Dialogue Editing

342 GLOSSARY
LTC (longitudinal time code) Timecode stored as an audio signal on videotape or
audiotape; often not reliable at nonplay speeds.
Mag stripe This is 35 mm magnetic fi lm with only a narrow strip of oxide and a
smaller balance stripe. When a fi lm is edited mechanically, analogue fi eld
recordings are transferred to mag stripe, synced, and coded for editing.
Mains (or utility) frequency The frequency at which alternating current electrical
power is transmitted from the power plant to the end user. In most parts of the
world, it’s 50 Hz; in the Americas, it’s usually 60 Hz. Used often in analogue
recording and postproduction as a convenient means of maintaining proper
speed and of interlocking several machines. As digital recording and playback
devices supplant analogue machines, mains frequency, as a synchronization
tool, is generally being replaced by video reference or word clock.
Married print A fi lm print that contains both picture and optical sound.
M&E (or international) mix A mix used for foreign language dubbing of a fi lm. It
contains all of the sound contents of the original mix except for the language
elements of the dialogue. When a fi lm is sold to a foreign distributor, usually
all that will be required to create a localized mix from the M&E is the addition
of local voices.
Media wrapper A fi le carrier that standardizes how different devices obtain the
information they need from a fi le to facilitate the interchange of audiovisual
material, data, and metadata.
Metadata Simply put: data about data. In audio postprodcution, it describes the
contents of an audio fi le, such as timecode, scene/take, sample rate/bit depth,
and the like, which can squeeze into the metadata area of a fi le.
Negative cutter The individual in the lab who conforms the camera original fi lm
to match the picture editor’s edits. The negative cutter uses the cut list to locate
and assemble the correct sections of negative. A copy of the digital dump (output
tape) is used as a reference.
NTSC (National Television Standards Committee) (1) The color television standard
for North America and a smattering of other places. (2) The standards body that
long ago set the NTSC standard—525 interlaced vertical scan lines at a frequency
of 59.94 Hz results in 29.97 frames per second (fps)—which is occasionally
lovingly referred to as “Never Twice the Same Color.”
Nudge value A user-defi nable value in any DAW that allows the editor to offset a
region or a selection by a fi xed amount.
OMF See OMFI.
OMFI (Open Media Framework Interchange) format A translation language that
allows material to move (relatively) easily from one platform to another. In dialogue
applications, the OMFI allows complete access to sounds for fi lms edited
on a variety of nonlinear picture workstations. Usually shortened to “OMF.”
One light transfer A quick telecine transfer from original negative fi lm to videotape.
Normally, processed original camera fi lm is developed and then trans-