Dialogue Editing

22 NO ONE WORKS IN A VACUUM
The assistant picture editor loads the tapes into the Avid/FCP, along with the
DAT sound. The TC DAT player must be referenced to video while loading
sound into the picture workstation, thus pulling down the sample rate to
44.056 or 47.952 kHz. For the rest of the process, all video and audio equipment
are locked to NTSC video reference. Once sound and picture elements
are loaded into the Avid, the assistant synchronizes the shots, again providing
information so that the computer knows the offset values between sound
and picture. This information is used at the end of the editing process to
allow for accurate reconforming of audio elements.
The rest of the process resembles the mechanical fi lm model, even though
the equipment is a bit more modern. Throughout the remainder of this
double-system workfl ow, picture and sound remain locked to video reference,
59.94 Hz. Even the mix, where you’re likely watching a projected fi lm
image rather than a videotape, will usually occur at 59.94 Hz. If you’re editing
at 44.056 or 47.952 kHz and want to add some new synchronous material—
music, for example—it must be loaded at video, not fi lm, speed. Otherwise,
you’ll have two confl icting timebases within your edit list—a good formula
for losing sync.
Only when the negative is cut, the fi lm is printed, and the mix is complete is
the fi lm projected at its “natural” speed of 24 fps.
Shoot Film (24 fps) or Tape, Record Sound
on Hard-Disk Recorder, Edit in NTSC
It’s now common to record location sound on hard-disk recorders, forgoing
tape altogether. Cantar, Deva, and 774 are among the players in this ever more
crowded fi eld. Recording on location without tape offers easier backup, far
more tracks, and increased versatility. New generation analogue-to-digital
converters, combined with much smarter analogue and digital circuitry, offer
better sound than DAT recorders. With sample rates of up to 192 kHz and
24-bit resolution, sound detail and dynamics are vastly improved. Also, the
location mixer can add metadata notes to the soundfi les and can painlessly
provide individual unmixed tracks as well as mixdowns for the picture
editor. (See Figure 2-4.) It’s almost too good to be true.
Effective use of this new technology, however, entails a bit more than swapping
out the old kit for new. Just as picture and sound cutting room procedures
and culture had to retool when sprockets fell to digital workstations,
so too must the location mixer and editorial team modify some of their work
habits to fully exploit the advantages of hard-disk fi eld recorders.