A concise guide from Fred Ginsburg, CAS to selecting the right double-system audio and timecode settings on your recorder for an Avid video edit.
Here is a concise guide to selecting the proper double-system audio and timecode settings for your digital audio recorder, when recording sync sound for SD video, HD video, and film projects that will be imported into MC5.
These are very confusing issues for the newcomer as well as for us seasoned veterans. When I began my research to find what I considered simple answers to simple questions, I was shocked that even many of the industry experts had to think carefully about the answers… for not only has the technology of film and video production crossed each other’s lines, but changes have come about in the world of Avid and the way we deal with these myriad files.
For example, video likes to confuse film folk with terms like 24fps and 30fps, when in reality they are trying to say 23.976 or 29.97 frames per second (video). Then there are the 2:3 pullups that are added to the 23.976 frames to bring them up to the 29.97 video standard that television sets and VTR’s demanded. So it makes a lot of difference to editors whether or not we are shooting for video release in 29.97, 23.976 HD, or returning to sprocketed film. And whether or not our editing software can handle actual 24 frame footage, or fakes it in a 29.97 virtual world!
The location Sound Mixer has to choose what bit rate and sampling rate to use, and what the proper timecode settings need to be. This guide skips over the theory, but presents the latest consensus on what settings are preferred, based on the capabilities of Media Composer Version 5, that was just released this summer (June 2010). As of November 2010, these settings are recommended practice.
Dr. Ginsburg is a production sound mixer with over two decades experience in professional filmmaking and video and has recorded production dialogue on feature motion pictures, episodic television, TV commercials, reality, documentary, corporate, government, and music videos. He has a long list of credits including: Beverly Hills 90210, Platoon, The Island, Clear and Present Danger, Terminator 2, and Patriot Games. Fred has written and published more than 100 articles on production techniques and authored the “Guide to the Nagra 4.2 Sync Recorder and Production Sound Recording.”
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