Dialogue Editing

76 GETTING SOUND FROM PICTURE DEPARTMENT TO SOUND DEPARTMENT
Merge All Channels
When you’ve conformed all of the EDLs for a reel, you’ll need to merge them
into one large session per reel. Open the new sessions one by one and set the
start time for each to the correct value for that reel; then save the sessions.
Begin this process with the highest track number (e.g., channels 13 through
16) and work down so that the last session for which you set the correct start
time is channels 1 through 4. Into this session import the tracks from the
other auto-assembly sessions. Finally, import the OMF tracks. You’re now
ready to begin setting up for editing.
Metadata Demystifi ed
When you deal with multitrack hard-disk recordings, you inevitably confront
metadata. Although devised to streamline workfl ows and automate repetitive
processes, fi le-based metadata occasionally turns into to a source of intimidation
and insecurity. You’ve been dealing with metadata all your life, probably
without realizing it, yet the sudden intrusion of the word metadata into normal
postproduction conversations leaves even confi dent editors wondering what
they’re not grasping.
Simply put, metadata is data about data. A classic example is a library card
catalogue (the metadata), where you’ll fi nd pertinent information about books
(the data). Since it’s far easier to search a card catalogue than to wander aimlessly
through the stacks, it’s not diffi cult to see metadata’s value. When you
comb the Web with a search engine, you’re querying metadata about billions
of web sites—certainly easier than randomly typing URLs.
In audio postproduction there are many day-to-day brushes with metadata.
Look through the directory of a sound effects library and you’re dealing with
metadata. Pour over the log sheets from a narration recording session and
you’re using the stuff. Search for an alternate take of dialogue using an EDL
and sound reports and you’re working with two levels of metadata to locate
the sounds you want.
The surge in multitrack hard-disk fi eld recordings is the reason that metadata
is such a popular topic of water cooler conversations at post facilities. Behind
this are three realities: (1) with more channels of information, there’s more
to keep up with; (2) most picture editors don’t want to drag around six or
more tracks of sound for each shot, so there must be a way for them to cut
with a mono production mix and then for the sound department to painlessly
access the isolated tracks; (3) there’s always been a lot of metadata in the