posted this question on the Red Network.)

3. If this dual-system method is NOT standard practice I imagine the other option is to record the mono mixed track and iso tracks on the audio recorder and sync everything in post using the timecode/slate.

That’s the situation I’m working with. If you have any recommendations I’d really appreciate it.

Thanks, Ryan

[Ryan Krickow]

Hey Colin, no problem. The batch exported Quicktime.mov files keep the correct timecode so it might not be too big an issue to lose some of the other metadata. Have you worked post sound on any projects that recorded BWFs? If so, what was their workflow any different? From everything I’ve read 23.98fps picture syncs up with 29.97fps sound so there’s no need for audio timecode conversion. I’m leaning toward merging the mono mixed track with the picture during editing and then dropping the additional tracks in (as you described) at the end so they would keep their name. Does that make sense to you?

One last question on terminology… based on reading various articles on the internet and audio recorder manuals I’ve come to the consensus that what I’d want to ask the production sound mixer for is… a mono mixed track and iso tracks. The mono mixed track would be for picture editing and the iso “isolated” tracks would be the separate tracks for post sound. Am I using the correct language here?

All the best, Ryan

[Ryan Krickow]

Just to confirm… if I convert the BWFs to Quicktime reference (XMLs), load them into FCP, export them as Quicktime.mov files, load them back into FCP and edit with them, the OMF that I export for post sound will be completely acceptable without going back to the original BWFs? Also, in terms of delivery to post sound, what is the consensus on merging/linking clips in FCP and in doing so losing the file name (it ends up matching the video track name)? Is it acceptable or is there a way to keep the original file names? Thanks so much, Ryan

[Ryan Krickow]

I would request a mono mixed track and iso tracks from production sound for picture editing (mono mixed track) and delivery to post sound (iso tracks). You said “Yes, if he does a mono mix track”, in what case would a production sound mixer not be able to provide this? Thanks, Ryan

[Ryan Krickow]

I’m editing the project so I’d like to have a handle on the general procedures of getting audio during production and passing it along to post sound. We’re in early pre-production and haven’t hired the sound mixer but I’m almost positive it is going to be recorded on a 788T or similar audio recorder and there’s a good chance the audio won’t be recorded on the camera in which case I was mistaken in mentioning dual system sound. Here are the two main pieces of information I’m trying to get a firm handle on…

1. The correct audio file(s) for picture editing would be a mono mix track. What I’m not quite sure of is if there would be an advantage to having 2 mono mix tracks vs. 1 mono mix track? It seems like 1 mono mix track is all you would need for picture editing but I could be wrong.

2. The correct audio files for post sound would be isolated “iso” tracks or production split tracks.

Thus I would request a mono mix track(s?) and iso tracks. If audio gets recorded on the camera then all need is the iso tracks. Thanks for all your help! Ryan

[Ryan Krickow]

We’re shooting dual system sound (with a production sound mixer and a boom operator) so we won’t have the audio going to the camera. The main thing I’m trying to figure out in terms of tracks/channels & mono/stereo is the correct terminology to use when asking for the mixed audio (for picture editing) and separate audio files for each channel/mic (for post sound). Based on what has been said I believe that I would ask for a mixed mono track and split tracks. Is that correct? Thanks, Ryan

[Ryan Krickow]

Thanks for all the info! That was definitely more complex than I had thought. So, if I wanted to get a mixed mono track (audio file) for picture editing would that come in 2 tracks (left and right speakers) and what terminology would I use to ask for it? Then, would I also ask for split tracks (instead of iso’s) if I wanted to get 1 separate file per channel/mic for post sound? Would these audio files also be 2 tracks (left and right speakers)?

As an overview I’m looking for the correct terminology to use when asking production sound for audio files for the picture editor and audio files for post sound.

Thanks again, Ryan

[Ryan Krickow]

Thanks for getting back to me Colin! It’s an HD shoot with dual-system sound, the camera is running 23.98fps jam synced to the audio recorder running 29.97fps so the timecode should be usable. I’m going to be receiving BWFs which I’ll convert with BWF2XML for editing in FCP. One question here is whether to work with the 4KB Quicktime.mov links created by BWF2XML or batch export Quicktime.mov files from FCP for editing. If I don’t plan on deleting any of the media I shouldn’t have to worry about the Media Manager then, correct? You don’t think losing the name of the audio tracks when merging is a problem for post sound? Ryan

[Ryan Krickow]

So, if I use BWF2XML to “convert” the BWFs to 4KB Quicktime.mov files (linked to the BWFs) and then I edit with these 4KB Quicktime.mov files when I export an OMF it is going to contain the original BWFs? Would this be a better method than using FCP to batch export the converted files as Quicktime.mov files for editing? Thanks, Ryan

[Ryan Krickow]

Thanks everyone! So, when using BWF2XML do you convert the BWFs to Quicktime.mov files for editing? If so, is that what you deliver to post sound or to do go back to the BWFs somehow? Finally, what is the file size difference when converting BWFs to Quicktime.mov files? I really appreciate all the help. Ryan